Training

Importing Your Soldiers

Miguel posts over at his place that Tennessee is having trouble with Venezuelan gangs. It’s becoming more and more obvious that the left is allowing this because they are going to use the gangs as their foot soldiers. Remember that the left began turning illegal immigrants into police officers in 2023 or so.

This is right out of the CIA insurgency manual, which has been followed by the left since at least 2019. The plan is to make people distrust the government so that they can replace it with their own, alternative, government. You know, the alternative that they have created.

The police cannot, or perhaps will not, do anything to stop this. Things will eventually get sporty.

So we are left to begin planning our own counter. The only answer is obvious. Things are getting closer and closer to ‘going hot.’ Be prepared to setup sniper positions, where a pair of shooters can act as a sniper team to take out gang members from a couple of hundred yards away before departing the area. A shot from 300 yards away with a suppressed .308 should be enough to stymie them while giving you time to GTFO of Dodge. A .308 rifle zeroed for 200 yards will shoot 2.5 inches high at 100 yards, 9 inches low at 300 yards, and about 24 inches low at 400 yards. If you aim at the top of the forehead, you should reliably get ‘A zone’ hits out to 430 yards or so, when your drop is about 32 inches. With a suppressor, you lose a bit, call it 30 inches at 400 yards. Even the slowest .308 rounds are still moving at around 1300 fps at 300 yards, resulting in about 550 foot pounds of energy at that range. Of course, this is based on your particular ammo and your particular barrel, but the above is close enough for Kentucky windage.

Other tactics could include true camouflage. I am not talking about the idiotic dressing like a tree in the middle of an urban environment that SWAT teams do. That is some ridiculous shit. The entire idea of camo is to not be noticed. In an urban environment, blending into the background means looking like people who won’t be noticed, not like SEAL team 6. No, an ambush team that has a spotter dressed as a homeless bum would be better for blending in. Who even looks at, much less notices, a homeless druggie? Three people dressed as drug users with cheap Baofeng radios can act as lookouts on 3 of your 4 sides, leaving the ambush team to worry about the kill zone (your 4th side).

Start learning the basics of ambushes. Thing about how you will need to take the fight to the enemy. It’s coming. Plan for it now.

By Divemedic, ago

Tasers

There are many people who ask: “Why do you need to carry a gun? Can’t you just have a TASER? There is no need to kill someone.” Well, here is a great video that explains why TASERs aren’t really effective all that often. (Sorry, YouTube has age restricted this video and it can’t be embedded.)

Note that this guy took two solid Taser hits, shook them off, and then attacked the cop. The cop then had to shoot this critter. Even after being shot three times, he still managed to keep fleeing for another 31 seconds. Sadly, Norway lost another of its fine, upstanding children.

By Divemedic, ago

More on Medicine Preps

There are those who will tell you that learning CPR is a waste of time because when society collapses there won’t be any hospitals to complete the chain of survival. That’s shortsighted. Each day in the United States, one thousand people go into cardiac arrest. Preparing for disaster doesn’t just mean preparing for a society ending event. Most disasters are personal.

When each of my parents passed away, I was struck by the fact that the rest of the world continued as it did the day before, even though my own world had experienced such a shock. That’s the nature of disaster- they can affect a single person, a household, family, region, or an entire nation- even the world. It is prudent to prepare for long term, widespread disaster, but the one you are most likely to face will be limited and personal.

I spent my career responding to disasters, and most of them involve just a single person. Start small: Learn first aid, learn CPR, all because knowledge is power, and once attained, knowledge is never wasted.

By Divemedic, ago

Tactics

I am putting an Ambush manual in the training manuals page. It’s a great summary of the tactics to be used in setting up and conducting an ambush. The money quote is one that I want to point out to all of you:

Maintaining a 3:1 ratio is imperative. It is standard in the U.S. Army to always have three soldiers for every one enemy soldier when initiating contact. This rule ensures that you will have superior firepower over the enemy and will not become outnumbered. You should NOT initiate the ambush if the enemy unit is larger than expected.

It is an important tactical consideration that you, as someone who is initiating an ambush or an assault, never allow your assault element to be outnumbered by the defenders. That is how you ensure that your team doesn’t get overwhelmed by the superior force. Sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor.

By Divemedic, ago

Missing the Point

Many of the comments to this post missed the point. The question wasn’t about the legality or morality of engaging the thieves, nor was it about chest thumping bravado.

It was about the wisdom of going outside to confront armed felons when outnumbered three or more to one, and getting yourself shot in defending property that will cost you less than the cost of the ambulance ride you will take from even the most minor of gunshot wounds.

Part of life is being able to look at risks versus benefits and deciding if the juice is worth the squeeze. My family and I aren’t going to care that I made society better by three dead goblins if I spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, eating through a straw because I caught a bullet through the spine from the accomplice I didn’t know was on my flank in the dark.

Insurance will replace losses from car theft. It can’t replace you. Sometimes, the most tactically sound thing is not to walk into a fight that will cause you to lose more than you gain.

if we can’t learn that lesson, we will lose the fight for our nation by fighting one losing battle after another. The wise fighter only engages in fights he can win and avoids those with no clear path to victory.

By Divemedic, ago

Good Questions

Some good questions to my security post of this morning, so let’s take a look:

  • I’m curious as to what you use as a training load equivalent?

