This article will provide some thoughts on how to address a few common problems seen in the preparedness community. The first problem involves the difficulty finding like-minded people to form a community before the Stuff Hits The Fan (SHTF). The second problem is how to engage friends, family, and neighbors so that they take actions to prepare their families prior to SHTF. These problems are related and center on the realization that many people are bound by their current life circumstances and are unwilling or unable to consider that the current paradigm is in danger and, secondly, many of those who may want to prepare do not have the resources to buy and maintain a bug-out location given middle-class or working-class wages.
The truth for many of us is that we’ll likely need to bug-in at our present location until safety concerns force us to bug-out as a last resort. Unfortunately, any bug-out situation will likely devolve into a refugee existence unless friends or family in safe areas are willing to take us in. So, given the likelihood of having to bug-in at your current location until it’s necessary to leave, you should realize that your family will be within walking distance of people who’ll be fleeing chaos.
You should also recognize that you’ll be surrounded by neighbors, friends, and possibly family members who could be a great resource if managed wisely. So, how do you prepare your home, establish a group, and increase your defensive capacity with those around you? Simply put, when everything starts, you have what you have and you’ll need to act to maximize your current situation with limited resources. One strategy, is to adopt a plan of Just-in-time (JIT) training to bring people “up to speed” as quickly as possible to establish a group. This requires advanced planning so that you can manage people resources as efficiently and effectively as possible while also maintaining your family’s security.
What is Just-in-time (JIT) training? Just-in-time training is a concept used in business and emergency preparedness planning that allows for the training of staff, responders, and volunteers for a new role in an emergent situation which they haven’t been trained for previously. This strategy allows for an immediate expansion of your workforce made up of newly trained and skilled workers to fill positions that are needed. In emergency response situations, this strategy is often implemented to train “spontaneous” volunteers who wish to volunteer for work after a natural disaster but who aren’t affiliated with a volunteer organization and haven’t been trained for any particular position or mission. This is a very useful strategy when workers are needed and time is short.
However, this does create some very serious concerns. First, these “spontaneous” volunteers come with different levels of knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral baggage. During emergency response activities, volunteers are vetted as completely as possible and they are not trusted implicitly with roles and responsibilities of a highly sensitive nature. If managed correctly, these volunteers can be utilized to augment emergency response capacity quite effectively. But, given the sensitivity of trusting complete strangers with your family’s safety and security, I would suggest only including trusted friends, family members, and neighbors in your JIT training plan. These “spontaneous volunteers” should be “vetted” beforehand with the understanding that they are trustworthy, responsible and would likely be willing to become part of the group once SHTF.
In an ideal world, these people would willingly join your survival group before SHTF and the group would plan, train, and work together before any emergency occurs. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t work this way very often. Oftentimes, the most skilled and knowledgeable people do not see the world as it is. Many people are stuck in their normalcy bias and would most likely not be approachable prior to an emergency because of concerns such as fear of being labeled a tin-foil hat type or “prepper”. The stigma is enough to keep most people from making the necessary preparations beforehand. But when SHTF, they will be willing to admit that the world has changed and actions need to be taken to protect and save their families.
Under these circumstances, these family members, friends, and neighbors who you would consider welcome and reliable to have your family’s back will be ready to be brought into your group. These recruits will have many transferable skills, knowledge, and abilities for the SHTF situation, as well as the newfound motivation to join your group. But, you will need to be ready to bring them on board quickly, this will involve clear plans, roles, and responsibilities with the necessary JIT training sessions.
So, how does JIT training work, and how can someone implement this idea to support the development of a group that will come together and provide mutually beneficial safety and security? A JIT training plan can be utilized to bring together trusted recruits as the early stages of S Hitting TF begins to become apparent or if the Stuff has HTF but your immediate area has a little time. This is the time when most unprepared people are looking for information, seeking what to do, making plans, and need leadership. This would be the time to implement a JIT training plan to bring together people to form a group that benefits you and your family while also helping those friends, family, and neighbors who would be valuable recruits.
Now, is this the ideal situation to train people on the fly? No. Would it be best to have a completely trained and coordinated team prior to SHTF? Yes. But, due to many different circumstances, it may not be possible to bring people together and train, or maybe even bringing up the situation in “normal” times would result in failure. Sometimes, people who we trust and care for are completely imprisoned by their normalcy bias and will not consider the possibility of SHTF scenarios in which they would need food, water, security, etc. However, these people are still trustworthy, reliable, able, possess skills, have resources, and would be valuable to have around. Having a JIT plan will allow a quick process to bring these people quickly “up to speed” as best as possible under the circumstances.
Recruitment
What should a JIT training plan include? First, the JIT plan should be developed now, since there are a considerable number of considerations that need to be thought through and organized. One of the first items to put together is a list of possible trusted friends and family members who might be able to be recruited just-in-time. These people should include those whom you would have liked to recruit for a group under ideal times. A critical, honest assessment of each person’s “pros and cons” should be undertaken. “Hot heads”, “Party animals”, “Drama queens”, “Pot-Stirrers”, and many other troublesome personality types need to be excluded. Each person who might be recruited JIT should be someone who is level-headed, responsible, trustworthy, etc. You will trust your family’s safety with these recruits and you will likely be expected to work to protect theirs as well.
Bringing these recruits, whom you’ve identified beforehand, on board should be done quickly once the time has come. The window to talk, discuss the situation, get organized, gather resources, and take action will close quickly. Have a quick, no-nonsense conversation about the need to come together for safety and security. At this point, your resources, “preps”, and other details shouldn’t be brought up. This information is for those who have agreed to be part of the group, are committed, and are on-site.
