Friday, May 04, 2007

Guest Editorial: "Resistance is Futile": Waco Rules vs. Romanian Rules

[Foreword: Here's another gem from Mike Vanderboegh that I am privileged to present on this site. The Romanian example holds particular meaning for me.]

"Resistance is Futile": Waco Rules vs. Romanian Rules

by Mike Vanderboegh

"What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them." --Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1787

"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile." -- Star Trek: First Contact
"Resistance is Futile"

You know, the most dangerous thing about liberals in today's America is that they are always taking policy decisions based upon three fallacies:

a. Woeful ignorance of the subject at hand,

b. Extrapolation of their own cowardice onto their opponents, i.e. expecting their opponents to react the way they do, and

c. Willful refusal to grasp that the Law of Unintended Consequences applies both to their world view and to the schemes that they use to enforce that world view upon the rest of us.

They are, in a phrase, without a clue. This is not so dangerous when they are out of power. However, as they now control both houses of Congress and have a better than even chance of controlling the White House in 2009, this has the potential to get a lot of people killed by 2010. An illustrative case in point is David Prather's recent column in the Huntsville (AL) Times, entitled "In a Shoot-out, the Feds Always Win.". Mr. Prather, it seems, has second-guessed the Founders of our tattered Republic and come up with his own idea of the futility of the armed citizenry to secure their own liberty. He writes with scorn of the belief that the Second Amendment means exactly and precisely what it says:

"This argument says that keeping firearms is necessary to ensure that the public can resist government oppression should such arise. In other words, unless you can shoot back at the feds, you can't be free. That's a nice, John Wayne-type view of the world. But it's wrong. It's not just debatably wrong. It's factually wrong. And the reason it is wrong is this: The government has and will always have more firepower than you, you and your neighbors, you and your like-minded friends or you and anybody you can conscript to your way of thinking. You simply can't arm yourself adequately against a government that is rotten and needs to be overturned. Your best defense is the ballot box, not a pillbox.. . . . You can't beat 'em. You'd be foolish to try. So let's take that argument off the table. I don't presume to say that by doing so we will be able to reach a consensus or a compromise or whatever about how we should or shouldn't control firearms in modern society. I'm just saying that shooting it out with the government is like the exhibition team versus the Harlem Globetrotters as far as who is going to win. Only a lot more bloody." -- David Prather, "In a shoot-out, the feds always win", Huntsville Times, May 2, 2007
(http://www.al.com/opinion/huntsvilletimes/dprather.ssf?/base/opinion/1178097466131870.xml&coll=1)

I am reminded here of the famous Dorothy Parker line, "You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think." Now Mr. Prather, who has risen to the lofty position in life of Associate Editorial Page Editor of the Huntsville Times asserts that we gunnies inhabit a "John Wayne-type view of the world (that's). . .factually wrong." As the quote from the principal Founder above clearly shows, it is in fact a "Thomas Jefferson-type" view of the world. Mr. Prather believes the ballot box is a better defense against tyranny than the cartridge box. Oddly enough I agree, as long as the tyrants are willing to play by the election laws. But what happens when they don't? In his novel Starship Troopers, Robert Heinlein offered an answer:

"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Nations and peoples who forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms."
Indeed, the Founders were only able to secure their right to the ballot box by taking up their cartridge boxes and muskets and standing against the army of the most powerful empire in the world at the time and fighting it to a standstill. What has fundamentally changed about the universe since then? Communication is faster, weapons are more powerful, but as we see in Iraq, a determined armed minority can be impossibly overmatched and still cause a good deal of trouble.

"Waco Rules"

Now I have spent a lot of time since the early days of the Clinton Administration considering the Founders' concepts of the deterrence of tyranny by the armed citizenry from the perspectives of philosophy, history, strategy and tactics. The catalyst for all this reflection was, of course, the twin menaces of the increasing Clintonista proscriptions of firearms rights (Brady and the Assault Weapons Ban) and the massacre of the Branch Davidians at Waco. The subsequent failure of the Republican congress and the courts to do anything substantive about either threat-- legislative tyranny or rogue bureaucracy-- led many of us to conclude that we had now entered a time when we could only count on ourselves to maintain our liberties.

The Law of Unintended Consequences decreed that there would be two unexpected results of this Clintonista constitutional misbehavior. The first was the importation and sale within a few months of several millions of semi-auto rifles (principally SKS and AK-variants) into the U.S. This was in anticipation of, and defiance of, the so-called "Assault Weapons Ban." Indeed, this was more rifles of these types than had been sold in the previous TWENTY YEARS. And it was in a political climate where it was fully expected that the next law would call for the confiscation of such weapons. Why, then, did this massive arming take place? Were we buying these rifles merely to turn them over later? When the Clintonistas realized that we were not buying these rifles to turn them in, but to turn ON THEM if they became even more threatening to our liberties, it gave them considerable pause. I am told the analysts in the bowels of the J. Edgar Hoover building were particularly impressed.

The second unexpected result of Clintonista misbehavior, although of lesser import than the millions of rifles, was the rise of the constitutional militia movement. As London Telegraph senior reporter Ambrose Evans-Pritchard wrote:

"The Clinton era . . spawned an armed militia movement involving tens of thousands of people. The last time anything like this occurred was in the 1850's with the emergence of the southern gun clubs. It is easy to dismiss the militia as right-wing nuts: it is much harder to read the complex sociology of civic revolt. . . No official has ever lost a day's pay for precipitating the incineration of 80 people, most of them women and children, in the worst abuse of power since Wounded Knee a century ago. Instead of shame and accountability, the Clinton administration accused the victims of setting fire to themselves and their children, a posthumous smear that does not bear serious scrutiny. It then compounded the injustice by pushing for a malicious prosecution of the survivors. Nothing does more to sap the life of a democracy than the abuse of power." Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Secret Life of Bill Clinton

You see, what impressed us gunnies the most was the fact that under what we came to know as "Waco Rules", Catch 22 was in full swing. It was as if the Clintonistas were shouting, "We can do anything you can't stop us from doing." The constitutional militia movement, despised by the administration, caricatured by the media (and professional liars for money like Morris Dees of the Southern "Poverty" Law Center), and unjustly vilified after the Oklahoma City bombing, began to explore the question of just what could be done to stop such unconstitutional conduct on the part of the government. We realized that another way to express Catch 22 is to say, "You can do only what we let you get away with."

