(Continued From Part 1.)
Dead space is an area that cannot be covered by weapons or observation from your position. This is because of obstacles or the nature of the ground. Some examples are areas behind rubble, deep craters, holes, and heavily wooded areas. Dead space is particularly dangerous because it allows intruders to hide and attack you or your home from a place of relative security. Once people establish a position in dead space, it is very difficult to get them out. In your patrols, you should identify dead space and find a way to mitigate its risk to your home security. One solution I have found to be effective is posting sentries at different positions so they can see and fire on dead space as necessary. This allows you to prevent people sneaking in your property. Part of your home defense plan should include dead space and how to cover it so it cannot be effectively used by intruders.
Area Three
Area Three consists of anywhere inside your property line, but not quite inside your home. In rural areas, I would recommend designating your property line as Area Three. This can be massive amounts of space, and it will require constant surveillance. In suburban areas, I would recommend your yard. In urban areas, this can get a little tricky. Depending on your circumstance, staircases, hallways, or anywhere closer to your apartment than the parking lot should be designated as Area Three. The key to Area Three is initiation of defensive action.
Sentries are crucial to successful defense in Area Three. They should have been watching Area Four and getting intelligence, and they become even more important when a potential intruder enters Area Three. They are responsible for identifying potential threats, warning the rest of the group, and engaging if necessary. I would recommend at least one static sentry positioned at a covered position of high ground, usually the roof top. Getting the high ground is important. Not only can you see more, you can stay behind cover while getting multiple opportunities to strike opponents who are darting between cover to get to your home. Then assign at least one roving sentry that, at inconsistent times, patrols Area Three, with a special emphasis on checking any dead space for potential intruders.
Plan so they will be able to have enough rest to stay awake during their sentry duties, as well as remain alert enough to complete the other, non-sentry tasks they already have. In general, medics should not be sentries so they will be alert enough to treat their patients. Obviously, sentries can only be posted at all hours if you are in a group. If you are alone, then you must assess the most high-risk times and be watchful at those times. Drones are so useful in urban environments, especially in apartments. You can set a drone to hover in the air and alert you of any movement. Then you can assess the threat while in the safety of your apartment. In essence, it allows you to be at multiple places at the same time.
Once intruders have entered your property line or have otherwise entered Area Three, you should initiate action. The action you take should be based on the intruders’ reasonable intent and capabilities. If a group is armed and trying to sneak past a fence, you should be more aggressive than you should be toward a lone, unarmed person wandering around. Your surveillance in Area Four should have given you enough time and information to make that judgement call.
The following can be used as initiation: light, sound, and violence. The entire point of Area Three is to initiate action that will remove a threat, based on the individual situation. You should escalate as necessary, usually starting with light or sound. Shooting someone first can lead to bad accidents, unnecessary deaths, and legal ramifications – even when SHTF. Disasters such as Hurricane Katrina showed that deaths would be remembered, and those who shot first and asked questions later had to face jail time when governance was restored.
Initiation by light allows you to identify an intruder’s movement, especially at night, as well as make it clear that you know exactly where he is. Many potential intruders would run away immediately. It also can temporarily blind or distract him, buying you time to act. While this works particularly well in the nighttime, it is still effective in the daytime. Arming sentries with bright spotlights allows them to initiate with light, which can also be a silent signal for the other members of the home to get ready for a potential attack.
Initiation by sound allows you to very loudly signal that an intruder is present. This may scare him into running away or make hasty movements. This can cause him to make mistakes, such as freezing out in the open, which you can exploit. This works well in both the day and the night. A siren or simply yelling when you see someone are very effective for this purpose.
Initiation of violence should only be taken after light and/or sound have been directed at the intruders. Yell out that they need to stop or they will get shot. Then, if you see intent and the capability to do you harm, you may open fire. The capability can be assessed by either a weapon or breaching equipment that is visible. Use an appropriate weapon for the enemy – do not use a fully automatic 7.62 weapon when a .223 semiautomatic rifle will do. It could be a probing attack to see what weapons and numbers you have. Then more attackers could come, prepared for the weapons and numbers of people in your defense. Therefore, hide the capabilities you have until you need them.
