Turning Our Home into a Castle
“Turning Our Home into a Castle” is a new weekly series that we will be bringing to you. We will be sharing principles, tips and techniques to harden your home and make you less of a target. It doesn’t matter where you live, you alone are responsible for its security. These articles will help empower you to make improvements to increase your level of safety.
Let me start off with a lesson I learned during my first trip to Iraq. It was early 2004 and my platoon with the 82nd had the responsibility to patrol a few different neighborhoods south of Baghdad. We had unarmored cargo Humvees that we used for mounted patrols. We did our best to weld some steel to them for protection, but it really didn’t do much. We also had M4s, some SAWs and a couple of 240Bs to protect ourselves. We had those 240s resting on top of plywood and held down with ratchet straps. Contrast that with our battalion’s Delta Company which had up-armored Humvees. They also actually had gun turrets with 50cals.
So, we were much softer targets, but as the weeks and months stretched on, an interesting pattern emerged. The hard target, the guys from the Delta Company, were getting harassed a lot more than we were. It didn’t make sense to me as to why. The enemy could do a lot more damage to us than to those up-armors, plus the guys inside were much better protected. What slowly dawned on me was the appearance of the vehicles as they patrolled. The better-equipped vehicles only had one person exposed behind the 50cal. That person was usually trying to stay as low as he could for better protection. Contrast that with our cargo Humvees with a little Mad Max armor. We had pissed off paratroopers in the back, pointing guns in every direction. We looked like a giant, rolling porcupine.
What I started to realize was that it was our appearance that made the difference. With only one guy, partly exposed and half hiding in the turret, they gave off the impression of fear. When compared to us, with all the barrels and angry faces pointing every which way, we looked like we were spoiling for a fight. Which we were. Consequently, they got hit a lot more that we did driving the same streets. For that time and place, that appearance and attitude kept us from frequently getting hit. Lesson learned: appearance matters.
Now let’s take that principle of ‘appearance matters’ and apply it to your home. What does the outside of your home look like? What message is it sending to those who would like to get inside? To those who want your things or want to do you harm? Is it inviting to them? Are you flashing your wealth? Does your home stand out from its surrounding? The key is to understand the principle, the truth -- that the appearance of your home and property matter, that its appearance is sending signals to those who see it. It’s also important to state that there is no absolute right answer that fits for everyone. Each home, property, and neighborhood is different.
What are some general things that you can do with the outside of your home to help its appearance and the message you are sending? First is keep it neat and maintained. This means mow the lawn, trim the hedges. Wash the outside of your home. If you live in an apartment, put out a welcome mat, maybe hang a decoration on your front door to be seen. The idea with a neat and tidy exterior is to show that you care and are active around your home. As that individual or group that is casing a place to hit, which would you think would look like an easier target: a neat, well-kept home, or the one just down the road with overgrown grass and a broken screen door?
Another key to controlling the message that your home’s appearance is sending -- What are your surroundings? If you live in Smalltown, USA and decide to put up an 8-foot mud wall surrounding your property, with some awesome broken glass embedded all along the top, you’re defeating the purpose. Your house can even have a very neat appearance as I discussed in the paragraph above. But if it stands out completely from what’s “normal” in your area, you will just be attracting attention.
We look forward to bringing this series to you. We know it will give you things to think about that can make a difference. Let us know your thoughts and ask us questions that we can answer in future installments.
Jared