I'm a survivalist author and lecturer. I'm the founder and editor of SurvivalBlog.com. I'm 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 of primarily English ancestry, a Christian, and hold to Reformed
doctrine. I am saved by God's Grace and Christ's blood, and not ashamed to say so!
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. These outlooks have shaped my views on preparedness.
I've spent the past 20 years primarily as a journalist and technical writer. During that time I wrote a full length survivalist novel, titled "Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse." More recently I've been self employed, and authored the non-fiction book "How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times". I'm presently working on a pair of sequels to "Patriots", under contract to Simon & Schuster's Atria Books division.
I started using the Internet in the late 1980s. I began posting about survival topics to Usenet newsgroups (such as misc.investing, rec.guns, and alt.survivalism) in the early 1990s.
In 1987, I married The Memsahib. She passed away in 2009 and is greatly missed.
Through God's tremendous providence, I remarried in 2010. My new bride is "Avalanche Lily". 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 support the Anchor of Hope Orphanage and Mission School in rural Zambia. We also send "care packages" to troops deployed overseas through Any Soldier, and we support Compassion International. I highly recommend all 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 resigned because I didn't want to serve under him as 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.
In SurvivalBlog, my posts are often identified by my initials, "JWR".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)
By God's providence, there was a strong response to my late wife Linda's July 2009 Bucket List post. One of the responses came from a lovely young widow. She is a committed Christian, a homeschooling mom, and very outdoorsy. (She is a gardener, a target shooter, and enjoys hiking and kayaking.) In SurvivalBlog posts, my new bride is known as Avalanche Lily. She chimes in on various blog topics, and she edits articles. It was abundantly clear that it was God's hand that put us together. We both stand amazed at the foresight and selflessness of my late wife ("The Memsahib") in writing the post that was instrumental in bringing us together. Avalanche Lily is an amazingly energetic lady, and I'm thrilled to have her as my wife and as co-editor of SurvivalBlog. God is so wonderfully provident, and we feel tremendously blessed. You can e-mail Avalanche Lily with questions or comments.
JWR's eldest son is a homeschooled young man who loves to hike,
hunt, and target shoot.
He manages SurvivalRealty.com, our first spin-off web site.
JWR's second son is a homeschooled young man who enjoys the outdoors, but is also fascinated by technology. He creates and markets the SurvivalBlog archives. He is the founder of Whiteout Productions.
Mike Williamson is a well-known science
fiction writer, a custom
blade maker,
and occasional historical re-enactor. Since his interests often cross-over
into SurvivalBlog territory, he has been a frequent contributor to SurvivalBlog,
since 2006. His extensive practical and tactical experience--including visits
to "The
Big Sandbox"--give him a unique
insight into preparedness topics. Here
is is his Wikipedia page.
Dr. Cynthia J. Koelker is the author of the book 101 Ways to Save Money on Health Care, which explains how to treat over 30 common medical conditions economically, and includes dozens of sections on treating yourself. She also hosts the popular medical prepping blog at www.ArmageddonMedicine.net. She is currently authoring a book on TEOTWAWKI medicine, for laymen.
Pat Cascio has been a gun and knife writer for more than 18 years. He has written for monthly issues of American Survival Guide, Handguns, Gun World, American Handgunner, as well as annual publications for Guns, American Handgunner, and Guns & Ammo. Knives Illustrated and for his own use. He has also designed several knives that are currently being produced. He spent more than 35 years actively in the martial arts, and holds Black Belt rank in five different styles of martial arts, with a 6th Degree Black Belt in one art. He also also spent three years working for the late, and legendary, Col. Rex Applegate, who taught him a lot about knife fighting and knife design. He is also a former Private Investigator.
Pat summarizes his product review philosophy: "I don't pull any punches in my Test and Evaluation, and if a gun or knife isn't up to my expectations - you simply won't be reading about it. I don't waste my time writing about junk guns or knives or any tools, for that matter. I plan to write gun and knife articles for Survivalblog on a fairly regular basis. If you have any questions, please e-mail me, and I'll do my best to answer them for you, if I have an answer. Please don't send questions about what is the best gun, or best caliber to use for self-defense, since there is no "best". It all comes down to shot placement. People have been stopped dead in their tracks with a lowly .22 LR, and others have stood after taking several hits for a .44 Magnum. So, there is no magic bullet or perfect gun. Any gun or caliber is a compromise."
L.K.O. lives in the high Rockies of Colorado. He has a solid background in electronics and software as a vocation, and back country backpacking as his avocation. He has keen interest in photovoltaic power systems, ham radio, and many other technologies.
SurvivalBlog's volunteer Economic Editor, the trustworthy Cheryl N.
SurvivalBlog's volunteer western editor. He has a broad background in engineering, technical editing, off-grid power, cellular telephony, intentional communities, local agriculture, and biotechnology.
George Gordon is the nom de plume of an American businessman who closely follows economic developments and hence "is getting more and more worried." His pen name is is an homage to George Gordon Lord Byron, the British poet who was famously described as "Mad, bad, and dangerous to know."
The Pioche Professional Polymer Pistolero (PPPP). The pseudonym for a SurvivalBlog correspondent that is an instructor at a well-known firearms training academy.
"The Werewolf" lives outside a small town in rural Brazil.
He has a full-time "day" job, five children, and a lovely wife. His
home is his ranch, where he raises pigs, chickens, geese, tilapia (via fish
farming), and a variety of crops geared toward self-sufficiency including beans,
rice, and
corn.
"David" was born and raised in the United States. Even before
emigrating to Israel, he had a diverse background
in forestry, firefighting, mountaineering, emergency
medicine,
and
commercial
kosher food inspection. One of his life-long hobbies has been amateur radio.
He is currently a Torah student.
"E.J." is a British ex-pat that lives in rural Basilicata, Italy. She
describes Basilicata as "...a region bypassed by history and its inhabitants
have known a modicum of well
being only in the past 20 years."
"SurvivalistSam" is a 17 year-old survivalist living on New Zealand's
South Island.
Note: Our foreign correspondents kindly send us their e-mails without any compensation other than the occasional free book, and our doing some shopping for them in the States. I'd appreciate reading the insights of folks who have survived the hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, secessionist turmoil in Kashmir, convoy IED attacks in Iraq, the civil war in Libya, or kidnappings in Colombia. Please e-mail your letters here.
We
are currently seeking other foreign correspondents. Letters from residents
unstable countries would be great, but we will settle for mundane. (We
can learn just as much from the insights of a sheep rancher in Australia's Outback
as we can from someone
living in war-torn Ethiopia.)
Biographies of several of my friends and acquaintances are included in the Retreat Owner Profiles.
You can e-mail Jim and Avalanche Lily here. Note that because of the high volume of e-mail (200+ daily!), we cannot always respond personally.
Copyright 2005-2012. All Rights Reserved by James Wesley, Rawles - www.SurvivalBlog.com™