Once sentries initiate, the rest of the group should grab their weapons and go to their pre-designated fighting positions. Occupy the highest ground on the territory, and ensure that all dead space is able to be covered by one of the group members. The key is to mass the effects of your firepower to either make the attackers run away or kill them. In my apartment, with one door and two windows on the second floor, I can assess the situation from outside the windows and quickly initiate from one of two covered positions inside my apartment. I have the high ground and can cover any position from inside our apartment. If an intruder gets to the stairs, I can secure the stairs before he can reach them.
Obstacles should be integrated into your defense of Area Three. While no obstacle can stop a determined enemy, it can absolutely slow him down. Better yet, it can direct the attackers in a certain avenue of approach. By leaving one avenue of approach – which you choose – relatively clear, you can funnel them into a trap. This, combined with overwatch from dedicated sentries, can create a formidable defense before attackers even reach your home.
While this is effective, you may not be able to identify them or stop them in time. This is why it is important to protect all entrances into the home. Board up all the windows on the first floor and lock all doors, preventing intruders from breaking in. I recommend boarding up the windows as seen in this video: Boarding Windows. Plywood’s flexibility and strength causes it to resist breaks and damage from attackers. The 2×4 on the inside gives it extra strength, as well as making nails in the walls or window frames unnecessary. These can be made before SHTF and stored for use. With practice, all the windows and other forms of glass on the first floor can be boarded up in five minutes. Leaving any other floors open allows defenders to fire on intruders from places of relative security inside the home. If attackers get past your defenses in Area Three, they will either be stopped or slowed down by your barricaded windows and doors.
(To be concluded tomorrow, in Part 3.)
In truly bad times dead space can be covered with caltrops, jaw traps, pungi sticks and all kinds of devices. Again only in SHTF conditions and keep in mind that dogs and children do not fare well in these devices.
In better days you can fill in depressions, use fencing and place objects where it makes it more difficult to use the dead space upon approach.
Drainage ditches are difficult in that they are needed so as the author stated figure out the angle needed to obtain the shots and range card them for anyone who doesn’t know that might be with you or in forgetful times under stress.
Matt,
I respectfully disagree about the use of booby traps designed to injure or kill. Many professionals have died from these devices after setting them up just hours beforehand; how many more homeowners would die or be injured from their own booby traps. In addition, they are hard to remove after the threat has passed, and easily forgotten about, meaning that guests, children, etc. may be injured or killed years after setting them up.
Never underestimate the power of a few strategically placed rose bushes or Bougainvillea.
I’ve thought about the use of observation towers for homestead security, the height allowing for coverage of more area.
There are some youtube videos where folks stand a used 40 ft CONEX box on the end to get a tower. The base was welded to a concrete pad and a platform was welded on the top.
You could also use it for antennas, wind and solar power generation, and maybe a water tank to produce continuous water pressure.
Protection for the observer would need to be added.
Does anyone use an observation tower for homestead security?
I consider observation towers an anachronism, and an inviting target. Not only can you see people from a distance from them, but anyone can see from a distance that you have something worth defending. In the 21st Century, and a panning mast-mounted video camera makes more sense.
Respectfully JWR a fighting tower is a serious force multiplier IF it’s small arms proof, has 360 degree fire ports, downward firing ports (aka Murder Holes) and well manned. Used TODAY by many folks serious about security like around Nuclear Reactors in Europe as well as many of the Sandbox bases I spent time working out of.
The tower can be designed to look like a simple farm silo and unless your attackers are bringing in heavy weapons (boy are we screwed then) I’d be happy if they announced their intentions by firing at the tower.
Construction of such is not that hard as even a double walled steel silo construction with gravel in between the layers is effective. Poured concrete, and so on. If you use the tower for many purposes like water pressure and even given the sheltering from ground fire effect of a short parapet your solar panels and hot water panels would be protected.
My house is not small arms proof but the tower is and provides 360 degree security as well as a safe room for non-combatants. In medieval castles it was called a Keep because it allowed to you keep the castle 🙂
Designated marksmen are good for tower duty. Someone with proven skill to take a shot even in a hostage situation.
When things get spicy(er) your mission is shooter, shooter support or non-combatant and I know they will happily shoot up your non-combatants or use them as hostages so…..
Beside JWR if they are close enough to your place to SEE the Tower and your homestead they KNOW you have something worth attacking. Chicken stealing Snuffy Smith on Meth ya know.
