In my introductory post, I stated that "conflict is a team sport". Unlike most sports, conflict has a way of finding you whether or not you're a willing participant. Continuing the sports analogy, once you've committed to playing, you'll find yourself picking your team, or being picked by a team.
There is nothing inherently wrong with being picked by someone else's team. I know that all kinds of organizations push "LEADERSHIP!" ad nauseam nowadays, to the point that the term is losing its meaning. For there to be a leader, there must be one or more followers. Don't hesitate to be a follower - followers are a necessary part of a functional team. A group composed of nothing but self-proclaimed leaders will stand around arguing about who is in charge until the cows come home. Don't be that group.
I intend for this post to be part of a multipart series geared towards building community preparedness organizations. We'll work our way down from the high-level outline over the course of this blog. In order to best leverage my past experience, things will be geared towards a local defense force.
Step One - Assemble The Initial Team
You may already have the beginnings of a team in mind. Friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors are all worthy of your consideration. The formation of a team may be organic, or it may be the result of a concerted effort. I have participated in both varieties.
If you have a group of hunting, shooting, or work buddies, you're doing well! Trustworthiness, skills, and physical fitness should be prioritized, ideally in this order. Physical fitness can be improved with focused effort, as can skills, but nothing will turn a chronic back-stabber into a person you can rely on. It is essential for your group members to have the ability to constructively work together. They don't all need to be best friends, just civil and able to communicate effectively.
Step Two - Define Your Capabilities
It may seem counter-intuitive to start a group before defining the group's goals, but I promise that there is a method to my madness here. The types of actions in which a group is likely to succeed depends on the capabilities of its members.
Defining your own capabilities, and those of your teammates, is essential to your success. If you and your neighbors are ranchers without any formal training, you won't be able to jump right into a light infantry role. Be realistic! Sit down with group members and determine their strengths and weaknesses.
Step Three - Set Goals
Once you've figured out what you and your teammates are capable of accomplishing, it's time for the rubber to meet the road. Determine realistic applications and goals for your team to work towards. Your conclusions here will drive your organization's training program.
The acronym METT-TC is a favorite of mine that will be used often on this blog. It is a useful tool for all stages of planning, including high-level planning as is being discussed here. METT-TC breaks down as follows:
Mission: What are you seeking to accomplish?
Enemy: Who and/or what is likely to work against you in your mission? "Enemy" is not always a literal human enemy; for example, in a search-and-rescue operation, an incoming storm may be the greatest threat to your success.
Terrain: How can the area in which you are located impact the way you plan to operate? Are you located at high altitude? Along the coast? In a rural area? Near a large metropolitan area?
Troops: Based on Step Two, who can be relied upon to assist your organization in completing its mission? Depending on the situation, you may only have a handful of team members available, or you may have support from other organizations or agencies. The mission may warrant a different approach as a result.
Time: What time frame is available to complete your mission? Can this be modified in any way to increase your odds of success?
Civil Considerations: How are local civilians likely to impact your mission? Is interacting with them in a certain manner likely to impact your odds of success? What legal considerations do you need to account for?
After completing your METT-TC analysis and defining the capabilities of your group members, you probably have a better picture of what you are able to accomplish. If you're being honest with yourself, it's likely that you've also identified major shortcomings in your capabilities. These are nothing to be ashamed of - look at them as a cheat-sheet for your training plan.
Step Four - Train For The Mission
This is where the largest amount of effort will be expended. Sit down with your teammates and put together a training plan. This should be a mixture of classroom instruction, sit-down map exercises/wargaming, and exercises. Resist the urge to spend a day on a seemingly-relevant topic that will be forgotten in six months. Stick to the plan, but by the same token encourage criticism of the plan and incorporate changes after thorough evaluation of their consequences.
Perhaps the most critical decision to make here is the distribution between different forms of training. For example, an organization I am involved with has had good results with one training session per week. Initially, only one session out of each month was spent in the field, usually in the form of a larger exercise involving members of allied groups. We saw a significant improvement in our performance after changing the training schedule to two days a month in the field. One of these days was spent entirely with local teammates, and typically focused on basic "building block" skills that could then be synthesized into a coherent plan in larger exercises. I am of the opinion that our skills and performance would have improved even more by implementing a 75%/25% ratio of field to classroom training, provided that the field training incorporated honest performance dialog after each evolution. Stick with a training topic until your group members have developed a solid understanding of it, and can effectively utilize it under field conditions.
Remember that watching YouTube videos is not a substitute for training. It's an easy trap to fall into, and indeed, there is an abundance of quality content available via YouTube and other platforms. These can introduce concepts that are then incorporated into practical exercises. Repetition, not watching a video, is the key to developing muscle memory!
Likewise, encourage your teammates to seek out knowledge on their own time. Organized group training should only be the tip of the iceberg. Reading manuals, theory papers, and case studies are all individual activities. Practicing with weapons and equipment can also be done at home.
Step Five - Grow And Improve The Team
In Step Four, I encouraged criticism and continuous improvement of the training plan. This should apply to every aspect of an organization. Stagnation is toxic. Always be willing to accept new members and consider constructive criticism coming from both within and without. Outsiders often have different takes on aspects of your organization. Sometimes, this may be a result of incomplete information or incorrect understandings on their part. On the other hand, it may be very valid and based on prior experience, so don't discount it!
Rather than being a one-time event, make your METT-TC analysis a constant process. Refine procedures and plans to reflect new information, technological developments, equipment acquisitions, and skills. The time to improve yourself and your organization is now!
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