Why Patrol by NR

[NorthernRaider]

Why Patrol by NR


Why do we need to patrol the area around our home or retreat after the SHTF?

The reasons are many and varied but all have the same final objective and that is to keep you alive. It is pure folly to try and create pseudo soldiers out of civilians placed into a situation because of events outside their control. We are not trying to create a militia, however applying a few sensible rules and guidelines to ensure the group minimises any risk to itself is common sense.

We patrol to ensure

• Our Security and location is safe, IE to confirm that no current hazards or threats are in the vicinity of our location or moving into the area we already inhabit. This could be other groups of survivors, government agencies, hostile locals or even such things as natural and manmade disasters from catching us out. (Forest fires, Floods, Blizzards etc)

• Intelligence Gathering IE Finding out what is going on in the vicinity of our position.

• Threat Marking IE identifying possible danger areas or threats, this could be dead animals laying upstream of where we are collecting drinking water, rising floodwater, toxic materials upwind of our position, signs of radiological damage or biohazard damage etc

• Asset Marking IE Identifying goods and supplies that you may need, such as food distribution centres, market gardens, fuel depots, outdoor leisure shops etc.


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Aim:
To carry out a comprehensive patrol of the area, gather information and return to the group safely.

Objective:
To gather Intelligence and information about our surrounding area its contents

Reason Why:
To protect us from surprise attack or intrusion and to identify hazards and supplies to further sustain the group.


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A Few guide lines for patrolling

1. Never start / finish the patrol at the same time each day.
2. Never use the same route twice in a row
3. No chatter only essential talk and kept to a whisper, hand signs best
4. Avoid walking on paths etc when possible, parallel them instead if possible
5. Ensure everyone knows the route in advance
6. Ensure there in an emergency meeting point in case the patrol scatters
7. Always post a sentry at each pause or rest stop, change every 2 hours
8. If your instinct tell you something is not right, trust it and play safe
9. Red light does not ruin your night vision, white light does
10. Your night vision takes 35 minutes to get, and 1 second to lose
11. Don’t bunch together
12. Look up, down and behind you as well as ahead of you.
13. Your ears are as useful as your eyes, keep stopping and just listening
14. Avoid walking on noisy surfaces like gravel, shale or dead leaves
15. Cooking and fires can give away your location even if they cant be seen, the smell of cooking can travel miles as can the smell of camp fire smoke. Only cook AFTER you know 100% the area is secure.
16. Take all rubbish, litter, waste food with you, leave no trace of your being
17. If you have to defecate bury at least 18 inches or take it away with you
18. Trust your senses if something does not “ feel” right it probably isn’t


A few notes about “Contacts”
1. If the enemy is in range so are you
2. Torchlight can be seen for over 5 miles most nights
3. On a still night a human voice talking can be heard over ¼ a mile away
4. At night the human eye detects movement more than shape
5. Targeting fire works both ways

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Considerations when moving

SSSSS

SHAPE
Avoid creating an unnatural shape in the environment, in nature there are few straight lines.
SHINE
Avoid anything that may reflect light and give you away, camouflage is king.
SOUND
Noise travels far, so keep quiet
SHADOW
Especially moving ones can blow your position
SILHOUETTE
Avoid hill tops, ridgelines and don’t climb over walls or hedges, go round, through or under.


“Action On” drills

You may find in beneficial or good practise to develop a few rules called “Action On“
Rule’s such as Action On meeting other survivors, or perhaps Action On being attacked, or action on discovering something useful.

Taking the “ Action On discovering something useful as an example, You may come across say a Camping Retail store that may still contain useful supplies, in that case each person in a multi person group will have one or more specific jobs to carry out WITHOUT being told to do so. (A) could be told to radio in the find then take up a position of over-watch for the others, (B) may be required to circle the store to look for risks, threats and hazards © may be required to advance to the entrance of the store and provide cover for (D) who will enter the store to carry out a security sweep and assessment. Obviously the numbers in your group will dictate who if anyone can use AO drills, and if you’re a loner then you have to watch your own back.

If your group comes across other survivors you really would benefit from AO drills that would see at least one of your group drop back and provide over-watch without being told, whilst a pre-chosen 2nd person approaches and does the negotiations.



Requirements for patrol

Maps of area
Compass / GPS
Note making equipment
Rations & water supplies
Med Kit
Personal security kit

Communications
2 way kit,
Pre- arranged frequencies,
Passwords,
Check in times
Alarm words

(Tip always use ambiguous descriptions of locations and positions, IE Don’t say “I am two miles south of Greys Farm where the group is camped”, say I’m two miles south of your location)

Follow correct radio procedure including call-signs and phonetic alphabet, and give times in the 24 hour system IE 1 PM = 1300 hours

A Alpha
B Bravo
C Charley
D Delta
E Echo
F Foxtrot
G Golf
H Hotel
I India
J Juliet
K Kilo
L Lima
M Mike
N November
O Oscar
P Papa
Q Quebec
R Romeo
S Sierra
T Tango
U Uniform
V Victor
W Whiskey
Y Yankee
Z Zulu
Numbers
One pronounced Wun
Two Too
Three Three
Four Fower
Five Fiver
Six Sixer
Seven Sev ven
Eight Ate
Nine Niner
Zero Zeerow

When talking on two way radio communications always finish your sentence with OVER when you want the other station to reply or acknowledge you.
When you have finished end your message with OUT
Never say over and out that’s just for Hollywood.

