AAR – Community Security Course

A couple of weeks ago, we held a Community Security Operations course at Camp Ponderosa in Bigfork, Montana. It’s the second course I’ve taught there, and NC Scout ran a pair of classes there also. It’s a gorgeous site in some true wilderness (the Bob Marshall Wilderness), perfect for training and relaxing. Expect more classes and more instructors at Camp Ponderosa.

I thought that we would do an After-Action Review to help folks understand what the course entails. Make no mistake, as the US selection, whoops – ELECTION, nears, knowing these skills will be vital and now is the time to train.

Praise the Lord, who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle.

Psalm 144:1

This course focuses on the skills taught in TW-03, Defensive Operations. My South African friends will confirm that civilian community safety groups using these skills are what ended the 2021 KwaZulu Natal riots, not government action. In fact, a community safety checkpoint caught at least one South African Police Service member with looted property in his vehicle.

The skills used come from US and British military police “area security” and “movement control” doctrine, as well as from the experience of private military companies serving the US and British government in the tactical security role. These skills form the basis of actions taken to protect a local area.

We began class with a solid discussion of common law and history that justifies legally the actions of a small group to protect either private property or a small community. Partnerships with GOOD and LIKE MINDED law enforcement are stressed. Having a solid knowledge of your State or Provincial Constitution and self-defense/citizen’s arrest laws is also stressed. This isn’t because we want you making arrests like the police, but they give the legal basis for detention/security operations in a crisis. Knowing the law can help you survive legally after order is restored. I’m not a lawyer, talk to a local one in your area.

The course uses a combination of lecture, whiteboard sketching, and then field practice. Students got in a bunch of reps setting up Entry Control Points, Checkpoints, and Roadblocks. Once the students had their control measures in place, role players approached the point or block and interacted with the students, using real world examples of encounters that have happened in disaster areas, collapsed societies, and conflict zones. The ability to think on your feet and interact with people in crisis is vital. Your cool-guy AR build can’t be the answer to every situation.

De-escalation and conflict resolution are the focus of the interactions, rather than larping combat. You should be spending more time talking to people and gathering intelligence than engaging in more kinetic activities, and if you aren’t training for it, you won’t be ready to do it.

We also discussed and practiced local security presence patrols. These are to “show the flag” and let potential bad guys know that there is an armed security group about. Open carry is generally legal (know your local laws), and a group of folks out for a walk open-carrying their weapons as a deterrent is what a local security presence patrol is. We’re not talking about recon patrols, those are taught in NC Scout’s Scout and Recce courses. I had the patrol respond to a reported camp along a power line and investigate a man camping there. Rather than attacking the guy, the group had to use their words and engage in a VOLUNTARY conversation and try to determine why he was there and what he knew. This is far more realistic than always training to shoot it out.

Another skill we did was setting up a “road watch” observation post. The OP set up by the students was overwatching a critical bridge into the area on a state highway adjacent to the property. It needed to be watched as it was the only road into the area of the camp, and it was over a water source, which will draw people. The students patrolled to a mission support site (MSS) one terrain feature away from the planned OP, then sent a detachment to set up the OP and it’s close-in security. The students then practiced watching the road, documenting what they saw, and rotating through the positions.

The final skill we worked on was secure vehicle movement. This will be a complete 3-day course as well as it’s own volume of Tactical Wisdom eventually. We practiced setting up vehicles, mounting and dismounting, and radio calls to make the job easier. We rotated everyone through all the roles in vehicle operations.

The course is heavy on repetitions of physical skills. The entire point is do it all over and over again so that under stress, you can indeed replicate those skills.

I’d like to thank our hosts, the NW Montana Veterans Food Pantry. Our classes at Camp Ponderosa couldn’t happen without them and their outstanding facility, which will be expanded and improved in the coming months as I move my entire base onto their site. Al and Linda Erickson having been serving the veteran community in greater Kalispell for over three decades. Check out their work and support them by clicking this link. All of the proceeds from folks who rented rooms or a tent/RV site at the class went directly to the Food Pantry.

Now is the time to train, come to class.

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