The Defense Health Agency maintains a web site called Deployed
Medicine here: Deployed
Medicine -- which includes includes links to their app on
both the Apple and Android Stores.
Free.
The Deployed Medicine website includes several sections, including Tactical Combat Casualty Care , curated by (not surprisingly) The Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care. Understandably, these folks are on the cutting edge of trauma care, so this can be considered the source.That page includes manuals, videos, and reference documents.
Also, Greg Ellefritz has an excellent post up (The Best Tourniquets- A Research Review | Active Response Training) on the latest release from the CoTCCC, regarding recommended procedures, practices, and equipment for trauma care
This includes ratings of several tourniquets recommended for use in trauma care. Link to that is here: CoTCCC Recommended Devices & Adjuncts, click on the "View Book" button to read and/or download it as a .pdf.
Again, better to have it and not need it, than to need it and be waiting for the paramedics or a passing Combat Lifesaver...
Showing posts with label SHTF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SHTF. Show all posts
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Stop The Bleed Month
May is Stop the Bleed Month. And May 23rd is National STOP THE BLEED Day.
(Yes, those seem to be "rival" web sites...)
Perhaps with that in mind, Tamara had a post yesterday (The largest window for error...) in which she linked to an article about gun safety vis à vis administrative gun handling, and said that, if you're going to carry a gun, you should have a "blow out kit" with you. (SayUncle linked, and, this being the Internet, predictably, derp ensured in comments.)
I've written about first aid and (especially) trauma care and training before, and on this very topic in The Clue Meter: Tourniquets Save Lives.
In that post I included some videos of how to apply a tourniquet, including one I reproduce here, how to apply a field expedient tourniquet:
As to which tourniquet to carry, the two standards seem to be the CAT (Gen 7+) and the SOF-T (Gen 4+); the advantages of one over the other seem be minor and due as much to personal preference of the professional you are speaking to, as well as to incremental improvements in one or the other. Similar tourniquets are likely to mimic the style or design, but use cheaper materials.
There is at least one "bargain" tourniquet that is essentially a long rubber band; in formal testing it was rated as better than nothing -- barely. (The sales pitch is cool, "Tighten until the diamonds are squares and the ovals are circles"; just doesn't seem to work as well in real application.)
Research:
You need to take classes; even if you master applying a tourniquet by watching YouTube videos, there are other things you'll need to know. So where do you find such training? After all, you might not know a handy Ambulance Driver who happens to be conducting a class on the subject.
(Yes, those seem to be "rival" web sites...)
Perhaps with that in mind, Tamara had a post yesterday (The largest window for error...) in which she linked to an article about gun safety vis à vis administrative gun handling, and said that, if you're going to carry a gun, you should have a "blow out kit" with you. (SayUncle linked, and, this being the Internet, predictably, derp ensured in comments.)
I've written about first aid and (especially) trauma care and training before, and on this very topic in The Clue Meter: Tourniquets Save Lives.
In that post I included some videos of how to apply a tourniquet, including one I reproduce here, how to apply a field expedient tourniquet:
As to which tourniquet to carry, the two standards seem to be the CAT (Gen 7+) and the SOF-T (Gen 4+); the advantages of one over the other seem be minor and due as much to personal preference of the professional you are speaking to, as well as to incremental improvements in one or the other. Similar tourniquets are likely to mimic the style or design, but use cheaper materials.
There is at least one "bargain" tourniquet that is essentially a long rubber band; in formal testing it was rated as better than nothing -- barely. (The sales pitch is cool, "Tighten until the diamonds are squares and the ovals are circles"; just doesn't seem to work as well in real application.)
Research:
- Efficacy of Pre-hospital Application of Tourniquets and Hemostatic Dressings to Control Traumatic External Hemorrhage. Opens a .pdf document from EMS.gov, a site at the National Institutes of Health.
GET TRAINING!
You need to take classes; even if you master applying a tourniquet by watching YouTube videos, there are other things you'll need to know. So where do you find such training? After all, you might not know a handy Ambulance Driver who happens to be conducting a class on the subject.
- BleedingControl.org has a Find A Class page.
