by Bobby Akart
If you are serious about prepping, then you have probably come to the realization that you will not be able to do everything yourself when SHTF. Just the day-to-day chores of collecting firewood, sanitation issues, cooking, food procurement, and cleaning without modern technology, will be overwhelming for a family, but when you have the added issue of providing your own security. You will quickly realize that you’ll need help in maintaining security.
A prepper group is an association of people that have agreed to help each other out after a collapse event. The level of help depends on the scenario, the people involved, and the community. Some prepper groups encompass an entire small town or community. Typically, the residents intend to stay in their own homes, but agree to provide mutual security and aid on a community-wide scale. Because of their size, these types of groups are rare, and formed post-collapse.
The most common type of group is a loosely organized group of people, which may or may not live close to each other, but have general plans to provide mutual aid. They might meet together on a regular basis to discuss different scenarios, take classes together, and combine orders for bulk purchasing. Some are well-organized, while others just pay lip-service to the concept. A prepper group like this might be beneficial during the planning stage, but in an actual event, the distance between them will make mutual aid impossible.
The next prepper group is a collaboration of several like-minded individuals that have made a plan, practiced their plan, and have a mutually agreed upon location to execute that plan as a group. They live fairly close to each other, but instead of trying to stay in their various locations, recognize the importance of being together to provide strength in numbers. This is the best case scenario.
Putting together a prepper group does not mean that you must find a group of survivalists and band together. There are several things that you need to consider when deciding if someone is right for your group. Factors include:
1. What are they prepping for?
2. What skills or supplies do they bring to the table?
3. How many in their group and what is their relationship to each other?
4. How committed are they?
When we look at forming our prepping group, we have to consider if the people are like-minded, their skills, commitment, and who they will bring with them. Later, for recruiting purposes, we also need to consider how many people we will need, to accomplish what needs to be done
Recently, a Prepper in the Tampa, Florida area learned a hard lesson in choosing members for his preppers group. Many of the newest members had prior felonies, which prohibited them from owning or possessing firearms. Further, this Florida prepper engaged in questionable conduct; such as building pipe bombs and making veiled threats against law enforcement. When one of his new members of the group was arrested on unrelated charges, they turned snitch and wore a wire during the prepper’s group meetings. The end result—the leader of the group is going to prison, while the snitch walks free.
The debate will always rage as to whether you should be a member of a preppers group or a lone wolf prepper. Regardless of how you define your prepper group, there are common issues when determining who to let your group. It is a private membership which should always practice OPSEC, due to the sensitive information that everyone in the group has access to. You need to give careful consideration to the people becoming part of your group. In general, this is not an easy topic, as there are no fast and simple rules. The average human being is a complex bag of emotions and logic, to which fields of science have been dedicated to understanding. Therefore, it is not surprising when the person you had thought to be a stable individual, turns out to be not much more than a basket-case.
Consider this. Choosing members of a preppers group is a lot like courting; you cannot really tell if they are right for you from just a few dates. Sure, we've all heard of love at first sight. However, given time, a person's true colors shine through. Being part of a group is not much different. There will be differences, arguments, heated debates, betrayals, and various other emotional conflicts. All of which need to be addressed, particularly, since this group is supposed to be like a second family to you.
One very important aspect to keep in mind is what will happen when someone stops being a group member. Though it may seem like many people would make a good group member, most will turn out to be incompatible with you and your group. Some people are very good at hiding who they really are, even after knowing someone for years. What has the newly-ejected member learned about you, your family, and your preparedness plan? They may get kicked out of the group or they may decide to leave voluntarily. Either way, this person becomes a security risk.
When looking at group preparedness, remember that a long-term crisis scenario will require large amounts of labor for survival. Therefore, unless you are creating a specific paramilitary team, no one should be automatically discounted because of any disabilities or shortcomings (such as having a lack of gear). Look at each prospective member on a case-by-case basis, weighing their strengths and weaknesses, while keeping in mind that everyone has something to contribute. Finding group members is a tedious process, but the gains accomplished by having a group of people you can depend on, are immeasurable.
Your survival may depend on it.
Post-collapse: How to Assimilate with your neighbors to form a group
These are all considerations of OPSEC for preppers that can be implemented prior to the collapse event. After TEOTWAWKI, when other factors like a grid-down scenario come into play, OPSEC becomes less technology oriented.
