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1. Thank you for bringing these organizational concepts to this forum. Re-establishing the “means of production” is crucial to the long-term survival of any people. The current standard of living (or anything remotely resembling it) requires a vast array of assets and skills. You can have the greatest nuclear engineer or neurosurgeon in your group, and by themselves that will accomplish almost nothing, toward having a working fission power producing plant, or the ability to treat a head injury with an epidural hematoma.

2. Wow. This is an awesome article filled with practical wisdom. I have learned a lot already. Thank you. Am looking forward to more.

3. I agree with what is said here,BUT, for some individuals like myself, there have always been, and always will be, Lone Wolves.
   It’s in our DNA.
   My experience with groups over the years, have always disappointed me.
   I can, and will, trade with Groups, but not be part of one.

   1. LoneSurvivor-
      Let’s be frank- it isn’t in our DNA it is learned behavior, in our personality, and is our preference. I used to think being the alone wolf was the way to go. But when you go from being a novice and even intermediate prepper and you start focusing in on TEOTWAWKI you start to look at things differently. May I point out the “Army of One” slogan isn’t used anymore. When you call 9-1-1 for a fire they send you a team not just one fire fighter. The movie “Book of Eli”was a great story but let’s keep in mind it was a work of fiction. Compare that to the age old tale of the ant and the grass hopper. What we forget in that tale is it was not a single ant but a colony (community) that worked together towards being prepared for winter.

      Again I totally understand your propensity to be a lone wolf, been there, done that, but that choice can be changed. Good luck.

   2. From long sad experience I have to say I agree with you. Fellow preppers have either stolen from me, or committed adultery with my wife, or otherwise greatly betrayed me. I have almost reached the conclusion that these “new world order” people are right about the majority of mankind.

4. Excellent article, can’t wait for part 2.

   I like your second paragraph. Not only is it important to delegate, but also important realize that some of those under our command will have higher IQ’s, and stronger talents in some areas. Good leaders accept that, embrace it, and make good use of it, they don’t get jealous and make stupid mistakes. I took a survival class in college 40 years ago and after 20 minutes of painfully watching the instructor and his assistant trying to get a fire going without matches, I stepped off to one side and took out my little flint and steel kit my Wyoming cowboy grandpa gave me when I was eight years old. He used to make little 2″ x 2″ pouches out of old boot leather, with a flap, and a piece of steel riveted across the bottom. Inside was a piece of flint rock, and some charred cloth. On that cold night I quickly got some kindling together and with three hits of the flint on the steel, I had the tinder glowing and blown into a fire in short order. The instructor never did get his fire going. We also camped in the river bottom which was 20 degrees cooler than the surrounding area where rock cliffs would be radiating warmth most of the night. This was pointed out to him, but he rejected it. The instructor was ex-Army and had some survival skills, but no leadership skills or the ability to accept good ideas when others thought of them first. Before I fell asleep that first night, I decided that had this been a real survival situation, I would have slipped away in the middle of the night and gone for help on my own.

   1. St. Funogas,

      Good leaders recognize the skills and knowledge of their team members and let them apply it for benefit of all. When you work as a team you all sink together or swim together. Also if that survival course instructor was a lone wolf he could have died from exposure or other wise suffered a cold weather injury that could have then made his survival even harder to accomplish. Harry Truman once said something like “it is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit”

5. In the planning for long missions NASA did a study to determine the optimum size for long term effective working team. That number is two. Every other combination (except 1) devolved into two or more cliques which tended to oppose each other and even try to sabotage each other. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could bring together a team of 8-30 or so people with complimenting skills to survive for the long term. But the reality is that the more people you have the more likely you are to have internal conflicts and open fighting. Not that you should not try to create a team of like minded people but you and everyone else should have a plan B where you leave the team or expel certain member(s) when the inevitable conflict rises and it cannot be settled peacefully. Having said that I note the irony in that basically you are creating a plan to dissolve your plan.

6. Dont forget the S-6!!!! The ability to effectively communicate quickly and clearly are so important to any “cohesive” group. The combat rules of three are “Shoot, move,communicate” so its an important aspect to any ones survival.

7. Having dealt with the public in times of crisis the idea of forming a cohesive survival group seems pretty slim. While I find this “shelter in place ” and hysteria over 2 inches of snow completely ridiculous it’s obvious most people are just stupid sheep.

