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Retreat Owner Profile: Mr. Uniform
Present Home: 63 year old brick veneer over weather board farmhouse (1,300
square feet) built by my father. 25 acres, consisting of 3.5 acres of pine,
9 acres of old growth hardwoods, 1.5 acres of apple, pear, pecan, grape, muscudine,
and scuppernong orchard/grove/vineyard. Additional 900 square foot house, 100
year barn (30'x30' with loft and sheds), outdoor privy, detached 24'x24' garage
building, 140 square foot storage building, dog house/lot, hog house lot (not
used at present). Approximately three acres in farmstead buildings, drives,
and gardens. Balance of land in open arable land presently used by neighbor
as
native grass hay field. All but the very front of house is inside a fence.
Yard and road frontage is behind a five foot chain link or five foot wood picket
fence. Remainder of property line is behind an old five-strand barbed wire
fence (needs upgrading). Property is in northwest portion of South Carolina.
Family has lived in area for over 500 years (Cherokee portion), most of the
remainder
for more than 200 years. Family on two sides and long term (over 80 years)
family friends on two sides. House fronts on a small farm to market road but
backs to a heavily traveled Interstate. Attend a small Baptist Church that
ancestors helped to found 204 years ago (veterans of Revolutionary War). Property
has two hand dug wells near headwaters of creek. Presently use public water,
but both wells are usable by hand drawing with a windless. Water is free of
contaminants per test. Presently plant garden from heirloom seeds and co-operate
with neighbors and family in trade.
Ages: Mr Uniform: 47 His widowed mother: 82
Annual Income: Gross $86,000, Net $43,000
Occupations: Government employee. Mother is a retired
widowed homemaker and cancer survivor.
Hobbies/Avocation: Hunt, Fish, Camp, volunteer fireman (Board Member and Arson
Investigator), Volunteer Advanced State Constable (Police Officer), trained
medical First Responder.
Investments: Gold and silver coin including ‘junk’ silver, copper
coin, Thrift Board (similar to 401k). Some open note debt due to family sicknesses
and deaths.
Vehicles: 1968 Chevy pickup, two Cadillacs (one built in 1980s, the other
in the late1990s), 1998 Ford F150 4WD Pickup, 1957 Ford Tractor (34 h.p. gas)
with crop implements
and some
mule
implements.
Keep all vehicles fueled and serviced.
Fuel Storage: 500 gallons propane for cooking and furnace. 15 gallons of K-1 kerosene
for lamps, lanterns, and back-up heat. 25 gallons of 4 cycle gas. 2.5 gallons
of 2 cycle gas. Two wood heaters in storage in barn. Plan: to cut and rack
wood in a shed to be built. Plan on buying wood cook stove in future and put
in storage. All wood heat was removed from house in 1985 due to Father’s
health. Also to put in at least 1000 gallon gas tank and fuel oil tank. Also,
a kerosene tank in 500 to 1000 gallon range. Probably in a ventilated shed
instead of underground due to water table in the defensible zone.
Livestock: One collie at moment, used for guard/watch dog. Hope to add small
livestock within a year (one species at a time). Beef cattle on one neighbor’s
place. Dairy within 3 miles (high school class mate). Hogs on two neighbors
farms within two miles and chickens close.
Communications: Land line with DSL hook up. Cell phones. Two privately owned
walkie-talkies programmed for direct communication with local law enforcement,
fire, and EMS. One pair of FRS radios. One small programmable scanner, one
CB transceiver,
one shortwave receiver. Want to add field phone capability.
Food and supply storage: 9 months to a year on most everything from food to
toothpaste. We employ the method of :"use one and buy three."
Mail service: Rural route delivery for some things, P.O. Box in neighboring
village for others, while package delivery generally goes to one of the offices
that
I work out of.
Shortcomings: Too close to interstate highway though county is almost an island
with lakes, control points could be manned at all of the bridges entering county
and control much of the flow of traffic. Patrol the Interstate Highway corridor
to keep unauthorized exit from the Interstate. Also, patrol the lake shore
for unwanted landings. 100 miles from Atlanta, 50 miles from Greenville, 150
miles from Charlotte. All too close. Not enough food and supplies, I think
3 years should be on hand and rotated. Not enough ammo. Inadequate fuel supply,
and no alternative source of electricity yet. Nuclear plant nearby.
Taxes: Moderate and rising due to refugees from northeast moving into lake
developments and demanding more county services. Many of these will be first
to go down in a long term grid down situation
Armory: Fire rated safe with S&G.
Adequate with a mixture of heavy battle and hunting rifles, medium battle and
hunting rifles, and light battle and
hunting rifles, and .22 rimfire. Same with shotguns, and pistols. Somewhat
of the Mel
Tappan philosophy. Good supply of spare magazines. Have had very
good tactical and firearms training from law enforcement, SAR, IDPA,
and SASS.
Two ballistic vests and several non ballistic tactical vests.
Next door neighbor similarly armed and prepared. Sister (40+ acres) and cousins
(1 to 10 acres each) (within 3 miles) are more armed for personal protection
and hunting than tactical. I go armed from rising to bed. Also carry a minimum
kit in vehicle: one .40 cal with rig, one carbine, ammo, water, clothes, meds,
MREs.
