Marauder Scum

I've been wanting to write this article for a few weeks now, without knowing how to start, so I'm just going to do it. We find ourselves standing at the edge of a Cliff, looking off into the future and seeing many potential hazards. We do not want to fall down this Cliff, so we make preparations to be ready for the things to come. We make plans, we store goods and equipment, and we train. We know there are many dangers ahead. In this article, I want to address one of those dangers.

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Getting Your GMRS License

During the Season 4 Episode 21 of the Lodestone Training and Consulting podcast we mentioned that we had just signed up for our General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) licenses. I know I teach that there is no test required for the GMRS license, but I now think the test is navigating the FCC website.

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Putting Trends in Context

Recently, I was speaking with LTAC’s friend, Officer 29, about the AR15 and optic heights. We were discussing the proliferation of high-rise optics and their pros and cons. Specifically, we were discussing if you should even bother adding back up iron sights (BUIS) with a high-mounted optic, given the difficulties presented.

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Spartan Shotgun Mount: a Review

There’s a plethora of ways to mount a carbine – there’s horizontal mounts, vertical mounts, flipping-backwards-throwing-a-shovel mounts, you name it. They’re a smart way to store your carbine, and some of them even offer a locking capability if you need it. That’s great.

Shotguns, on the other hand, are a different matter. Google ‘shotgun wall mounts’. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

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Light Fighter Challenge II

I can’t wait for the Second Annual Pennsylvania Light Fighter Challenge! With it being held at the incredible Ben Franklin Range, it will be bigger and better than last year. It is designed to give you an opportunity to learn a little about yourself as you navigate a 10-plus mile course.

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Training for Malfunctions

I had a conversation with one of the directors at LCPCPC earlier in the week and he said something to me that sparked my desire to do this quick write-up. As I write this, we are about to hold another Rifle Marksmanship Foundation Series - Day Three class. This class is dedicated to teaching the student how the rifle functions and how to fix all kinds of malfunctions.

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Austere Environment Survival Series: Wilderness Skills Reviews

Here are a couple of reviews from students who attended our Austere Environment Survival Series: Wilderness Skills class. Students tested out their 72-Hour Emergency Kits/Bug-Out Bags, and learned skills including shelter-building, fire-starting, water purification, and more.

Bud wrote:

“Top notch instruction. I took the class with my 12-year-old son, we both had a blast and learned a lot…

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Time to Think About Your Garden

As you know, the world just seems like it’s getting crazier and crazier. We felt compelled to write this article to encourage you to start to grow some of your own food or if you already do, to increase your production.

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Thoughts on a Plane

I’m sitting on a plane, flying out to Las Vegas to run a week-long Patrol Rifle class for an agency. They asked us to set up a Patrol Rifle program for them. We are going to be traveling all over the country to teach their agents the basics of Patrol Rifle. Once that’s accomplished, we will be holding advanced training for their in-house instructors. In a sense, we will be teaching ourselves out of a job.

I’ve been sitting here and contemplating how far I’ve come as an instructor.

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Portable Light Sources

I have been running Low-Light classes now for almost 10 years, and I have been operating in low-light Professionally almost 10 years more. But honestly, I started as a kid playing capture the flag and other such activities. I learned a lot playing in the woods and cornfields at night.

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Take Care of Your Feet

Sometimes we gain wisdom from learning from the mistakes of others. This is an opportunity for you to gain wisdom from someone who has mistreated his feet. To mistreat one’s feet is a great mistake.

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How to Plan a Timeline

This article comes from a conversation with my 16-year-old. The other day, she had an event that, for weeks, email reminders had gone out, telling everyone to be on time. Because I grew up in the 82nd Airborne, I need to be places ten minutes before the event starts. It is better to be ten minutes early than one minute late.

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Maps

In the Land Navigation Seminar, I go over maps and talk about where you can get different types. But why we need maps? I am an 18F, and a nerd, which means I collect maps. I love them and one day I will wallpaper an office with them. We are not here to talk about home décor, however, we are going to talk about some of the useful maps that you can add to your collection.

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Nothing Bad Ever Happens to Me

I had a Team SGT that would say “when you point a finger at someone you have three pointing back at you”. This saying has stayed with me and it is often very true. As I prepare to write this article those three fingers are poking me right in the eye. We all can use self-reflection.

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Combat Readiness

There are three things that will keep you alive in a combat situation, in order of precedence they are: 1. The guy next to you. 2. Your training. 3. Your Weapons (includes other equipment).

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Carry Your Pistol Loaded

What condition should your pistol be in as you carry concealed? That question is asked often in classes. A lot of our students are surprised and a little uncomfortable when we reply, ‘chambered.’

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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.

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Arrogance

Most of us have had the experience of meeting a person who is just miserable to deal with, because they are arrogant. Whether it is work or recreation, this person has all the right answers and cannot be wrong.

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Why Wheat?

I recently was away for just over two weeks for some good training. I spent some long days in the heat and humidity working in the woods of Alabama. By the time I returned home, I was smoked and ready to relax. I hadn’t seen my family in that time (nothing compared to all the time I’ve been away on deployments, but I missed them nonetheless) and decided to take them out. With a family our size, this can get expensive. We went to a hibachi restaurant and had a wonderful time. When the bill came…

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Safe Rooms

Whenever I hear someone talk about a safe room or “panic room”, I always think of the 2002 Jodi Foster movie Panic Room. For those of you not familiar with the film, Jodi Foster buys a house that has a “panic room” in it. People break into her house and her and her daughter lock themselves into the “panic room”, while the bad guys are looking for a fortune that is supposedly in the house.

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