- The Stop the Bleed Monthweb site does too: Find Training.
- As does the National STOP THE BLEED Day web site: Get Trained.
- FEMA also has some suggestions: Stop the Bleed | Homeland Security
- The Firearms Training Hub has a page listing Medical classes; among others, Dark Angel Medical has classes nationwide. Including one local to me next week...
- Chinook Medical Gear, Inc.
- Tactical Medical Solutions for Military and First Responders
- First Aid Kits | First Aid Supplies | MyMedic
- Adventure® Medical Kits
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Oh, dear
Warning: Science and math, presented with a rather heavy Ukrainian accent. Mind you, she does a good job of making some pretty esoteric science understandable to the layperson, but some might be intimidated by the very concepts. (One might be tempted to turn on closed captioning, due to her accent. It might help, but I think they used a speech-to-text app, and it gets thrown off by homophones which aren't valid, due to... her accent.)
So that's an hour and a half of in-depth discussion of solar activity, including helioseismicity, sun spots, the corona, poloidal and toroidal magnetic fields...
... the gist of which is that Dr. Zharkova says that not only is the current (imminent, actually) sun spot cycle (25) going to be even lighter than the previous one (24, just ended), but she says that we are headed into a 30+ year Grand Minimum. (A sun spot cycle is usually about 11 years long, by the way.)
Can you say "Maunder"?
No solar activity means amateur radio continues to have poor propagation on the High Frequency bands, but, like the old George Carlin routine, it also means a mini-ice age, so I wouldn't sweat the propagation. As KB6NU points out in the blog post where I learned of this presentation, satellites are a workable alternative. (Yes, hams can and do use satellites. Yes they have their own issues.)
But, hey, at least that rig will be generating some heat...
...assuming there's power.
1. Solar minimum - Wikipedia. Political correctness leads Wikipedia to deny any correlation between solar minima and terrestrial climate.
2. I took a look at the effects of the Maunder Minimum in Quickie Book Review, The Global Crisis.
3. Homepage | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center
Friday, July 29, 2016
How an armed citizen helped stopped a mass shooter
How Allen Crum Helped Stop UT Tower Sniper Charles Whitman 50 Years Ago
Granted, it was Texas, so to those who would have us believe that armed citizens could never do anything positive, it doesn't count...
Granted, it was Texas, so to those who would have us believe that armed citizens could never do anything positive, it doesn't count...
Friday, October 2, 2015
A Good Guy Needs Help
You will no doubt have heard that yet another beta male crawled out of his Mama's basement long enough yesterday to try for his 15 minutes of fame down in Roseberg, OR.
Since the campus of Umpqua Community College is a Designated Victimization Zone he managed to rack up a fairly significant score before the local constabulary cleansed him from the gene pool.
One of his victims, Chris Mintz, is an Army vet who reacted to the threat by charging it in an effort to save others. Chris survived, but he was shot seven times and is in the hospital.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help pay for his medical care and also to support his family while he is recovering: Chris Mintz - UCC Shooting Survivor by Derek Bourgeois - GoFundMe.
Since the campus of Umpqua Community College is a Designated Victimization Zone he managed to rack up a fairly significant score before the local constabulary cleansed him from the gene pool.
One of his victims, Chris Mintz, is an Army vet who reacted to the threat by charging it in an effort to save others. Chris survived, but he was shot seven times and is in the hospital.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help pay for his medical care and also to support his family while he is recovering: Chris Mintz - UCC Shooting Survivor by Derek Bourgeois - GoFundMe.
Friday, September 25, 2015
Excellant review of the Westgate Mall attack
‘Close Your Eyes and Pretend to Be Dead’ | Foreign Policy
And I am reconsidering the easy way we dismiss so many of the techniques learned in classes like I wrote about in "Urban Defensive Tactics" class, 12/14/14 as being "inappropriate for non-LEOS or military."
Still highly unlikely we'll ever use them. And the conventional wisdom is that, in a case like that, even a trained, armed citizen should hunker down and defend self and other citizens, not go hunting the bad guys, if for no reason than to avoid being confused for a bad guy by the first responders, but...
