Militia Snippets
"Militia Snippet": A thought or thought fragment, clear and concise or requiring much explanation discussion or debate. Oh forget it....here they are they speak for themselves just read 'em.
new snippets added January of 2006 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Ruck sack advice to live by:
Hey I never served nor am I an experienced backpacker but I have heard from an old grunt and have confirmed it with prior military service people rule of thumb your ruck should weigh no more than 1/3 (one third, 33%) of your body weight with a maximum of about 90 pounds. I.E. you weigh 180 your ruck should weigh no more than 60 pounds if you really expect to march a distance and or move quickly for short distances. Also load heavier items low in the ruck and lighter twoards the top. Keep items you may need fairly often or immediately upon making camp near the top or in accessory pouches on the outside of your ruck. ---------CHUCKWAGON
Making Your Case:
Many times, we are either called upon or compelled to state a position to someone. Sometimes, we have a need to convince others of one thing or another. There is a proper way to do this, and it doesn't involve getting loud, threatening, or abusive.
First, be calm and rational. Yelling will not get someone on your side. Yelling and using harsh language will almost always turn someone away from your position, no matter how right it is. If the other side yells or becomes loud and abusive, good, you are more rational than they are, and you have already begun to win the discussion.
There is a simple formula for making (and winning) an argument or debate. Most of us learned this in high school. This is basically the same way that you would write a letter to an editor, or even to your elected representatives.
First, make a simple opening statement clearly identifying the position that you are taking. You might want to avoid using "I think", or "I feel", because these both give the impression that you are arguing merely an opinion. If you think "XXX", then simply say "XXX". An example of this would be saying, for example, "Gun control benefits criminals", instead of prefacing it with, "I think...". Your opening position should be clearly and strongly stated. You should not weaken your position by identifying it as merely your own personal opinion.
You then want to add facts to support your statement. Do not invent facts ("Guns alone kill thirteen million children under the age of three every day in the Indiana public schools," for example...). Research your facts, and be able to back them up. "Bob said..." is not research, and it backs up nothing. If you are not sure of a fact, find out, or don't use it to support your position. Have sources and be prepared to have your facts questioned and challenged.
Three is a good number of supporting facts for brief debates, arguments, and letters to the editor, congress, etc. Each supporting fact may be questioned or challenged, and if even one does not hold water, then your entire argument is seen to be weak. If you can only locate one or two arguments, then use them. (If you can't find more than one or two supporting facts, maybe you should debate about something else...). Most importantly, do not invent facts ("Now that the assault weapons ban has ended, every criminal will be mailed a free machine gun to murder babies with," for example...). This makes us all look bad.
Lastly, make a closing statement that summarizes, re-states, and further clarifies your position. Avoid insulting the other side, and avoid appearing too arrogant. You've made your argument, and it should be a good one, so there is no need to alienate or offend anyone needlessly. You are not going to convince everyone with your argument, so don't be upset. Keep trying, and keep writing. Stay calm. If you are sure of the correctness of your position, then you should always be looking for supporting facts, and you should always be prepared to argue your case.
So, here is the simple guide. It's a good idea to make each one a separate paragraph.
Opening statement, giving your position.
Supporting fact 1.
Supporting fact 2.
supporting fact 3.
Conclusion/summation.
Why is this on a Militia web site? Because a good argument is also an important tool for defending Liberty, and because being able to fight with your wits is just as important as being able to shoot straight.
-Lee
A metal spoon. Bring a metal spoon when you train. Not a plastic spoon, they melt.
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Do not use a totally waterproof ground cover. This will trap moisture and you will get wet and cold and sad. Add a wool blanket or sleeping pad (both would be better) under your sleeping bag and on top of your ground cover.
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Plastic canteens are okay, but we need a way to keep them from freezing. If you can get a metal canteen for the winter, please do so. Do not ever set any kind of plastic canteen anywhere near a fire. (This sounds like common sense, but we have seen people set them just somewhere in the general vicinity of a fire. Yes, they melted. Also, they can freeze and crack open.) We have thought about keeping some kind of "toe warmer" in the canteen pouch. This will really be nice if you have a metal canteen. Keeping a small flask of water in your pocket, using your body heat to keep it liquid, will be nice for emergency water...
