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Lookout on Green Mountain, Wells Gray Park, BC |
Today,
we will explore scheduling a fire piquet/security piquet at your
bugout location and what will factor into an effective program with
the available resources at your command.
There
are many factors that will impact the effectiveness of your fire
piquet/security piquet program at your BOL. Not-the-least of which,
is how many persons can you muster for piquet duty?? The next most
limiting factor is, in how many directions does your piquet need to
keep a watch on?? I am assuming that all BOL's want/need 24 hour
coverage a day, every day.
This
first chart will show how many, can control, for how long. One note:
The final column shows the maximum number of OP/LP's (observation
post/listening post) that can be manned at minimum levels; the
duration when maxed out is only for days, at most.
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Chart 1 |
As
you can see in this chart, when you have only a few persons to
provide security for your BOL, you will not last very long before a
lack of sleep/recovery will make all of you very vulnerable. You
either need to increase your numbers of persons or limit the number
of directions that must be observed and/or defended. Mutual aid
agreements with neighbours or being a part of a community may offer
solutions to very small groups.
To
help visualize this process I have drawn a simple map (below) which
has a small town or village that is located near a more major
roadway. For the ease of labeling the main road runs North/South. The
town/village is entered from the North and exited from the South.
To
protect a town like this will require 3 security teams. I will
provide 2 staffing options for each of the three teams and provide
sample schedules to man the required positions. As this is a sample
with no known real example, this will be a pure planning exercise and
those leaders out there who will have to use these samples,
understand that you will have to mold these samples into your
reality. Understand the concepts and you can adapt these ideas to fit
your needs.
First
questions for this exercise: What will I need to provide an effective
fire piquet and security piquet?? How many persons do I require??
Where do we place them?? Who will control them?? How do I schedule
for this??
Welcome to Sample Town,
population 350.
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Map of Sample Town
Criteria
for an Effective Fire Piquet/Security Piquet Program:
General Alarm – Some
means of signaling danger to the town. “Stand To”
Two Complete Security
Teams/Shifts – one on-duty, the other off-duty
Equal days on-duty to
days off-duty
Minimum two man teams
at night. Avoid solo posts at night
Maximum control
through minimum posts (OP/LP, Checkpoints, CP, Etc)
Command the terrain.
Use natural topography and man-made obstacles to drive invaders to
where you can observe them before they observe you. Create “NO GO
ZONES” coloured red on our map of Sample Town – between the
major roadway and the access road to town.
Team structure: Team
IC & Team 2IC will be (12 hours on/12 hours off)
Team members hours
will depend on the total number available.
Allow the Team Leader
(IC) to build and manage their team. Only intervene if the members
of the team cannot bond. Remember the four stages of team
development Forming/Storming/Norming/Performing. Not all team reach
the Performing stage.
Maximize the strengths
of individuals when designing the teams. However, the ability to
work together is more important in the long run than a collection of
perfect individuals working towards their own goals.
Keep internal patterns
consistent and predictable. 4 on/4 off. Night Owls on nightshifts,
early birds on day shifts. Of course, operational requirements like
a small fire in Sample Town would require all hands on deck to
prevent the fire from destroying the whole town.
Operational patterns,
those that can be observed by spies, want to seem as random as
possible so that infiltration cannot occur without observation.
Infiltration is easier to deal with, even if the infiltrator gets
inside, when you know you have been infiltrated. Prevented is
preferred, but dealt with will work, too.
Develop Post Orders
for each location that will be manned. It must be written in enough
detail that a new person at that post can read through the orders
and learn the job, in the event that there is no one there to
training them what to do. What do I do at this post?? Primary
functions?? Who do I contact if something goes wrong?? What is the
alarm signal in the event of a fire/tornado/invasion?? Where is the
alarm located?? What is the shift relieve procedure?? What if I am
not relieved?? Are patrols out?? What is the password to let them
back in??
Maintain a log at each
post. Record time/date of shift changes. Status reports. Observation
of unusual events. Patterns may occur but will only be recognized
when reviewing well kept logs.
What
does our manpower requirements look like:
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Table 2 - Team One |
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Table 3 - Team Two
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Table 4 - Team Three
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Table 5 - Total Requirement
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OP/LP's
Always has 2x Team Members.
At shift rotation, the Team Members from the CP or Checkpoint come to the OP/LP to relieve those on-duty. Off-duty persons return to CP or Checkpoint.
Checkpoints
When “Stand To” alarm sounded, ALL Team Members respond
Maximum 4 On/4 Off schedule (Shift One/Shift Two)
Challenge anyone who approaches the checkpoint
Check-in with the Command Post (CP) every 30 Minutes
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Sample Schedule 1 |
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Sample Schedule 2
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Sample Schedule 3
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Sample Schedule 4
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Similar
to Teams One & Two, Team Three will live in the bunker at the
Command Post. When not on-duty, Team Three will sleep, eat, rest near
the CP. When needed, Team Members will work the CP, whether scheduled
or not.
So, there you have
it.....a basic understanding of scheduling for fire protect and
security at your bugout location. If you want to minimize hazards and
risks at your BOL you will adopt some sort of fire
protection/security protection program. In the event of SHTF or
TEOTWAWKI, this WILL be your insurance program. It will be paid in
hours served not in dollars & cents. The new economy will not
have fiat currency.
Plan
to survive and we will see you on the other side!!
(Rebuilding
our world, again.....)
Mountainman.
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