The TEOTWAWKI has occurred and you have made the decision to G.O.O.D. and head to your retreat location. The electricity is out, but your vehicles still work. You’ve stayed in your house for the last few months, kept a low profile, and have been able to avoid the initial chaos and Golden Horde of people leaving the cities. Ideally, your suburban neighbors and relatives are somewhat prepared and you have banded together for protection and mutual sharing of resources. Your retreat location is big enough for your family plus three other families. How do you safely drive everyone to the retreat location? As a convoy commander in Baghdad, Iraq, I had the opportunity to lead 50+ convoys in and around Baghdad during one of the most violent periods of the war. We had great TTPs that allowed us to successfully accomplish our mission and move through the city. I understand that there are many TTPs out there for various situations and not all are the same. I am going to focus on the very basics so that a non-military minded individual can understand and implement these suggestions. There are several specific/complex scenarios that have already been covered in older posts, and I will not cover them here. For this scenario, I am going to assume there are eight vehicles (two per family) of various makes and models that are capable of driving to the retreat location. Whether there are 3, 6, or 10 vehicles in your group, these basics can work, but obviously there is strength in numbers.
First, it is important to understand the current situation in the area between your home and your retreat. Attempt to get as much information as possible regarding weather, road conditions, routes, and how much criminal activity is on the roads. If you have lived in the area for longer than a year, the only unknown will be whether parts of your route are still open and the level of criminal activity. If you have the extra fuel, take two vehicles and try to recon part of the route. The more you know before you leave your home, the better. Because you waited for a few months before deciding to leave, more than likely there will not be a lot of vehicle traffic on the roads because no one will have gas anymore and the roads will be too dangerous. You should already have planned and driven the route to your retreat location multiple times prior to the SHTF. Take out a map, sit down with your fellow families and thoroughly go over the route. Identify potential choke points (areas that force your vehicle to go through a tight spot, with no alternatives, that are great ambush spots). Identify what type of roads you will be traveling on. Are they 4-lane or 2-lane? Are they back-country roads or interstate? How many overpasses are there and do we go under them or get off the freeway and go over them? What about road blocks? Do you have alternate routes planned? What intersections are in our route? All of these questions need to be discussed, and analyzed using a road map before you leave. Remember, this is a one shot deal; you will not be returning to your home, so make it count!
The next step is organization. What order are the vehicles going to be in when you travel? I realize that there are multiple variations of vehicles in a neighborhood, but this can still be done even if you have eight 4-door sedans. Your lead vehicle should be one that is relatively fast, and should be higher off the ground, such as an SUV or pickup truck. The higher seats give the driver and passenger more visibility when on the road. This vehicle should be armed with at least a rifle that has some reach. I am not going to discuss shooting from a moving vehicle. What is important is that you are able to reach a target while stopped a few hundred yards away. Your slower moving vehicles such as minivans should be in the middle of the group. If you have multiple SUV/ pickup trucks, spread them out between the slow vehicles as these will be your primary firing/maneuvering platforms. Your second to last vehicle should be where you keep all of your vehicle maintenance supplies. If one of your vehicles has a maintenance issue, you do not want to make the maintenance repair vehicle turn around to help. Your last vehicle should be your rear security vehicle. Its entire job is to make sure no one attacks the vehicles from behind. It should be armed and able to quickly maneuver.
Now that your vehicles are organized, where do you put all of your stuff? We have already discussed where maintenance items should be placed. The main bulk of your medical items should be in a vehicle towards the back of the convoy for the same reasons as the maintenance items. It is a good idea to keep some medical items in every vehicle; however, the “reinforcement” items should be in the rear. High powered weapons and optics should be placed in the front and rear vehicles. Generic items such as water, food, solar equipment, personal items, etc. should be placed in the middle vehicles. If possible, put high value items in vehicles that have tinted windows to minimize visibility. Keep some “barter/bribe” items in the front vehicle. If you are forced to go through an area held by looters, you might be able to pay them off to get through. For personnel organization, keep the kids in the middle, non-fire/maneuver vehicles. For those who can shoot, keep them in the fire/maneuver vehicles. When planning where everyone will sit, if possible, try to keep enough seats empty so that if one vehicle gets disabled, those personnel can get in another vehicle with minimal delay.