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A few strips of white cloth tied into your rag-top helmet camo cover makes a nice winter camo piece. The same is true with your other gear. Medical tape and old (clean) socks can help too. Make sure that your camo does not interfere with the action on your rifle.
*****Sun, 2 June 2002 21:39:08 prepare to receive snippets*****
Practice. Practice. Practice. My first time to Tax Blast
2002 was my first time doing the 5 pin, in more then 30 seconds. This weekend at training
I did the 5 pin in under 8!! Why? Practice. Practice. Practice.
-LW (Scoobie)
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Camo: new to me but I see it's important. Face paint, head gear, and a barrel shroud for
your rifle.Mandatory? Should be. Fun? You bet!!! Paint my face. please!
-LW (Scoobie)
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The new PA-63 Makarovs that several of us brought to training seemed to please everyone.
At half the cost (or less) of the Bersa Thunder .380, they are a good deal, too. Come to
training and shoot mine...
-Lee
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We are finding out more and more, through training and practice (it's what we do), that
three-person fire teams are very effective. It is easier to maintain eye-to-eye contact,
and hand and arm signals are more easily passed along and confirmed. We will be working
along these lines at every training.
-Lee
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FJ, the Chuckwagon himself, has advised us that a lot of local (Southeast Michigan) SWAT
and other such outfits are gradually replacing their sub guns with some kind of .223, like
the Colt M4. It seems with the new frangible, plastic tipped type ammo, they are less
worried about over-penetration. Hey, if it works for them......
-Lee
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Public meeting at The Beehive this coming Wednesday, June 5th. Details at web site or
e-mail lee245@juno.com for info.
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Bolt-action day coming up at Camp Stasa on June 15th. If you don't have a bolt-action or
lever action rifle, you can A. Buy one for 50 bucks or so before then, or B. Come anyway
and shoot one of ours. If it works out, we might break down into Team Mauser, Team
Enfield, and Team Mosin-Nagant.This should be fun. If you want to come and qualify Level
One, you can bring whatever rifle you wish. Just come out...
-Lee
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Just read somewhere today that Ivory Soap can be used as catfish bait....don't know if you
can ever use this info, but if true, it's kind of neat...
-Lee
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Since we can't afford to buy large quantities of expensive battle-dressings, the likes of
which we may need in the event of another terrorist attack or other disaster, we should
keep in mind that diapers and feminine napkins will do in a pinch. Also not a bad idea to
keep a handful of respirators/masks in your ride, as some disasters tend to produce lots
of soot and dust. Keep extras to help out your fellow citizens....
-Lee
*****Sun, 2 June 2002 21:39:18 end of message*****
*****Sun, 26 May 2002 17:26:22 prepare to receive snippets*****
Congratulations are in order for young Calvin McCarter, of
Jenison, MI, for his first-place finish in the National Geography Bee. Calvin McCarter, by
the way, is home schooled. -Lee
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20020523-16883760.htm
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Big time kudos to Macomb County MMCW, for their recent foray into the
"Adopt-A-Highway" program. Several other units should also be commended for
their similar efforts. However, MMCW Macomb County has adopted the section of I94 right in
front of Selfridge ANG base- a section which was formerly tended to by The Michigan
National Guard. Yes, this is a clear-cut case of The Militia stepping in and covering for
our National Guard....Great job, Mike, Tom, and the rest of MMCW Macomb County!
http://www.michiganmilitia.com/mmcwmacomb/mmcwmacomb.htm
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Yes, Virginia, there is a difference. Try several brands of ammo from a good, stable
position. Chances are that one of these brands tends to hold a tighter group than the
others. This is the ammo that you weapon wants. Be good to your guns, and keep them fed
with their favorite ammunition. An example of this would be when I finally ran out of
Malaysian .223, and switched over to PMP South African ammo. The PMP shot much lower than
the Malaysian, but it also shot about the tightest group that I have ever done at 100
yards. Now, my next bulk purchase of .223 will be PMP. Please avoid mixing brands and
types of ammo in your magazines. -Lee
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Don't leave your rifle zipped up in its case after training, especially if there was any
wetness involved. Most gun cases will trap moisture, and this may cause rust. At the very
least, take them out, wipe them down, and fondle them with a light coat of oil. (Did I say
"fondle"?.....) -Lee
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If you are interested, the excellent UPN50/TV62 report on The Michigan Militia has been
posted here: http://www.michiganmilitia.com/wcm/multimedia/multimedia.htm
on the MichiganMilitia.com Wayne County Militia MULTIMEDIA page. (Thanks to Lou and his
peeps for the conversions, and the pics...) There are other nifty things there, as well.
