Some logistics lessons learned from the Oath Keepers Bundy Ranch effort.
These observations are from my own time on the ground there and I am not taking the time to put them in any particular order. But since the OKs will be "after-actioning" the Bundy effort I offer them here as someone with twenty years experience in supporting militia FTXs.
There should be a logistics platoon of old farts in every AO ready to roll with a modicum of food, water, and support equipment (everything from spare batteries, to toilet paper to garbage bags). Other small support units should be formed around the needs for commo and medical.
These support functions should be set up off property, delivering supplies as needed per command requisition only -- all requisitions being funneled through an S-4 at the CP. Storage off-property allows the use of existing structures where wastage from heat, humidity, rain water, rodents and insects as well as shrinkage (read "theft") can be minimized. All property should be receipted for upon delivery at the off-site supply dump and a simple log of deliveries of what to whom and when should be maintained.
While canned and fresh food will be donated, it ought to be prepared off-site in modern kitchens and delivered ready to eat. The volunteers should get at least one hot meal a day, preferably two. In addition, MREs and freeze-dried rations ought to be stocked up on, making it easier to deliver and distribute throughout the perimeter to the various positions, especially those who cannot easily get in for hot chow. This prevents the sort of irregular availability and poor sanitary conditions I observed at the "chow hall." (On site food preparation is also subject to harassing inspections by local authorities. I had two great fears from observing the "chow hall" in action at Bunkerville -- that we would end up with an outbreak of dysentery and that the local health authorities would raid the place and shut it down, perhaps confiscating supplies.
Volunteers who have experience in humanitarian relief operations by churches and other civic groups following disasters ought to be sought out. Indeed, I wonder if there isn't a place for the direct engagement of local churches as support nodes for storage and food preparations. Would the Feds really interdict humanitarian relief on its way to the site? If so, they score a huge PR black eye for themselves. MREs and freeze-dried foods as well as bottled water could be placed in a single supply dump adjacent to (and under the watchful eyes of) the CP in case of such disruptions.
Significant equipment items (radios, surveillance electronics, etc.) ought to be hand-receipted for by the operator, making them responsible for its return. If an item is to remain in a position as teams rotate in and out, the man who receipted for it will in turn get a quick signature on another small form from his relief. If the item turns up missing, the man who last receipted for the equipment is responsible for its replacement -- no excuses, no exceptions. This is not a deal supported by the vast resources if Uncle Sugar and both leaders and volunteers have a duty to see that equipment is not stolen.
The supply platoon would perforce have its own transportation fleet of volunteer pick-ups with drivers and would not be subject to being hijacked from their main purpose at a commander's whim except in cases of operational NECESSITY. This is not to say that they can't be used to convey volunteers to the site or to take tired men off-site back to clean sheets and showers, if available. But stripping the support platoon of its transportation on a regular "hey let's go do this" basis only degrades the entire operation.
Having a supply platoon also implies organization and chain of command. Yeah, I know, we're all volunteers, but anybody who can't live by the ROE and SOP ought to be shown the door.
There's more, I know, but right now I'm exhausted. More later as I think of it and I invite your comments, especially those who were at the Bundy Siege.
14 comments:
I'm sure the OK's will learn and grow from this event. A proper chain of command will attract the right sort of volunteers and supplies. People will be more willing to invest their time and money into a properly managed operation. You don't need a professional soldier to hand out supplies and keep track of the items. Most Boy Scout Troops have people that are responsible for everything an operation would need, just with a longer duration. The movement would be best suited to identify and utilize those individuals ahead of the next event.
I will say it again it is the Bundy Ranch the Bundys are in charge. If it were my ranch and fight, I would like an organization like OK or one very organized militia unit to help protect my property. I would not want just anybody dressed in camp with a gun showing up to "help". I would want to know the group was fully vetted and trained, and a command that knew what they were doing.
The rest of those showing up could protest, offer off site help like Mike has suggested, etc... An official spokesman for the group would be a must, everyone else keep their mouths shut. I would rather have a dozen well trained, vetted men, then fifty random volunteers.
Oh you boys and your dot-mil thinking. If your son ask for bread do you give a stone?
Why escalate a situation with (literally) needless military doctrine and jargon when there is a completely suitable alternative, with connotations of saving live and property, designed for the integration of widely disparate groups of full-time workers, volunteers, and ad hoc subject matter experts:
The Incident Command System, originally developed by the fire service and now part of the NIMS, is taught to tens of millions of people in local emergency management, NGO, relief organizations, corporate and community CERT units and even radio clubs.
ICS is the way to go. Plus, it would be next to impossible to misconstrue it as a paramilitary organization although you never should say never with assholes like the treasonous criminal Harry Reid in the room.
The military uses a system of hand receipts, and it works well. I'm not sure why folks working out of a fixed loation would need or even want MRE's. They're tasteless, not really filling, and horribly expensive. There's nothing wrong with a can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew. And yes, it can be eaten cold.