After collapse, OPSEC will require you to resist the urge to step up and be the new leader of any newly-formed survival group. One of the biggest mistakes preppers can make is to tell the wrong person or people about their preps. While helping people in a time of need, is one of the most selfless things you can do, if you’re the only person prepared in your neighborhood and everyone comes looking to you for help, all of your pre-collapse OPSEC will be wasted, as desperate people attempt to take the things you’ve worked so hard to save. We believe that it is better to be safe, keep our preparedness plans to ourselves, than to be sorry.
While you don’t want to tell the world about your plans, it’s expected that you might want to share with close friends, family, and possibly trusted co-workers. To help you understand who you should tell and who you shouldn’t, we’ve put together a few points.
Complete privacy is nearly impossible to keep, especially when you will surely need help with something at some point. It will be very difficult to survive on your own. The biggest reason to form a survival group, in our opinion, is to maintain security. After a collapse event, your world will become much smaller. Your neighborhood will become your universe. Focus on establishing a group of neighbors first, and then look outward for like-minded thinkers.
The goal is to survive, and if potential looters know what you have, that survival will be a big challenge. Within days if not hours of the collapse event, your neighbors will begin to gather together to seek information. You will have a decision to make. Step up and be the leader of the group, or stand back and observe. We are in favor of continuing your OPSEC practice after collapse, and avoiding a leadership role at first.
Here are the steps we recommend you take after a collapse event:
1. Take a day to gather information and assess the extent of the collapse. Observe your neighbors to gauge their reaction.
2. Maintain a heightened state of awareness. Every action and reaction of your neighbors should be observed, and not dismissed.
3. Be polite to everyone you deal with, but do so with confidence. You do not want to be perceived as weak.
4. Learn about the people around you from reliable sources. Immediately attempt to identify troublemakers.
5. Identify cliques within your neighborhood, and identify individuals or families to approach. You have to establish trust.
6. Initially, don’t worry about ascertaining th
e level of other people’s preps. Avoid suspicion by not being too inquisitive.
7. If a neighborhood meeting is called, determine who the organizers are. Typically, these individuals will be type A, overbearing temperaments.
8. Don’t make waves. Better to remain quiet, than to argue. Your job is not to take control, or provide information.
9. Conceal your weapons, and do not discuss your preps, EVER.
In summary, focus on your immediate family. You shouldn't tell anyone else about your plans. This means, if you tell your parents that live outside your house (which of course you will), you will need to save supplies for them as well. If you tell your close friends, you will need food and water for them, too. If you tell anyone, they immediately become part of your plan. This is why the final step is getting those special people in your life to prep as well. This way, you now have a network of trusted preppers that can help one another now, and when times get tough. Once you have them all at your location, then you can begin to take a more active role in your neighborhood survival group. Your close-knit group of family and friends can defend your preps, in case there is an uprising amongst your neighbors.
So the big question is, who should I tell about my prepping? The answer is anyone that you feel comfortable surviving TEOTWAWKI with. If you want to house enough supplies for all of your neighbors to come and enjoy, tell them at your own risk. Even then, you run the risk of them telling their friends and so on, until you have a hundred people at your door looking for a handout. Help people with knowledge and never let on to the size of your prep or the weapons that you have. Getting to know your neighbors will be a big help. You will be able to determine who has the will and aptitude to survive a collapse event. After a collapse, cautiously approach those neighbors to form alliances, and encourage them to use their skills to help themselves and your group.
This is only a start to the concept of beans, bullets and band-aids. The one thing I haven’t discussed yet is the importance of research and knowledge. If money is an issue, this is a great place to start. This necessary step to survival just happens to be free. There are many great books and tutorials online, or at local libraries, that will teach you anything from CPR to fishing and gardening at no cost. Now that you know about beans, bullets and bandaids, you can start preparing for any scenario you see fit.
John F. Kennedy once said the time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. Because you never know when the day before—is the day before. Prepare for tomorrow.
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APPENDIX A
Excerpt from The Loyal Nine
The following is an excerpt from Amazon Best-Selling Author Bobby Akart
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Chapter 25
February 8, 2016
Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Sarge was late for class. A massive pileup on the Mass Turnpike, near the Beacon Park rail yard, forced him to drive the long way, via Beacon Hill and East Cambridge. Ordinarily, he would enjoy the change of scenery, but he had already been running late. He and Julia had a sleepover—devoid of much sleep.