Walt and Frank continue to do an outstanding job with the MichiganMilitia.com page, as
does everyone else who contributes articles, reports, reviews, information and pictures.
We always consider the page to be an ongoing, work-in-progress sort of thing, and we are
happy to hear your comments. -Lee
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Should be doing a very thorough and extensive test of the new PA-63 9x18 Hungarian
Makarovs next time out, as several of us now have them. (Note to Rude Guy: we will now
stop molesting your PA-63....you should get a commission from FEG or something.....)
-Lee
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There will be a regularly scheduled training at Camp Stasa this coming Saturday, June 1st.
We would like to move the official Level One time up to 11:00 AM, which will still leave
an hour for sighting in and pistol practice. Also, please bring your bandanas, veils, or
other face covering. I hope to see you there. -Lee
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"The strength of the Constitution lies
entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen
feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights
secure."
-- Albert Einstein (1875-1955), German-born American
theoretical physicist, theories of relativity, philosopher
More great quotes can be found at http://www.quoteworld.org
*****Sun, 26 May 2002 17:27:22 end of
message*****
*****Sun, 19 May 2002 14:56:20 prepare to receive snippets*****
Found a small thing that can be done to help our cause,
which after all, is freedom, right? I took a friend to the range and let him fire about
250 rds of 9mm and 100 rds of .45 ACP.I did this at no charge to him. He never had shot a
weapon before and had no real "pro-gun" or "anti-gun" thoughts, but
now he is very "pro-gun" after the range safety officer and I told him a few
facts about gun laws and the Constitution and showed him the just plain ole fun of target
shooting. Will he buy a gun? Maybe. Will he join the ECEF
(http://michiganmilitia.com/ecef/ecef.htm)? Hopefully. Is it worth spreading the word and
a little free ammo around? Absolutely!!! -Scooby
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Something else you can learn by coming to training (that you probably would never find out
anywhere else) is that most helmets won't work when you are trying to shoot a scoped rifle
from the prone position, at least with a flak vest on. The East German VOPO/conehead
helmet is one that will let you see what you're doing. - D.C.
http://michiganmilitia.com/wcm_field_report_archives/feb2002/denis_sepia.jpg
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One of the simplest, and most important things that we can do to increase our readiness
posture, is to get in better shape. If you can't get out and run, then get out and walk.
Many of us have stairs at work that we should be able to walk or jog up and down, and that
can help get you in better shape rather quickly. As Walter said, fitness is one of those
things that you can't buy if you don't have enough. Start today, start slowly and work
your way up, walk if you have to. Regardless of our shape or age, we can always get
better. -Lee
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Replacing the laces in your boots with 550 cord or para cord could help you avoid snapping
your laces when you cinch them down really tight. I doubt if many of us would be capable
of snapping 550 cord, but I have been known to snap my store-bought boot laces with
regularity. I hate when that happens.... -Lee
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US Army Field Manual 7-8 Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad
This is an excellent view of what we might envision militia operations to be. These are
small squad and platoon sized operations, which might be as big as we would ever want to
operate. If you can't connect to this on the Internet, then try to find a copy of FM 7-8
at the next gun show. If anybody can secure a source of these, let us know
(lee245@juno.com). They are large, and expensive to copy, but worth having for all unit
leaders (you are all potential unit leaders, so get this info and study it while you have
the time).
FM 7-8: http://155.217.58.58/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/7-8/toc.htm
Especially Chapters 2 and 3.
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We are still working on getting more copies of the recent UPN50 report, but we will
probably add on some more training footage, so it may still be a week or more before we
can start sending them to you. So far, a handful of people have requested copies of this.
Make sure we have an actual mailing address to send them to. Thanks. -Lee
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At least 50% of Michigan's land area is wooded acreage. This fact is important because it
reinforces the utility of woodland camo and other similar patterns, AND it reinforces the
utility of training in a
wooded environment. -Lee
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If you have some useful or encouraging items to add to these snippets, forward them to lee245@juno.com.
