Today this story was at WRSA –  a statement from U.S. Militia, maybe.  Sounds real good; possibly a little post-election morale booster for those who thought we could vote our way out of this current mess.  In the comments section, there was some small degree of reluctance expressed by a few about seeking out local militia units for fear of encountering law enforcement or government agency informants.  Thought this would be a good opportunity to point out that daily we potentially cross paths with people who may be law enforcement or government agency informants , while at the same time it just doesn’t naturally occur to us that they just might also be fellow militia men or potential militiamen.  And while we haven’t had our annual membership drive and opened the flood gates to any and all who would like to see what goes on at a genuine meeting of the local militia here, we haven’t turned anyone away empty-handed that have contacted us looking to join up with a group in their area.

For those with a healthy dose of paranoia (and not just wussyfied), you can minimize your exposure and start your own group.  All you need is a book and the time to get outside and practice your new-found skills.  For starters:

ISBN‭ ‬9781567923520‭

This little book contains all the necessary basic survival skills any militiaman needs to know.  How to make a shelter; how to make a fire; how to purify water; how to make a bed roll; how to pack a horse; how to skin small animals and cook them.  Nothing here requires you to don black bdu’s and  carry one of those scary black rifle thing-a-ma-bobs on a single-point sling, and best of all, it’s all perfectly legal and rarely attracts law enforcement or government agency types to lurk around and report back to the fusion center on your daily activities.  D. C. Beard wrote that one back before the Great War and went on to write your next book in the year 1911:

ISBN‭ ‬9780486439914‭

Same year John Browning was making real pistols for real men.  This book presents almost the same material but presents the concept of rewards for achievements.  Again useful and simple information in a friendly format not likely to get you on the DHS’s Domestic Terrorists List, but you just might make the SPLC’s list.  Everybody but the guy that heads up the SPLC is a terrorists, and he’s starting to wonder about himself.

Now that you’ve been practicing and feel fairly confident in your skills that you can stay out in the wilderness for four days and not die of starvation or exposure, you’re ready to teach some of your buddies.  Have them over for hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill some weekend and show them your gear and explain how all of it worked together to help you survive on that four-day trip out into the wilderness, even if it was just in the state park.  This is the basic Face-To-Face meeting that militias across the country have from time to time.  And again, all perfectly legal, not likely to attract the attention of your State Bureau of Investigations.  If you are plagued with “informants” at this stage, it’s quite likely because you favor down over synthetics in your sleeping bag or have publicly declared which of the six varieties of spam you really prefer.  Both are positive indicators of terrorist activities in anyone’s book.

The next stage in developing your own local militia group is the hard part.  You need to get between three and twelve of your new buddies to all agree to show up at some designated point for a weekend camp-out.  They need to have sufficient gear to make this a success, whether it’s their own personal gear or borrowed just for the weekend.  We have plenty of links to suppliers of suitable gear over on the sidebar.  This is the basic Field Training eXercise that militia groups across the country hold regularly.  This is where most start-up militias struggle — getting people to commit to getting minimal gear and showing up; demonstrating proficiency in basic skills and learning a few new ones.  Again, perfectly legal, no ninja black bdu’s, night vision goggles, black assault weapons, or special tattoos with skulls required.

If you are so fortunate to have “regulars” at this point, and pretty much everyone has made it to this basic level of skill,  and can be depended on to show up without a lot of fuss if they have a few weeks notice to meet somewhere, then you are ready for the next major mile-stone in militia operations:  coordinated movements as a small group.  This is done primarily with hand signals.  There are many important uses for moving your bunch of guys around, quietly, using only hand signals.   Movement as a group using hand signals requires practice, followed up with  more practice.  There are many great sources of hand signal demonstrations to be found, on YouTube, for example.  The best thing is, hand signals can be practiced just about anywhere and has zero associated costs.  The grocery store, the shopping mall, the work place, the church.  Just anywhere you can get all your buddies to show up for a while to practice.  “Every one down”.  “Every one up”.  “Form up in two files”. “First file move left”. “Second file move to the rear”. “Spread out”.  “Form up on me”.  You can do this, all the time, everywhere, without anyone noticing, if you’re slowly moving without noise and without words.  Ok, maybe it’s a little creepy doing it in church.  But it’s a very important skill and needs more practice than most people are willing to give.  Here’s a book from someone who has spent serious effort on the subject:

ISBN 9781418472085

Larsen’s book has many good sections on movements for small groups in addition to the basic hand signals.  The utility of some of the movements might not be immediately apparent, but the beauty  is you can pick and choose which ones you want to practice till you get that one down pat.  It helps to have a purpose to keep your focus in these exercises.  Deer hunting may be a believable excuse.  Remember, a man with a gun is a potential terrorists.  A man with a gun, but wearing an orange hat is a hunter.  Nothing more to see here.  Move along.

John Mosby recently said,  “Unconventional warfare is simply conventional small-unit tactics carried out by irregular forces in unconventional manners.”  His blog, mountainguerrilla, “has always been about developing the ability to protect yourself, your family, and your community, regardless of what’s coming down the pike”.

“If that means you have to fight mutant-zombie, outlaw-motorcycle-gang members, so be it. Use ambushes, raids, and civil support to succeed. Develop your networks of like-minded people, and develop your networks of not-so like-minded people. You think because the local grocery store owner doesn’t allow guns in his store, that you don’t need to be on his “good-guys list” when shit gets ugly? You’re living in a fairy-tale. Quit being an asshole, and learn how to be friends with people. If you can’t be friends with people, you’re a miserable excuse for a human being and should probably eat whatever gun you own that is closest to you as you read this.”

Maybe a little on the out-spoken side, but the man absolutely burns with a purpose.  Find your purpose in wanting to be in a militia group, and figure out what it is you can bring to a group.  You may find that you’re hung up on the word “militia” and ignoring the word “group”.

Accomplishing all of the above can be done in as little as two years, if you have built up a dedicated group that will participate regularly.  When you have succeeded in getting your group of regulars proficient in small unit movement, with sufficient gear to go into “nowhere” and survive for “a while”, you are ready for the next stage in your militia training: more training.

Max Velocity runs his  training sessions in northern Virginia.  His book, “Contact!“, is aimed specifically at small units with little or no military training.  He has an outstanding background of experience and his training comes at a reasonable price.  We are currently making arrangements to get training from Max at a location convenient for us.  AAR to follow.  The training needs of your group may be different.  There are many training sites available.  Medical training will also be required.  Small arms training is a whole world in itself.  Communications and intelligence gathering operations become specialties for members in your group.  Mapping, caching,  cooking.  Lots of skills.  Building a website will eventually be a way for you to share information with people in your group and also make contact with those looking for a good unit to join.  There are more than plenty of groups around.    All you have to do is start looking.  And if you don’t find a local group that offers you “the chance to demonstrate your superior skills” or just get some basic training, go make your own.    Now quit reading this and get outside.

Supplemental:

If you have to fight mutant-zombie, outlaw-motorcycle-gang members in your neck of the woods, it will directly benefit your odds of success if you have as many of your fellow neighbors working with you as possible.  This of course requires a little pre-planning.  You need to work with your neighbors to develop a “Neighborhood Protection Plan” and there is a book for that:

afailureofcivility.com

Maybe you will find that some of your neighbors are not really interested in getting help from anybody, while others may warm up to the idea when things get a little unsettling.  Work with the ones you can and remember where the contrary ones are for later.  You can  imagine what a few days and nights without power, heat, water or food after a storm, fire, earthquake or flood, along with the inevitable looting that follows disasters, can do to change people’s minds. You needn’t mention you and your buddies are the local militia.  You don’t have to go on endlessly about your extensive experiences fulfilling your life’s ambition as a highly trained ex-military killer. (That was a long time ago; not doing it anymore these days; don’t want to talk about it; doesn’t matter anyway).  When they comment how you’re doing amazing things for them during the current disaster, just tell them you saw it in a movie somewhere.  It will make them feel better.