   You’re more likely to be murdered by someone you know and that statistic grows when there’s a argument involved. Keeping you and yours alive after a major disaster in my opinion would involve laying low and trying to draw as less attention to yourself as possible.

   Perhaps somewhere down the road people will get together and form these groups. Anyways enjoyed the article and look forward to the next installment.

8. 1.Prepare/expect/train to be on your own, as foreboding as that may be.
   2. As you create ‘value added’, the possibilities of joining with others improves.

   As in the ‘Patriots’ gate interactions, most of like to fashion ourselves Todd:
   fortified retreat location,’squared away’ interviewing prospective new members.
   Really?? I’m not that delusional.
   More likely to be Lon (?) approaching the gate, proving your worth to be be invited.

9. This is very important stuff, seldom discussed, and it is well presented. I’ve worked in high intensity situation in my former job with 12-14 hour days, for as long as 4 months non stop… It will grind you down if you are the only one in charge, unfortunately I had no help there, and you will probably not either. Learn how to delegate, ask for help, find the talent for specific tasks or missions, empower and support. Do not let yourself become so exhausted that you cannot operate. The result could be disastrous. Having everyone clearly understand the objective, and be invested and pulling in the same direction, it is amazing how a small ‘team’ of good people can find solutions, and get it done together. The best biography I’ve read on leadership was that done on Richard Winters.

   https://davidmschroeder.com/2015/07/10/10-selfless-leadership-lessons-from-major-dick-winters-band-of-brothers/

   1. Hey Tunnel Rabbit, sounds like we might have worked at the same place. 🙂 Like you said, learning to delegate is important. The best boss I ever had asked me in my hiring interview what my management philosophy was. I said it was real simple: Teach workers (whether they be lower managers or hourly workers) what their job is and then get the heck out of their way and let them do their job. It usually worked out great. After being there 5 years, we opened up a new section and I wanted to take a crew and run it myself to figure out the logistics first before handing it off to a lower manager. I put a new crew of mostly Mexicans to work, and then set out myself to fix a cement drain in the warehouse that had not been constructed properly and was not draining. I knew it was going to be nasty. Four hours later, by the time I finished shoveling stuff out of that ditch that was worse than outhouse manure, I had won the respect of every man and woman on that crew. They knew I’d never ask them to do anything I wasn’t be willing to do myself. They would have done pretty much anything for me after that and we had a great working relationship.

10. In most group settings more than one person wants to be in charge or has “better ideas”. It is normal for people to be envious. That is seen in workplace “round table” discussions where everyone “is encouraged to make suggestions”
    The group will splinter and fight each other if necessary.
    That goes for family members too. Most people have someone they do not agree with on subjects. When it comes to survival, those feelings grow exponential.
    They say just two doesn’t work and in most cases perhaps not. But a person is well connected to the other that is there to save his butt and vice versa

11. Seems a common theme here that it is hard to find and have a group that really clicks; that has been my experience too. One comment above pointed out that envy is a problem- seen that too. Or maybe the twenty-something with all the “cool” gear who wants tell everybody what they are doing wrong. Yep, seen that one more than once. I’ve started treating meeting other preppers/groups like buying used cars- I stand back and keep my mouth shut and let them do the the talking (as much as possible). A ten second span of silence will make a lot of people uncomfortable to the point of “spilling the beans” and letting their true thoughts and attitudes shine through. All that to say I’m in a small family group that is likely too small for the long haul (see above), but with few options forging ahead.

12. In a situation where you have multiple families (maybe even three generations) living together in some sort of a survivalist stronghold you will have every conceivable age to deal with. I can see where problems could arise when the leader has to reprimand a younger member and then Mom or maybe Grandpa steps up to defend their family member. I believe that the law will need to be laid down at the beginning of the formation of the group and everyone will need to be fully aware that if they cause trouble repeatedly or if they’re going to be a “butt” about everything, that the road is waiting on them. There’s no reason to put up with an individual of any age if that person can’t get along with others and especially if that person won’t follow orders of the leader. The leader is likely to be the owner of the retreat property so he would have every right to kick out some individual or even an entire family if he chose to do so.

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