Survival training is more than living in the woods out of a backpack or strapping on assault gear like you’re a Special Operative on a mission. What is your life worth or that of your loved ones? This should be your primary question. The most common question I get is, “What should I prepare for?” The answer is simple, every potential scenario. I can teach you how to build a fire in a couple of minutes and within an hour of practice, you will be proficient with the skill. And, not only using one method such as a ferrocerium rod, but other methods as well. I can repeat this process for all survival skills such as shelter, water, food, trapping, tracking, etc.
What you really need to do is constantly assess what is going on in the world, especially geopolitically. Why? Because global issues now affect what we call a ‘flattened’ planet. Whether you want to or not, you cannot escape the fact that almost all countries are globally connected. I’ll tell you why in other articles. For now, let us look at potential survival scenarios. I am not going to give you the answers to them because you need to train yourself to think about survival in a more strategic manner and what it takes given your own and your family’s personal situation. As I promise in my forthcoming videos on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, I will help you negotiate from the strategic to the tactical so, put on your thinking cap.
Scenario 1: A missile from Libya strikes Israel. The detonation is followed by a giant mushroom cloud. Immediately you know the missile was nuclear. We also can likely guess it was supplied by Iran. Despite what the pundits say, Iran has had nuclear capabilities since at least 2005 given my work with some scientists there when I was in the agency. However, this is of little consequence. The immediate question you should ask is how this will affect the rest of the world given the Middle East continues to be a hotspot, despite Ukraine. Because we are no longer energy independent as we were when President Trump was in office, our energy supplies is again coming from the Middle East. The breakdown of supply to the U.S. is 38% from domestic fields in Alaska, Texas, and other states, 40% from Canada; 7% from Mexico, 6% from Saudi Arabia, 5% from Russia, and 4% from Colombia. It is difficult to get an accurate figure from Russia, but suppose it is zero, that deficit will need to be met from elsewhere as would any change in deficit – regardless of origin. What happens if Canada turns completely socialist? The supply from them will halt and a larger deficit accumulates. I could expound on all of this, but it would likely bore the reader. Let’s throw in another monkey wrench. Almost 73% of all goods, especially for grocery stores, in the U.S. are moved by truck, which requires gas and diesel. How are they affected by this? Then, how are you affected when you go into the grocery store? There will be less supplies because fewer trucks will be on the road and the prices of goods will skyrocket. All prices for any type of transportation are passed to the consumer. I apologize for the digression.
Because of the hostility between many of the countries in the ME and their capabilities, it is entirely probable that missiles could fly from one country to the other in the region. Additionally, Israel has a military strategy called the Samson Option. In case they are overrun, this option calls for the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons against the enemy. Given the status of NATO, and other allies such an exchange could pull in many countries. The result could be chaos on a global scale. Could such an action be contained to only the Middle East? You need to think about these types of scenarios and how they could affect you. We will discuss these issues and more in later zoom meetings. What I want you to think about first is a preparatory and defensive strategy before striking out into the wilderness and eating pine bark and drinking pine needle tea.
Scenario 2: Imagine that in the U.S. there is no commerce, no shopping, no buying, and thus, no economy. When this happens, it obviously means the banks have failed. I was in Monaco doing Yacht Security when the banks in Greece closed (June 29, 2015). This was a banking holiday, which was ironic. The banks shut down after the European Central Bank capped emergency funding to the lenders. Long before the closures, Greece had implemented strict currency controls. Why? Because they had accumulated high levels of sovereign debt (issuance by a country’s government to borrow money). The country had also misreported financial data, had major structural economic imbalances, their banks were heavily exposed, as well as had funding and liquidity issues, and they were part of the broader banking crisis in the Eurozone. This should scare you because the U.S. is currently following the same path. When a country can no longer afford the paper to print money on such as Venezuela, they will fall. The question is are you prepared for an economic and or complete government collapse. Remember, you cannot eat gold or silver and the paper dollar will be worthless. How should you prepare? Would you like to know more?
Scenario 3: Suppose you live in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Dallas, or other major metropolitan area. One day you notice several people with white blisters, some as large as a dime. The blisters turn into white puffy sores. Within 24 hours, a great number have died after stumbling around like zombies. In New York, people have blood exuding from their nose, mouth, eyes, and ears. The disease starts slowly like a flu virus and spreads very quickly; it spreads much faster than those affected with white blisters. The affected die rapidly. The radio begins to tell people to shelter in place to stop the spread. But is this a disease or a bioweapon? There are rumors of Ebola, which is only spread by fluid contact with an infected person, whether you touch their clothing or skin. What would you do? The disease quickly spreads from New York to other major cities within and without the U.S. People begin fleeing in large numbers to the countryside. Complete chaos ensues, as well as a catastrophic breakdown of law and order. Electricity fails because no one went to work. This is followed by the failure of every critical infrastructure. Is there a way to survive? Would you like to know more?
Scenario 4: In scenario 3, while people fled the cities, gangs began attacking and killing everyone to take whatever they could from them. While people were falling dead from the disease, rioting, looting, chaos, and murder ensued. People were literally sprinting to get away from the gangs. Mothers with children could not keep up and were hewn down in the greatest violence ever witnessed. With no electricity and complete collapse of critical infrastructure, panic sweeps the entire country. The government has collapsed. The streets are full of cars that stopped because of wrecks blocking all the highways and gangs attacking those who had become trapped. The only escape was on foot. Do you have an exit strategy to get from where you are to a predetermined emergency shelter or location? You planned it with a vehicle but now you’re on foot. How will that alter your strategy? Would you like to know more?
Scenario 5: The disease mentioned in scenario 3 has attacked every country, airlines are grounded, along with all shipping and other transport of goods and resources. How will this affect you? Would you like to know more?
Scenario 6: The winter was long and brutal all over the U.S. It lasts into the summer where daytime temperatures only reached into the 60s and 70s, instead of the 80s and 90s. The cool weather begins to play havoc on agricultural crops. Almost every farmer and non-farmer is caught by surprise. A great many are not in tune with the hazard to agricultural crops. The colder temperatures result in drastically reduced crop yields. Because the news doesn’t report such things because they are not part of their control agenda, most people are caught by complete surprise at the onset of a major famine. If you look at what is currently happening around the world – storms, droughts, and floods natural hazards have already started the onset of potential famine that could grow exponentially. This has been occurring for the last decade. The end of summer in this scenario brings an even more brutal countrywide winter. Before its over, cascading failures of the food supply chain, major blackouts, and communications failures brings the nation to its knees. Disease begins to spread and increase in severity, especially large cities. A complete collapse of the economy occurs. What kind of survival strategy will you need? Would you like to know more?
Scenario 7: The U.S. economy has completely collapsed. Because of power grid failure, the next two most important infrastructures, water, and telecommunications, have also failed. Throughout the U.S. there is complete chaos. The government has fallen and anarchy reigns. There are no food supplies. People have panicked and are overcome by fear. They dig in the ground for grubs, worms, weed roots and leaves, as well as other edibles. Many died within three weeks after the power failed, a great many others are on the verge of delirium and death from lack of food and severe shortage of water. They were caught unprepared and had no skills to survive. Most water resources have been poisoned and cause illness and even death when drunk. The craving for food and water drives people to the brink of death and a lust for destruction within them develops. Many people go around in gangs, killing people just for the sake of killing. Others kill for food, water, or clothing. But the lust to kill is constant and many kill just to kill creating scenes of horror. They are like beasts or wild animals and are completely out of control. They loot, rape, burn, and butcher others, invading homes where they drag out the occupants, shooting them on the sidewalk or lawn and then, go back in and take whatever food there is. Hatred stands on every corner, reaching a crescendo so that even families turn on each other. Everything has turned violent. Can you defend yourself against 10 or more armed thugs? Don’t believe those that tell you that you will never need to leave your home. It is untrue. Also, it is unwise to listen to such because your life and that of your family is on the line. What is your strategy for this situation? Would you like to know more?
Scenario 8: The air across the entire U.S. is filled with smoke due to fires burning across the nation. Every city and building are filled with it. The smoke increases because since the collapse of the economy and critical infrastructure, no one goes to work. They stay home to protect their families. No one puts the fires out. There remains only chaos, destruction, and smoke. Sam and Evelyn living in St. Louis fled north from the city and found others who had done the same. Forming into small groups where there was some amount of peace and safety, they pooled resources and made individual assignments so that all could survive. What did they need? They had done what we taught them and everything they needed for survival was in their small backpacks. There were tarps, tents, blankets, and the kits needed to filter water, start fires, form shelters, and the twine, wire, and rope that could be used to snare wild animals like rabbits, squirrels, and other creatures. They were protected against gangs because they could fight back. Their small group had enough sentries for protection at night and enough people to provide sufficient skill sets to survive almost anything. Have you thought about developing such a group with your family or with friends? Why is a group important in a survival situation? Would you like to know more?
Scenario 9: You are in Chicago and the television is showing missiles hitting various cities in the U.S. Additional explosions are occurring on land from within semi-trailers and Connex containers they haul around. The news shows Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Portland, New York, Norfolk, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, and Atlanta hit with bombs. There are fires and massive amounts of smoke. Immediately, you realize the country is under attack. What should you do? You don’t know because you were not trained in survival. In the darkness you see little fireballs falling all around Chicago. As they fall from the sky, they leave a streak of flame and smoke behind them. Whatever they touch they start on fire – people, buildings, trees, grass, everything. The entire city is on fire. Fear sets in and a plan of action seems to allude you. The radio is now reporting Russian and Chinese troops on U.S. soil; the Chinese are invading the west coast near Los Angeles and from Canada, the Russians from the east. The television, before it went dark, showed thousands of parachutes over cities on each coast and the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas border. Thousands more are dropping into Salt Lake City. Where can you escape to? Should you escape or should you hide, or should you fight back? Would you like to know more?
Scenario 10: About one month after scenario 9, the three major U.S. faults rupture. First it was the New Madrid fault; three days later the Wasatch fault running through Salt Lake City ruptured, and 10 days after the New Madrid ruptured, the San Andreas fault, running from its point of origin near the north tip of the Salton Sea, all the way through northern California past San Franciso, where it joins the Cascadia fault, which runs northward, ruptured. All news is from ham radio operators who report that all quakes lasted more than 12 minutes and were over 9.3 on the Richter Scale. Every bridge is down over the Mississippi River, which has widened to more than three miles in most areas and much further in others. The Great Lakes have become one. The Wasatch fault ruptured destroying all east-west highways and most of the buildings in the city. Great fissures ruptured and shot water skyward. It drowned most of Salt Lake City and when the water had calmed, the entire Salt Lake Valley is a giant lake. The San Andreas destroyed Los Angeles and San Franciso and most points between. Two hours after the quake, the LA Basin was hit by a 300-foot Tsunami, killing most of the 17 million residents who had become trapped due to destroyed transportation routes. San Franciso is gone, as is Portland and Seattle, both suffering giant tsunamis. The country is now split into three sections. About one week after the earthquakes the Yellowstone Caldera erupts, spewing ash that settles three-foot thick in Cheyenne, and a foot thick in Denver. Ash and debris is carried eastward by the jet stream across the entire northern part of the U.S. and southern Canada. The already ongoing famine will be extended at least another year. The natural disasters destroy the Chinese navy and their combined efforts with the Russians, stopping both armies in their tracks. Survival is now in the hands of your brains and guns. There is no option other than to fight or find a safe place and wait while the invading forces evacuate their plans and the country. What is your survival plan? Would you like to know more?
These are only a few of the survival scenarios that I can describe for you. My intent is to help you prepare for the worst. Those above are the most likely to happen. Although we are now a weak country, you must be a strong individual and family to survive. If you are prepared, you need not fear.
Let’s look at a few issues before closing. After a major war or large natural disaster, especially when there is little assistance, the war or disaster will be followed by famine, disease, and death. How can you prepare for serious survival situations? Let us help educate you. Have a safe day.