[Nemesis]

NR I hope I am not jumping on your thread and taking to a direction you don't want to go, if so ask SD to remove np.


Below is a picture of my son hiding in the open, I have on purpose made mistakes! can you see him?

Also anyone who has seen this post before sit back let others find him please.

[NorthernRaider]

two ft to the right, three foot to the rear of the V shaped trunk on the right of the image, human body shaped pile of leaves with two feet on the bottom, and you have distrurbed some of the darker more moist dead leaf litter.

[Skean Dhude]

Good enough for me but maybe not for someone who has experience. Why didn't you kust make a new thread? You can't split them easily so I'm not going to try. Time for bed.

[Nemesis]

(18 December 2011, 01:18)Skean Dhude Wrote: Good enough for me but maybe not for someone who has experience. Why didn't you kust make a new thread? You can't split them easily so I'm not going to try. Time for bed.

I think I would sooner see a thread grow then fade away I like these type threads and am I feel staying on track to another side of patrol be it covert or overt.

I understand you could not move it and that’s why I asked to remove my posts if NR objected.

Take two aspirins in the morning SD.

[NorthernRaider]

Behave yourselves, lets put this image to use.

If you were patroling through this semi mature decidious woodland (not a good idea in real life as the leaf litter is noisy and can conceal allsorts of nastys) You will need to gently move your entire head and eyes to the left and right ( especially at dusk and later) rather than just looking generally ahead. As you do so your eyes should (comes with practise) be drawn towards things that your mind subliminally identifies as being " out of sorts". Fitst in this case the humanish shaped hump in the leaf litter, secondly the darker colour of the more moist leaf mould draws your focus then thirdly the unnatural shape and mono colour of the footwear will or should have you backing up fast.

Each to their own of course Mike ( also an ex squaddie) may decide to investigate go through the wood, I personally would prefer to lay up outside and just watch with a spotting scope, and if the option was available I would go round.

NOTE if the photographer is on the edge of the woodland taking the photo the target should be located at least 30 feet back into the woodland.

Footer note If I had been patrolling with the family Were-Terrier the target would have got severely humped for his folly

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Hmmmm just had a thought, AFTER TSHTF one thing other groups of survivors MAY have acess to that the military dont normally have is dogs, if so going to ground no matter how good your cam skills are the effort will be wasted, even if its just some survivors Labradoodle or Cockepoo or any sort of hound / terrier they will spot you in seconds. I think close quarter obs may be to risky for us in many cases,we would need to long range obs instead.

[bigpaul]

i think our family Cairn Terrier would have found him easily,especially if he's got any food on him!she can smell food a mile away! mind you she would then proceed to lick him to death

[Skean Dhude]

W&C,

I don't take aspirins unless I need them and I was just tired.

It would have made a good new thread and an iteresting discussion.

[Nemesis]

(18 December 2011, 12:33)Skean Dhude Wrote: W&C,

I don't take aspirins unless I need them and I was just tired.

It would have made a good new thread and an iteresting discussion.

Sorry I thought I had upset yeh.

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Sometimes you can make something so obvious that it blinds them.

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The reason this thread was made on the old forum was we were discussion lines and recognisable shapes, i.e. human form and weapon so on, I wanted to make the above pictures in the open not use high ground or tree line, deception was another reason, it was quite an interesting thread tbh.


here are two more taken from that thread:

wrong



better

[mikebratcher69]

Sorry fellas missed this post been "doin stuff" as you do...
Yep NR was right I'd patrol through the area normaly, the penalties for not patroling thouroughly normaly outweigh the danger of the patrol. Suspicious lumps dead bodies on quiet recon patrols usualy attract a bayonet or silenced round. If on agressive patrol i.e. looking for trouble, I'td have at least two rounds in it....It's amazing at night how bushes have the ability to move to the human eye, if you eye suspects it human or human shaped it makes it move in your head (optical illusion) I'm a suspicious patroler though, if the area looks heavily patrolled or too many suspicious lumps I'd divert and keep it under obs. I may be a good shot but I draw the line around platoon size contacts...

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Basic rules though, avoid patrolling on paths or walkways as they may be monitored or mined, Patroling properly is quite a difficult thing for non service personel, as your bump (reaction) times are severely down compared to active service personel.
Even mine are way down as I dont practice as often as I should (never).