Thirty years ago today, January 20th, 1993, was the day that I resigned my commission as a U.S. Army Reserve Captain. Not coincidentally, that was also the day that Bill Clinton was first sworn in as President. I resigned because I detested the idea of having Clinton as my Commander in Chief. With ten years in service, my contractual obligation had expired. And, because I was living in a remote area in north-central Idaho, I was no longer drilling with a USAR troop program unit. The nearest Intelligence Corps Army Reserve or National Guard units were 360 miles away, near Seattle, or 450 miles away, in Salt Lake City. The latter is a Linguist Battalion [1]. Those units were much too far for me to travel to, for monthly drills. So I felt no regrets when I mailed in my resignation.
Parenthetically, my 1983 commissioning document carried Ronald Reagan’s signature. Reagan was the last American President for which I had any real admiration. And even he was notorious for encouraging profligate spending that expanded the National Debt.
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest
Today we present another entry for Round 104 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest [2]. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
- The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon [3]. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
- A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course [4] (a $1,095 value),
- Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees [5] in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
- A $250 gift certificate good for any product [6] from Sunflower Ammo,
- American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses [7].
- Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, [8] (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
Second Prize:
- A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses [9], excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
- A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
- Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord [10] (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
- Two Super Survival Pack seed collections [11], a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [12], toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!
Third Prize:
- Three sets each [13] of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
- A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of [14] Directive 21 (a $275 value),
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [12], toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.
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More than $775,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 104 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail [15] 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.