And another scenario skills learned in classes like the one described in Shooter Self-Care Class @ NRA AM2015 (Update) would be invaluable.
Also, had not heard that al-Shabab had launched another attack in Kenya, in spring of this year, on a University, where they killed even more.
Far from a dramatic three-day standoff, the assault on the Westgate Mall lasted only a few hours, almost all of it taking place before Kenyan security forces even entered the building. When they finally did, it was only to shoot at one another before going on an armed looting spree that resulted in the collapse of the rear of the building, destroyed with a rocket-propelled grenade. And there were only four gunmen, all of whom were buried in the rubble, along with much of the forensic evidence.An attack on a crowded shopping mall is a nightmare scenario everyone with a piece of the counter-terrorism role, or just an interest in it, has sweated over. It's easy to say it'll go better "here" than it did "there", but however it goes, it's not going to be pretty.
During the roughly three-and-a-half hours that the killers were loose in the mall, there was virtually no organized government response. But while Kenyan officials prevaricated, an unlikely coalition of licensed civilian gun owners and brave, resourceful individual police officers took it upon themselves to mount a rescue effort. Pieced together over 10 months from more than three dozen interviews with survivors, first responders, security officers, and investigators, the following account brings their story to life for the first time since the horrific terrorist attack occurred exactly two years ago.
And I am reconsidering the easy way we dismiss so many of the techniques learned in classes like I wrote about in "Urban Defensive Tactics" class, 12/14/14 as being "inappropriate for non-LEOS or military."
Still highly unlikely we'll ever use them. And the conventional wisdom is that, in a case like that, even a trained, armed citizen should hunker down and defend self and other citizens, not go hunting the bad guys, if for no reason than to avoid being confused for a bad guy by the first responders, but...
And another scenario skills learned in classes like the one described in Shooter Self-Care Class @ NRA AM2015 (Update) would be invaluable.
Also, had not heard that al-Shabab had launched another attack in Kenya, in spring of this year, on a University, where they killed even more.
Friday, September 4, 2015
More on the Cascadia Fault
Route Fifty - A Pacific Northwest Megaquake Will Test Government Response in Ways Katrina Never Did
While this article covers a lot of familiar ground, it also has some interesting new data, and a somewhat unique perspective.
I linked The Earthquake That Will Devastate the Pacific Northwest - The New Yorker when it was published; here is a follow-up: How to Stay Safe When the Big One Comes - The New Yorker. This one explains the dangers in more scientific terms, without getting so technical that you need a PhD in Geology to explain it.
Also, note this key quote:
And here is an OpEd from a recent Seatle Times about those two articles above: When disasters strike, poor, minority communities face greatest risks | The Seattle Times
Author is a socialjustice warrior scientist who can't help but see natural disasters in terms of people. Which is good. To a point. When you start denying that there is any such thing as a natural disaster, because the natural elements (wind, water, plate tectonics. etc.) "interact with social environments to produce social outcomes", I think you're missing the point about preparedness.
For example, she bemoans the advice to bolt your home to it's foundation, because poor people live in apartments or rent, or own a home but can barely afford to live in Seattle, let alone make seismic upgrades.
Anyway. Related: Three Years After Japan’s Tsunami - The New Yorker
While this article covers a lot of familiar ground, it also has some interesting new data, and a somewhat unique perspective.
I linked The Earthquake That Will Devastate the Pacific Northwest - The New Yorker when it was published; here is a follow-up: How to Stay Safe When the Big One Comes - The New Yorker. This one explains the dangers in more scientific terms, without getting so technical that you need a PhD in Geology to explain it.
Also, note this key quote:
“You’re not overdue for an earthquake until you’re three standard deviations beyond the mean”—which, in the case of the full-margin Cascadia earthquake, means eight hundred years from now. (In the case of the “smaller” Cascadia earthquake, the magnitude 8.0 to 8.6 that would affect only the southern part of the zone, we’re currently one standard deviation beyond the mean.) That doesn’t mean that the quake won’t happen tomorrow; it just means we are not “overdue” in any meaningful sense. The odds I cite in the story are correct: there is a thirty-per-cent chance of the M8.0–8.6 Cascadia earthquake and a ten-per-cent chance of the M8.7–9.2 earthquake in the next fifty years.
