Training - Area Study
Area of Operations
- Area of Operations
- Where you expect to travel/operate
- What you expect to defend
- Do you expect to… (these become your AoO)
- Walk down your driveway
- Check on neighbors
- Drive to hardware or grocery store
- Bugging out? Route study
- Information Dominance
- Dominate the area through information
- Understand what is happening in your community
- Maybe there’s increased level of instability or crime, or bad guys running through
- Identify your Intelligence Gaps
Area of Interest
Area surrounding your AoO, that may have an indirect effect on you.
- Area of Interest
- What outside my AO is important?
- What can indirectly affect me and where is it?
- What/where do I want to monitor?
- Identify your Intelligence Gaps
Physical Terrain
- Physical terrain features
- Elevation
- Choke points
- Alternative travel: underground/tunnels, logging roads, lines of drift, etc
- OCOKA
- Observation
- Cover & Concealment
- Obstacles
- Key Terrain
- Avenues of Approach
- Identify your Intelligence Gaps
Human Terrain
- Who lives in your AO?
- Names/Identities
- Demographics
- Socioeconomics
- Political Affiliation
- Attitudes, Beliefs, Behaviors
- Influencers & key personnel (electrical engineer, doctor, firefighter, mayor)
- Identify your Intelligence Gaps
Critical Infrastructure
- Energy
- Utilities
- Hospitals/Trauma Centers
- Schools (fema)
- KML Discussion
Politics & Governance
Know/identify local government, elected officials, their stance on constitution, making your life hell?
- Official Websites
- Elected Officials Directories
- Social Media
- Practice Google
Military
“What happens if the NG starts coming door to door…”
Where/what composition do we have in our state/area? Do meth heads in the woods pose a more realistic threat?
- National Guard & Reserve
- Combat Arms
- Combat Support
- Combat Service Support
- Active/Regular Components
Law Enforcement
Know the local LEO, their stances on issues/constitution.
- Official Websites
- RadioReference.com
Security
- Private security companies
- Executive protection
- Get online, what militias/groups nearby
- Hawaiin shirt enthusiasts
- Igloo construction clubs
Economics & Finance
- Major employers
- Major industries
- Unemployment rates
- Agricultural economic health
- Mom & pop farms going under?
- How much does half a cow cost?
- Economic disparity
- High/low income areas
Threat Types
- Conventional
- Police states
- Standing armies
- Invading militaries
- Irregular
- Gangs
- Mobs
- Looters
- Individual criminals
- Organized criminals
- Catastrophic
- Mass casualty causing
- Earthquakes
- Flooding
- Tornados
- Natural disasters
- Manmade, pandemics, epidemics
- Disruptive
- Ice storms
- Covid 19
- Anything that disrupts operations
- Power outage
- Severe weather
Top Four Reasons
- Intelligence drives decision-making
- We need to know what to prepare for
- You’ll have it when you need
- The Area Study is not just for you
The time to gather local intelligence is NOW.
Mapping
Various contexts. Bug-out route planning versus bug-in assessing local area. Second map is for “security through obscurity”, the thinking is that you can pull out the second, unmarked map when SHTF and it wont have all your information on it.
Supplies
- TWO identical maps
- Multiple colored highlighters
- Notebook
- Pens
Route Planning
Transfer what you mark on the map to your notebook to reference.
- Route path (yellow), mark your route path
- Resources (blue)
- Food (farms, orchards, NOT restaurants)
- Water
- Shelter
- Offices, businesses (not Walmart). Tree company, heating and air, any type of business thats not retail
- Friends, family
- Cache sites
- Threats (red)
- Retail stores (Walmart, Target)
- Grocery stores (Safeway)
- Doctor office, dentist, clinics, veterinary, hospitals, drug stores
- all the crackheads know about these
- Highway rest stops
- Government buildings
- Population centers (stay away from people, losing their minds)
- Rough areas
- Jails/prisons
- Zoos/exotic animal/pet farms (set loose vs euthanized)
- Water
- Might have to cross a river, take a bridge, good bottleneck/chokepoint
- Pre-Planned Stops
- Abandoned gas station/house
- Commercial (NOT retail) businesses
- 5-10 miles, probably not needed. 50+ miles, probably need stops (kids, elderly)
- Plan for every 3 days of walking, take a day off
- Physically go there