Setting up a group

[Ghost]

Okay, I have limited knowledge in the whole security side of the house. I'll go right to the point; How do you set up a group, for defense of the community.

That's a real broad question, but I have some specifics. I might be missing a lot, so share what you've got. Obviously don't break you and your groups OPSEC, there are no set details needed.


Squads; How many people, and how many squads would you need/like to have. Are these people to be sent on patrols, to "run the wire" type stuff, and possible scout out things like nearby towns/settlements, and even location of wild game. How should they be set up, for being "on call", for actually being on patrol, that sort of stuff. Like, 6hrs in a rotating schedule?

Command Posts/Headquarters; What they need to be, what happens in them, what they have, and who is normally there. Should there be people there 24/7? Who should and shouldn't be allowed there? And Where should it be set up? What would be the best place for them, in other words. Would it be a good place to have excess gear/ammo/other supplies? Should an Aid station be nearby?


That's just some of the stuff that I'd like to get in my head right now. Sadly I, nor any of my guys have any military/LEO experience. If I think of anything else I'll post it up.

[NOLA556]

you mentioned "your guys"... I don't need to know exactly how many you have, but if you have at least a couple people to work with, then trust me you're doing better than I am.

my main focus is finding people, because at this point I don't have anyone but myself.

as for the strategic shit that you brought up... man just use your head. common sense.
spend a little while on google-earth and really take a close look at your AO. draw it out on paper. figure out where your choke points are. place your heaviest arms in your key strategic points. I know southernprepper1 has done several videos about strategic placement of different types of arms.

[APX808]

hey Frosty, I'm a civilian myself, but I think its useless for someone to tell you you need X amount of people deployed this way when you don't have that amount of people or equipment.

My suggestion considering none of your group has military trainning is for you to learn about small unit tactics and guerrilla warfare, that way you'll understand the basic procedures and drills and build upon that. You can read the book "Light Infantry Tactics for Small Teams", "The Last 100 Yards","Guerrillas in the mist" and the shitload of FMs (although the FMs are not so funny to read).

That way, when you set up an ambush and you see the enemy, you wont be screaming "contact front" and start shooting 2 seconds after as some asshole does on youtube.

Another suggestion I can give you is to read the book "lights out", its a fucking good story about an EMP attack but it shows you how a community organizes itself in many areas, security being one of them, in the book you'll see command posts, LP-OPs, patrols, how to train the people, etc and personally I think it is 1000 times better than "One Second After".

[Outonowhere]

Okay, I have limited knowledge in the whole security side of the house. I'll go right to the point; How do you set up a group, for defense of the community.

That's a real broad question, but I have some specifics. I might be missing a lot, so share what you've got. Obviously don't break you and your groups OPSEC, there are no set details needed.


Squads; How many people, and how many squads would you need/like to have.
Build your "squads" based on how many people you have overall.  The more people overall, the more and/bigger your squads can be.  but it doesn't have to be a rigid number.  if something needs to be done requiring only 2 people, there's no use wasting the rest of a 5 man squad when they could be doing something else productive.

Are these people to be sent on patrols, to "run the wire" type stuff, and possible scout out things like nearby towns/settlements, and even location of wild game.
This depends on the individuals, their level of training and many other circumstances.  But everyone should have a designated job/position during an emergency and there should be no excuses to someone NOT doing their part.

How should they be set up, for being "on call", for actually being on patrol, that sort of stuff. Like, 6hrs in a rotating schedule?
Honestly this goes back to just how many people you have overall.  The more people you have to work out a schedule with, the more time everyone will have to rest or not be 'on duty'.  EVERYONE is always on call in an emergency situation as Ive stated before.  Also be careful of working too long of shifts depending on what it is because fatigue and boredom will lower your readiness, alertness and response.

(Let me preface this with saying that the following topic should only really come into play if you have a large enough community.  If you only 3-4 guys you might be using your base camp as your CP)

Command Posts/Headquarters; What they need to be, what happens in them, what they have, and who is normally there.
CP/HQ is the nerve center of an operation.  Its like the brain of the "organism".  It doesn't feel the pain of a splinter but it receives the info from the hand and reacts accordingly, working the other hand to get the splinter out (to continue with the analogy).  This can be the central meeting place (aka rally point or RP) in case of an emergency also a place for patrols to check in with.  naturally this would be where your main communications are centered at/from and where the "alarm bell" if applicable would be also.  Anyone posted there should have any comms gear needed, PAPER AND PEN?PENCIL for taking notes and sending messages via courier, and any other gear they would need to carry out their assigned tasks.  Anyone not working, on rest from or on patrol and is able of body/mind should be eligible to be in the CP/HQ.  Its best to have at least 2 people, working off the buddy system to catch something one might miss over the radio, go for help, or assist in the duties if things get chaotic.  Its like the dispatch for a PD, if its a sizable "force" they are trying to direct there will always be more than one dispatcher working.


Should there be people there 24/7? YES, if applicable

Who should and shouldn't be allowed there?
Should would be anyone in the group able body/mind.  Even if they are not on duty but there are already at least 2 people there let them hang out but they should realize that the chatter stops when the radio chirps up or they are liable to be "used" by the CP crew if needed.

And Where should it be set up? What would be the best place for them, in other words.
In a central location within your community/area that is well defensible.

Would it be a good place to have excess gear/ammo/other supplies?
If you do not have a huge amount of stuff to store and there is space and that space meets the needs, AND the stuff doesn't obstruct the CP crew from doing their job, why not?  It would eliminate the need to have a separate guard with the stuffs all the time.


Should an Aid station be nearby?
YES, but also everyone should be trained to use the FA supplies and not to touch what they don't know how to use if you have like a medic in the group.

That's just some of the stuff that I'd like to get in my head right now. Sadly I, nor any of my guys have any military/LEO experience. If I think of anything else I'll post it up.

[Ghost]

Good stuff, gents! Thanks a bunch.

[WhiskeyJack]

Hey frosty. Out of Nowhere has hit the points real well. Even in the military the Exact numbers aren't set in stone as a units numbers change as missions go on. A real quick run down however might look like.

Start with
Battle buddies- Two men teamed up. Two is one, one is none. These people will do just about everything to gether.

Team- 4 to 8

Squad- 8 to 16

Platoon- 3 to 6 squads

Company 3 to 6 platoons
I'm not going to go into battalion brigade and division size elements because anything over the company level requires a new set of organization requirements and skills. My ad vise and this is what Ive done in my of town.
While i have a 6 man group of people who know and understand what I'm doing as a prepper. I have identified a few people in my town who would be resours es. I have identified several Veterans that could fit into the role of organizers, trainers and leaders. Many of them are senior NCO's and some Officers. They range from guard, reserves and retired active. and all branches. I even found me a coastie who has heavy weapons experience. I think its great your thinking about this level of organization. My suggestion would be to find your local vets. Get to know them and decide if they are the type of people you would want to fall in with during a crisis. If TSHTF you could go to them and suggest that they need to start organizing the towns folk and you can help. Some times bro its not having the knowledge and talent yourself its finding that knowledge and talent. I hope this helped and What Outofnowhere posted is spot frikkin on the only thing i would add to it. is have some extra supplies stashed in between your outer defenses and your CP just in case you are falling back you can do quick re suplies on the fly. Not a huge amount mind you just some mags water bandages. enough to get to the other side of town whilst in a fight.

[Outonowhere]

...only thing i would add to it. is have some extra supplies stashed in between your outer defenses and your CP just in case you are falling back you can do quick re suplies on the fly. Not a huge amount mind you just some mags water bandages. enough to get to the other side of town whilst in a fight.