He entered the classroom to a round of throat clearing, followed by sarcastic applause. He gathered his thoughts and brought up the first slide on the screen:
ALL EMPIRES COLLAPSE EVENTUALLY
He turned to the class and took a moment to gauge their reaction. Let’s see what they think about this topic.
“Okay, guys, what do you think I mean by this?” asked Sarge.
A few hands shot up. Sarge pointed at a meek student in the back of the room. Time to come out of your shell.
“Mr. Lin, what say you?”
“Professor Sargent, I believe that in the history of mankind, every civilization ever formed has eventually disappeared or been replaced,” said Lin.
“How does this come about, Mr. Lin?” asked Sarge.
“They either go broke or get their asses kicked,” said Lin.
This elicited a round of laughter from his classmates. Sarge was also amused. So much for Mr. Lin’s shell.
“Thank you, Mr. Lin, for that concise, articulate answer,” Sarge chuckled. “All empires collapse eventually when they are defeated by a more powerful enemy or when their funding runs out.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, there have been no exceptions in the history of mankind. Empires are not typically the result of conscious thought. Empires form when a group of people is large enough and powerful enough to impose its will on others—or kick their asses,” said Sarge with a nod and smile to Lin.
“But empires are expensive,” continued Sarge. “Throughout history, how did the mighty empires of the world finance themselves?”
Sarge saw the hands pop up. He chose Miss Crepeau.
“To the victor go the spoils,” she replied.
“Exactly. Thank you, Miss Crepeau,” said Sarge. “In the early 1800s, this phrase was coined by a New York politician, but we have President Andrew Jackson to thank for the modern-day patronage system, which is so prevalent in our government today. President Jackson believed it was healthy to clear out the prior administration’s workers and bring in fresh faces. This patronage policy resulted in many Jacksonian Democrats, his political supporters, being placed into important government positions.”
Sarge allowed the playful banter between warring political factions in the class to settle down before interrupting.
“Before the Republicans point fingers, I will remind you—the Southern Democrats of the early nineteenth century are the political equivalent of today’s Southern Republican base,” said Sarge.
The class erupted in another round of political posturing.
“So,” said Sarge, pausing to bring the class back to attention, “to Miss Crepeau’s point, empires have historically financed their governments through force and theft. The great empires conquer their lesser opponents, take everything they have, and extort protection money out of the conquered citizens. This is how all of the great empires of the world were formed.
“Some might argue that the United States is different—and in some respects it is,” said Sarge. “America was not formed by conquering another, less powerful opponent, although the Native Americans might disagree. The Founding Fathers sought independence from what they considered oppressive rule from Great Britain. But the formation of the great American empire, if you will, is only part of the equation.”
Sarge brought up a new screen.
Who’s going to pay for this new empire?
“Part two of the formation of a new empire involves financing its operations,” said Sarge. “America didn’t conquer another nation and plunder its wealth. The premise of the American Revolutionary War included a revolt against the implementation of taxes on the citizenry. Clearly, there wasn’t a stomach for that. What did they do to pay for this new government?”
The young law student, Ocampo, eagerly raised his hand.
“Mr. Ocampo,�
�� said Sarge, “what do you think?”
“They fired up the printing presses, sir,” said Ocampo.
“That’s true to an extent,” said Sarge. “The Constitution provided in Article One that the federal government had the sole power to coin money and regulate the value thereof. But the Constitution was devoid of reference to paper money. You see, the Founding Fathers had some experience with paper money. The Continental Congress, as Ocampo suggested, fired up the printing presses and financed the American Revolution with a newly minted currency — continentals. Unfortunately, although I would argue predictably, the continentals became worthless by the end of the war—to the point they were never spoken of again.
“It wasn’t until the Civil War when the National Banking Act was passed that the paper dollar became the fully accepted currency of the land,” said Sarge. “The United States adopted a gold standard, and its currency value became universally accepted. This leads us to one of the most important acts of participation by our country in global governance in its history—the Bretton Woods Conference.”
Sarge changed the slide.
“After the conclusion of World War II, delegates from the forty-four Allied nations participated in the UN Financial and Monetary Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. This conference produced the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank,” said Sarge. “At the time, the United States was the world’s greatest economic power and had a lot of influence on the agreements reached. Study the history and background of the Bretton Woods system. This is a prime example of the impact of global governance.” Sarge changed the slide again.