How to Fight: Part VI

[Rascaldees 174]

Alright so in this part of the series we're going to discuss exceptionally useful skills for militia members that are off the battlefield and closer to home. This includes people that keep safe houses, people that carry supplies and people that carry messages to and from militia to other militia. 

 

A militia is NOT an army. This is a very clear and very defined restriction which we must face. We do not have the funding, access to weaponry, personnel or otherwise to accomplish being anywhere near close to that. I'm going to stay away from skills like farming in this topic not because they are not useful but because most preppers and militia alike have already dedicated so much time to farming and learning how to do small plot farming and rooftop gardening that it's a bit redundant to discuss it even here. That said, farming is an invaluable skill that most people should learn even if it's just a hobby. 

 

So... let's get started. We will begin with generalized skills that ALL militia should learn. 

 

Additionally we will be discussing the potential for militia dues and how they can be helpful. 

 

 

 

Cyber Security: 

 

In this day and age information spreads faster than most people can think and with the amount of internet surveillance it's no wonder that more and more criminals are being caught due to Facebook and twitter posts than ever before. I have no doubt in my mind that even this website is being secretly watched. Law enforcement, in most scenarios, will likely be on the side of a militia during a civil war. You are their families, their friends and neighbors and you are the people they must serve. That is not to say there will be no police officers against the cause of liberty but I have determined through watching other police officers and talking to them that they will in fact by large and far be on our side. 

 

The first step in cyber security is to use a different password for every site you have to sign in on. This prevents someone from hacking into one password and then using it to gain access to the rest of your data just in case there is a breach. A strong password is a minimum of sixteen characters long and includes upper and lowercase letters, symbols and numbers. A hacker is not someone guessing your password most of the time but a computer program that they have written which guesses multiple billions of words, dates and number combinations each second which is how they obtain your password through brute force (most hacking attempts). 

 

EXAMPLE PASSWORD: 

 

[email protected]

 

Phising is another way of gaining information. Do not click links on spam emails and if someone requests your password make certain that they are the person they say they are as well as of course making sure that they aren't pretending to be that person. For example if your "bank" calls you and asks for your PIN/password/authentication code among the usual details they ask for, do not give them those details immediately. Instead hang up the phone and call them back. This seems stupid but scammers use specific programs to make their phone numbers appear to be banks in order to steal people's identities through "legitimate" calls that appear to be the right number on your caller ID. 

 

Likewise, never say 'yes' to a phone call you do not recognize. A new trend in scam callers is to trick a person into saying 'yes' on a recorded line which they then edit to make it appear you have agreed to sign up for a subscription, to receive a product or the like which they will then take to court after your "failure" to pay them. In this scenario, all the evidence is against you and thusly you will lose. Alternatively, never answer your phone if you don't recognize the number... although this of course has its own drawbacks. 

 

And do remember that anything you post online, even if you delete it, can be retrieved by specialists through the servers of the network you are posting on or by admin logs in the case of things like Facebook. Your militia plans, rally points, safe houses should NEVER be posted online as it is all too easy for someone to retrieve that information and use it against you. No where on the internet is safe from prying eyes. OPSEC is your friend. 

 

 

 

Mechanical Knowledge:

 

Regardless of if it's knowledge of how to fix a broken vehicle beyond changing a tire, knowing how to work plumbing or perform maintenance on a hydraulic/pneumatic system all militia members should have at least a basic understanding of how these things work. Knowing what is wrong with a vehicle before getting it back to a maintenance worker will drastically shorten repair times. Likewise, knowing how to work plumbing or electrical work will assist in many ways including the destruction of enemy equipment. 

 

For example, knowing how to build a timer from a few scrap electronics can assist with the manufacturing of explosive devices. Likewise, knowing how to build an operational radio is a skill I don't believe I need to write about. The list goes further and further. Even knowing how to build a simple calculator can be invaluable to your supply folks which makes their supply jobs far more easy than it is to do without them. 

 

 

 

Basic Firearm Safety and Marksmanship: 

 

I don't believe that everyone in a militia should own or carry a firearm. However all members should at least know basic firearm safety and youth should especially be taught this the moment they are mature and physically capable of being taught this skill (assuming there are no disabilities that prevent it). Firearm safety used to be taught in the public school system when I was a child. I remember it to this day: 'stop, don't touch the gun, get an adult'. Mind you that was made for a class of second graders, but the message in its infancy was still well and clear; guns are a dangerous tool that is not to be played with. Especially by those who have no understanding of what that tool is meant for. 

 

That said, most militia tend to harp too much on this specific piece of training; even going as far as to continually repeat training over and over again even to experienced shooters. Divide your training groups into classes and teach people what they should be learning at their level. You never know when your child might come across a gun if it was dropped in a park somewhere by a criminal trying to get away from law enforcement. Your gun cabinet is not the only source of guns in the world and many people seem to forget that. This is even more prominent in a world where people are downright crazy and might even knowingly put a gun in your child's hand. 

 

 

 

Basic hand to hand training: 

 

This applies both as a form of combat, discipline and of course as a form of self defense. Hand to hand training is an exceptional bonding tool between fighters of all ages and ranks and walks of life. It should be done safely; wearing protective gear if available and never striking full force. When panic and adrenaline set in, the fighter you trained will strike full force without ever thinking about it. Hand to hand training is also useful for when, for whatever reason, you cannot reach or cannot draw your firearm or are too close to use it. And yes, it's entirely possible for your opponent to get too close for you to use your pistol. Unlikely... but possible. 