I think the FBI realized our power before we really understood it's full implications. For one thing, we had them surrounded. At its zenith, the militia movement had perhaps as many as 300,000 active participants, but we were backed up, you see, by the undeniable fact of those millions of rifles. Of the 85 million gun owners at the time, how many would join the militias if another Waco happened? That was the question. Both sides eventually came to the realization that in any case, it was enough. As Clausewitz observed, "In military affairs, quantity has a quality all its own."

And the first thing we noticed was that the FBI became very much more solicitous of our sensibilities and sought at every turn to avoid a flashpoint. During each little potential Waco-- the Republic of Texas, the Montana Freemen, etc-- the FBI would seek out local militia leaders and ask their advice, seeking their opinions with what sounded like real concern.

The best answer that I recall to one of these FBI queries came from Bob Wright, commander of the 1st Brigade, New Mexico Militia. When asked if he and his friends would actually go to the scene of a future Waco in another state to assist the potential victims, Bob replied, "Why would I want to do that? There's plenty of you federal SOBs around here." This was a perspective the Fibbie had not considered before, and it showed on his face.

So we got through the rest of the Clinton Administration by waging a low-intensity cold war, the history of which has yet to (and may never) be written. The principal point was this: there were no more Wacos. Although they never renounced Waco Rules, they did not again implement them.

The Three Fallacies

Which brings us to today and our armchair theorist of contemporary domestic military operations, David Prather. Let us examine his thesis: "the feds always win" by referring to the three fallacies listed above. First, let us test his woeful ignorance of the subject at hand. In fact, you CAN beat the feds in a shoot-out as was demonstrated by the Branch Davidians in the initial raid of 28 February. Four ATF agents died in this monstrous misuse of government power and far more would have, but for the fact that the Davidians, having repelled the ATF raiders from entering their home, allowed them to leave after the men in black exhausted their ammunition. In effect, the ATF asked the Davidians if they could go home and reload their guns and the Davidians, being nice guys, agreed.

Had Vo Nyugen Giap been running what the Feds later claimed was an "ambush", none of the ATFs would have left that property alive. Indeed, had the Davidians understood the full implications of Waco Rules as they were being worked out for the first time, they would have put up a far tougher fight on both 28 February and 19 April and likely could have stopped the armored vehicles in their tracks.

So, when Prather says "the feds always win", he's probably thinking of Waco, but then so are we. In his ignorance, he does not realize that others observed Waco and the exercise of Waco Rules with a keener military eye, took notes, studied and learned.

Secondly, Prather is extrapolating onto others his own cowardice and unfamiliarity with weapons. He knows HE could not resist a predatory police raid, so he assumes that others could not as well. Should there come another dark time when the feds think they can resort to Waco Rules once more, both they and Prather will discover that such assumptions are deadly mistakes.

Thirdly, The Law of Unintended Consequences is still issuing forth unplanned dividends from the Clinton misbehavior of the 90s. Remember those millions of rifles? They didn't go anywhere. They haven't disappeared.

Romanian Rules

So we have the rifles and we have one other thing: Romanian Rules.

On 16 December 1989, riots in the Romanian city of Timisoara ignited a nationwide revolt which spread to the capital Bucharest. Parts of the army joined the revolutionaries, and on 25 December, after 45 years of communist tyranny, dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elene received a Christmas present from the Romanian people when they were summarily executed. Said one Romanian radio announcer, "The anti-Christ died. Oh, what wonderful news."

Ceausescu had ruled the Romanians with an iron hand, using his dreaded secret police to pick his opponents off one by one for imprisonment or execution-- until the day came when the people learned their lesson and met the secret police and the army face to face. Thousands were killed in the fighting, many because they lacked the weapons to do the job. But we're Americans. We observed the Romanian Rules and learned. We realized too that we're much better armed than the poor Romanians.

So what makes Prather think that Americans who may wish to resist our own government if it spins out of control again, will sit idly in their little houses allowing themselves to picked off one by one? In his ignorance and arrogance, Prather has committed the ultimate sin of military planners throughout the centuries: he is presuming that the straw-man opponent he has created in his own mind will sit still and wait to be beaten on his (or Hillary Clinton's) own terms. He is presuming that his opponent won't react, won't be agile, and won't be thinking.

Prather makes much of modern day weaponry that only the government may possess. But you know, artillery and nuclear bombs are of limited utility to a government when the battlefield is its own cities, towns, transportation hubs and commercial centers. Then it becomes like Iraq, only far worse. It becomes a rat hunt where the rats outnumber you, and often, at the point of decision, beat you in the one thing that is most fundamental in an up-close infantry fight: rapid and deadly accurate rifle fire. Shouting Borg-like that "resistance is futile" may scare the faint-hearted, the weak-minded and certain children under the age of ten. It does NOT scare us.

And that is what invalidates Prather's fantasy scenario: we've had almost 15 years to study Waco Rules now. Fifteen years of studying how to best direct the resources of the armed citizenry against the next predatory administration grown too big for its constitutional britches. Fifteen years of considering the lessons of Christmas, 1989. After the cold war with the Clintonistas, we gunnies began to understand the finer points of credible deterrence. Now, having completed a long and challenging curriculum, we certainly understand what Jefferson meant by "pardon and pacify them." It would be wiser if Mr. Prather and his historically foolish liberal friends did not seek to give us a final examination in this subject of study, for the results are NOT academic. Just ask Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu. Of course, you'll have to go to Hell to do that.

Mike Vanderboegh
PO Box 926
Pinson, AL 35126
GeorgeMason1776ATaolDOTcom

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have no idea how many times I have made those exact points in debates with acquaintances, family, friends, etc. Each of them believe me to be quite deranged and beyond salvage, except for one young lady I don't know well but was at a gathering I attended in which my brother-in-law started his liberal ranting. In all the years I have argued the points that Mr. Van der Boegh (sp?) made, she is the only one that didn't initially believe me insane. Oddly, she is a tenured professor at a popular university. Don't you know she feels like a misfit?