I don’t for the higher powered 45 loads. How I address this, is nearly every pistol (as opposed to revolver) that I have is a S&W M&P: I have M&P40s, M&P9s, M&P45s, a Shield 380EZ, several Shield pluses, as well as Shields in 9mm, .380, .40S&W, and .45ACP. I also have a few Glock 19s and 19 clones, but I rarely shoot them and can’t remember ever carrying one.

Having the same models as carry pieces simplifies the manual of arms, makes repairs easy as they all look the same on the inside, and makes switching firearms and calibers smoother and easier. I know that full power loads don’t shoot the same, but it’s close enough for what I am doing here. I can still do A-zone shots quickly and effectively out to 15 or 20 yards with little effort, and that is all I am concerned with.

  • IDK if I’d go to a full size .45 tho, a single stack 9mm is very svelte, easy to carry, and similar capacity. A subcompact .40 a bit thicker, but smaller than the .45 and similar power/effect.
  • Open carry is legal in Florida on your own property. But wear a light cover garment anyway; they don’t need to know until it’s time for them to know, and you’re still “legal” if you step into the street.
  • It wouldn’t hurt to have a Glock 19-26 ish type pistol concealed appendix ish.

All handguns are a tradeoff. They have low power, not as much firepower as a long gun like an AR-10 or an AR-15, and not as much punch as say, a shotgun. We carry handguns because we aren’t sure whether or not we will need one, but it is useful to have one just in case. When I am at home, I have more freedom to carry a large handgun, hence the double stack .45.

One firearm on me at a time is all I need, especially when at home. All I need is something to bridge the gap that exists between me and a long gun. Remember, you carry a handgun in case you might be in a gun fight. If you KNOW you will be in a gun fight, endeavor to not be there. If that is impossible, bring a long gun, and bring a friend with a long gun, if possible.

When working on my property but outside, I just wear a baggy t-shirt and pull it over my OWB holster (a DeSantis Speed Scabbard that I used to use back when I was an IDPA competitor. A funny story about that below the divider)

When I am away from home, I avoid areas where I am likely to need a firearm, but just in case, I carry a pistol or revolver that is easy to carry and easy to conceal. Think a Smith and Wesson Shield, Shield plus, or J frame revolver. My EDC is usually a Shield plus (they hold 13 rounds of 9mm), or a J frame .38 loaded with wadcutters.

  • Have you made realistic plans for the “temporary” removal of your firearms after a “Good Shoot”?

I have caches of firearms. I have guns in safes. I’m not opening or revealing either to the cops.

I have a Tshirt that says “DeSantis, Concealment Perfected” on it that I bought some years ago. One of my wife’s coworkers saw me while I was wearing it out with her and some coworkers at an event. She told me that seeing DeSantis’ name on a shirt was a trigger for her because he was an evil fascist. I told her not to worry, that the shirt had absolutely nothing to do with the Governor, it was a brand of holsters that I liked carrying my pistols in, “and in fact I am carrying a handgun in one of their holsters now.”

She practically ran out of the venue and hasn’t spoken to my wife since. My wife says that she didn’t like the woman anyhow, but that saying what I said was hunting over bait, even if it was funny.

By Divemedic, ago

Adding Skills Can Hurt Sometimes

Now that I have completed my latest degree, our move, and my rental has tenants again, I now find myself in possession of spare time. I decided to fill some of that time by taking up Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. The gym that I joined lets you attend unlimited sessions for $200 per month, with an extra $100 if you want to add Muay Thai. The two together are what comprises MMA. There is no contract, it is a simple month to month deal.

For now, I signed up for the BJJ, with the intention of adding the Muay Thai at a later date. There are two types of classes: one group practices with the intent of competition, the other with the intent of self defense. Different approaches. There are different classes at different times each day, so you can go every day, if you so choose.

I have only gone to a couple of classes so far. The classes in the middle of the day are small, with the instructor and just three or four students. They last 90 minutes, and we spend most of the class mastering a move and the counter for it. We end each class by sparring in 5 minute rounds. (Called ‘rolling’ in BJJ). The rules for rolling are simple:

  • No striking. That includes knees, feet, hands.
  • No gouging of eyes, or grabbing the throat.
  • No genital strikes.
  • Nothing that is intended to injure or disable your opponent. This isn’t a street fight, its practice.

It makes the fight purely one of strength, endurance, and skill. Skill is a HUGE part, and a good fight is like a chess match. Move, countermove. The more skill the two fighters have, the faster and more complicated the ordeal.

Today, I was matched up with a 20 something year old who had more experience with MMA, but was about 70 pounds lighter than I am. I am very flexible and I weigh over 200 pounds, so I have advantages there. He was younger and more skilled, so there were his advantages. It turns out that his biggest advantage was endurance.

He made first contact, and I managed to throw him to the mat and land on him before he could react. I had him pinned and kept my base wide, so he couldn’t reverse or throw me off. He tried several joint locks and throws, but I was stronger than he was and kept him pinned for the next 3 and a half minutes. Then he managed to reverse before pinning me to the mat and I had to tap out. He was surprised that I was strong and flexible enough to get out of most of the holds he tried to use. In the end, he just outlasted me because my endurance ran out.

It was a lot of fun, but was very tiring. I was completely out of breath by the end of the five minutes.

By the time I got home, the right side of my chest hurts every time I move. It hurts to breathe, to bend over, and it’s even somewhat uncomfortable to type this post.

I really hope I didn’t break a rib. Even if I am still hurting, I will still go tomorrow. Today’s biggest lesson was that I need to do more cardio. I am going to work on that.

By Divemedic, ago