Urban Survival Planning - SF Base Camps Concepts II, for Home Defense

Continuing on with looking at Army Special Forces Base Camp Defensive concepts and how they may apply to your Urban Survival Location or final Safe Location when/ where you Bug Out to.

Army Special Forces Base Camp Principles:

“Desired size is such that the camp can be defended by one-fourth of the assigned strength.” UrbanSurvivalSkills.com has previously written about Survival being a team sport. You will need a group, with effort and contributions from all, in order to survive at anything resembling a life. Daily routines from food procurement, tending gardens, treating water, cooking, making repairs and getting rest will have to be planned and accomplished. The last thing you want to be forced to do is leave security to one lone lookout, as the brunt of defense on a surprise attack will be borne by this person. A fight, then a lapse in the fight, then another fight will sap your personnel strengths and resources. Plan your defense and protocols for defending your urban/suburban or safe location on the potential for a long term fight – think siege if you will.

“Plan for a Defense in Depth.” A proper Defense in Depth creates as long as observation fields as possible allowing the Urban Survival defenders to detect and engage attackers as far out as possible; makes use of natural and man made obstacles to force attackers into areas where they can be more effectively engaged by the defenders; develops defense positions that are mutually supporting and can be collapsed inward as necessary to consolidate the defense or in a response to success or partial success on the attack.

“Use primary, alternate, and supplementary defense lines.” Look at organizing your defense in belts (lines or rings if you prefer this terminology). This will allow a defensive withdrawal to consolidate your defense and resources if you are faced with a large attack force and they become successful at closing the distance.

“Plan for alternate and secondary positions.” Primary positions should cover the most likely avenues of attack. Secondary positions allow for the same coverage albeit from a different position, and Supplementary positions can be fall back positions or positions and allow for additional coverage or engage on likely avenues of attack or the identified direction of the attack.

“Develop the ability to limit and seal off penetrations.” I’m sure everyone has heard about the safe room concept, where home owners have a hardened room to retreat to if attackers get into the house. This is the same concept, but expanded to fit a larger site.

“Plan for Reserve forces (on call and positioned to respond to perimeter breaches or the main focus area of the attack.)” Develop a plan and procedures for communicating to and moving defenders from original positions to where they are needed which is probably to defend against the main focus area of the attack.

“Coordinate your fires; use interlocking fields of fire that are mutually supporting.” See previous posts on Sat May 8th and Weds May 12th on Home Defense. These posts outline determining dead zones, areas of responsibility and fields of fire. The smart Urban Survivalist ensures all areas that an attacker can use for cover and approach to your Urban/Suburban or Safe location can be observed and engaged. Ensure positions mutually support each and do not position anyone where they have an uncovered blind spot.

“Consider compartmentalizing the interior of your base camp in case a certain area of the camp is penetrated or over run.” Really not a viable option for most urban homes, but what you should consider is communications and procedures to conduct an emergency withdrawal in case defending the site is no longer viable or you are overrun. This would consist of various escape routes, routes to a rally point, what equipment to take with you, what equipment you have cached at the Rally Point to further an escape (food, water, clothing, ammunition, etc.).

“Plan for supply/resupply (primarily water, food, ammunition and medical supplies) of all positions.” Your defense positions should have access to food and water, plus more ammunition. If people vacate these positions to locate food, water and more ammunition then you have a gap in your defense. How are you going to resupply defenders during the fight?

Lastly, “Consider the ability to have a reaction force available to maneuver in support of another base camp.” If you are part of a larger Survival Neighborhood and multiple sites, do you have procedures including communications and routes to maneuver and come to the aid of another house or series of houses that are being attacked?

Hopefully, this post and part I gave you some ideas and concepts to consider in your plan and preparation in making you Urban/Suburban or Safe location better suited to defend against an attack. In a collapse practically everyone is going to be armed to some level. Benign people, when faced with starvation, will band into groups and be capable of unimaginable things in order to survival – don’t let them do this at your expense.