Some of the people I had these discussions with have eventually seen the truth of it, but it usually took years in which they thought of me and treated me as a maniac.

It sure is nice to see someone else saying it, And doing so, so eloquently.

Anonymous said...

Excellent, Mr. Vanderoegh! Now, where may I find some information on tactics as a militia fighter? Any reading you may suggest?

Anonymous said...

This will get you started.

http://stevespages.com/page7c.htm

Manual ID # TOPIC DATE SIZE
UNITED STATES ARMY FIELD MANUAL INDEX 52KB
FM 1-02 OPERATIONAL TERMS AND GRAPHICS 21-Sep-04 18,034KB
FM 1-14 THE ARMY 14-Jun-01 20,531KB
FM 3-0 OPERATIONS 14-Jun-01 154,663KB
FM 3-1A MILITARY OPERATIONS ON URBANIZED TERRAIN 7,215KB
FM 3-06 URBAN OPERATIONS 1-Jun-03 7,641KB
FM 3-06.11 COMBINED ARMS OPERATIONS IN URBAN TERRAIN 28-Feb-02 11,088KB
FM 3-07 STABILITY OPERATIONS AND SUPPORT OPERATIONS 20-Feb-03 2,877KB
FM 3-13 INFORMATION OPERATIONS: DOCTRINE, TACTICS, TECHNIQUES, AND PROCEDURES 28-Nov-03 5,066KB
FM 3-19.30 PHYSICAL SECURITY 8-Jan-01 1,877KB
FM 3-21.38 PATHFINDER OPERATIONS 1-Oct-02 2,602KB
FM 3-21.91 TACTICAL EMPLOYMENT OF ANTIARMOR PLATOONS AND COMPANIES 26-Nov-02 11,596KB
FM 3-22.9 RIFLE MARKSMANSHIP M16A1, M16A2/3, M16A4, AND M4 CARBINE 24-Apr-03 18,306KB
FM 3-23.25 LIGHT ANTIARMOR WEAPONS 30-Aug-01 3,537KB
FM 3-23.35 COMBAT TRAINING WITH PISTOLS, M9 AND M11 25-Jun-03 2,116KB
FM 3-25.26 MAP READING AND LAND NAVIGATION 20-Jul-01 23,694KB
FM 3-25.150 COMBATIVES 18-Jan-02 67,507KB
FM 3-34.2 COMBINED-ARMS BREACHING OPERATIONS 26-Feb-01 1,187KB
FM 3-34.230 TOPOGRAPHIC OPERATIONS 3-Aug-00 2,164KB
FM 3-34.331 TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEYING 16-Jan-01 3,422KB
FM 3-50 SMOKE OPERATIONS 4-Dec-90 69,691KB
FM 3-90 TACTICS 4-Jul-01 33,557KB
FM 3-97.6 MOUNTAIN OPERATIONS 28-Nov-00 63,064KB
FM 3-100.4 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS IN MILITARY OPERATIONS 11-May-01 1,024KB
FM 4-02.4 MEDICAL PLATOON LEADERS' HANDBOOK 24-Aug-01 2,421KB
FM 4-02.6 THE MEDICAL COMPANY 1-Aug-02 1,120KB
FM 4-25.11 FIRST AID 23-Dec-02 2,195KB
FM 4-30.13 TACTICS, TECHNIQUES, AND PROCEDURES FOR MUNITIONS HANDLERS 1-Mar-01 97,405KB
FM 5-31 BOOBYTRAPS 14-Sep-65 3,543KB
FM 5-33 TERRAIN ANALYSIS 11-Jul-90 3,129KB
FM 5-102 COUNTERMOBILITY 14-Mar-85 6,588KB
FM 5-103 SURVIVABILITY 10-Jun-85 10,835KB
FM 5-250 EXPLOSIVES AND DEMOLITIONS 15-Jun-92 7,604KB
FM 6-22.5 COMBAT STRESS 23-Jun-00 155KB
FM 6-30 OBSERVED FIRE 16-Jul-91 3,582KB
FM 7-8 INFANTRY RIFLE PLATOON AND SQUAD 22-Apr-92 9,341KB
FM 7-21.13 THE SOLDIER'S GUIDE 15-Oct-03 2,905KB
FM 7-85 RANGER UNIT OPERATIONS 9-Jun-87 1,684KB
FM 7-90 TACTICAL EMPLOYMENT OF MORTARS 9-Oct-92 5,696KB
FM 7-92 THE INFANTRY RECONNAISSANCE PLATOON AND SQUAD (AIRBORNE, AIR ASSAULT, LIGHT INFANTRY) 31-Dec-01 3,954KB
FM 7-93 LONG-RANGE SURVEILLANCE UNIT OPERATIONS 3-Oct-95 4,125KB
FM 8-51 COMBAT STRESS CONTROL IN A THEATER OF OPERATIONS 30-Jan-98 3,372KB
FM 9-13 AMMUNITION HANDBOOK 4-Nov-86 1,885KB
FM 9-207 MAINTENANCE OF ORDNANCE MATERIEL IN COLD WEATHER 20-Mar-98 711KB
FM 17-98 SCOUT PLATOON 10-Apr-99 5,827KB
FM 19-15 CIVIL DISTURBANCES 25-Nov-85 2,785KB
FM 19-20 LAW ENFORCEMENT INVESTIGATIONS 25-Nov-85 8,894KB
FM 20-3 CAMOUFLAGE, CONCEALMENT, AND DECOYS 30-Aug-99 35,483KB
FM 21-11 FIRST AID FOR SOLDIERS 27-Oct-88 51,088KB
FM 21-18 FOOT MARCHES 1-Jun-90 832KB
FM 21-20 PHYSICAL FITNESS TRAINING 1-Oct-98 5,347KB
FM 21-31 TOPOGRAPHIC SYMBOLS 19-Jun-61 7,094KB