Funny you should mention this. The subject came up elsewhere about how to do this better, and I'm almost done with a draft SOP for this kind of thing. Will email it to you.
Thank you Mike for the observations on logistics . I was wondering how this all came together. As a young man I worked as assistant cook at a isolated Boy Scout camp . We fed 600 boys and 60 adults 3 meals a day 7 days a week . Morning was hot meal, lunch was cold, dinner was hot.
Because we only received supplies one day per week we had to hit our numbers pretty close . At each meal the cook staff of 18 ate last. If we ran out of food we did not get a meal. We had electricity by diesel generator 4 hours per day mostly to keep the freezers cold .
I would very much like to learn more about the logistical side of the equation.
You might want to evaluate some of the prepared Indian meals from Kitchens of India - MTR and others. Available at Amazon as well as grocery stores. They are cheaper tha MREs - made of wholesome ingredients - may be eaten cold and they do not constipate.
Excellent advice. Something that those of us with mobility problems can and will contribute.
As a student of history, I have learned that failed logistics has been the cause of more than one campaign failure.
I understand the need for proper food management but why on earth, after refusing a govt agency's authority to perform whatever function it might be perpetrating, would anyone allow one of their subservient minions in to inspect anything at all ? That would be akin to stopping Hitlers SS with arms and allowing in the Gestapo to inspect your food preps compliance..
Think about this.. it is 100% counterproductive.
JMO
Yank III
I'd like to second the recommendation for utilizing the ICS protocols. Why waste time re-inventing the wheel? Much of the necessary training is available online, and for free: see http://training.fema.gov/is/ – and as was pointed out, fire companies, emergency medical services, search and rescue, CERT, and other organizations have regular (mandated) training in this as well. It's sensible, logical, and can be expanded or contracted as needed. For those who may balk at taking courses from FEMA, think of it as a type of operational aikido. ;-)
Logistics wasn't Oathkeepers' problems.
Oathkeepers brought a lot of military experience to the Bundy ranch and failed to use it after the original confrontation.
When you drop trou and urinate on inexperienced, untrained militia on site all of whom were there on their own dime and ready to fight, without offering to train them, your problem becomes credibility whether or not you have any.
So, in addition to lacking a proper S-1, S-2, or S-3, we also didn't have a proper S-4.
These aren't modern inventions. These positions go all the way back to at least Napoleonic warfare. There's no need to reinvent the wheel. We don't necessarily need USMIL form for these positions, but the positions themselves have to exist. There has to be someone tasked with these responsibilities, and given the authority to carry them out.
We were pretty good on the S-9 front until Bundy got out in front of the enemy without a handler, but I haven't heard a lot about the S-6 front. All of the people that I'm following on comms structure are based in the NE and didn't get out. Does anyone know where I can find an AAR on comms?
Isn't ICS pretty much what you had at Bundy Ranch? Payne shows up first and is thus the IC. Then you have Jerry in charge of militia - is he then the IC taking over from Payne, or no? Who makes that call? Absent any other authority - it is still with Payne, no? Then Oathkeepers shows up and who knows what other organizations, and who was tasked with what responsibility? Job of the IC on site to make the call, yes?
I'd suggest to the candid observer, that ICS is designed to operate in a permissive environment, and not one in which a Hellfire missile or CBU falling out of the sky might find your base.
One of the reasons the .mil has the TACCP, TOC, ALOC approach is redundancy in case something falls out of the sky, or Mohammad the Jihadi visits you with his dynamite truck., There is redundancy built into the structure in order to continue operations if part of the HQ gets whacked, or the unit needs to move somewhere else.
Any Army officer with 4 or more years experience should be able to function as a S-1-6, although S-2s are always MI and the S-6 is always signal. They know how to do those jobs before they have to do them.
As well intentioned such ideas as using ICS are, this is the reason many vets just shake their heads at the movement. Guys in charge of stuff who have no idea how much they don't know about warfare.
I third the comment about ICS/NIMS. I have used this system on wildfires, hurricane relief, and SAR operations,, and it works across the board for any type of incident. It works. To add to Viator's comment about learning the system FEMA uses being somewhat unsavory, I would say it's not the system that's unsavory, it's the purpose that system serves. The system itself, whether used for good or ill, remains the same and unbiased. Besides, if this gets ugly in the future, intimate knowledge of the enemy's supply chain might just come in handy.
Also, with regard to food prep, the sanitary problems can be solved by the use of mobile kitchens of the type contracted by the Wildland Fire Service. If you could solicit some of these companies to volunteer for such a cause (leaving available funding to go for food and supplies) you'd be set. And of course the irony of soliciting a company contracted by the BLM, USFS, and USFWS, to feed other volunteers dedicated to halting transgressions perpetrated by those same agencies, would just be funny. These kitchens are typically family owned and operated, are used to feeding 500+ people 3 meals per day, and can be anywhere in the west within 72 hours or less. It would be a tough sell, but the right person wouldn't need much convincing either.
~S
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