And here is an OpEd from a recent Seatle Times about those two articles above: When disasters strike, poor, minority communities face greatest risks | The Seattle Times
Author is a social
For example, she bemoans the advice to bolt your home to it's foundation, because poor people live in apartments or rent, or own a home but can barely afford to live in Seattle, let alone make seismic upgrades.
Anyway. Related: Three Years After Japan’s Tsunami - The New Yorker
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Inboxing
Some things that have been gathering electronic dust in my inbox...
Source: Instapundit.
Story: Global eavesdroppers: In World War II, dozens of radio operators in Scituate dialed into enemy conversations worldwide - News - providencejournal.com - Providence, RI
In case you ever wondered how a US Army unit that never left the Continental United States could win a Presidential Unit Citation for the battle of the Atlantic, this related story gives a clue, although only part of one. (I thought I'd posted this one before, but I guess not...)
Source: Dunno.
Story: Why Science Fiction Pioneer Hugo Gernsback Matters 131 Years Later | Inverse
Could be more fact-heavy, and the author is pretty clearly in the CHORF camp of the Sad Puppies controversy (if you don't understand, congratulations!), but, while I'm not sure Hugo Gernsback invented Science Fiction As We Know It, he sure laid the groundwork.
Bit of a change-up in this article from The Atlantic: How JSOC Became a Manhunting Machine, From Panama to Iraq - The Atlantic
Speaking of which, Insty pulls a few related pieces fom the archives: Instapundit » Blog Archive » AS WE FIGHT THE WAR ON TERROR DOMESTICALLY AGAIN, A FEW RELEVANT PIECES FROM OVER A DECADE AGO…
Sometimes coming back is pretty much the point: A ‘monumental’ rescue: Coast Guardsman swims a mile in choppy seas to save four fishermen, one at a time - The Washington Post
A further change of pace: How to reclaim your privacy in Windows 10, piece by piece | PCWorld (Beware auto-play!)
Source: Instapundit.
Story: Global eavesdroppers: In World War II, dozens of radio operators in Scituate dialed into enemy conversations worldwide - News - providencejournal.com - Providence, RI
In case you ever wondered how a US Army unit that never left the Continental United States could win a Presidential Unit Citation for the battle of the Atlantic, this related story gives a clue, although only part of one. (I thought I'd posted this one before, but I guess not...)
Source: Dunno.
Story: Why Science Fiction Pioneer Hugo Gernsback Matters 131 Years Later | Inverse
Could be more fact-heavy, and the author is pretty clearly in the CHORF camp of the Sad Puppies controversy (if you don't understand, congratulations!), but, while I'm not sure Hugo Gernsback invented Science Fiction As We Know It, he sure laid the groundwork.
Bit of a change-up in this article from The Atlantic: How JSOC Became a Manhunting Machine, From Panama to Iraq - The Atlantic
Speaking of which, Insty pulls a few related pieces fom the archives: Instapundit » Blog Archive » AS WE FIGHT THE WAR ON TERROR DOMESTICALLY AGAIN, A FEW RELEVANT PIECES FROM OVER A DECADE AGO…
Sometimes coming back is pretty much the point: A ‘monumental’ rescue: Coast Guardsman swims a mile in choppy seas to save four fishermen, one at a time - The Washington Post
A further change of pace: How to reclaim your privacy in Windows 10, piece by piece | PCWorld (Beware auto-play!)
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Not helping...
Anent my last post but one...
Amateur Repeaters Fall Victim to Washington Wildfires
Anyway. Not gonna be cheap. Also likely to have a major impact on plans to have today's drill exercise the ability to have Western Washington EOCs communicate via Eastern Washington sites...
(If they hurry, the Lake Chelan Amateur radio club may be able to get in on Yaesu's deal on their new digital repeater, but they'll need someplace to put it/them...)