FM 21-60 VISUAL SIGNALS 30-Sep-87 1,035KB
FM 21-75 COMBAT SKILLS OF THE SOLDIER 3-Aug-84 11,230KB
FM 21-76 SURVIVAL 5-Jun-92 169,876KB
FM 21-150 COMBATIVES 30-Sep-92 4,890KB
FM 22-100 ARMY LEADERSHIP 31-Aug-99 136,688KB
FM 23-5 U.S. RIFLE CALIBER .30, Ml 17-May-65 3,372KB
FM 23-9 HOW TO SHOOT YOUR M-16 AR15 IN COMBAT 7,250KB
FM 23-10 SNIPER TRAINING 17-Aug-94 3,237KB
FM 23-14 SQUAD AUTOMATIC WEAPON (SAW), M249 10-Dec-85 8,289KB
FM 23-23 ANTIPERSONNEL MINE M18A1 AND M18 (CLAYMORE) 6-Jan-66 928KB
FM 23-30 GRENADES AND PYROTECHNIC SIGNALS 1-Sep-00 1,516KB
FM 23-35 COMBAT TRAINING WITH PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS 3-Oct-88 32,135KB
FM 23-41 SUBMACHINEGUNS CALIBER .45 M3 AND M3A1 28-Jun-74 1,325KB
FM 23-65 BROWNING MACHINE GUN, CALIBER .50 HB, M2 19-Jun-91 3,866KB
FM 23-67 MACHINE GUN, 7.62-MM, M60 29-Feb-84 12,582KB
FM 23-90 MORTARS 1-Mar-00 3,970KB
FM 23-91 MORTAR GUNNARY 1-Mar-00 7,173KB
FM 24-12 COMMUNICATIONS IN A "COMEAS-YOU-ARE" WAR 17-Jul-90 454KB
FM 24-19 RADIO OPERATOR'S HANDBOOK 24-May-91 11,870KB
FM 27-10 THE LAW OF LAND WARFARE 18-Jul-56 1,587KB
FM 27-14 LEGAL GUIDE FOR SOLDIERS 16-Apr-91 653KB
FM 31-70 BASIC COLD WEATHER MANUAL 12-Apr-68 5,859KB
FM 31-71 NORTHERN OPERATIONS 21-Jun-71 2,592KB
FM 34-2 COLLECTION MANAGEMENT AND SYNCHRONIZATION PLANNING 8-Mar-94 3,915KB
FM 34-2x1 TACTICS, TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES FOR RECONNAISSANCE AND SURVEILLANCE AND INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT TO COUNTER RECONNAISSANCE 19-Jun-91 5,035KB
FM 34-3 INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS 15-Mar-90 3,620KB
FM 34-8.2 INTELLIGENCE OFFICER'S HANDBOOK 1-May-98 42,070KB
FM 34-40-2 BASIC CRYPTANALYSIS 13-Sep-90 8,650KB
FM 34-45 TACTICS, TECHNIQUES, AND PROCEDURES FOR ELECTRONIC ATTACK 9-Jun-00 1,033KB
FM 34-52 INTELLIGENCE INTERROGATION 28-Sep-92 14,681KB
FM 34-54 TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE 30-Jan-98 1,228KB
FM 34-60 COUNTERINTELLIGENCE 3-Oct-95 3,047KB
FM 34-130 INTELLIGENCE PREPARATION OF THE BATTLEFIELD 8-Jul-94 6,751KB
FM 44-18-1 STINGER TEAM OPERATIONS 31-Dec-84 2,439KB
FM 44-80 VISUAL AIRCRAFT RECOGNITION 30-Sep-96 2,479KB
FM 46-1 PUBLIC AFFAIRS OPERATIONS 30-May-97 441KB
FM 55-15 TRANSPORTATION REFERENCE DATA 27-Oct-97 2,608KB
FM 57-38 PATHFINDER OPERATIONS 9-Apr-93 810KB
FM 90-3 DESERT OPERATIONS 24-Aug-93 1,105KB
FM 90-5 JUNGLE OPERATIONS 16-Aug-82 13,174KB
FM 90-8 COUNTERGUERRILLA OPERATIONS 29-Aug-86 74,354KB
FM 90-10 MILITARY OPERATIONS ON URBANIZED TERRAIN 15-Aug-79 2,267KB
FM 90-10.1 AN INFANTRYMAN'S GUIDE TO COMBAT IN BUILT-UP AREAS 12-May-93 118,467KB
FM 90-13 RIVER-CROSSING OPERATIONS 26-Jan-98 938KB
FM 100-14 RISK MANAGEMENT 23-Apr-98 197KB
FM 100-19 DOMESTIC SUPPORT OPERATIONS 1-Jul-93 310KB
FM 100-23 PEACE OPERATIONS 30-Dec-94 540KB
FM 101-5 STAFF ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS 31-May-97 865KB
US ARMY TOPIC DATE SIZE
SH 21-76 US ARMY RANGER HANDBOOK Jul-92 10,255KB
ST 31-91B US ARMY SPECIAL FORCES MEDICAL HANDBOOK 1-Mar-82 21,045KB
TC 9-56 ARMY TRAINING CIRCULAR - SKS RIFLE (TYPE 56) 1-Oct-69 695KB
TC 21-3 ARMY TRAINING CIRCULAR - OPERATIONS AND SURVIVAL IN COLD-WEATHER AREAS 17-Mar-86 585KB
TC 21-21 ARMY TRAINING CIRCULAR - WATER SURVIVAL TRAINING 25-Jun-91 433KB
TC 23-14 ARMY TRAINING CIRCULAR - SNIPER TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT 14-Jun-89 7,179KB
TM 9-1005-208-12 RIFLE, CALIBER .30, AUTOMATIC, BROWNING, M1918A2, WE 1-Aug-69 3,380KB
