Your Pro Citizen Newsletter 35 - Road to War, Weekly Discount Code

By Jack Morris

Road to War. The term “Road to War” is a contextual term we use to frame a deliberate approach to training and preparing. “War” may simply be a local weather event or civil unrest that disrupts you and your family. It does not necessarily mean global conflict or a foreign invasion; it is a focal point to get us moving in the right direction for training and material preparations. H Hour is a military term for when an operation kicks off, we refer to a crisis event start as “X Hour” in the Citizen Manuals (CMs). This is when “it” starts, when you get the text or call that it is happening and there will be no further opportunity to prepare.

Allocate some quiet time and lay out your way ahead. Capturing events or block times on calendars is the best way to visualize the process and it becomes a promise to yourself. Some blocks are sequential, some can be done in parallel to save time. It is a significant undertaking, attacking things a small chunk at a time can make this manageable.

You read about this subject when we published our first manual over 15 months ago. We all have the feeling that time is short, if you have not made moves along this path in the last year the best time to start is this morning. It is never too late; just understand you must be very even more deliberate about setting priorities as time gets shorter. Training events must be compressed but with reasonable expectations and objectives. I have to remind myself of this next part as well - there are no shortcuts. Yes, we can step on the gas when it comes to buying supplies and food if you have the financial means, but there is no legitimate way to do the same when it comes to training. There is not a fast track to becoming physically capable and fit to fight, learning and practicing takes time. Prioritize what you feel like you have left to learn and start taking action. If we have more time that is great, if we don’t at least you will be ahead of where you were last week. You guys know us and our team members, we are not doom and gloom, the sky is falling, clickbait types. This week’s message is one of urgency, not panic. As kids go back to school, and we shift into autumn and winter prep it is always a good time to review where we are. The crisis unfolding all around us is indeed real; there is strong potential for disruptions by criminal elements, but it is still not cause for panic or rash decisions.

What should I prioritize this week? We won’t take the path that some experts use; telling another adult what they “must do” is the pinnacle of coupling arrogance with ignorance. I don’t know your circumstances or your situation. What I can do is give you a couple of ideas that may help you make decisions.

The new guy or gal. The community has seen a lot of newcomers this year, it has been great to see! You are ahead of the bow wave that always comes mid-crisis, congrats on being ahead of the curve. Even if you started this morning, you are ahead of those that will be scrambling to figure this out if widespread chaos ensues. We saw it in 2020 when the violent riots erupted across the US. Well-meaning folks were in a bind because they had not previously visualized what was happening. The availability to purchase defensive firearms narrowed quickly, the demand outstripped supply and families were left unarmed. Worse yet, there were hundreds of thousands of new firearm owners with zero experience or training on the gun they just purchased.

“A” way for you to continue your journey is start reading. Forums (watch out for bad info of course), books, and reviews. Dive into high quality video content related to personal and home defense and food storage. Bypass the long term homesteading, canning, growing your own food content for now. Those will only be distractions for new preppers, you will get to those down the road. We are talking about what you can do this week. Getting three weeks of food and water put back in the form of canned or dry goods is probably the place you want to be. Get your vehicle squared away, oil changed, fluids, have a small backpack with some items to help get you back home etc. Go fill your gas tank and make it a habit to keep it above half. If you need some dental work done make an appointment and get it knocked out. “Dang dude this is sooo boring…” Yeah, I know, but it is all part of it. If you do not own a defensive firearm, we recommend that you do a lot of research before choosing one. As much as I can’t stand indoor ranges some will rent firearms to patrons and even offer basic safety orientations. Trying a firearm model and caliber before you buy it is always a good idea. If you have a friend who is safe and proficient with firearms, ask them to take you to the range one evening this week after work. Diving into the security component of this is necessary, just remember the 2020 rush and how many folks ended up with a non-solution on their hands due to ignorance and panic buying. Put a backpack together with items that you can grab to go stay with a friend for three days. Pretend they will have no electricity or food in their house and pack accordingly. You can dial it in later - but start there.

The middle of the road and experienced preppers. Assess where you are in all the areas, take an honest look at yourself today. You know how to do all this stuff, but how are your family’s skills? Have a mitigation strategy for an unwilling spouse that may be pressed into service during a crisis. Maybe write up some “dummy cards” for pieces of gear, radios, and even firearms they can reference if you aren’t there or if you don’t have time to explain in detail. This is the worst case scenario of course, all the training and familiarization should have been done long ago - but it may be better than nothing. Go re-zero your firearms this week if you haven’t done so in the past 60 days. Sit quietly and visualize probable scenarios in the coming weeks. At a minimum talk through them with your family but a full rehearsal is even better. Check your water, food, ammo, med and other stores. Let’s be honest with ourselves, you may or may not need more ammo, but you damn sure don’t need to buy another AR this week. Magazines may be a different story, are you comfortable with how many you have on hand? How are your tires looking, will they get you through the winter and then some? Is your group doing scenario-based tabletop exercises to talk through and wargame what will happen if a riot breaks out nearby? This is a great opportunity to inspect and rehearse while we you have time. Group and team rehearsals of tactical mission sets should be prioritized as well; assess where you are on individual and collective tasks. Establish training priorities for the coming weeks and put a viable training plan in place.

So there you have it, a few thoughts for the week as we close out the summer of 2024. As always these are just recommendations, do what you will with them. Will keep praying for a quiet, peaceful autumn with prosperity and security for all of us.

CM-5 Land Navigation manual will release for sale this morning!

The new Land Nav manual will go live for sale this morning at 0800 Eastern! Full color, full detail land nav manual that gives you everything you need as a prepared Citizen. Link is embedded in the newsletter.

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Today’s Discount Code (only good ‘til midnight)

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