Identify And Secure Your Retreat Like An Engineer, by JAD

Area assessment and planning is a key component of determining where to establish your secured retreat location. Establishing a retreat is not enough; you need to have clear objectives for what that area will accomplish for you or for those in your network. In order to establish your secured area and to determine the objectives necessary to allow it to function, you must assess and plan. Your planning must consider varying threats, uncertainty in threat duration, and likely enemy strength. Effective planning requires beginning at a macro level and reducing the scope until all details are captured.

The work in determining areas for a retreat has already been done by people with a higher level of knowledge than myself. An example is Joel Skousen’s book Strategic Relocation. His analysis is extremely in depth and is a wealth of knowledge, but it does not offer much information below the State level. The following principles are used by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to assess the feasibility of locations for FOB site selection.

I will be breaking these tested principles down to assist with retreat site selection. The following can be referenced in a multitude of U.S Army field and technical manuals, but I will direct your attention to USACE publication EP 500-1-2, which is open for public distribution. My favorite resource is GTA 90-01-011 (JFOB 6th Edition). This publication is For Official Use Only but is an amazing resource for everything referenced in this article, blast wave mitigation, tower construction techniques, and much more.

PMESII Assessment

An effective assessment must be one that is multi-disciplined and balances security, protection, and survivability. Security requires a constant assessment of political, military, economic, social, information, and infrastructure considerations (PMESII). Each of these is an “operational variable” that requires detailed planning and mitigation. This can be applied at the local level to allow you to gauge the factors that will affect your retreat area and to develop metrics to compare locations.

Political

You must consider politics at a local level to ensure that your objectives can be met with minimal resistance or issues of legality. County or city regulations may make it worth while to look at other areas. Are there any circumstances that may deny you access to a key avenue of approach or a sustainment node? If this is the case, is there an alternate route that will provide you the same traffic-ability? What are the effect of laws and agreements in the area on your retreat property?

Military and “Militarized Civil Functions”

You must consider the impact of military and civil functions in your area on your ability to secure yourself. This is especially applicable in communities where the police force has become highly militarized. In a catastrophic event, how will local agencies respond? Are you near key terrain that may be advantageous to them? What is their capability to employ obstacles? What are the capabilities of local and state authorities and is there any reason to believe that Other Governmental Agencies (OGA) will respond to your area?

Economic

Does the economic condition of the local area have a substantial impact on your ability to establish security? What is the forecasted growth of the area? Are materials and resources available or produced locally? What is the potential for new or improved production facilities in the area? Are there any current or future economic variables that will aide or limit your security plan?

Social

What is the cultural and religious makeup of the area? Will you encounter any issues assimilating with the local populace? Is there currently any conflict between different demographic groups?

Information

How does information flow at the local level? Are local news outlets biased in any particular direction and how “free” is the press? Is there a local amateur communication network?

Infrastructure

How does the existing infrastructure aid or harm your area? Is your location completely dependent on any type of infrastructure and how can you mitigate these issues? Are there any large projected changes to the local infrastructure?

Note: The Army Engineer also utilizes a SWEAT-MSO assessment to look at area infrastructure capabilities. While I think this is outside the realm of applicability for a retreat, it may be interesting to others.

Site Selection Considerations

Once you have completed an area assessment to determine the feasibility of a geographic area, you must look at site selection. I think of this as determining a build site on a piece of property. While I understand that build site locations are influenced by factors like the ability to support well and septic, you must assess each location from a security perspective as well. Site selection and layout are both controlled by competing demands and considerations. A design with protection measures already in mind will greatly reduce the materials, time, and energy required to enhance the defensive posture when threat levels increase.

Site selection is determined by many factors to include tactical situation, proximity to the surrounding population, terrain, weather, and protection considerations. To assist in your site selection, evaluate your mission, enemy, terrain/weather, troops (support available), time, and civil/military considerations (METT-TC).

