SurvivalBlog Staff Biographies

James Wesley, Rawles (JWR):

I'm a survivalist author and lecturer. I'm the editor of  www.SurvivalBlog.com.   I'm also a former U.S. Army intelligence officer, and now work as a full-time blogger and freelance writer. This blog reflects my interests. I’ve been an enthusiastic survivalist since my teenage years. I grew up in the Bomb Shelter era, and that mind set just never wore off.

I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Jose State University with minor degrees in military science, history, and military history. I have additional course work in HTML and UML. I held a Top Secret security clearance (with Special Background Investigation). I was granted access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI). I was awarded Officer specialty 35A (tactical all-source intelligence officer), and the additional skill identifier 5M (electronic warfare officer). I achieved the rank of Captain. I attended the Army NBC defense officer's course, as well as Northern Warfare School at Fort Greeley, Alaska.

I am a Christian, and hold to Reformed doctrine. My view of history is of the geographical determinist school. My view of economics is of the Austrian school. Politically, I am a conservative/Constitutionalist libertarian. All of these have shaped my views on preparedness.

I've spent the past 20 years primarily as a journalist and technical writer. I also found the time to write a full length survivalist novel, titled "Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse."

I started using the Internet in the late 1980s, and posting about survival topics to Usenet newsgroups (such as misc.investing, rec.guns, and alt.survivalism) in the early 1990s.

In 1987, by God's grace, I married The Memsahib. We are home schooling our kids. We live at the Rawles Ranch “Somewhere West of the Rockies.” Our family enjoys hiking, rock hounding, hunting, kayaking, and target shooting. We are members of a Reformed Baptist church.

As part of our charitable works, we send "care packages" to troops deployed overseas through Any Soldier. We also support a child at a Christian mission in Thailand through Compassion International. I highly recommend both of these charities.

I was on the staff of Defense Electronics magazine for four years. I researched, wrote, and edited more than 60 feature-length technical magazine articles on a wide range of high technology subjects including component technologies, computer hardware and software, foreign military organizations and equipment, high technology terrorism, aircraft, air defense, missile guidance, digital flight controls, intelligence gathering and analysis, antisubmarine warfare, satellites, and communications equipment. I concurrently held the position of Managing Editor of The International Countermeasures Handbook and The Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C³I) Handbook. I've also written for Defense Computing magazine. I've also worked for several high technology companies.

I was commissioned as an Army Intelligence Officer--35A(5M)--in 1984. I specialized in signals intelligence and electronic warfare. Other than my Officer’s Basic Course at Fort Huachuca and a couple of stints of temporary active duty (TDY), I spent my commissioned time as a reserve officer, with the 519th ASA Company. (It was later re-designated Co. D of the 373rd CEWI Battalion.) My duty positions included: Operations platoon leader, electronic warfare officer, intelligence analyst, NBC officer, Supply/Service Platoon Leader and the umpteen other additional duties that the Army loves to heap on company grade officers. I also served as a Special Security Officer (SSO). It was my privilege to be stationed TDY to work a live Guardrail signals intelligence (SIGINT) gathering and analysis mission in West Germany.

I resigned my commission when Bill Clinton was first sworn into office as President. I didn’t fancy having him as my Commander in Chief. At the time I was a Captain, and my six year obligation to the Army had already lapsed. I've often wondered what my life would have been like if I had done the full 20 years.

Memberships (Past and Present):
The National Rifle Association (NRA)
Gun Owners of America (GOA)
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) (Gentiles can join, too!)
The FalFiles (I'm Member #133)
The Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO)
The Association of Old Crows (AOC)
John Birch Society (JBS)
Society for Technical Communication (STC)
The Washington Arms Collectors Association (WAC)

The Memsahib:

I attended San Jose State University. I hold a California State teaching credential in Elementary Education. I taught public school for six years. I have also tutored deaf and blind college students as well as students learning English as a Second Language. Additionally, I have taught summer Arts and Crafts programs for children.

I also have taught Fiber Arts. I can shear a sheep, angora goat, or angora rabbit and wash, card, dye, spin, knit, weave, (and or felt) the wool into socks, mittens, a hat, scarf, or a sweater.

I have raised and bred a variety of animals including: chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, goats, sheep, donkeys, and cattle.

I'm a full-time mom and home school our children.

#1 Son:

JWR and Memsahib's eldest son ins a homeschooled kid who loves to hike, hunt, target shoot, and generally emulate the boyhood of Patrick McManus.

Our Domestic Correspondents:

The Insider:

The nickname of SurvivalBlog's source inside the investment banking community.

PPPP:

The Pioche Professional Polymer Pistolero (PPPP). The pseudonym for a SurvivalBlog correspondent that is an instructor at a well-known firearms training academy.

Our Foreign Correspondents:

The Chartist Gnome: