Terror in Texas: An Active Shooter, by Sophie

This is a wake-up call for all of you who think you’re ready when the Schumer Hits the Fan (SHTF). Whatever trigger may cause the mayhem, you think you’re ready for it because you read all the advice from experts like SurvivalBlog so that your prepared to handle anything thrown at you.

Well I’m here to tell you that when it does come your way, either by lack of practice, planning, forgetfulness or not doing what you know you should, life can turn for the worst to immediately change your life and those you love. Yesterday was my day to “wake up and smell the coffee”.

My husband and I awoke at 6 am and put my youngest son on the bus to high school 17 miles from our home. We had just taken our oldest son, a Freshman, to a small rural college in the west Texas town of Alpine (population 5,900) 5 hours away. The primary reason we chose west Texas is the rural ranching focus far away from large cities.

My life is pretty ordinary. I began the morning by feeding our chickens, milk goats, dogs and cats, yet the world came to a stop when I casually glanced at my phone around 9:30 am. I had missed several phone calls and text messages from our oldest son.

What he wrote turned my world upside down: “Mom, there’s is an active shooter at the school and they’ve locked down every school campus in Alpine.” Simultaneously, there was also a bomb threat at the university and hospital.

Stunned, I immediately cried out loud for God to protect my son from all evil, calling on the Lord to keep him safe. I next called my husband to come home immediately and then my mother and pastor to begin praying.

What I didn’t know yet was that the shooter was a high school freshman girl who shot another female student, then turned the gun on herself and committed suicide. A federal officer was also accidentally shot by another during all the confusion.

While the three shooting victims were taken to the hospital, multiple law enforcement agencies descended in force on the small town to look for other active shooters. Between reading “active shooter” texts from my son and the university, school phone calls of “active shooter” alerts and campus lock down featured on Fox News reporting live in Alpine I almost threw up.

The school messages told everyone to shelter in place. This was later changed to directing everyone on campus to evacuate immediately to the civic center in town.

When the school shooting was over and law enforcement (kudos to the men in blue!) determined there were no other shooters, they spent the day and better part of the evening making sure there wasn’t a bomb at the university.

That was 12 hours later and hindsight is 20/20. My immediate actions and reactions were tested beyond my understanding. Looking back on that day filled with prayer, tears, confusion, anxiety, misinformation and lots of waiting taught me about myself, my son and how my family responds in a crisis.

After it was over, my son was scared, but fine. He helped other students, took charge and performed well, just as he was taught. But the lessons I learned are valuable and I wish to pass them on to others. Many are so simple, yet there were unseen events I could have never prepared for.

Here’s what I did wrong:

  1. Didn’t keep my cell phone charged or check it often enough. When I got the text messages from my son they were 25 minutes old, which seems like a lifetime in a shooting situation. Not getting hold of me, my son began making decisions on his own. When I really needed to communicate my cell phone was almost dead. I was frantically running around trying to find a charger. I also turned down the volume on the phone ringer so that I didn’t hear his frantic phone calls. Always be prepared.
  2. Stay or go? After learning of an active shooter, my first response was to drive the 5 hours to Alpine. Guess what? I couldn’t find my car keys! I had not put them in the basket on the dining room table my husband had suggested just a few nights before. More wasted time frantically running around and causing lots of stress!
  3. Active shooter plan wasn’t updated. Although our family discussed what to do in the event of an active shooter at the high school, when my son went off to college we didn’t update it. We discussed before leaving him at college to “head home” in case of emergency, but didn’t’ take into consideration this may not always be possible. We also didn’t have a Plan B or C. That was a big mistake. Formulating a strategy under pressure usually doesn’t yield the best results and causes undue stress. See below.
  4. Kids don’t always follow the plan. When I finally spoke to my son he had already left campus and was at a rest stop outside of town, unsure what to do next. I said come home, he said no. Trying to not argue, with the sirens blaring in the background, he informed me “they” would go to a café in the next small town 22 miles away and call me from there. They? My son had brought along 2 girls from class with him and he now was making decisions jointly. Didn’t see that one coming.
  5. No backup plan. I had told him to head home in the event of an emergency, but didn’t plan beyond that, nor did I take into account if for some reason he couldn’t come home. Then what? With no backup plan they were in a quandary: they couldn’t go back to school because it was being evacuated to the civic center. Later they decided to return to town and stay at a friend’s parent’s house that was empty and only used when they visit their son at school. Eventually 7 students stayed there while the situation worked itself out.
  6. No cash. Although I had given my son a hundred dollars and told him to put it away in case of emergency, he spent it without replacing it. That was his gas money to get out of Dodge. This time the ATM’s worked. Next time?
  7. No cell service. Cell phones don’t work inside the high school where my younger son was in class. I didn’t have either son’s class schedules that would have allowed me quick access. I needed to inform my youngest of the situation and that our family was preparing to drive to Alpine. This meant relying on others to tell me where my son was located. A new person at the school front desk took the call, buy disregarded my emergency instructions to bring my son to the office and call me. Always know where your kids are!
  8. OPSEC. When a well-meaning, but inquisitive high school counselor over heard my frantic conversation with my youngest son, she promptly chided me for not following procedure and I should have let the government take control of my son and evacuate to the civic center. Do you remember Hurricane Katrina? Another mistake: No matter how well their intentions, do not tell others your emergency situation or future plans. Keep that only a need-to-know basis.
  9. New state gun laws changed the rules for guns on campus. We chose Alpine in part because my oldest son could bring guns to school and hunt on the weekends if he turned them in to campus police. Like most Texas children, my son was raised around guns, is very responsible when using them and is a very good shot. The option to defend himself was taken away when Texas passed open carry, which at first unbeknownst to us, restricts students from having any guns on campus unless they have a concealed weapons permit and are 21 years old. We didn’t have a plan in place to counteract this, which left my very capable, level headed son defenseless.
  10. We didn’t know where the school would take our son in theevent of an emergency. Enough said.

We did get some things right. Here’s a list:

  1. I had a full gas tank ready to go.
  2. Before leaving for college we gave our son an Atlas, fullemergency backpack, snacks and water for his truck and dorm important since the school provides all his meals.
  3. A compass, sleeping bag and tent were also ready in his dorm room.
  4. We strongly advised our college son to explore his surroundings on the first weekend away at school, which he did. Hiking the nearby mountains gave him the “lay of the land” in his new surroundings and by asking others to join him he met the new friend whose parents house he stayed at during the emergency.
  5. High school son was ready for immediate action. I kept him in the loop and was a part of our family decision making process. We discussed our options via speaker phone, which gave him some measure of control during the situation. It was a big lesson for the youngest too.
  6. Had both schools phone number on speed dial and the school address.
  7. Made a predetermined rendezvous point between home and school to stay at until help arrived in case my son couldn’t make the drive all the way home. It wasn’t used this time, but what about the next?
  8. Took the time out of our nightly routine to practice shooting our gun just the night before it happened.
  9. Kept our Pastor in the loop. Not only did Pastor personally drive our son to Alpine and help select a church for him to attend, but they spent the long drive discussing the Lord, life and future just before he left. Salvation is the end game, right?
  10. Didn’t react until we knew fully what was going on. We cried and prayed, but in the end kept our cool helping direct our son away from danger.

May you never need to use these lessons. In the end what matters the most is faith in God, family and love. I will never again think it can’t happen out in the country or to our family. Times are perilous so you must be prepared. May God Bless you and keep you safe.

Hurricane Matthew–Some Lessons Learned

Dear Editor:
Although I shouldn’t have been, I was once again amazed at the panic and last minute attempts to prepare, as Hurricane Matthew approached Florida. Florida’s geography dictates that there is only one way to travel to get out of the state, and that is north, unless you own a boat or plane.  The interstate freeways and highways get a lot of traffic and the stores get cleaned out, by hurricane refugees.  The parking lot of the Walmart that I visited was full of recreational vehicles (RVs).  Many of their owners were standing around with nowhere to go.  When a nearby gas station had what looked like a fuel resupply truck pull in there was a stampede of people on foot with empty gas cans lining up at the pump and blocking cars from getting in.

Be prepared and top off as soon as you hear the word “Hurricane”:

Nearly everything sold out.  Bread, milk, water in all containers, the camping sections were cleared, gas, diesel, propane, and butane were all gone.  The big box stores did quite a bit of business in plywood and lumber. Even car batteries took an inventory hit.  Empty propane bottles and gas cans were also sold out even if there was nothing to put in them.  Most of this happened the day before the hurricane.  The day prior to that there was plenty of almost everything available.  Where things became available there were very long lines.  The parking lots of Lowe’s and Home Depot were traffic nightmares of trucks and there were long lines of carts inside.  It might take you an hour to get your shopping done there.

All of those stranded RVs meant that people were literally living in the parking lot of Walmart.  They didn’t know when they’d be out of there so they just started stocking up.  They were sitting right there with their hands out when new things were put on the shelf.  Sometimes they didn’t even stock shelves. If it were a critical item, like bottled water, the store staff just put a pallet in a big isle and it was gone within minutes. 
They could actually see the trucks coming in and unloading supplies.  They also had the bathrooms backed up and were making a mess because they didn’t want to fill the black water tanks in their RVs.  With a large group of people waiting right there to buy what they want you have little hope of driving from your house and finding anything in the stores.

Make sure you have enough gasoline to get where you need to get:

There was a wagon train of RVs coming from South Florida.  Many of them had an extra tank of gas but still ended up sitting out the hurricane in central Florida.  They made the mistake of thinking that a full tank of gas and one extra would be enough.  They ended up finding out that everyone fleeing ahead of them had bought up every drop of available gas.

On a personal note, I have a dozen Jerry cans of 5 gallon capacity each, which equates to three full tanks of gas.  Putting those 12 cans in my SUV takes up a serious amount of space.  External mounts or other transport means are something that I really have to consider.

[JWR Adds: Storing gasoline cans inside a vehicle can of course be quite hazardous, so sturdy roof racks for SUVs are a must. Not only are gasoline vapors toxic, but they are also explosive. Depending on their design, the frames of many RVs and fifth wheel trailers can be extended to support a 3-foot wide cargo deck. Typically these are made with a sturdy steel framework topped by a heavy welded wire mesh, or expanded metal. These can often take the weight of gas cans, propane cylinders, generators, or a blackwater tank dump cart. A mesh is ideal, since it doesn’t accumulate snow or rainwater and it also provides umpteen places to attach the ends of cargo straps and bungee cords. I advise readers to check with your local RV center, to see if this a viable option, with your particular vehicle or trailer.]

There are no hotel or motel rooms available:

Florida has an agreement with several other states to provide emergency aid in situations like hurricane recovery.  Power and construction companies will pre-stage outside the threat area so that they are ready to move in and restore services such as electricity, water, and roads.  What happens is that these companies will buy up hundreds of motel and hotel rooms fairly close to the area they are moving into just outside the danger zone.  Fuel tanker trucks and other supplies will give preferential treatment to keep the restoration equipment running.  Many people found that they were competing with the government and private utility companies as well as other evacuees for rooms and supplies.  Millions of people were moving around attempting to get out of the way of the hurricane.  Quite a few slept in their cars when they ran out of gas or couldn’t find rooms.  You will need more gas and food to get farther that you initially think.  The motels and hotels were selling out to big companies paying a single bill, and thus were able to charge even if they didn’t actually occupy the rooms. It is preferable that they do this instead of renting out rooms to dozens of individuals.  I imagine this problem was also going on far into Georgia.

The longer you take to decide that you need to evacuate, then the farther you will have to travel through areas that have been cleaned out of supplies.

Know your last minute “top off”  items and prioritize your shopping:

Decide whether it is worth it to go into town.  If it is, know where you are going, what you are going for, and what you are getting first.  This is not a regular shopping day! This is not the time to check out the latest shoe sale when you notice the sign, spend ten minutes letting the kids browse through the toy section, or waste more time driving to the 20th gas station when every one of them you’ve seen so far has been sold out.   This is not a good time to eat out, either.  A lot of people are out shopping and many of them are out eating.  You might be waiting a long time to get your food.  You just don’t want to spend time out with the masses.  Instead, have a prioritized list, and plan for the time you’re going to spend in the check-out line.  The closer you get to game time the more likely you are to encounter panicked people, a washed out road, or a broken down vehicle on your way home.

If evacuating, know where you are going and plan to adjust your route:

Everyone should have routes and alternate routes ready, but in the case of a moving disaster like a hurricane you have to be able to adjust, on the fly.  Look at the predicted path of the hurricane and make a route that takes you best away from not only the trouble areas but the areas that are going to be cleaned out of supplies.  Hurricane Matthew moved along the East coast of Florida from South to North.  Many people just fled North without thinking.  Some of them drove straight up the East coast and abandoned their vehicles within sight of the ocean when there was no gas to go any farther.  If they had thought about it then  they could have headed straight West to the opposite coast, which was fairly untouched, and even moved South as the Hurricane moved away.  I don’t know for certain, but I’m guessing there would be a lot more rooms available for rent on the West coast and in South Florida.  If you move in the direction of the herd then you will compete with the herd for everything you need.

You might not get to come back anytime soon:

The National Guard was posted on several washed out roads and bridges and they were turning people away until engineers decided the area was safe.  Cars were starting to pile up at these checkpoints when people were out of gas.  They calculated that they had enough gas to get home, which was true, but they had nothing left when they were turned away.

Your dentist, doctor (prescription refill), or chiropractor may
not be coming back anytime soon, either.

Be dressed to work:

If you’re sitting around bare-foot and in a pair of shorts when a branch comes flying through the window you’ll quickly realize that you’re not attired to handle howling wind and rain, broken glass everywhere, and dogs barking as the power going out..  Simply put; be dressed to handle things.  You may have to immediately deal with a problem outside and running to get dressed first isn’t going to cut it.  This doesn’t mean that you need be in a bomb suit or dressed like you are on a SWAT team.  Just have decent clothes and sturdy shoes on with a few things at hand (such as a flashlight and rain jacket).  Knowing exactly where your limb saw is is a good idea.  Hopefully its not in the workshop at the other end of the property.

Point out a few key things to people:

“The fire extinguishers are here and here.  The limb saw and axe are over there.  I am putting flashlights in these three places, they are to be returned there when they are not in use.  We are eating this food first.” etc.

If you can’t do repairs yourself, you are going to have to wait to have them done unless you are willing to spend serious money on it:

Construction and repair services will be busy with more work than they can handle.  Everything from fencing and air conditioning, to well repair will be booked up for weeks or even months in some areas.  Even with the hurricane long gone you may be without water or power for quite some time.  If a tree took out your air conditioning, plan on handling the weather for a long time.  On a positive note, if you are skilled in these areas, many companies will be hiring to handle the increased work load.  You might be able to find some temporary work if you are in the position to do so.

Several of the companies I mentioned will pack up and leave town to more damaged areas where business is booming and they can charge a fortune for their services.  This can reduce services available in your area.

Many companies were doing last minute boarding of windows and such for businesses, and they were charging a premium for being out with the hurricane almost upon them.

Eat while you can:

While the power and water is running you should all have a good meal in you.  Don’t wait until the emergency is in full force when you might be dealing with any number of problems to cook for yourself by flashlight, using up your propane.  You should consider preparing the next meal while you have better means to do so, as well.  Worse case scenario you eat it a little cold, best case you have to reheat it.  This allows you to save your preps, use the most perishable items first, and focus on other things as time goes on.  Brewing up a pot or two of coffee if you are reliant on it might not be a bad idea.  Even if you have to drink it cold it will stop the addiction headaches or give you that extra push if you’re up late into the night seeing to your property and/or dealing with damage.  This will save your instant coffee packs and other preps.  Of course these things should be done well in advance of possible outages.  Just because the power is on now while the hurricane is in full force doesn’t mean it won’t drop out on you in the midst of meal prep.

Take care of your hygiene while you can:

I find the idea of starting an emergency cleaned up appealing.  If you spend the day battening down your farm, handling animals, and moving things around you’ll want a shower before the power and water goes out.  Being a sweaty stinking mess is not fun for you or the people you live with when you have no air conditioning in the Florida heat for a few days.  Consider the rashes, the itching, the sanitation, infection,
etc.  This is a good time for a shave with hot running water while you have it.  Brushing your teeth when you might not be able to during the next 12 hours of mayhem wouldn’t hurt.

If it takes power or water, then do it early:

Laundry, dishes, bake a couple of loaves of bread, fill your gravity filter, the dog’s water bowl, coffee pot and tea kettle, water your indoor plants or garden so that you don’t use up your stored preps.  Charge the batteries on every battery-powered item you own.  Everyone should be good and hydrated.  We all know someone who doesn’t drink enough water, so start reminding people to drink more, now, while the water is running.  A lot of prepared prep food is dehydrated and will cause you to use your water stores to handle it.  Do these things well in advance of a loss of service.  Take a moment to wash and sanitize a bucket you plan on hauling or collecting drinking water in.  Stage some pre-filled buckets for flushing the toilets, and fill your bathtubs.

A few personal things:

An interesting thing I found out is that for many people the price of your gas container is irrelevant and considered gouging.  A brand new 5 gallon Jerry can with spout attachment, full of gas, should be sold for the price of the gas only (at the going rate).  To include the price of the can and spout, is now considered to be “taking advantage of people in an emergency” and price gouging.

I need a pre-planned way of dealing with a downed fence.  I had a tree almost take out a 20 foot section of chain-link.  My dogs would have been all over the neighbor’s cow and my sheep may have decided to go explore.

Everyone in my family has a micro LED light on a dog-tag style chain that they wear around their neck. This worked out really well.  No one is left in the dark with the lights going off and on no matter where they are or what they are doing.  Most tasks don’t require the higher power lights and lanterns.  It keeps everyone from running for the flashlights.  And it keeps the flashlights where they are supposed to be staged, and keeps them on their chargers.  Collect these afterward and store them somewhere with other preps or they will be gone when needed for the next emergency.

The first time the power goes out, I’m going to flip the breakers. The lights were flashing on and off rapidly and I lost a computer monitor to the power surges.  I usually unplug everything but I was keeping up to date on the latest weather report.

My safety goggles were invaluable during the times I went outside, since at times the amount of stuff blowing around was ridiculous.

I put a few essentials on the other side of the house in case a
potentially threatening large tree took out the other part of the house.

I had a low power way to connect to the Internet; which was a rugged tablet computer.  It didn’t have to be plugged into the wall, didn’t take nearly the power of laptop, could be charged with my smallest flexible solar panel and any battery bank, and used the common micro USB cable.  On this tablet I had bookmarked many weather and emergency websites.  Another tablet is loaded up with home school and some entertainment for the young ones.  This system works great for power and net management.

Having everything use the same kind of low voltage DC cable is well worth it.  I will probably have to upgrade to the newer USB-C form factor sooner or later.

We use Internet via limited phone data which works really well for us.  We have data on our phones and another device for our main service.  As soon as the hurricane was mentioned I shut the data on my phone down so that there would always be some available to check the Internet during and after the emergency.  I only turned it on when I checked the latest on the net and every other kind of browsing was restricted.

Make sure your health issues are up-to-date and taken care of.  As soon as we locked down for the hurricane someone in the house said “I need to see a dentist, this tooth has been bothering me for a week..”  Not good.  New eye glass prescription, or re-fill on medication would go along with this.

Same with your vehicles.  Oil changes, etc.  When was the last time you pulled that full-sized spare out from under the car and checked it?  It needs to be checked and maintained just like the others.  It may have piece of metal sticking out of it making it unable to hold air and you wouldn’t know it until you need to change a flat.

My emergency hand-crank radio was incredible.  It keeps you up to date and tells you when the next update is due.  One thing you have to do is have a quick class on using it: Its simple but the hand-crank is plastic and about six inches long.  A steady even crank is all you need to charge it up.   I’ve lost two over the years because someone thinks they are going to prove their manhood by going ballistic trying to spin it as fast as possible, which can break the crank. Trying to go super fast doesn’t generate enough extra energy to make it worth it; even if you succeed in this you’ve cranked it for 25 seconds instead of 30..

I fed all of my animals a little earlier in the day while the sun was out and the wind and rain were down.

My solar power system is over-sized by design so I pulled one of my largest panels off the ground mount and brought it inside.  If the winds ended up ripping all of the other panels off and taking them away then I would have at least one that could charge my smaller battery bank.

During the crisis, I kept a running non-digital list of problems we had or areas we needed to address. Many of those items ended up in this article, as “lessons learned.”
– D.D.

Letter Re: Glock 30 Pistol Product Review

Good Morning,
I have used the Glock 30 and Glock 30S as back-up guns along with the Glock 21 and Glock 41 a primary carry guns. I started carrying a Model 21 several years ago after training at Front Sight. I changed to the Model 41 after it was introduced by Glock because I prefer the longer sight radius and increased muzzle velocity that  it offers over the 21 or 30. I also switched from a Glock 30 to the Glock 30S as a back-up gun when the [lighter, thin slide] 30S became available.
 
One item that Pat left out of his review that is another plus for both the Model 30 and the 30S is that the 13 round magazine made for the Model 21 and 41 fits right into the 30 or the 30S. My hand is wide enough that I actually much prefer using the 13 round magazine in both of the smaller guns so that I have a place for my little finger. Most people I know who carry a Glock 30 or 30S have 13 round magazines in their magazine carrier for tactical reloads even if they carry a ten round magazine in the gun itself. You can also get aftermarket sleeves for the 13 round magazine that allow for a better “look and feel” when used with the smaller guns only. Since I primary carry the larger guns I do not use the sleeves.
 
Best Regards,  –  N.F.