Mission

The mission seems simple. It’s to develop a location that is defensible and will sustain you through a catastrophic event. While this may be the primary mission of your retreat, you must plan for any other tasks that you plan to undertake. Will you be providing support to other families around you or will you remain isolated? Does your mission require easy access to the local transportation infrastructure?

Enemy (Threat)

In considering your proposed site relative to enemy threats, here are some steps to take:

1. Identify specific enemy threats, both current and future for the proposed site.
2. What are the characteristics, capabilities, techniques, and tactics of these threats? Will the identified threat have an effect on your site?
3. What are the enemy’s tactical, operational, and strategic objectives and intentions as they relate to site protection? A note for clarity, the Army uses the terms tactical, operational, and strategic to define levels of Army operations. Tactical is the lowest level. Operational focuses on a large scale, and strategic focuses on overall strategy for a conflict.
4. What is the organization, size, and composition of enemy forces in the area?
5. Do you know the enemy intelligence capability?
6. What is the local support for the enemy?

Terrain and Weather (OCOKA)

Terrain and weather impacts must be considered from both the friendly and enemy perspective. To accomplish this, utilize OCOKA.

1. Observation and Fields of Fire
   1. Does the site limit the enemy’s ability to observe friendly forces?
   2. Does the site offer friendly forces the opportunity to observe the surrounding terrain and potential enemies?
   3. Is the site elevated?
   4. Does the site limit possible enemy fields of fire, assault positions, and ambush points?
   5. Does the site limit or block an attack by direct fire weapons (line of sight) from potential enemy vantage points?
2. Cover and Concealment
   1. Does the site offer cover and concealment to friendly forces?
   2. Does the site provide cover and concealment to an attacking force?
   3. Have potential enemy vantage points and hiding places been considered?
   4. Can vegetation, topography, and natural or man-made barriers be used as protective measures or similarly used by the enemy?
   5. Does the site provide unobstructed clear zones?
3. Obstacles
   1. Can natural terrain features be used as barriers to obscure enemy vantage points or prevent, block, or disrupt an attack?
   2. Can terrain features be used by an attacking force to launch an attack?
4. Key Terrain
   1. Is control of key terrain on or adjacent to the site critical to mission accomplishment?
   2. Has the site been selected away from terrain such as natural vantage points?
   3. Does the site avoid low lying topographic areas that can aid the effects of enemy weapons or capabilities?
5. Avenues of Approach
   1. Does the site limit likely enemy avenues of approach and limit enemy ease of movement?
   2. Will weather and visibility conditions have an adverse effect on the proposed site?
   3. Can adverse weather be used to exploit advantages over enemy vulnerabilities?
6. Troops and Support Available
   1. Does the proposed site provide adequate space for planned tenants (and support mechanisms)?
   2. Do planned tenants have specific requirements or constraints that may affect site selection?
   3. How close are adjacent sites from the proposed site?
   4. Will the proposed site be part of a base cluster (a collection of sites geographically grouped for mutual protection and ease of command and control)?
7. Time Available
   1. How much construction time is required to establish your desired baseline capability? How much is required for full scale TEOTWAWKI improvements?
   2. Is the proposed site located in a remote location that will cause delays in construction material support or security forces?
8. Civil/Military
   1. Does the local civil/military/political situation influence site selection, design, layout, or land use?
   2. How close is the site to the local civilian population?
   3. What is the disposition of the surrounding populace?
   4. Will site selection affect adjacent land owners?