Think through the logistics of this conversation. How will you communicate with these recruits, CB, amateur radio, cell phone, in-person? What distance will need to be traveled? Is fuel available for travel? Is it safe to travel? What timing issues need to be considered? For instance, who needs to be approached first? Who can be quickly contacted? Who may need to be moved up or down the list based on the situation? Who are those VIPs that need to be contacted first? As you go through this planning process, many other considerations will come up. These questions will get you started.
Given the severity of the SHTF situation, many people will “see the light” and making the decision to band together will be easier for them and their family. The utility of being part of a group to share skills and security will be crystal clear. Those who will likely decline your offer will be those who are already implementing their own plan or are beyond help.
Group organization
There are many things that you will need to include in this part of the plan. One of the first things to have in place are the rules for the group. There are many examples of rules for groups online. Take some time now to consider how your group should be organized and have rules ready for sharing so that the new recruits understand what is acceptable behavior and what is unacceptable. The new recruits may have some objections to the rules, this is understandable. So, you will need to be ready to explain why certain rules are in place. You will also need to be prepared to be flexible on some rules and inflexible on others. Be realistic. Having a rule “just because you say” is an unrealistic, inflexible position that isn’t defendable. As the leader, if you explain the reasons behind the rule or are able to appreciate other viewpoints, then you will be able to build a team based on trust and respect. You will need to be able to lead the group, not dictate, and build a team that will survive. Trust, respect, integrity, understanding, and humility go a long way. Other people will follow as long as you are willing to lead in a manner where you earn trust, respect, and demonstrate a willingness to sacrifice mutually. The goal is to build a mutually beneficial group, not establish a dictatorial regime.
Other questions that you will need to work through: Will you need to create a written organizational chart? Will you implement a formal command structure or will an informal structure suffice? What responsibilities will everyone share (chores/tasks, security, etc.)? What responsibilities will certain individuals have based on their unique skill set? How will the workload be divided (age, gender, family)? How will resources be divided? Will the group organization be based on equality, merit, or some other strategy? Also, consider if the group will relocate to your home, or is there another location that provides more safety and security based on the situation? There are many additional questions that need to be considered as you organize, but as you develop these components of your plan, other questions and logistical issues will present themselves. So, plan now and think through various scenarios.
Resources
Many people in the survivalist or prepper community view non-prepper households as wastelands of uninformed consumerism. These households are viewed as having few resources and inconsequential during any natural disaster. My view on this is that the American household is an under-appreciated smorgasbord of resources, if one has an imagination. There are a number of items that American households have that could be of useful during disasters. These items include:
Tools, hardware, cordage/rope, outdoor solar lights, water hoses, knives, cast iron pans, blankets, towels, OTC medicines, prescription medications, tarps, camping gear, fishing/hunting gear, extension cords, small engines, gasoline containers, sewing kits, cleaning supplies, toiletries, toilet paper, jewelry, clothing, boots, belts, work gloves, back packs, flashlights, radios, alcohol, lighters/matches, candles, buckets, rain barrels, gardening equipment/supplies, bicycles, kayaks/canoes, motorcycles, boats, spices, pantry items, and some households even have a little food.
Granted, many households will not have all of this, some will have more and most will have less. But the idea is to recognize that households contain useful items that will be beneficial during emergency situations. Many households have gallons of water stored in water heaters and swimming pools. The point of including this in a JIT training plan is to include a step in the recruit training process to gather these resources or acknowledge their presence so that these resources can be brought to the group to aid in survival. Another realization is that there may be household items that would be extremely valuable for the group, but the new recruit doesn’t have the perspective to view them as such. Having a conversation about resources may cause them to remember the inherited shotgun or handgun, gold jewelry, propane tanks on the grill, solar lights on the deck, or many other possibilities. The point is to identify these items “just-in-time” so that the new recruits will have resources to contribute to the group.
Your resources will also need to be reconsidered now, before SHTF. You will need to consider increasing levels of supply available food and water resources for your family and how support will be provided to the new recruits in exchange for their contributions to security, preparations for SHTF, etc. Or, will there be supplies designated for the entire group and other supplies for individual families? Unfortunately, unprepared recruits will likely not have enormous stores of food and other supplies.
The downside in this situation is that there are more mouths to feed. The upside is that these recruits will be very valuable as they contribute to security, hard work, morale, and many other tasks that would be impossible to complete by members of one small household. By thinking through a Just-in-time approach and having a plan in place to recruit, organize, and gather resources, a small support group can be put in place to allow a few household to come together to effectively respond. Hopefully, through the exercise of identifying resources in their home, they will be able to bring some level of food and resources to the group and will be able to join the group, pulling their own weight.
Next Steps
Start developing your plan. Think about how things will need to “come together” when SHTF. How many people will you be able to bring together? Who will need to be contacted first? How will contacts need to be made? What contingency plans need to be put in place? What additional resources need to be gathered now? How will communication occur when SHTF? What transportation is needed or will be available? Use your imagination and outline steps that need to be taken. Write down these steps and your plan will begin to take shape.
There are many other concerns and planning considerations that need to be anticipated. But with this starting framework, a basic plan can be developed and refined. Then, when SHTF, your plan can be implemented.
Over time, this plan can be developed more fully and with more planning a more comprehensive plan can be developed that will have more “on-boarding” training, better better-defined organization, and a more robust plan to establish a group Just-in-time when the SHTF.
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