Don't be Ensign Ricky

Many of you anticipate that Liberty will call you to battle, and that you will be forced to fight unconventionally.

So be it.

You train with your weapons and body.  You gather intel regarding your AO.  You try to build a Tribe, or at least a network.  You practice going grey, and maybe even going ghost.

The point of this post is simple: To get you to think of some basics you may have overlooked.

Consider that foot and leg poking through the drywall ceiling at right.  In your imagined potential battlespace, you may be called upon to take station in the attic of the home of a collaborator, waiting for him to come home (So you can discuss with him the option of moving out of the country...)

Most of you know this already, but you may be surprised at the number of people who have no idea: Most attic spaces in America have little or no flooring.  There are places you can step, and there are other places that if you step, you fall through.  And if you mess up just right in an attic, the first part of your body to break your fall will be your testicles. 

It goes without saying that if you are trying to ambush your Target and you fall through his ceiling, you have lost the element of surprise.  And if you land on your balls, the fight is probably over.  Just sayin'.

Most staircases and floors in American homes are made of wood.  Old wood creaks.  If you are forced to navigate a set of steps in stealth mode, move slowly and put your weight on the edges, preferably.  Same with floors, in general - stay to the edges for the least noise.

Do you know how to turn off the water, power, comms, HVAC and/or security from outside the average home without affecting the entire neighborhood?  Do you know how to do the same, quietly, from inside the home?  Do you know how to flood the home with gas (assuming the house has natural or propane as a fuel source.)  Do you plan to use the fuel oil tank for an explosion?  (Hint: It won't work.)  Do you even know that home security systems that use central monitoring may use landline telephone wires - or they may use cell or internet?  Know how to make that go away without drawing attention to yourself?  Know how to defeat the neighbors motion-activated lamps without raising flags so you can do your deed?

Do you know the general layouts of the homes in your AO?  Do you know where you can expect closets in which subdivisions?  Do you know where to expect the mechanical room?  If you need to remain undiscovered, such basics are good to know.  You guys and gals in the Trades already know much of this - but not everyone is handy with a tool box or has had the opportunity to study many homes from the blue collar angle.

See our sooper-commando LEO at right, using that big air conditioning unit as cover?  I wonder if he knows that as cover that machine can only help block visually - it will not stop bullets.  It won't even deflect bullets 95% of the time.  That machine is designed to let air pass through it - it ain't gonna stop even a handgun round unless it pings off 2-3 small internal components.  Note: Air Conditioning units are useless cover when taking fire.  Note 2: If some dummy hides from you behind an air conditioner, shoot it.  The least that will happen is you dump high pressure, boiling refrigerant on him.  He'll have a bad time...

Take an evening and re-evaluate everything you know about operating in your AO - and everything you think you know.

It isn't enough to know where the sardine cans can be found.  You have to be able to get to the sardines - and home again.  As a rule Americans do not plan one-way missions.  We plan an exit strategy.  We plan to go home again - afterall, the most important things for which we will fight are at home.

Think about the details and get home.

Don't be an Ensign Ricky.

Kerodin
III