TM 9-1005-211-34 OPERATOR’S MANUAL FOR PISTOL, .45 AUTOMATIC, M1911A1 22-Jun-64 18,764KB
TM 9-1005-212-25 MACHINE GUN, CALIBER .30, BROWNING, M1919A4, FLEXIBLE, W/E 27-Jun-69 7,850KB
TM 9-1005-213-10 BROWNING MACHINE GUN, CALIBER .50 HB, M2, MOUNTINGS 12-Jul-68 10,292KB
TM 9-1005-222-35 RIFLE, CALIBER .30, Ml,M1C (SNIPERS) AND M1D (SNIPERS) 14-Feb-66 3,421KB
TM 9-1005-249-10 OPERATOR’S MANUAL FOR RIFLE, 5.56MM, M16 11-May-90 1,113KB
TM 9-1005-306-10 OPERATOR’S MANUAL FOR SNIPER WEAPONS SYSTEM, 7.62MM, M24 1-Jun-89 3,947KB
TM 9-1005-317-10 OPERATOR’S MANUAL FOR PISTOL SEMI-AUTOMATIC, 9MM, M9 14-Dec-90 506KB
TM 9-1005-319-23&P UNIT AND DIRECT SUPPORT MAINTENANCE MANUAL FOR RIFLE, 5.56MM, M16A2, CARBINE, 5.56MM, M4, AND CARBINE, 5.56MM, M4A1 1-May-91 2,293KB
TM 9-1010-221-10 GRENADE LAUNCHER 40-MM, M203 24-Jun-92 556KB
TM 9-1220-204-14 FIRE PLOTTING BOARD M16 W/E 11-Jun-71 3,221KB
TM 9-1340-214-10 66 MM LIGHT ANTITANK WEAPON (LAW) SYSTEM M72A1, M72A2 WITH COUPLER, M72A3 AND PRACTICE ROCKET LAUNCHER M190 WITH M73 PRACTICE ROCKET 31-May-91 411KB
TM 31-201-1 INCENDIARIES 20-May-66 10,389KB
TM 31-210 IMPROVISED MUNITIONS HANDBOOK 1-Jan-61 84,000KB
TM 43-0001-27 ARMY AMMUNITION DATA SHEETS SMALL CALIBER AMMUNITION 29-Apr-94 1,297KB
US MARINE CORPS TOPIC DATE SIZE
FM 9-43-2 RECOVER AND BATTLEFIELD DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND REPAIR 27-Nov-02 5,667KB
FM 23-91 MORTARS GUNNERY 1-Mar-00 4,599KB
FMFM 1-3B SNIPING 28-Jan-81 9,538KB
FMFM 2-7 FIRE SUPPORT IN MARINE AIR/GROUND TASK FORCE OPERATIONS 26-Sep-91 3,432KB
FMFM 6-4 MARINE RIFLE COMPANY/PLATOON 17-Feb-78 21,407KB
FMFM 6-5 MARINE RIFLE SQUAD 2-Dec-91 12,749KB
FMFM 7-12 ELECTRONIC WARFARE 20-May-91 4,753KB
FMFRP 12-18 MAO TSE-TUNG ON GUERRILLA WARFARE 5-Apr-89 3,820KB
FMFRP 12-43 PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN VIETNAM, MINES AND BOOBYTRAPS 20-Jul-89 1,932KB
FMFRP 12-80 KILL OR GET KILLED 26-Sep-91 16,844KB
MA 1-02 FUNDAMENTALS OF MARINE CORPS MARTIAL ARTS 2,981KB
MCDP 1 WAR FIGHTING 20-Jun-97 273KB
MCDP 1-2 CAMPAIGNING 1-Aug-97 701KB
MCDP 1-3 TACTICS 30-Jul-97 632KB
MCDP 6 COMMAND AND CONTROL 4-Oct-96 430KB
MCOP 6100.12 MARINE CORPS PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST AND BODY COMPOSITION PROGRAM MANUAL 10-May-02 1,939KB
MCRP 2-24B REMOTE SENSOR OPERATIONS 13-Jul-04 1,553KB
MCRP 3-0B HOW TO CONDUCT TRAINING 25-Nov-96 2,091KB
MCRP 3-01A RIFLE MARKSMANSHIP 29-Mar-01 4,313KB
MCRP 3-01B PISTOL MARKSMANSHIP 25-Nov-03 2,876KB
MCRP 3-02A MARINE PHYSICAL READINESS TRAINING FOR COMBAT 29-Jan-88 298KB
MCRP 3-02B CLOSE COMBAT 12-Feb-99 5,242KB
MCRP 3-02C MARINE COMBAT WATER SURVIVAL 6-Jan-03 4,082KB
MCRP 3-02D COMBATING TERRORISM 27-Nov-02 8,179KB
MCRP 3-02E UNDERSTANDING AND SURVIVING TERRORISM 17-Nov-99 302KB
MCRP 3-02F SURVIVAL 8-Jun-92 22,612KB
MCRP 3-1A RIFLE MARKSMANSHIP 23-Feb-99 13,404KB
MCRP 3-11.1A COMMANDER'S TACTICAL HANDBOOK 30-Jul-88 868KB
MCRP 3-11.3 SCOUTING AND PATROLLING 17-Apr-00 4,792KB
MCRP 3-15.2A MORTARS 1-Mar-00 3,466KB
MCRP 3-25.10 LOW ALTITUDE AIR DEFENSE HANDBOOK 12-Jun-98 758KB
MCRP 3-25.10A LOW ALTITUDE AIR DEFENSE (LAAD) GUNNER'S HANDBOOK 6-Nov-00 3,319KB
MCRP 3-37C FLAME, RIOT CONTROL AGENTS AND HERBICIDE OPERATIONS 19-Aug-96 831KB
MCRP 3-40.3B RADIO OPERATORS HANDBOOK 1,373KB
MCRP 3-40.3C ANTENNA HANDBOOK 10-Jul-01 2,545KB
MCRP 4-11.1D FIELD HYGIENE AND SANITATION 21-Jun-00 2,037KB
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Fletch said...