Protection Considerations for Site Selection and Layout

Once you have completed your PMESII assessment to find your retreat location and have completed a METT-TC analysis to determine a securable build site, you must begin identifying and implementing protection considerations. These are a few protection considerations, but it is not a complete list by any means:

1. Standoff. While explosive threats are unlikely, standoff is still something to be considered. Providing yourself a cleared area between you and an avenue of approach gives you time and space to react to a threat. The distance between the perimeter and any inhabited structures should be maximized unless it impacts your ability to deny observation.
2. Does the proposed site support or enhance defense in depth? What personnel requirements will defense in depth require, and is this worth the logistical work to maintain?
3. Do the natural barriers on the site assist or impede your protection plan and security posture?
4. Does the site provide secure access to necessary utilities and your water supply? Does it allow the ability for redundant or contingency utility systems? Are your utility systems protected or hardened in any way?
5. Does your layout minimize the number of roads that provide direct vehicle access?

Your site layout should also address the following areas and should be notated on one document. This can be accomplished through many different techniques. Although my military mind pains me to say this, no one format or technique is best for each location.

1. Positions of critical internal assets, external coordination points, and no fire areas
   1. Ensure that any area that is a no fire area is well known and published. Ensure you know where your critical assets are in relation to the rest of your security plan. Think sector sketch/range card.
2. Locations of any obstacles
3. Locations of target reference points
4. Final protective fires
5. Clear fire zones
6. Locations of defensive positions

Protection Concepts

Protection is defined as “the preservation of the effectiveness and survivability of personnel, equipment, facilities, information, and infrastructure.” To achieve this, you must apply the five protection concepts to your location and security planning.

Deterrence

Deterrence provides your enemy a reason not to attack you. This can be accomplished by denying the ability to observe your location or by selectively allowing observation of clearly hardened areas. Applying randomness to your daily operations may assist in providing the appearance of a higher level of security.

Prevention

Prevention is your ability to stop, delay, or mitigate an attack. The key areas for your retreat to focus on are information security and operations security. (“Loose lips sink ships.”)

Active Security

This security involves activities that allow you to “detect, interdict, avert, disrupt, neutralize, or destroy threats and hazards”. This is accomplished by exercising access control, patrolling, and having a response plan in place.

Passive Defense

Passive defense requires measures that are taken to protect yourself from expected threats. Examples include clear zones, standoff, physical barriers, defensive positions, concealment, and dispersion of critical assets.

Mitigation

Mitigation helps you to reduce your vulnerabilities by improving the areas listed above. This concept is the action item of any lessons learned or best practices.

Threat Analysis

JP 3-0 defines a threat as “any opposing force, adversary, condition, source, or circumstance with the potential to negatively impact mission accomplishment or degrade capability”. Threat analysis is the metric against which all of your protection planning must be measured against. The process is continual and consists of four things:

1. Define the operational environment – What are factors around your location that influence your day-to-day operations?
2. Describe the impacts of your operational environment.
3. Evaluate your adversary.
4. Determine and describe courses of action, the most likely course of action (MLCOA) and most dangerous course of action (MDCOA).

Threat Levels

The military defines a threat by one of three levels. This technique can be beneficial to provide the people at your retreat location a standardized way to communicate an enemy forces composition and disposition. While the 3D’s (distance, direction, and description) are a great tool, applying a threat level can change how you respond or execute your security plan. I have attempted to take the threat level concept and provide an example of how these may be used for retreat security. Here’s what I developed:

• Level I Threat – Generally consists of sabotage, subversion, or theft but can also include individual attacks.
• Level II Threat – Includes small irregular forces. The military definition is smaller than company sized, but the size you attribute to a level II threat will be dependent on the security posture of your location. These threats can cause a significant disruption to operations.
• Level III Threat – A force that has the potential to match or exceed your force projection ability.

By No Means An Exact Science

Finding, selecting, and developing a security plan for a retreat is by no means an exact science. Your site and security plan must be tailored to fit the objectives that you define. I hope that the principles outlined above provide another perspective and methodology for you to determine your goals.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been another entry for Round 72 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
5. An infrared sensor/imaging camouflage shelter from Snakebite Tactical in Eureka, Montana (A $350+ value),
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1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
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1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
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7. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a $125 Montie gear Gift certificate.,
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Round 72 ends on September 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.