Amateur Repeaters Fall Victim to Washington Wildfires
Two Central Washington repeaters, owned and operated by the Lake Chelan Amateur Radio Club, have been destroyed by one of the wildfires raging in that state. The co-located machines, one on 2 meters and one on 6 meters, were sited on Slide Ridge near Manson, Washington, in Chelan County. On August 27, the First Creek Fire completely leveled the building housing the repeaters. Scorched antennas and support structures are still standing but are likely beyond repair. The club’s Roger Odorizzi, W7CH, said the repeaters had been offline for several days.Remember that old riddle, what runs faster uphill than down...?
“We knew the fire had wiped out the power going to our site, but we hoped for the best, that our mountaintop building was possibly spared,” he said. “Now we have confirmation this was not the outcome.” Odorizzi said the area remains closed, and the club likely will not have access to it “for a long time.”
The club’s Ken Rau, K7YR, said the loss, in addition to the building, included the two repeaters, duplexers and antennas. The repeaters provided coverage in North Central Washington. Rau told ARRL that it’s unlikely that the building housing the repeaters would be replaced. It once housed radio and TV broadcast translators, most no longer in use. Topography is also a factor. “This is a mountain site — 4900 feet above mean sea level — with power lines that were installed on a very steep slope.”
Anyway. Not gonna be cheap. Also likely to have a major impact on plans to have today's drill exercise the ability to have Western Washington EOCs communicate via Eastern Washington sites...
(If they hurry, the Lake Chelan Amateur radio club may be able to get in on Yaesu's deal on their new digital repeater, but they'll need someplace to put it/them...)
Friday, August 21, 2015
US Marines Military: "Send Me"
UPDATE/CORRECTION: No offense to the Oregon National Guard or US Air Force, but it turns out that, in fact, no personnel from what would normally be considered the (or a) "First Team" were involved.
Damned Cowboy Americans, even their support pukes have to ride to the rescue.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Wonderin'... UPDATE
As of this morning, a Federal Disaster Declaration has been issued for flooding/wind storms in Oklahoma, but not in Texas.
Does Texas figure "Screw your Federal assistance?"
Or does Uncle Sam figure "Screw Texas"?
Either way, hoping all our Texan friends, including those we haven't met, stay safe.
UPDATE:
Behold, the power of the blog!
Federal Aid Programs for State of Texas Declaration | FEMA.gov
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Deal alert!
$$10 off select Mora knives @Amazon.
The guys who obsess about Every Day Carry all seem to think highly of these.
The guys who obsess about Every Day Carry all seem to think highly of these.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Brilliant!
At the gun show today, we stopped by the GettingPrepped table, as Mrs. Drang is putting together a care package for a deployed troop and wanted some of the "no water required bath towels" they sell.
Well, their source for those seems to have dried up, so to speak, but they have a new product that truely falls into the "Why didn't I think of that?!" category.
The Simple Shower
Photos from Simple Shower's web page:
$10.00. Available from Amazon, or from several retailers local to us. (Including Getting Prepped, obviously.) We bought one for each BOB.
Well, their source for those seems to have dried up, so to speak, but they have a new product that truely falls into the "Why didn't I think of that?!" category.
The Simple Shower
Photos from Simple Shower's web page:
 |
| Pretty good flow. |
 |
| While Fido may not seem to be enjoying his shower, he's probably happier with it than he would be from the garden hose... |
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
A change in position, or an exiting from the closet?
The armed-self-defense closet, in this case.
Exclusive: After Westgate, Interpol Chief Ponders 'Armed Citizenry' - ABC News
Interpol has not been noted as an international organization supportive of the Right of The People to Keep And Bear Arms -- note that it was run by Nazis in the 30s and 40s.
This is especially noteworthy because Mr. Nobel was Undersecretary of the Treasury for Enforcement under President Clinton, in charge of, among other things, the Secret Service... and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.
Exclusive: After Westgate, Interpol Chief Ponders 'Armed Citizenry' - ABC News
Interpol has not been noted as an international organization supportive of the Right of The People to Keep And Bear Arms -- note that it was run by Nazis in the 30s and 40s.
Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said today the U.S. and the rest of the democratic world is at a security crossroads in the wake of last month's deadly al-Shabab attack at a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya – and suggested an answer could be in arming civilians.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Noble said there are really only two choices for protecting open societies from attacks like the one on Westgate mall where so-called "soft targets" are hit: either create secure perimeters around the locations or allow civilians to carry their own guns to protect themselves.
This is especially noteworthy because Mr. Nobel was Undersecretary of the Treasury for Enforcement under President Clinton, in charge of, among other things, the Secret Service... and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
The Great Washington ShakeOut - 10/17/2013
The Great Washington ShakeOut - Get Ready!
Lots of resources at the link, even if you're not in the Evergreen State, let alone if your school or employer is not participating.
A tip: The old advice to seek safety in a doorway has gone by the wayside; while the door frame MAY be strong enough to resist collapsing, the door itself is going to swing back and forth...
Instinct may be to get the hell outside!!! Resist the urge: Running for the door -- which is likely to be unmanageable, see above -- will waste time that could be better used seeking cover inside. Plus, your footing will be unsteady, to say the least.
Lots of resources at the link, even if you're not in the Evergreen State, let alone if your school or employer is not participating.
A tip: The old advice to seek safety in a doorway has gone by the wayside; while the door frame MAY be strong enough to resist collapsing, the door itself is going to swing back and forth...
Instinct may be to get the hell outside!!! Resist the urge: Running for the door -- which is likely to be unmanageable, see above -- will waste time that could be better used seeking cover inside. Plus, your footing will be unsteady, to say the least.
Saturday, August 17, 2013
A Nifty Idea for Canning
Seen on Bill Quick's Emergency Preps board: JarBOX.com - Easily Transport and Protect Your Canning Jars
Every time I stack cases of mason jars in the garage I ponder how to secure them against our when-not-if Big One.
Every time I stack cases of mason jars in the garage I ponder how to secure them against our when-not-if Big One.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
We're number one! We're number one! Wait! What?
Most dangerous volcano in North America: Popocatépetl, Shasta, Hood, or Rainier? - Slate Magazine
Okay, so the post title is a bit of a spoiler...
h/t Insty.
Okay, so the post title is a bit of a spoiler...
h/t Insty.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Move, Shoot, Communicate
Whilst perusing the Archives at Instapundit, I came across this post: Instapundit » Blog Archive » BOB OWENS: For ‘A Well-Regulated Militia,’ What Firearms, Gear, and Skills Should You Own?…
So, herewith some thoughts...
My assumption here is that the "unorganized militia" will basically be a well-armed, equipped, and trained neighborhood watch. Anything larger (city- or county-wide) would pretty much cease to be "unorganized."
So, what do I mean by "unorganized"? I don't think it means "disorganized" so much as "informally organized"; like a neighborhood watch, there will be people who take responsibility for things like putting together meetings, for example, but there is no official organization or hierarchy. To take a local example, the Seattle suburb Renton may have the "Renton Rangers", but they will not have battalions, companies and platoons commanded by colonels, captains, and lieutenants.
Probably, if someone tries to establish any such thing there will soon be a rival Renton militia...
I do think a neighborhood watch model works best for this, since the primary role will be emergency/disaster response, internal security, and homeland defense. There will probably be at least a semi-official relationship with the local city and/or county Emergency Management Office. (I would suggest that part of the requirement would be completion of CERT training.) There would be a roster, and the members might agree on a uniform--cap and vest?--but any given event will have members missing because they had to work, or the honey-do list was too long, or the kid wanted to go fishing...
In fact, I think it highly likely that militia members will see more use in natural or man-made disasters or emergencies than in responding to an enemy attack or civil unrest. (Ignoring that a terrorist attack is now defined "man-made disaster.")
Another point is that there is no statutory coverage for the Unorganized Militia until Titles 10 or 32 of the United States Code.
Anyway. The title of this post breaks down the three basic necessities of any military unit; while an unorganized (or even an organized one) is not usually considered to be exactly "military", and an unorganized militia will be operating close to home, these needs still apply.