Good heavens. Truly epic.

It's a shame most people don't realize what really happened after Waco...

Anonymous said...

This is an excellent treatise on what thinking people have learned from the klintonistas and their ilk. Would that there were a hundred times as many who were so moved, together with a hundred times more modern firearms and a thousand times more ammunition.

On an ancillary note, handguns, concealed or not, in the hands of capable users, are the front line of defense against criminals and the initial anarchy which will explode after the leftist gun grabbers make a major move. In fact, law enforcement officers are not required to protect citizens, only to address the mess after crimes have occurred. It is the citizens' right and responsibility to see to his own protection first. That is an inescapable part of our Constitution and the 2nd Amendment.

Anonymous said...

Well written and I am in full agreement. One point I would add. When they come to take the guns on a large scale they we have to rely on locals because of the shear number of gun and citizen involved. My sons, one a sheriff deputy and the other a Marine, both believe that those type of orders would go against the oath they took to defend the Constitution. I am sure that they are not the only ones to think this way. We tend to forget that by in large those within are us.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting/publishing this. It is extremely powerful, and has already pushed me towards more thought than anything I've encountered since 4/16. It is a bit frightening, but also reassuring in a way. May have more to say about it later.

waypasthadenough said...

Being a great writer and a great fighter are two different things.

I served with the Kentucky State Militia for 3 years in the late nineties. We had a few 'national' meetings where maybe a thousand people at most showed up, including families, non-combatants essentially since these events often coincided with the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot.

At our state meetings we might at best manage 60 or so people, usually only about 20 at best.

The 'best and the brightest' stayed away from our training sessions because they feared for their careers, 401ks, mortgages, public image, etc. or maybe just because they’re stupid. Probably both.

One guy, a 'gun rights activist' who was heavily into CCW training, told me once he had been 'curious' about the militia, without apparently having the determination to actually show up.

Most of the sheeple with guns I saw at events such as CCW shooting matches acted nervously whenever the word 'militia' was brought up. One dared not suggest we might have to kill them to slow down their tyranny.

It's great to say so many millions will fight, but my experience tells me only a few hundred, at absolute best, from coast to coast, will bother to be featured as the newswhores' 'extremist of the moment' as they are hunted down by the Fed Nazis.

It's easier to develop the siege mentality and say "Well when they come for my guns I'll make them pay, after I dig them up from the back yard." A buried gun is an artifact by the way. Unless it's a back up.

And it's great to study all those books and clean your guns, but if you can't cover ground with your gear, and make common sense decisions when you're dead tired, cold wet hungry and nearly dead, you don't stand a chance in hell beyond killing that one or two Nazis who are stupid enough to be easy targets. They're like coyotes, shooting at them once is usually enough to get the message across. Around here the coyotes have gone nocturnal.

Most of us paleo-conservative types who watched too many John Wayne movies growing up are getting on in years as well. This fall I'll pass the militia age requirement and have no illusions about being able to hump a pack like I did in the Marines.


We'll be fighting 19 year-old kids with twenty-something officers, all probably citiots with no inkling of our history and no desire to learn, who will be carrying the latest gear. No, I'm not agreeing with Prather. But one doesn't attack a bear with just the determination to shoo him away.

Anonymous said...

For the latest in tactics:

http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com

Anonymous said...

Excellent post. Hearing thoughtful and patriotic ruminations like these gives me hope.

Anonymous said...

waypasthadenough sez...

"Being a great writer and a great fighter are two different things."

I sez: Yes, and your point is? We contribute what we can, where we can. My priorities have always been to get people to prepare, stock up, train and network, and to encourage them to growl like a sheepdog once in a while. I never was a "great fighter" but I was able to organize, train and run a militia outfit. As modest as those accomplishments were, I nevertheless managed to put my own sorry hindparts on the line during the nineties. During the Bush administration, I have participated in the Minuteman effort on the border. If in the process of that I have somehow managed not to live up to your exalted idea of what an armed citizen ought to be, I refuse to apologize. We all do the best we can with what we have.


Then you sez:

"I served with the Kentucky State Militia for 3 years in the late nineties. We had a few 'national' meetings where maybe a thousand people at most showed up, including families, non-combatants essentially since these events often coincided with the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot. At our state meetings we might at best manage 60 or so people, usually only about 20 at best. The 'best and the brightest' stayed away from our training sessions because they feared for their careers, 401ks, mortgages, public image, etc. or maybe just because they’re stupid. Probably both."

Sez I: Uh huh. We had folks attend these meetings over the years. We stopped participating in them because they accomplished little and threatened much. I know from bitter personal experience that "national" militia organizations and meetings rarely accomplish anything for lack of a shared vision, insufficient common sense, leadership ego trips and federal provocateurism. In any case, the militia should draw its strength from local efforts and AOs should be limited to what you can realistically manage. Perhaps those you criticize had reason for caution when dealing with the likes of folks like Kansas' Brad Glover or West Virginia's Ray Looker. And THAT is NOT "stupidity."


Sez you: "One guy, a 'gun rights activist' who was heavily into CCW training, told me once he had been 'curious' about the militia, without apparently having the determination to actually show up. Most of the sheeple with guns I saw at events such as CCW shooting matches acted nervously whenever the word 'militia' was brought up. One dared not suggest we might have to kill them to slow down their tyranny."


Sez me: Ah, all glory to the True Believer, who disdains all those who lack his zealotry. People evolve their politics at different rates. Rather than condemn them, you should seek to bring them farther along down the Damascus Road. But that's OK, if you are a "great fighter" and not a 2nd Amendment evangelist. There will be someone else who can try to help them with their political evolution. No doubt you can sneer at them too.

Sez you:

"It's great to say so many millions will fight, but my experience tells me only a few hundred, at absolute best, from coast to coast, will bother to be featured as the newswhores' 'extremist of the moment' as they are hunted down by the Fed Nazis. It's easier to develop the siege mentality and say 'Well when they come for my guns I'll make them pay, after I dig them up from the back yard.' A buried gun is an artifact by the way. Unless it's a back up."

Sez I: So, along with being a "great fighter" you are now an all-seeing seer? What a defeatist. And whose side did you say you're on?