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books:

Ham Radio Study Guide: Manual for Technician Class, General Class, and Amateur Extra Class

Get on the Air with HF Digital


Movies:

Sully

The Martian


Television:

Designated Survivor

Jericho

Music:

Holst: The Planets

The Very Best of Enya


Podcasts:

The Survivalist Podcast: Episode-04- TSP Rewind – You Can’t Lose as a Modern Survivalist

The Survival Show: Episode 286 – Debt, Finances and Precious Metals


Instructional Videos:

Building A Multi-Band HF Dipole Antenna

AR-15 – Detailed Step By Step Assembly / Build Instructions (HD Video)

Gear:

Morovision IR-14 – Phoenix Junior IR Beacon

Icom IC-718 Get On The Air HAM Radio Bundle

Trijicon ACOG with .223 Reticle

Economics and Investing:

China must wean itself off debt addiction if it is to avoid financial calamity, warns IMF chief

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Hubert Moolman: Silver Price Forecast: Higher Silver Prices For Many Years To Come

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Bank of England investigating dramatic overnight fall in pound

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Gold bounces back from biggest weekly drop this year

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Odds ‘n Sods:

I recently had the opportunity to tour Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (commonly called “The U.P.” or “Upper Michigan”) for the first time. It is a large, mostly forested expanse with a fairly light population density. The region measures 16,377 square miles–nearly twice the size of New Jersey. It is known for mosquitoes in the summer months and brutal cold and deep snow in the winter months. The folks there seem friendly and predominantly conservative. The only disappointments were seeing the scarcity of home vegetable gardens (and greenhouses), the scarcity of livestock, and seeing not nearly as much commercial row crop agriculture as I had expected. Together, these factors make the region less suitable for self-sufficiency in the event of a grid-down collapse. – JWR

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Patrice Lewis:  Why we garden in tires.

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10 DIY Home Hacks Every 30-Something Should Know

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Reader Peter S. alerted us to yet another concealed carry self defense success story:  Man shot, killed after robbing 2 at gunpoint in Tacoma

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This gives new meaning to the phrase “conflict of interest”: Hillary In Leaked Email: Saudi Arabia And Qatar Are Funding ISIS. (Thanks to DSV for the link.)

JWR’s Quote of the Day:

“There are two basic ways in which people can interact: by mutual agreement, or by one person using threats or violence to force his will upon another. The first can be labeled ‘consent’– both sides willingly and voluntarily agreeing to what is to be done. The second can be labeled ‘governing’ – one person controlling another. Since these two – consent and governing – are opposites, the concept of ‘consent of the governed’ is a contradiction. If there is mutual consent, it is not ‘government’; if there is governing, there is no consent. Some will claim that a majority; or the people as a whole, have given their consent to be ruled, even if many individuals have not. But such an argument turns the concept of consent on its head. No one, individually or as a group, can give consent for something to be done to someone else. That is simply not what ‘consent’ means. It defies logic to say, ‘I give my consent for you to be robbed.’ Yet that is the basis of the cult of ‘democracy’: the notion that a majority can give consent on behalf of a minority, That is not ‘consent of the governed’; it is forcible control of the governed, with the ‘consent’ of a third party.” – Larken Rose,Most Dangerous Superstition

Guest Article: Being (Part 4 in Intelligence for Preparedness), by Samuel Culper

This is the fourth and last article in a series about using intelligence for preparedness. I’m starting from square zero in order to introduce a new crop of Americans to the concept of using intelligence, to prove that there’s a need for intelligence, and to get readers quickly up to speed on how to incorporate it into their security planning. For a better foundation, be sure to read Part One, Part Two, and Part Three. (And check out the Ultimate ACE Startup Guide, too.)

Brief recap: In the first article, we established that prepared communities need intelligence because they’re going to have blind spots during an emergency or disaster. I recommended writing out a list called Intelligence Requirements. Before we build a house, we need to be organized with the right tools and materials. The same is true of intelligence, and our requirements prepare for us the path ahead. In the second article, I talked about shopping at the hardware store for our materials list. Once we have our requirements, we need to start satisfying them through intelligence gathering. I wanted to stress that we have to automate collection as much as possible now, and I offered some strategies on how to accomplish that. Collect information now while it’s cheap, easy, and readily available. Tomorrow it comes at a premium. The third article is about what we need to do immediately following an SHTF scenario. Consider it the “man your battle stations” article.

Our goals during an SHTF scenario should be producing early warning and threat intelligence. Phase Four of the Intelligence Cycle is production, which is the form our intelligence takes. For instance, we identify some gang members in the area, or we identify the location of a police roadblock, or maybe we’re tipped off about a threat in the area. We’ve received the information, it’s been vetted, and we assess that the information is accurate. Before we alert members of the group, we need to figure out how we’re going to spread the message. This is not a particularly difficult step, because we’re so limited in our options during an SHTF scenario.

I would recommend using what’s called a BOLO, or Be On the Look Out. This is simple and straightforward, and it quickly allows us to push out threat intelligence. What should people do with a BOLO alert? Be on the look out. Everyone can understand that, so there needs to be a phone number or radio call sign and frequency, or some other information about means of contact to report a sighting. For dissemination, the BOLO can be delivered over an hourly or daily local radio address, it can be printed out on a sheet of paper (image below), and/or briefed at a daily community meeting.