 

 

 

Now for skills that are exceptionally useful for support members of militia. I'll be avoiding things like mechanical knowledge and the like as it's already been stated though obviously those members should know more than just that. 

 

 

 

How to Cook: 

 

Cooking is a valuable skill and a well made meal can revitalize and bring up the morale of even the most defeated troops. Knowing how to cook will be important as most times, meals will consist of few ingredients for militia members even in the best of circumstances. Likewise the proper preparation of foods and beverages reduces the risk of diseases. Having a person dedicated to cooking meals for a squad also means that dinner will be ready the moment that squad returns from field work; saving valuable time and effort on their parts that could be dedicated to sleeping or training rather than using an hour to cook themselves. 

 

 

 

Logistical Knowledge: 

 

Knowing how to run supplies is more than simply knowing how many beans and bullets are in the bins. It requires knowing how long those items will last due to spoilage, consumption, how they can be replaced, where they can be replaced, how to find them and procure more of them, how to store them effectively, how to issue them out and keep a record of what is issued and what is not, keeping a record of who brought what in and even more complex mechanisms that make the wheels of a fighting force turn. These sorts of personnel are invaluable in making sure that everyone has enough of everything to go around and knowing when it's proper to ration and when it isn't. Just because supplies are low does NOT mean it's time to ration supplies. In fact, sometimes though rarely it means the exact opposite. 

 

 

Construction: 

 

Knowing how to build a lean-to is great but knowing how to design and construct an entire building is even better. Individuals with these skills can potentially create well hidden and well fortified structures that are impossible to see from the air and near impossible to take with conventional ground forces. Entire underground facilities linking to several safehouses could even be constructed; providing an amazing area of consolidation for supplies as well as general militia planning and activity can take place. Naturally, skills like these on this scale will be hard to come by which is why militia should reach out to architects and engineers more often rather than always reaching out to lower class and lower middle class citizens as well as always reaching out to prior military. 

 

 

How to speak: 

 

In today's world the hearts and minds of the people are more important than ever and it's time to stop kidding ourselves. Most of us are not great speakers and most of us can't hold a truly convincing conversation. That is why politicians have jobs. They are charismatic and coupled that skill with logistical knowledge. Militia members with these skills can win over the hearts and minds of the people through radio broadcasts, propaganda paper leaflets and posters as well as public speeches whenever they are capable. 

 

 

Manufacturing: 

 

Explosives, ammunition, canned goods or even simply new socks are all useful to militia fighters and supporters alike. Supporters should learn something that helps their militia and crafting new items for them while they are away for field work is a huge help as it takes away time for them to do it themselves as well as adds to their workload of course. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now we come to the controversial topic of militia dues. 

 

We're all volunteers here. However money makes things a lot easier for things to happen and militia, like it or not, need it. They need it to buy new weapons, ammunition, to host training events, win the hearts and minds of the people through public works, fund websites (ahem, MyMilitia.com probably runs off of donations, ahem) and much more. I believe that while not all militia can institute militia dues nor should they necessarily instate them if they can avoid it; it is a useful tool. 

 

When I ran a militia in North Carolina we had militia dues. These dues were held by a treasurer who recorded in a log book the exact donation, who it came from the date and a witness signature. We used those donations to collectively assist other members in legally purchasing their firearms by pooling our money. We had specific rules, however. Whenever someone used militia funding to purchase a weapon they had to pay the amount back in full over time (the amount that they donated themselves was recorded in another log book for the total amount and reduced the payback amount significantly in most cases), they had to have donated to the militia fund, they had to have been a member of the militia for six months and they had to have trained with us at least four times in the past six months. This is obviously a summary of our rules and regulations we had as a militia but the system was not complicated, required multiple people to be present to record the payment and of course required a signature from our group leader (myself), the treasurer and the person wishing to make the withdrawal. 

 

I will also note that our guild dues were low; only ten dollars a month. And there were also rules for exemption for low income persons. We did not purchase firearms for felons as whoever made the withdrawal had to purchase the firearm themselves. Whenever this happened we sent along with them an armed escort of no less than two men with conceal carry handguns as well as a rifle within relatively easy reach of the vehicle for safety purposes as they were typically carrying close to a thousand dollars in cash at the time of purchase. 

 

Obviously, there are many ways guild dues can be implemented. And they can be used for far more than the purchase of weapons and ammo though this would be a huge boon to all involved as it means more time to train and less financial reasons not to train. Now do I think every militia should do it? Nah. The larger militias that have hundreds of people can ignore it and keep moving. They have enough members that they can easily forgo that sort of precaution as most will bring extra ammunition for training days. Smaller militias won't have enough members for smaller dues to be meaningful and thusly they could potentially skip that step until a later date. 

 

The value of guild dues, however, is not lost upon me. 

[Guest Fed up]

I am a roofer, Archer, raised by a former plumber, framer, and roofer, who was raised by plasterers that fought in ww2 and one was a supply officer (not much knowledge on that besides the importance of organization)  I'm a journeyman roofer and worked for a custom home builder called salcito custom homes in Scottsdale Arizona. So I've been around building my entire life, i know a little about a lot and the things I do often I know well. Like roofing, carpentry, Archery, working the land...