I travel an average of 800 miles per week on job. I average 13 hour days, 5
days per week, plus 12 hours per week law enforcement volunteer, three hours
per week average for VFD.
This is to help me get home. Need some NVGs.
Have motion sensors. Placing more. Have more fencing in storage.
Other People Joining Us: Cousins from metro Atlanta area, former naval IT electronics
person and shipboard security team leader. Maybe one cousin from Hart County,
Georgia who lives alone and in late 60s. He grows the grain and has a saw mill.
He is former army signal corps telephone. I have married sister, married niece,
and several married cousins within area. If ones property becomes compromised,
we will double up.
Affiliations: Active in Church (Bible Study Teacher, Church Clerk, and Deacon).
Past Master in local [Masonic] Lodge.
Education: BS in Ag Ed, Masters in Agricultural Education, many semester hours
over Masters in Administration and Supervision, 50 quarter hours in Criminal
Justice.
Former
high school ag teacher and animal science professor in a Jr. College.
Area: Local fire district (all volunteer) is 25 square miles with a permanent
population of about 2,500. Two private church schools, five churches, one
truck stop, four country stores and locally owned building supply store, Medical
Clinic with two Doctors,
Pharmacist, and Nurses. Local fire department forms the basis of local Civil
Defense. 24 out of 26 members are armed. Two Unarmed: One is a local Doctor
and Army veteran (Bosnian Call-Up) and the other is a CPA.
Adjoining fire districts are similar. I am covered under Law Enforcement Officers
(LEOs).
Safety Act for firearms carrying. Most of the fire department have South Carolina
and New Hampshire carry permits with [reciprocity] coverage in several states.
Civil
Defense
plans
are
in
place to secure the interstate in an emergency. Overall, community, including
elderly widows, is well armed, just not tactical. Has at least 14 present
and former LEOs within five miles, one is the County Sheriff who belongs
to same Lodge and is active in an adjoining Baptist Church. Both local sheriffs’ offices
are upgrading their tactical capabilities with a full auto .223 in each patrol
car. I am working with the new chief at the largest town in my county trying
to convince him to upgrade to individually assigned patrol cars, preferable
take home, and patrol rifles.
JWR's Comments/Recommendations: Given your proximity to
the interstate freeway, you should definitely plan on having at least three
families
to man your retreat.
With any less than that, you won't have the manpower to maintain 24/7 security
for an extended period of time. Stock up on plenty of ammo, defensive (concertina)
wire, and night vision gear, for
a
"worst
case" situation.
In a follow-up e-mail, Mr. Uniform added this commentary:
I would like to comment on preparedness as a mindset and as a way of
life instead of just acquisition of things. I pondered this over the weekend
as I ate various meals. At breakfast, I ate grits and eggs and sausage. The
grits were from corn I grew and ground on a cousin's mill. He received a toll
for the grinding. I traded extra grits and cornmeal (which he also ground)
for the eggs and sausage. At noon, we sat down to dinner and enjoyed fresh
ham and several vegetables. All the vegetables were grown either in my garden
or my sister's garden. The ham came from a feral shoat that became a nuisance
in the garden. Supper was similar. For dessert, we had fresh fig preserves.
The figs came from a fig bush/tree that my grandfather had planted. He died
in 1946 at age 83. We grow a lot of what we eat and eat what we grow. It is
not just about saving money, it is more about living healthy and being self
sufficient. Being able to open the store room or pantry and see a year's worth
of provisions is comforting during troubling times. As well, it is nice to
know that one has the means and capability to protect and defend ones family,
friends, and home. But simply a year's capability is not enough for severe
times.
In the past, my family went through roughly ten years of what is now
called the French and Indian War, about seven years of the Revolutionary War,
four years of the War of Northern Aggression then accompanied by 12 years of
armed
occupation by Union troops. It took another 100 years to somewhat recover economically.
I believe that we need to prepare for a long term situation such as that. Also,
plan on having property tax money saved back for multiple years in as many
different currencies (paper, gold, silver) as possible. The Depression lasted
for about 13 years. Now to address how do individuals practice living the lifestyle
when not at a retreat. If you can grow flowers, you can grow vegetables. This
will give [you] practice. In some cases, you can rent small tracts of garden
space from landowners near the city's edge. I know of one case where a city
family
made a trade with an elderly widow lady in my community. They work a three
acre garden and three acre mixed orchard/vineyard. For rent, they share the
produce with the lady and keep her yard cut. A good symbiotic relationship.
Take classes in Emergency Medicine, Fire Suppression, and the Martial Arms
(Rifle, Pistol, and Shotgun in target and tactical). Maybe even volunteer as
a fireman, EMT,
or [Sheriff's] deputy. Learn to do many things: weld, wire, carpentry, masonry,
etc. Learn to be the needed member of the community. Live in the community
as much as possible, create a sense of belonging. Create a healthy lifestyle.
Get rid of addictions, get health problems under control, build a network of
friends and acquiesces. Most importantly, get right Spiritually. In troubling
times, there is an inexhaustible supply of help from the Heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Become part of a local church congregation.
Be the one to be ready to help the elderly, widows, and orphans in your church.
Just some thoughts, - Mr. Uniform