Now comes the most important part – how do we spread awareness and get community involvement? In a worst-case SHTF scenario, I envision something like this for my community…

I go door to door around my neighborhood and check on my neighbors, all of whom I already know. I explain that I’ve set up a listening post and am monitoring the emergency situation. I ask for help in keeping their eyes peeled. If they are very responsive, then I get them signed up for a proactive community watch (think A Failure of Civility), where they will help me monitor who’s coming in and out of the neighborhood, as well as what’s going on just outside that line of sight. For everyone else, I will explain that we’ll be working 24/7 to alert the neighborhood about what’s going on. Doing this, or having someone go around door to door for me, will allow us to gauge the neighborhood’s attitudes and opinions about what’s going on (not to mention, identifying who’s home and who’s not). We call this ‘atmospherics’ and, as an intelligence analyst, it’s vital for me to understand the mood of the community.

Now here comes the difficult part. In a grid-down or any other SHTF situation, how do I do push out intelligence to the community? Grid-down: by courier and word of mouth, most likely. Here are a number of ways that we can disseminate the early warning and/or threat intelligence to community members of like-mind who agree to help provide security for the area. What follows are merely some suggestions…

  1. Town Hall Meetings – As long as we have incoming information, one of my first steps for my neighborhood is to establish a daily town hall where community members are briefed on the day’s new information. At least for my area, being proactive and building a sense of cooperation is part of my plan to ensure that we all stay as calm as possible. The other part of this town hall includes eliciting feedback about those who will be in need. It’s a great way for me to update my neighbors on what’s going on, and in turn continue to gather information about developing situations in the community. Additionally, this provides me a great deal of legitimacy that I can use to ensure that we make good security decisions. The last thing I want is for the neighborhood to descend into a Mad-Max-esque sequel where poor decisions can exploit a sense of panic or unrest. That begins with building cooperation on a neighbor-to-neighbor basis.
  2. Radio Nets – We should already be linking up with ham radio operators in the area (and becoming ham radio operators ourselves – I recommend the Gordon West books on Technician Class and General Class ham licenses). This is not only going to be key in expanding my access to information, but this is also going to allow me to disseminate intelligence to my own area. Outside of high frequency ham radio, we have some other options, especially concerning low-power transmissions that would just cover the bubble of our immediate area. Transmitting on a predetermined VHF/UHF frequency would allow the neighborhood access to our scheduled updates. Another option is FM radio. By the letter of the law, I believe one must obtain a license to transmit on low-power AM/FM. Transmitting on a local FM frequency would be a great way to provide scheduled updates to the area, too. The time is now to link up with local radio operators who are like-minded, and begin identifying solutions for your area. Get your local radio expert to weigh in on what’s best for your area.
  3. Micro-Newspapers – The Appalachian Messenger is a great example of a micro-newspaper. It was started to compete with their local liberal paper, and is enjoying great circulation for their area. This may not be a great solution for the average community, but as long as we have the means, then we can churn out a one-pager each week containing the weekly roll-up of information – an intelligence summary, if you will.
  4. Phone Calls – Yeah, I know – it puts you “on the grid”, but there’s no more efficient way of getting into contact with folks as long as cell towers are working. My first preference is to meet with community members face to face; however, I’d also like to attempt to call neighbors who aren’t home and find out where they are. As one caveat: remember to never transmit sensitive information electronically, including via email or phone.

As we round out this SHTF Intelligence: Getting Started series, I just want to encourage everyone again to consider information as a part of preparedness. We don’t need to be James Bond or begin complex espionage operations; but we do need access to timely, relevant, accurate, specific, actionable, and predictive information. Having all the food, water, guns, and medical supplies in the world does you little good if you suffer what we call ‘strategic shock’, or being exploited by a threat that you didn’t know existed. Please learn about active and potential threats in your area. Intelligence reduces uncertainty, and I want to give my family and community every operational advantage over area threats. That includes domain awareness – the informational advantage over those threats. If we can remain better informed than they are, then we have a significant advantage.

If you enjoyed this series, then be sure to check out my book, SHTF Intelligence: An Intelligence Analyst’s Guide to Community Security. At around 200 pages, it’s a thorough read, but contains everything you need to know, step by step, in order to set up an area intelligence section. Every community needs a way to gather and analyze information, and this book is a great way to build that capability. Just follow the instructions. Intelligence may not be something that you’re particularly interested in, however, I’d recommend having the book on your shelf for when you find that special someone who wants to pick up the mantle for your group or community.

Letter: Using Military Ammo Cans for Faraday Shielding

Dear JWR:
The use of military surplus ammo boxes as Faraday shields was recently mentioned again in SurvivalBlog.  But readers should be reminded that these cans will not work in the configuration where they are normally purchased.  This is because the boxes have a rubber gasket to seal the lid from water and that makes the lid not in [electrical] contact with the body of the can, thereby losing the [EMP] shield effect.  Regards, – Dave X.

JWR Replies:  You are correct.  As mentioned previously in SurvivalBlog, the best approach is to remove the rubber gasket,  rough up the metal on both the top edge of the can lip and in the gasket groove (with sandpaper, a wire brush wheel, or a Dremel tool rotary stone) and replace the thickness of the gasket with stainless steel wool which is tacked in place with small globs of epoxy at two inch intervals.  (NOT a continuous seam of epoxy!)

Economics and Investing:

Simon Black’s Sovereign Man e-letter reports: “It’s official. The United States government closed out the 2016 fiscal year that ended a few days ago on Friday September 30th with a debt level of $19,573,444,713,936. ??That’s an increase of $1,422,827,047,452 over last year’s fiscal year close. ??Incredible. By the way, that debt growth amounts to roughly 7.5% of the entire US economy.”

JWR’s Comment: Or look at it this way: The $1.4 Trillion in new debt surpasses all of the debt that the Federal government accumulated inclusively from 1787 to 1979—yes, and all in just one year. In all, in his eight years in office BHO has accumulated $9 trillion in debt. Our elected officials are burdening the future generations of Americans with a level of public debt that is almost mathematically impossible to ever repay. The handwriting is on the wall, folks. So be wise and invest accordingly. The U.S. Dollar is doomed, so hedge into tangibles—most notably: productive farm land, silver, guns, and ammunition!

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Over at Investopedia:  Why should you invest in tangible assets?

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Why Toyota is leaving electric cars to Tesla and GM

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Banks ponder the meaning of life as Deutsche agonizes.  JWR’s Comment: Be prepared for another global credit crisis, folks.  This could result in bail-ins–which are levies on Bank deposits.

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Over at the deservedly-popular Yer Ol’ Woodpile Report blog, the Editor “Ol’ Remus” comments wittily: “He who panics first, panics best” –  This of course is regarding the urgency of escaping the death traps of the big cities in the midst of crises.

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I recently purchased a state-of-the-art FLIR countermeasure field camouflage shelter, produced by SnakebiteTactical.com.I was quite impressed with the quality of construction. These shelters—about the same size and slightly heavier than a poncho liner–are handmade in Montana. They render the user nearly invisible to even the most sensitive FLIRs and cameras with similar technology. Thanks to the generosity of Snakebite Tactical, one of these shelters will soon be added as a prize in he upcoming rounds of our bi-monthly Nonfiction Writing Contest. As time permits, I plan to publish a review of these shelters including some field tests, using my own FLIR weapons sight, in a variety of weather conditions. Be sure to visit SnakebiteTactical.com’s web site to check out their counter-FLIR ThermTac Ghost Suit ghillies and their shelters! – JWR

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The folks from Makezine and Maker Faire have a lot of new project plans available–and some of those projects have prepping applicability.

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Reader D.S.V. was the first of several to send us this news link: Pope Says Not Right to Identify Islam with Violence.  JWR’s Comment: What will be his next pronouncement?  Perhaps that it is not right to identify sunlight with warmth.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“My take on socialism is this: Socialism only seems to work when you don’t fully implement it, when you keep enough capitalism around to pay socialism’s bills, at least for a time. It’s the difference between milking the cow and killing it. Socialism has no theory of wealth creation; it’s just a destructive, envy-driven fantasy about redistributing it after something else (and somebody else) creates it first.” – Lawrence W. Reed

Notes for Monday – October 10, 2016

Today’s lead article by our Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio, is near and dear to my heart.  This is because I and all of the adult members of my immediate family carry either Glock 30 or Glock 30S pistols regularly. I personally recommend the .45 ACP  Glock 30 pistol for all but the most frail shooters.

But please heed this advice: Learn how to maintain it,  buy a practical holster for it (I prefer the BladeTech Kydex holsters), buy plenty of spare magazines for it (and half of those should be the larger Glock 21 magazines that hold 13 rounds), buy several magazine pouches for it,  and get the very best training that you can afford, at a top notch school like Gunsite.  Your life, or the life of your loved ones may depend on it, sooner than you think! – JWR