Mr. Owens recommends the Army Qualification Test for militia members marksmanship training/qualification; I am sure he will be glad to hear that I concur. Among other things, a 25-meter range can easily be put together in a gravel pit or open field with suitable backstop, using easily portable supplies. Hopefully, the militia will have qualified Range Safety Officers, as well as instructors. (In this context, I highly recommend the NRAs Instructor Programs.)
...or do I? I think this depends on what role the militia is filling, and where it serves. For most purposes, a simple FRS or GMRS radio should fill the bill. These have the virtue of being readily, cheaply, available in blister packs (although GMRS requires an $85 license fee, good for five years.)
Some militias may want to experiment with codes and ciphers; they are warned (again) that the FCC frowns on their usage on radio bands set aside for public use, so if they want to practice their use, they should do so using, say, cell phones to simulate radios.
Speaking of which, for most purposes in which I visualize the militia being active, the cell phone may well be the most practical form of communication, both text and voice.
"Administrative" communications will, of course, mostly be by email, probably a form of listserv or email list. Depending on the technical abilities of the members of the militia, we would expect to see blogs, boards, chat sites, and pages or sites in the various social media.
I would add many of FEMA's Incident Command System courses, many of which are available on-line. The classes on Hazardous Materials and Radiological Hazards obviously recommend themselves, as do courses on specific hazards which may effect your area. (Depending on where you live, you may be able to get these classes in a classroom environment through your local emergency management department.)
Mr. Owens' original post: PJ Media » For ‘A Well-Regulated Militia,’ What Firearms, Gear, and Skills Should You Own?
It Takes a Militia, an article Professor Reynolds co-authored advocating a "communitarian" basis for a militia, which seems to be what Mr. Owens is writing about. Referenced in the original Instapundit post that started this.
Also seen at Instapundit: Kenyans take up weapons to save wildlife, tourism | StarTribune.com. Former poachers form a "conservation militia" to fight poaching.
Daddy Bear recently posted a five-part series of vignettes, comprising a short-short story about WWIII, in which the unorganized militia, as well as "Home Guards", played a role:
So, herewith some thoughts...
My assumption here is that the "unorganized militia" will basically be a well-armed, equipped, and trained neighborhood watch. Anything larger (city- or county-wide) would pretty much cease to be "unorganized."
So, what do I mean by "unorganized"? I don't think it means "disorganized" so much as "informally organized"; like a neighborhood watch, there will be people who take responsibility for things like putting together meetings, for example, but there is no official organization or hierarchy. To take a local example, the Seattle suburb Renton may have the "Renton Rangers", but they will not have battalions, companies and platoons commanded by colonels, captains, and lieutenants.
Probably, if someone tries to establish any such thing there will soon be a rival Renton militia...
I do think a neighborhood watch model works best for this, since the primary role will be emergency/disaster response, internal security, and homeland defense. There will probably be at least a semi-official relationship with the local city and/or county Emergency Management Office. (I would suggest that part of the requirement would be completion of CERT training.) There would be a roster, and the members might agree on a uniform--cap and vest?--but any given event will have members missing because they had to work, or the honey-do list was too long, or the kid wanted to go fishing...
In fact, I think it highly likely that militia members will see more use in natural or man-made disasters or emergencies than in responding to an enemy attack or civil unrest. (Ignoring that a terrorist attack is now defined "man-made disaster.")
Another point is that there is no statutory coverage for the Unorganized Militia until Titles 10 or 32 of the United States Code.
Anyway. The title of this post breaks down the three basic necessities of any military unit; while an unorganized (or even an organized one) is not usually considered to be exactly "military", and an unorganized militia will be operating close to home, these needs still apply.
*
Move: While, for individual members, this would seem to require physical fitness, frankly, I see no reason why a citizen volunteer who needs braces or a power chair to get around couldn't serve as well.- There is certainly no PT test required for membership in a neighborhood watch, nor to participate in CERT training, or for membership in an amateur radio ARES/RACES group.
- The individual member may not move so well, but that does not mean that he or she has nothing to contribute, nor that the group as a whole can't get around.
