Living the ODA Principles
On August 2nd, we posted Season 3 Episode 5 of the LTAC Podcast, “Preparing Like an ODA”. If you haven’t listened to it, I suggest you do. In it, we talk about one of the best ways to prepare for emergencies. It’s not about how many or what type of guns should one have. Or how many beans should you store. It was about how a special forces team prepares for a mission and tackles problems.
There are too many people who try to prepare solo. In the long term, it will not work. There are also some who want to build the exclusive “group” with oaths of allegiance and the ‘them vs. us’ mentality. From what I’ve seen over the past 30-plus years that I’ve been “preparing” is groups like that almost always turn into a Cult of Personality. It always pushes good people out and with those remaining serving the “Leader”.
In the Podcast, we layout how a Special Forces team works together and establishes layers of influence, layers of resources, and layers of friends. You do what you can with what you have. Then when you have a problem you can’t solve, you go to the first layer, then the next, until you can solve it.
First, you must start with yourself. What are my strengths, what are my weaknesses? Where do I need to improve? What resources do I need to be more self-reliant? Then with you working to improve your individual skillset and resources, your next thought should be, “How can I help others?”
The next step is to build your own network of good people. I won’t go into the details here since we cover a lot of it on the podcast. Do your best to surround yourself with good people. Be quick to lend a hand.
Little did we know when Chris and I recorded that podcast that we would be experiencing its principles just a few weeks later. It has been humbling and almost overwhelming. “Teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.”
My family and Chris’s family have been friends for 18 years. We have been part of each other’s “inner layer” for a long time. We have been there for each other and have solved problems together many times over the years. So, when Pam got sick, it was natural for our family reach out and help. As things progressed, there were others who reached out. Meals and other things were offered and provided.
After Pam passed away on September 17th, our years (I say our because I have helped and been a witness to all the events) of living and preparing like an ODA kicked in. Many of you have reached out to me in a multitude of ways. The offers of help for Chris and his daughters have been endless to me, knowing that I have been acting as a buffer.
People just started solving problems for Chris, sometimes before he was even aware. As an example, I knew we needed to set up a GoFundMe page. I didn’t know how, so Abby reached out to someone “in our circle” who did. More and more offers to help kept coming in. Problems that I had no idea how to even approach and Chris certainly didn’t have the time to look at, were solved by those who did.
I wish I could go into details as problem after problem were taken care of. This experience has been a testament to two things. One: Pam and Chris have lived their lives in the service of their brothers and sisters. That’s how they view mankind. They have touched and influenced the lives of almost everyone they have had contact with. Their eagerness to lend a helping hand to all and to pray with those in sorrow is the very definition of being a good Samaritan. The outpouring of love directed towards them is a direct result of their lifetime of selfless service.
Two: Chris and Pam spending decades of “preparing like an ODA”. They have worked to build up their many layers and spheres of friends. That has resulted in so many different collectives able to help. Very close friends, Family, Old teammates, Church members, neighbors, Lodestone Family, Students, Chapter 38, Special Forces Foundation, Green Beret Foundation. I’m sure I’m missing a few other groups.
Even though we practice what we preach, seeing this response to an emergency, seeing the fruits of “preparing like an ODA”, has been mind-blowing. This only reinforces my commitment to living and promoting these correct principles. I know that as we do what we can individually to prepare, and are willing to reach out to help others, we can take care of each other no matter what the emergency.
Thank you, for your love, compassion, service. Thank you for all that you have done for my Friend and his family.
Jared Ross