Link: Volume One: The Guerrilla

I just finished reading John Mosby's The Reluctant Partisan Volume One: The Guerrilla.  He didn't ask me to review it and doesn't even know I have it, so it's a truly unbiased review.  Mosby is the author of the Mountain Guerrilla blog and a Special Ops veteran.

The book is 357 pages long, including several appendices that are just as good as the main content.

The purpose of the book is similar to my series.  It's meant to provide a baseline training standard for a civilian local defense group/mutual aid group.  It's not good enough that everyone knows small unit tactics, that have to know the SAME small unit tactics and train to a similar standard.

Mosby covers all the basics from physical fitness to combatives and first aid as a start.  Mosby then goes into detail on land navigation, basic patrolling, and squad-level battle drills.  He spends a lot of time on marksmanship and rifle set-up, which is good.  There is a chapter on night movement that is particularly good.

What sets this book apart is a chapter on establishing Escape and Evasion plans and on how to evade.  It's refreshing to see this as most books in the tactical and preparedness fields don't ever touch on it.  Look, if we are going to conduct a resistance (to CHINA or RUSSIA, feds, calm down) or fight bad guys in our area, things might not always go our way and we might need to evade.  The time to learn how to do this is NOW and start develpoing your EPA (evasion plan of action).

There is also a chapter on patrol planning and the Military Decision Making process.  It's good to learn the ability to lead.  Everyone in your group needs to know what to expect in the planning process.

The first two appendices cover gear set up for both your personal gear and your fighting rifle.  The next one is a Fighting Rifle course of instruction complete with shooting drills and standards. The final appendix is a course of action for patrolling skills.

My assessment is that this is a solid training tool to include in your library.

Mosby has several books out.  After finishing this one and thinking about what was in Volume One, I ordered Volume Two: The Underground.  Volume Two covers urban unconventional warfare and incudes a pistol and rifle training program.  I also ordered his Guerrilla Gunfighter Volume One and Two.  Volume One is on the Clandestine Carry Pistol and Volume Two is The Preparedness Rifle and Carbine.  I'll do reviews on them once they arrive.

This article is an add-on to the most recent article at tactical-wisdom.com.  In addition to having your own 14 days of portbale supplies, you need some sort of clandestine resupply network if you intend to fight as a partisan, resisting some type of oppresive force (Dear feds: The CHINESE).

Eric Robert Rudoplh, the Olympic Park Bomber, hid from authorities in the wild for months, despite them having a clear starting point for his evasion.  Now, we're not idolizing Rudoplh, he was a terrorist, but his tactics made him a folk hero in his area.  Rudolph was able to evade by living off the supplies he carried, his gear, and the land.  The ONLY reason he got caught was because he ran out of food and without a support network, he resorted to dumpster diving, and thus was captured on video, giving the authorities a fresh and recent start point.

You can avoid this by setting up some of the techniques we're about to discuss.  However, this is the point where I tell you that this training isn't free.  You must be a paid supporter to read the rest.

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Amazon Purchase Link: Prepper's Guide

Aden is a friend of mine, but he didn't ask me to review this and doesn't even know I'm doing it.  I'm sneaky like that.

I started this book long ago, but my travel schedule and move put reading on the back burner.  However, the communications issues we faced in the aftermath of back to back hurricanes had me thinking I'd better break this out and get to work.

The cool thing is that Aden, also known as the King of the South (just ask him), has a really fun writing style and is easy to read.  Once I got into the meat of the book, I couldn't stop reading it. His hand-drawn cartoons are better than mine (shocking, I know) and actually make the book more fun.

Aden discusses practical, real-world use of radio in all it's forms in a post-disaster or Without Rule of Law environment.  He breaks down the physics of radio and explains in simple terms all of the various types of radios.  For example, he discusses software-defined radio (SDR), digital vs analog, HF radio, VHF/UHF radio and all of their uses. He discusses how to incorporate directional antennas, spectrum analyzers, and scanners into your intelligence collection plan.

Aden uses several real-world examples to illustrate his point.  One of the best chapters is on how to use radios to provide early warning for an underground church meeting. He delves into recon and intelligence skills to supplement your radios.

He includes a series of training exercises and thought questions designed to help you think about your radio and communications plans.  The appendix contains a list of frequencies to monitor during emergencies.

The true indicator of how smart a man is is how much agrees with you.  In this book, Aden recommends taking NC Scout's RTO course several itmes, as well as recommending his book.  Since I feel the same way, Aden is clearly a genius.

I highly recommend this book.