Sez you: "And it's great to study all those books and clean your guns, but if you can't cover ground with your gear, and make common sense decisions when you're dead tired, cold wet hungry and nearly dead, you don't stand a chance in hell beyond killing that one or two Nazis who are stupid enough to be easy targets. They're like coyotes, shooting at them once is usually enough to get the message across. Around here the coyotes have gone nocturnal."

Sez me: More defeatism. So, you are telling me a problem without a solution. Are you still training folks? Have you just given up? And as far as "coyotes", even if I accept the analogy, how many two legged coyotes have you shot lately? And if not, how can you criticze others who haven't?

Sez you: "Most of us paleo-conservative types who watched too many John Wayne movies growing up are getting on in years as well. This fall I'll pass the militia age requirement and have no illusions about being able to hump a pack like I did in the Marines. We'll be fighting 19 year-old kids with twenty-something officers, all probably citiots with no inkling of our history and no desire to learn, who will be carrying the latest gear. No, I'm not agreeing with Prather. But one doesn't attack a bear with just the determination to shoo him away."

Sez me: No doubt, but I don't think that was thrust of any of my writing over the past 15 years. We raise the next generation of free men and women. I know I have done my best to do so with my son and two daughters. You are too pessimistic and defeatist. We do not belong to the equivalent of the suicidal Sioux Ghost shirt Society. At least I don't. And neither do any of my friends. We will win this fight, with or without your defeatist ass.

Mike Vanderboegh

(That's my real name, what's yours?)

Anonymous said...

crotalus said...
"Excellent, Mr. Vanderoegh! Now, where may I find some information on tactics as a militia fighter? Any reading you may suggest?"

There is a website devoted to "militia standards" called www.awrm.org. Study the standards and FAQs, observe the discussion forum topics and you can learn much. Don't get too wrapped up in the political discussion side of things there, just pay attention to the practical stuff. If you would like, feel free to contact me at GeorgeMason1776at10.com I will try to help you and continue the discussion off blog.

Anonymous said...

1894c

re:FMs

Ss Patton said of Rommel, "I read his books."

Anonymous said...

All journeys begin with a single step.

Here's five:

1) Start getting in shape, fix your teeth, get your 3rd world inoculations (hepatitis, tetanus, etc.).

2) Start putting away enough food for six months/water for all you must feed.

3) Get an AR15, 10 30 round mags, 1000 rounds of M855 ammo, and a Ciener .22LR conversion for practice use.

4) Learn how to shoot in both traditional riflery contexts (see http://rwva.blogspot.com)and more practical/reactive settings (he AWRM site ref'd above is hugely valuable). More later on the latter.

5) Learn the basics of first aid.

Bonus point: Get a tube-circuited short-wave receiver.

waypasthadenough said...

You sez, see above comments by mike to me.


Oh good Lord. I have neither the time nor desire to engage in a flame war.

Here’s my website, with directions to my house for any Fed Nazis present who don’t already know the way:

http://www.willowtown.com/reality/blacksburg.htm

If you had clicked on my moniker you would have found it.

The point is that to join any org. expecting perfection is foolish. To publicly “come out” as someone who will allegedly stand up to the system in an armed sort of way without a public presence or force is in my estimation, silly, maybe?

There are days when I wished I’d never uttered a public word and just worked a job and saved my pennies so that on occasion I could take a little hunting trip but instead I spent years running FreeKentucky.com and was watched by the Fed Nazis, and was told so by neighbors with one telling me he had been asked about his ‘supremacist’ neighbor by sheriffs deputies. I can’t imagine who told them I was a ‘supremacist’ can you?

I’m happy you came to Kentucky, or your reps. did. True patriots are always welcome. In any ‘public’ meeting we always expected Fed Nazis to be present and later when our state commander was railroaded into prison we learned that indeed they had been. But then those present had made a decision to be ‘public’ in order to recruit and educate the public. Indeed I hope there are many who have not taken that road and who are truly prepared for any eventuality. But experience and the reading of a little history tells me there are many who only think they are prepared.

I have heard success stories from other patriots. Sometimes we win battles and forgo slaughters. That is good. I am glad that others have the patience and resources that I lack to persevere in such situations.

If attempting to deal in reality makes me ‘pessimistic and defeatist’ so be it. I don’t care. I can only judge by the ignorance/apathy/cowardice I see around me on a daily basis. I was a local commander for KSM because there was no one else to take the job. I’ve never had any desire to be anyone’s general and avoid those who do. Even today I have political meetings with a small group on local issues and with a state group that lobbies the state legislature. The sheeple do their best to ignore us. I learned after a short time in this that only a tiny percentage will fight, either within or without the system. Being nice to them doesn’t work. Most will do anything to avoid the personal responsibility that knowledge brings.

I have great respect for most of what you’ve written and have posted in on a local forum:

http://kycities.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=36

You can see by the vast number of hits how much the local sheeple care for our attitudes. And don’t tell me to be ‘nice’ to them. Many letters to the local rag have been written, by me and others over the years. When the war comes we won’t have to travel far to find our enemies.

You’re damn right I’m a ‘true believer.’ I know we’re right. How about you? I do have a hard time understanding how people can be so apathetic and cowardly in this so-called ‘land of the free and home of the brave.’ I do have a hard time understanding why they don’t just show up and do what needs to be done. It’s because the average Amerikan is a pale shadow of his ancestors whose blood soaks the soil we draw our food and water from. But in fact if one looks at history, the majority of ‘settlers’ usually came after a tiny number had fought the Indians.

I don’t have children. If I did I’d be 10,000 times as angry as I am for what the “Liberal” scum are doing to their future. I’ve been preaching “Liberal” season for a decade and most of the sheeple have no concept of its meaning much less the necessity for it.

And why would you want me to admit to shooting coyotes?

At this point we’re all keyboard commandos. If it’s about being Rambo or Daniel Boone then we need to stay home. That’s what I told them.

This is also what I’ve written recently:

http://tinyurl.com/2t6tm4

http://tinyurl.com/3dm5hw

Anonymous said...

I basically agree with you, even though I'm more "liberal" than not (but man, political labels are really quite inadequate). Thus I found your article just a little off-putting with the unnecessary ad hominem.