Once you have determined your route, organized your vehicles, personnel, and equipment, it is time to rehearse. Actually taking your vehicles and driving around will be next to impossible, so plan on the next best alternative. Get a whiteboard/chalkboard or even just a piece of paper, and draw out your vehicles in order. Make sure you discuss the following:
– Go over the route and make sure everyone knows what actions will be taken at choke points, intersections, and “danger” areas.
– Identify who is responsible for different tasks to include a primary and alternate. For instance, if you have someone who is mechanically proficient, make sure they are driving/riding in the vehicle with the maintenance equipment, and designate an alternate mechanic in another vehicle. The same applies to the medical vehicle.
– Who is the overall leader? If that leader becomes incapacitated, who is in charge?
– What is your communications plan? If you are traveling through an intersection, how does the lead vehicle know when the last vehicle has passed through it? What needs to be identified over the radio and what is not important?
– Establish check points along your route that can be referenced over the radio as a rally point, re-grouping point, rest point, etc.
– Determine the distance between each vehicle as you drive. There needs to be enough space between each vehicle so that there is enough time to stop quickly, maneuver quickly, and avoid having multiple vehicles disabled at once. The lead vehicle should be several vehicle lengths ahead of the second vehicle so that it can warn the rest of the group and be the only casualty should there be a disabling explosion/trap to take out the lead vehicles.
– What speed are you going to drive? Are you going to go as fast as you can for the entire trip, or slow down at different areas?
– Review different situations and scenarios that could happen during your drive. Cover medical emergencies, mechanical issues, disabled vehicles, ambush reactions, fire and maneuver actions, loss of communications, and actions to take if the vehicles get split apart. For example, let’s say a tire blows on one of the “slow” vehicles. You have a spare, but it will take some time to replace the tire. What do you do? Do you get off the road you are traveling on and find somewhere to remain out of site? Do you stop on the side of the road and swap out the tire? Either way, once the maintenance repair vehicle pulls up next to the vehicle with the flat tire, make sure a fire/maneuver vehicle is right next to it providing security so the people on the ground can get the tire fixed. This is just one way to deal with this particular scenario. I am not saying it is the best way. I am purposely not going into the weeds on every possible event. It is important to make sure you rehearse and properly execute the best actions to fit your situation.
During rehearsals, it is important to go over the responsibilities of every person in the group. The passenger in the lead vehicle is one of the most important positions. He should be constantly watching the road for traps, road blocks, and disabling obstacles. The passenger in the rear vehicle should be constantly watching the back of the group. If possible, he should face to the rear with a set of optics so he can see any approach. Every person in the group should be looking out of their windows and watching for any activity that might potentially be a danger to them. Look for any groups of people that might be waiting to intercept vehicles. There might be “scouts” with handheld radios on an overpass watching for upcoming vehicles so they can attack your group at a future point on the road. I am not going to discuss what to do if you are directly attacked. If you can, get away from it as quickly and safely as possible. If it is unavoidable, come up with a plan using your fire/maneuver vehicles and try to overwhelm the enemy with force. The quicker you show the enemy that you are not backing down and are in fact going to be a hard target, the more likely they will retreat and look for a soft target.
A final major decision that you will need to make is whether or not you travel by day or by night. They both have advantages and disadvantages. One key advantage to traveling by day is visibility. You will be able to see potential threats from a greater distance than by night. Unfortunately, this works both ways and you are also more visible to potential attackers. Traveling at night gives you the advantage of less people potentially out on the roads, and the ability to turn off all of your lights and “disappear” if needed. Keep in mind that traveling at night without NVGs will require everyone to drive slower, because your visibility is limited to how far you can see with your headlights.
As I said from the beginning, there are multiple ways to do things. The key is to have a plan, and stick to the plan so you can safely get to your final location.