We will be posting complete firearms training curricula on this site. Here's why. Lawless, violent threats to U.S. citizens are mounting. Violent crime rates that began a long decline from earlier highs in the 1990s are once again climbing rapidly in much of the country. These increases are much more pronounced in urban areas, where illegal drug tr...

Security Analysis provides a foundation for all forms of planning, preparedness, and security in the face of threats to our well-being. It calls for a hard and disciplined look at our surroundings, which helps us to anticipate threats, recognize them when they appear, and prepare in advance to manage or defeat them. Security Analysis has several co...

A Site Survey characterizes a defined location (for instance a home, neighborhood, or business), looking closely at factors that are generally under your direct control. Boundaries, barriers, access and egress, routine activities and profiles, everything that constitutes a potential vulnerability or an element of security, is inventoried and assess...

An Area Study is a collection and analysis of broad-spectrum information on a defined area, to support your planning and build situational awareness in advance of the need. It will profile both the human or social environment and the physical factors that can impact your security. The area study can never be static; it is not an exercise you comple...

Our previous article in this series, THREAT ASSESSMENT: The Concept, introduced a five-step process for this first phase of risk management. This post will discuss that process in greater detail.   Our Threat Assessment method has five steps: Describe the target: what is it that you seek to protect, and under what conditions?List all threats.C...

Threat assessment is a disciplined process by which we characterize and prioritize threats to our well-being, and allocate our finite resources and efforts to avert, avoid, or mitigate them. To be useful, a threat assessment requires open-mindedness, focused research and intelligence-gathering, and deductive analysis. The U.S. Department of Homelan...

An Assets Evaluation is a more detailed development and analysis of information compiled during your Area Study; or it can be conducted independently. Here you classify and characterize persons, groups, enterprises, and agencies that are beyond your direct control, but might contribute to your security against a variety of threats. Assets in this s...

One essential skill needed in preparation for protecting a community is tactical tracking. Linked intimately with patrolling, tactical tracking will provide intelligence on any movement around the community and allow patrols to interdict potential aggressors. After establishing the community's perimeter, knowing who is moving around it will be a vi...

If a phone, tablet, or laptop only store 24 hours of communication then how useful is that to the enemy? In contrast, how useful are months or years of someone's private messages? Many have their own favorite ways to communicate securely on messaging apps, but all will agree on this basic concept - encryption really works. Encrypted messaging, stor...

"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy." —Perth, Scotland, 28 May 1948, in Churchill, Europe Unite: Speeches 1947 & 1948. Socialism's benefits are touted as nationalization of key industries (i.e. free healthcare etc), redistribution of wealth (through taxation), social security schemes, minimum ...