Stick to your real points rather than just broadly tarnishing all "liberals" and using loaded terms like "Clintonista" and you would likely find wider agreement with what you have to say. Especially in this time when few liberals are happy with the abuse of power of the Bush regime.

Anonymous said...

"Credible deterrence" is a point several professors made in my documentary. No person and no government does everything it is physically able to do. You balance off costs, risks, and benefits. To maintain a republic, you don't have to have the citizenry capable of fighting the worst-case government and winning 100% of the time. It's enough that those who might be tempted to abuse power see that abuse as sufficiently risky and costly to where they'd rather not roll the dice.

To overthrow an unarmed republic is not particularly risky or quite costly; the same cannot be said of the US today.

Jim said...

What do you guys think about the hardening of govt facilities that has occurred since 9/11?

I have personally suspected that the motivation for this is domestic conflict rather than foreign terrorism. They really stepped up building fortifications after OK City and I see post 9/11 as a low visibility way of accelerating that development. They havent been idle for the past 15 years either.

Anonymous said...

I'm with ya all the way, mijn broeder. You speak truth with the force of Right. I do suspect the fools will test the resolve of which you speak. They will surely fail and we will rejoice and dance with the ghosts of the Founders.

Anonymous said...

"Anonymous said...

1894c

re:FMs

Ss Patton said of Rommel, 'I read his books.'"

My thinking as well.

Some points worth considering:

" Generally in warfare:

If ten times the enemy's strength, surround them;

if five times, attack them;

if double, divide them;

if equal, be able to fight them;

if fewer, be able to evade them;

if weaker, be able to avoid them."

and

Therefore I say:

One who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be in danger in a hundred battles.

One who does not know the enemy but knows himself will sometimes win, sometimes lose.

One who does not know the enemy and does not know himself will be in danger in every battle.
SunTzu

The words are as true now as they were in 500 BC

Kevin said...

I am reminded once again of Judge Kozinski's dissent in Silveira v. Lockyer:

"All too many of the other great tragedies of history - Stalin’s atrocities, the killing fields of Cambodia, the Holocaust, to name but a few - were perpetrated by armed troops against unarmed populations. Many could well have been avoided or mitigated, had the perpetrators known their intended victims were equipped with a rifle and twenty bullets apiece, as the Militia Act required here. If a few hundred Jewish fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto could hold off the Wehrmacht for almost a month with only a handful of weapons, six million Jews armed with rifles could not so easily have been herded into cattle cars.

"My excellent colleagues have forgotten these bitter lessons of history. The prospect of tyranny may not grab the headlines the way vivid stories of gun crime routinely do. But few saw the Third Reich coming until it was too late. The Second Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances where all other rights have failed - where the government refuses to stand for reelection and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees. However improbable these contingencies may seem today, facing them unprepared is a mistake a free people get to make only once."

Perhaps David Prather should read the whole thing.

Beach Girl said...

This post is appreciated. I agree with Jim in that 9/11 offered opportunities to put us under the boot. The institution of the TSA further gets tens of thousands of "Americans" trained to herd us like cattle so where the Marines and Police may not fire upon us, arm the TSA and they might as they have been de-sensitized to see us all as threats, not a fellow Americans.

I am heartened that in Texas alone there are more guns than there are people total in the US. I'm not sure but I don't there'll be another Waco - not for a good long while unless Hill gets into office. Even Bill was smart enough to pull back. I don't think she would be. I can see her giving the orders at Tennenimin (sp) Square. Sorry for the misspelling.

Great contribution, David, for publishing Mike's article.

Anonymous said...

Let's not forget that at the time, Bill Clinton was the latest installment from the New World Order. Bush is the current representative. So let's not get lost on that and think Clinton is alone in his crimes.

Given the opportunity, Bush will show his true colors on American soil. Whatever nutcase who makes the White House (except Ron Paul) will be just as dangerous as his (or her) predecessors.

Anonymous said...

Slight correction. Bush DID show his colors. It was on 9-11-2001

Anonymous said...

WTF? I saw him that day...I saw his reaction to the news in the classroom, I saw the speech he gave...
That man was mad as hell and was emotional. I sure hope thats what u r referring to.
As far as his stoopid amnesty and "open border" crap, I disagree totally. He worked with (or had familarity with) the Mexican President and thought he could handle it diplomatically. But whoever is advising him on illegals needs to be..uh, corrected....

Pahalik said...

20 years ago I went to "militia" meetings. Heard the bugout plans. Saw them hacking on a tree with their latest "combat blade". Cases of ammo. Mre's. They were all getting ready. 20 years later I see that they are still getting ready. All over the internet I see people talking. Are there not 10 men left in America? 10 men willing to do what needs to be done? Voting will not do it. Bugging out will not do it. Only a cleansing will do it. The blood of patriots must be shed. The oppressors and their lackeys must be targeted. It is the only solution left.

Michael Z. Williamson said...

PAHALIK: Feel free to fire the first shot.

Things are not good, but go back and read the Declaration of Independence. It was a lot worse then.

When the shooting starts, I think the first people I'll shoot are anyone who utters the phrase "New World Order." Improving the intellect of the new nation is likely the best contribution we can make, and in the meantime, it reduces the strain on the food, water and other resources.

I believe there's about 1.5 guns per person, though some of us distort that average a wee bit:) Texas does not have more guns than the US population, nor would it matter. You can only fire two at once, three if you're really nimble.

And the journalist forgets, or likely isn't aware, along with most of the New World Order retards, that a solid majority of the police and military will be on the rebelling side.

Anonymous said...

@Mike:
No, things were NOT worse then. In fact, it could be argued that they are far worse now. Here is a link our own Declaration of Independence:

http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/

We can add many more to this. We are worse off now!

David Codrea said...

Anon: Just fyi, nobody comes back and reads comments on 5-yr-old blogs posts.

Luton Ian said...

I Just did

;-)

I'm linking to it as well, in the comments here: http://mises.org/daily/1855

I'm a bit emotional reading it again and reading the late and much missed "Straightarrow" (Charles H Sawders)'s comment

Many thanks for having hosted it for these past 5 years.

thanks said...

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