- Not to say that the use of vehicles, either motor or people-powered, should be ignored, of course! Specific needs will depend on where the militia is: In an urban area most action (patrols, etc.) will probably be on foot, and vehicles will be used for logistical support, or maybe rapid-response.
- Another--perhaps primary--consideration here is thorough knowledge of your area: routes in, routes out, obstacles, resources.
Militia members should be able to read a map and to navigate, on foot or in a vehicle, on roads and across country, with compass and GPS. They may never operate outside of their militia's immediate area or responsibility, but can one really be sure?
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Shoot: Mr. Owens suggests that each militia member should be armed with an AR15, magazines and means of carrying same, and 1000 rounds of ammunition. Since what we're talking about is an unorganized militia, I don't really think it's altogether reasonable to call for a specific weapon. Rather, members should be expected to arm themselves, to include ammunition and maintenance equipment, with a rifle.- A specific militia may decide to standardize on a specific model of rifle, and/or caliber, but they need to be wary of running people off by expecting them to spend extra money.
- There may be a role for a shotgun as a primary long arm.
- Some potential members may not be able to shoot a long arm at all. (See my comments on fitness/physical ability above.)
- Some militias are going to have to face the question as to whether people with scruples against bearing arms have a place in their group.
- If a standard long arm is agreed upon, sidearms should be left to the tastes of the individual members.
Mr. Owens recommends the Army Qualification Test for militia members marksmanship training/qualification; I am sure he will be glad to hear that I concur. Among other things, a 25-meter range can easily be put together in a gravel pit or open field with suitable backstop, using easily portable supplies. Hopefully, the militia will have qualified Range Safety Officers, as well as instructors. (In this context, I highly recommend the NRAs Instructor Programs.)
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Communicate: Obviously, as an amateur radio operator, I see a role for ham radio in the militia......or do I? I think this depends on what role the militia is filling, and where it serves. For most purposes, a simple FRS or GMRS radio should fill the bill. These have the virtue of being readily, cheaply, available in blister packs (although GMRS requires an $85 license fee, good for five years.)
- They're not secure, but unless and until a militia is formally taken into government service, anything resembling strong encryption in radio communications is not allowed by the Federal Communications Commission anyway.
- FRS requires no license; GMRS licensing requires no training or testing.
- As noted, these units are widely, and cheaply, available. There are table-top units, and GMRS radios built into GPS.
Some militias may want to experiment with codes and ciphers; they are warned (again) that the FCC frowns on their usage on radio bands set aside for public use, so if they want to practice their use, they should do so using, say, cell phones to simulate radios.
Speaking of which, for most purposes in which I visualize the militia being active, the cell phone may well be the most practical form of communication, both text and voice.
"Administrative" communications will, of course, mostly be by email, probably a form of listserv or email list. Depending on the technical abilities of the members of the militia, we would expect to see blogs, boards, chat sites, and pages or sites in the various social media.
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In addition to having a rifle and ammunition, and knowing how to use them, Mr. Owens also recommends the following:
- appropriate seasonal clothing
- a first aid kit (preferably an individual first aid kid, or IFAK)
- food, water, and temporary shelter for three days
I would add many of FEMA's Incident Command System courses, many of which are available on-line. The classes on Hazardous Materials and Radiological Hazards obviously recommend themselves, as do courses on specific hazards which may effect your area. (Depending on where you live, you may be able to get these classes in a classroom environment through your local emergency management department.)
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NOTES:Mr. Owens' original post: PJ Media » For ‘A Well-Regulated Militia,’ What Firearms, Gear, and Skills Should You Own?
It Takes a Militia, an article Professor Reynolds co-authored advocating a "communitarian" basis for a militia, which seems to be what Mr. Owens is writing about. Referenced in the original Instapundit post that started this.
Also seen at Instapundit: Kenyans take up weapons to save wildlife, tourism | StarTribune.com. Former poachers form a "conservation militia" to fight poaching.
Daddy Bear recently posted a five-part series of vignettes, comprising a short-short story about WWIII, in which the unorganized militia, as well as "Home Guards", played a role:
Sunday, July 29, 2012
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