Michael,
I agree with your comment. In urban situations, existing structures such as adjacent buildings can be used as observation posts and potential fighting towers while still remaining discreet. This is one of the few cases in which urban structures work to your advantage.
Disclaimer, I am only a regular prepper, and have no training or experience, but only learned about this topic on the internet. If I can, you can. Please feel free to add, or correct.
The author is ambitious by attempting to provide so much information in so little space on a most important topic that the audience is mostly unaware of. He is doing us a service. We can help by throwing in our 2 cents to help fill in some details. I’ll pitch in while distracted by coffee and bacon. This is a team effort, and we can learn together. Iron sharpens iron, and I’ll learn by participating.
Dead Space.
We can also fence off dead space with barb wire, and C-wire, or place stakes, caltrops, or barbed wire suspended over the ground, anything that can deny or disrupt the use of dead space if eyes and fire cannot immediately be applied.
Gauging an intruder’s intent would be much more difficult in a suburban situation, but in the rural areas, signs warning potential trespassers that they are unwelcome, and locked gates, and trails leading into the perimeter are blocked, should be adequate barriers that few intruders can accidentally wander onto the property, and into or near a perimeter. Using spotlights, loud noise, and a verbal command to stop their action is good advice. If an approach can be seen from a distance, and a barrier placed on that avenue of approach, use bolt action rifles first to repel the advance. If the attack was probing your defenses, they may assume that only bolt actions rifles are being used. Document defenses, and any incident that occurs to establish a history, and if lethal force is used, document it as if it were a crime scene. By conducting an After Action Report, details of the incident are preserved, and our future performance can be improved.
Area Three
This is essentially the perimeter. It does not have to be the property line, but an area that might be defended successfully given resources and terrain. It may realistically be only a few acres, and not the entire property. Sentries will have difficulty monitoring more than 3 avenues of approach. Make their job easier. Devices that alert sentries are invaluable. If possible have 2 sentries per position so that one man can rest and relieve themselves. When necessary, both are able to ”stand two”.
Naturally the more defensible space that can be created the better, but manpower and other resources are needed. If there is a high ground nearby outside the perimeter, occupy, patrol it, or put eyes on it. Defending a smaller area that can channelize attackers effectively would be more advantageous than spreading the defense too broadly. Clear the property of trees, brush, and debris that are concealment or cover, to create fields of fire and eliminate dead space. Deny attackers the micro terrain that is depressions in the surrounding ground by placing sharp rocks, glass, wooden or steel stakes. Or create, or use an elevated firing position that can see and fire into the micro terrain. At the least, have the ability to provide grazing fire. And set up positions so there is cross fire. A perimeter that is triangular in shape can provide better cross fire, and better final defensive fire, and requires less manpower. A position between the points are secondary and can be manned when an attack is in progress.
Even after defenses are established, continuously improve all aspects. Assign members to make improvements. Examine it from an attacker’s perspective. Find the weaknesses and eliminate them. Establish a maintenance schedule, so that weapons and gear is routinely serviced or inspected.
Thank you, ALL.
Tunnel Rabbit said it well: iron sharpens iron.
We are reviewing and re-reviewing the layers of our security. One strategy we have used (and are continuing to improve) is the placement of layered gate-style barricades. If signage and barricades are breached, it becomes much easier to prove criminal intent.
…and JWR’s suggestion of a panning camera is excellent. We are using cameras with static positioning, but are now going to explore a system that pans.
Remain steady. Be safe. Stay well everyone!
Tunnel Rabbit,
Thank you for your comment and valuable additions to the discussion.
In a suburban situation, a potential intruder carrying weapons or breaching equipment such as a sledge hammer would be the best way to gauge an intruder’s intent.
Your point on documenting defenses, incidents, and detailed After Action Reports is key, I wish I had put that in the original article.
May I recommend you look at the US Army’s doctrine on both the Area Defense and Patrol Bases? I think you would find that interesting and informative, as your points are consistent with the Army doctrine.
Setting up positions so there are interlocking sectors of fire is crucial, as well as denying the use of micro terrain to the enemy. Great comment!!
Hi Tyler Zortman,
There is more I could have said, but kept it short. Had to rebuild a carburetor today.