That is a great point and the only reason I didn't even think about that is because most of us are looking at (at least at this point) a small number of members in your group.  I also believe in the response bag.  Let's say you are laying in bed when the alarm raises and you gotta get to the wire fast.  Don your gear and grab your response bag and head out.  Its a shoulder bag like the UTG Messenger bag I own. (http://www.google.com/search?q=utg+messenegr+bag&tbm=shop&hl=en&aq=f#hl=en&safe=active&tbm=shop&sa=X&ei=kGOYTuPGCsbgsQLMzK3nBA&ved=0CGYQBSgA&q=utg+messenger+bag&spell=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=fec258b4ba839910&biw=1024&bih=580)

Keep some extra stuff in there like ammo, water and other misc goodies.  Like has been said on here before, when you think you'll be out for 24 hours, prep for 72.  So this is like a couple steps down from the day bag, should be small enough that it doesn't add more negs than pros and wont get in the way.  one of the things I like about the UTG bag is it has a velcro belt loop on the back side of it.  Its kind of like having a butt pack that can be tossed aside in a hurry.  Can also be used as a douche bag too maybe lol. Just another idea on that issue but caches in and around your "camp" are a great idea.

[EJR914]

I made a big post about small team tactics back on LNL.  But of course, that is lost.  Guess I'll have to go find it again, but its going to be a while.

[Ghost]

I believe I remember that post. Be awesome if we could get it back up on here mate.

[EJR914]

http://straightprep.com/forum/index.php?topic=225.msg1953#msg1953

Some helpful things here in small unit logistics.  Click on the link in the post for the entire post, which has a lot of relevant information.  Still not the post I wanted, I'll keep looking.

Fielding a Sixteen Man Platoon:
In the time period of 84 days
http://www.awrm.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=28;t=000758
First posted on AWRM.org by "Tails"
12-24-2004

Fighting a war is fairly costly. There are instances where a military is politically defeated because a conflict was too expensive to afford, while pound for pound they were the superior force to be reckoned with.

You folks are faced with a problem as backyard brewed guerilla ragtags. And that is if World War III were to be fought in the North American theater, you aren?t going to fit a year?s worth of logistics in your rucksack. What needs to be created is an elaborate system of base camps and supply dumps that you could access, to assure you and your buddies can be sustained and combat effective. Maybe I?m not as hardcore as some folks, but I can?t live off of tree bark in the middle of the woods. And so we must take heart to the old adage: Plan ahead; it wasn?t raining while Noah built the ark.

I present this model of doing just that for a 16 man light platoon. You have two squads of eight men. You?ve got an elaborate system of supply dumps / base camps. Each site should that will sustain this platoon for 84 days.

One squad is busy conducting missions while another squad stays at base camp. The squad left at base camp is as important as the one doing missions. They are in charge of defending the base from intruders, taking care of the sick and injured, upkeeping the camoflauge of the site, and acting as relief to the unit out doing missions if they are in danger of being overran among many other tasks. After twelve days of operating, the squad in the field, returns to base camp and has two days of recovery. At the end of two weeks the squad that was conducting operations, fills base camp maintence details and the squad that was filling the details is now the one doing operations. In eighty-four days (12 weeks) the two squad rotation should look like this:

WEEK 1 AND 2
1ST Squad: 12 days active, 2 recovery days
2ND Squad: 14 days of BC details

WEEK 3 AND 4
1ST Squad: 14 days of BC details
2ND Squad: 12 days active, 2 recovery days

WEEK 5 AND 6
1ST Squad: 12 days active, 2 recovery days
2ND Squad: 14 days of BC details

WEEK 7 AND 8
1ST Squad: 14 days of BC details
2ND Squad: 12 days active, 2 recovery days

More at Sipsey Street link:  http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2008/11/praxis-small-unit-logistics.html

[EJR914]

Light Infantry Tactics:  http://www.amazon.com/Light-Infantry-Tactics-Small-Teams/dp/1418472077/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231910221&sr=8-1

[EJR914]

Small Unit Leadership:  http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2008/12/praxis-small-unit-leadership.html

1 - Lead by Example! Actions will speak much louder than your words. Remember your own role models and know that as a leader, you will be a role model for those you lead whether you like it or not. You will be known and remembered as either effective or worthless. It's totally up to you to determine which category you fall into. You must exhibit the following strengths: Courage (the ability to act in spite of your fear); integrity; accountability; authenticity, humanity, and sound judgment.

Much much more at link above.

[Ghost]

EJR you are the FUCKING MAN!

[EJR914]

Also, check out Global Guerrillas blogspot for Resilient Communities.  http://www.globalguerrillas.typepad.com