And yes, there is much more for me to learn. What I have learned as you might expect, comes mostly from the Army. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
We should stress the need for night vision as that is most significant force multiplier. I have Dakota Alert, battery operated LED lights on motion detector, 12 ga perimeter alarms, high intensity glow sticks on trip wire, pepper spray on trip wire, high intensity flash bulbs on trip wire, 12vdc incandescent lights on trip wire, fire works on trip wire, Infra red lights on trip wire, and infra red area lighting, spot light, and more. One thing about boobie traps is that they can work against you. Boobie traps are not a good idea.
A recent invention was installing railroad spikes into a 2 x 6. The 4 inch spike will flatten any tire quickly. These spike strips can be hastily placed on a road, or anchored with railroad spikes into the ground, or laying it several inches deep in a trench and concealed into the ground making it difficult see and to remove. It can stop traffic, or be used as an obstacle to slow traffic at a check point.
Tunnel Rabbit,
Thought I would use my screen name this time – mistakenly put my real name in the last comment. I hope rebuilding the carburetor went well.
I completely agree, boobie traps are a terrible idea. Your way of lighting the terrain is great, allowing you to see whenever an intruder inadvertently sets off the lights and alarms. Night vision goggles are expensive, but so incredibly useful. They also allow for the use of infrared light as a spotlight, signal, and targeting system.
I also really like your idea of spike strips, it’s both effective and versatile.
I don’t see a link to the video for boarding windows…
Kathryn,
My apologies. It was in the original article, however I don’t think it crossed over well when added to the website. Here is the link:
https://youtu.be/6AqpA8IqOBs
Another suggestion for dead spaces or to slow people down is non round rocks a tad bigger than a basketball. I see where the highway department uses this method to keep homeless from camping or congregating under an overpass. It would be hard to kneel or crouch on and stay balanced, uncomfortable to lay on, and I think nearly impossible to run across with any speed even in daylight.
Delroy,
Great point, it would slow potential intruders and dent them the advantage of dead space or speed.
“13 Hours” is a video that deals nicely with zones 1-4.
I highly recommend it as a watch.
Indirect fire from mortars is effect in denying dead space to intruders. If you think that you enjoy personal freedom, try to acquire 1 to 3 mortars and several hundred rounds.
Wolf thinks that individual ownership of such weapons can be justified but doubts it will ever be practically permitted.
This all makes good sense but when barricading inside a structure I think about an assault with Molotov cocktails. That could reverse things quickly.
What sticks in my mind is “The Dirty Dozen” movie where grenades and gasoline are tossed in the bomb shelter and Dave Crockett’s quote when asked about their chances in the Alamo. It is purported that he said: ‘I don’t like being hemmed in like this’.
An important aspect of family protection is to plan an escape route to a secluded area that you know well. If you are lucky enough to pre-plan you can have vehicles loaded and supplies staged at the refuge.
Maybe this will be covered in part 3. There are lots of variable to consider; this is a good topic and write-up,
The concept of defense in depth that the author is laying out is certainly a valid one. However, the number of sentries his plan would require is significant. I’d recommend looking into some force multipliers such as motion detectors connected to floodlights, or in a WROL situation, trip flares or other mechanically activated alarms. I’d also look into dogs, who can provide an early warning regarding intrusions into Areas 3&4. I prefer GSDs and Belgian Malinois, but I’m probably a bit biased on that. These measures will help reduce the number of human sentries required, freeing up personnel for other critical tasks.
Also, I would recommend giving your sentries remotes for floodlights located away from their positions for periods of low or limited light, rather than using spotlights. Spotlights, like tracers, work both ways.
Francis,
Your point on the force multipliers is a great way to reduce the number of sentries needed. Especially when you stated giving “sentries remotes for floodlights located away from their positions of low or limited light.”
The article was meant to show how many sentries would be ideal, however many groups would be unable to dedicate so much manpower to this; therefore they will have to make do with that they have. Force multipliers for sentries are a great way of supplementing or cutting down on the number of sentries required to secure your home.
Hi Tyler,
Found it and quickly read though it:
FM3-90 Chapter 9 The Area Defense
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-90/ch9.htm
Tactics – Patrol Base
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAfGk6zKRdQ
This is good stuff I might use, yet the tactics may not work well for the average prepper. Learning how to conduct patrols is very important and should be done, if it can be done. However, most lack the training and manpower to field a 6 man patrol. I could probably pull off a semblance of a patrol, yet my feet disqualify me. Different tactics for different folks is a good idea. For example if I am now old and slow, then the tactics I can use are necessarily different than what the young and fit can do. Keeping it simple also helps ensure that a plan can be executed well, rather than not at all. Simple is reliable.
Basically the prepper can use military tactics in it’s rudimentary form. Most attackers will have zero idea about tactics, and will likely be taken by surprise. Instead of attempting to defend the entire perimeter with very little manpower, it might be best to allow attackers entrance into a funnel that makes the task much more manageable, as one by one they must negotiate a choke point. This is essentially a form of an ambush. Other simple ambushes can also be orchestrated. For example if one can defend in area 4, and the terrain is favorable, a barricade could be placed after a sharp turn in a road, and long distance rifle fire become a far linear ambush. Although effectiveness is lower than a classic L ambush initiated by a claymore, and full auto bursts into the kill box, the risk to defenders is low. And that is good for us who are old and slow. And because the barricade is far from the homestead, and is defended in this way, it is an effctive deterrent, if not an effective ambush. A one eyed fat man, could however, be quite effective.
We are just getting started on this topic… The article is a good introduction. I hope we have more of this in the future.
Hi Tyler,
Found it and quickly read though it:
FM3-90 Chapter 9 The Area Defense
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-90/ch9.htm
Tactics – Patrol Base
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAfGk6zKRdQ
This is good stuff I might use, yet the tactics may not work well for the average prepper. Learning how to conduct patrols is very important and should be done, if it can be done. However, most lack the training and manpower to field a 6 man patrol. I could probably pull off a semblance of a patrol, yet my feet disqualify me. Different tactics for different folks is a good idea. For example if I am now old and slow, then the tactics I can use are necessarily different than what the young and fit can do. Keeping it simple also helps ensure that a plan can be executed well, rather than not at all. Simple is reliable.
Basically the prepper can use military tactics in it’s rudimentary form. Most attackers will have zero idea about tactics, and will likely be taken by surprise. Instead of attempting to defend the entire perimeter with very little manpower, it might be best to allow attackers entrance into a funnel that makes the task much more manageable, as one by one they must negotiate a choke point. This is essentially a form of an ambush. Other simple ambushes can also be orchestrated. For example if one can defend in area 4, and the terrain is favorable, a barricade could be placed after a sharp turn in a road, and long distance rifle fire become a far linear ambush. Although effectiveness is lower than a classic L ambush initiated by a claymore, and full auto bursts into the kill box, the risk to defenders is low. And that is good for us who are old and slow. And because the barricade is far from the homestead, and is defended in this way, it is an effctive deterrent, if not an effective ambush. A one eyed fat man, could however, be quite effective.
We are just getting started on this topic… The article is a good introduction. I hope we have more of this in the future.
Tunnel Rabbit,
I’m glad you looked through them! The tactics can be easily adapted for the modern prepper.
There are different ways to do patrols – 6 man patrols are impractical for most prepper groups. But a 2 man patrol in a vehicle would allow you to save your feet and still provide decent security on your patrol.
Using vehicles as a form of maneuver and counterattack could also bolster your efforts to deter or defeat intruders.
I absolutely agree about using obstacles to funnel intruders into one avenue of approach, leading into a deliberate ambush. While you may not have claymores, you can still use fireworks launched vertically in the sky (at your command from far away) as a way to temporarily halt intruders, forcing them to stay in the kill box. This operates under the same principles as the claymore, although it is non lethal.
All the points are of note. However the points about using a 223 over 762 or using a bolt gun for some advantage are interesting. The goal is to stop the attacker quickly and with minimum risk. Efficiency is the name of the game. Get it done
Hi Bret,
The idea is not to let attackers probe and discover the strengths and weakness and formulate an attack. All warfare is based upon deception. A scout can purposely entice defenders to fire on him at different point on the perimeter. The odds of hitting the scout would be low. Rather than show all our cards, ” it is better to pretend we are weak where we are strong” (Sun Tzu).
Bret,
I agree, you want to be efficient and minimize risk… but probing attacks are a real risk to face. COP Keating is a great example of how probing attacks were effectively used by the Taliban to analyze the defenses, building to a massed attack which ultimately overrun an American position.