*****Sun, 19 May 2002 14:57:20 end of message*****
*****Sun, 12 May 2002 12:28:28 prepare to
receive snippets*****
Never never never overlook the importance of maintaining your present gear and assuring
yourself and fellow militia persons that your gear is ship shape. If you don't train you
don't know your radio will fall out of its pouch when you hit the ground or your sidearm
isn't in a good spot and falls out when running. Lessons learned that will be corrected
today. -Scooby
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More on the .223 expanding projectiles:
American Rifleman of May 2001, In the article : Tools Of The Police Marksman, In a nut
shell there is a section called : Why the 223 Rem, They state : in the past the 223 was
shunned because of over-penetration and unpredictability BUT with the new expanding
projectiles are completely effective and relatively safe : there is almost no
over-penetration and even if the intended target is missed and hit a hard object such as
glass asphalt metal etc. they have relatively little ricochet potential as they fragment
into tiny particles and thereby lose their energy. They compare the muzzle velocity of
3200 fps from a 20" AR or 2900 fps from a 16" AR-Carbine to a sub gun with a
muzzle velocity of 1100 to 1300 fps, and the higher muzzle velocity being the better tool
. They didn't exactly mention the way they vaporize flesh, any survivors count on having a
real pissed off surgeon at the ER, what a mess, no doubt. I wonder if someone got shot in
the eye with one , if their brain would hydro out their eye sockets and ears, ya think?
We should make a fake wall out of plywood and drywall and set up a secondary bullet
trap , wet-newspaper or something and check for penetration to a secondary target after
going thru a house wall. -Cabbage
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Two things that you need to check the date on: Your chem-lights (light sticks) and any
smoke grenades you may have. The chem-lights will not function much beyond the expiration
date at all, and we have seen a handful of smoke grenades that totally fizzled out. It
looks like these are not things that we are able to stockpile. It's better to find out
that they have expired at a training exercise, than to rely on them in a real life
situation, and have them fail. -Lee
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Included in the training schedules for Wayne and Macomb Counties are two special training
sessions, a bolt-action only day on June 15th, and a shotgun drill day on September 7th.
These are weapons that a lot of us have, but some of us rarely practice with. For info on
the bolt action day, e-mail Mike at wilks40acp@juno.com , and for info on shotgun day,
e-mail Lee at lee245@juno.com , (the shotgun day will be headed up by someone else, but I
will forward your comments to this person). Both of these will be at Camp Stasa, and they
both should be a good time. -Lee
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The UPN50 story on the resurgent Michigan Militia and anti-terrorist training was
surprisingly positive. It seems to have generated more interest, and that is always a good
thing. If you didn't get to see this, and really want to, contact me (lee245@juno.com)and
we will try to get you a copy. We should thank Suraya and Paul for the good work on this
story. Macomb Commander Mike Wilks was an excellent spokesman, as always. -Lee
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Yes, there is a new unit in Eaton County. Visit http://www.michiganmilitia.com to read
about them, and maybe offer them some words of encouragement . -Lee
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We have been asked, "How do I get involved with the militia?" Pick up a rifle
and come train. If you are so good that you don't need to train, then for God's sakes,
come out and train the rest of us! You don't need to spend a whole lot of money on guns
and gear, and we don't do any DNA
testing or anything like that. If you don't have a rifle, show up at training anyway, and
we will issue you one for the training session. We're cool like that. -Lee
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I haven't seen enough of the bush-style rag top helmets with burlap and other camo tied
on. You can get a second helmet for this if you want, but it is a simple, fast, effective
way to increase your camo by a great deal. Breaking up the head, neck, and shoulder
outline with a rag top
helmet could increase your survivability, and that of your team as well.
-Lee
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If you have a little thing or two to include in these snippets, send it to lee245@juno.com
, and I will try to throw it in. I hope to have something to send out each Sunday.
Training this coming weekend at Camp Stasa. Bring pruning shears if you have them.
Training officially starts at noon, but 10 am arrivals are encouraged for sighting in and
pistol practice (those bowling pins will not fall down by themselves, you know...). Hope
to see you all there. -Lee
*****Sun, 12 May 2002 12:29:28 end of message *****
*****Sun, 5 May 2002 18:25:47 prepare to receive snippets*****
Q: What do we do when the people realize the validity and
necessity of the militia? Where will these teeming droves of now-enlightened people get
weapons and gear?
A: Well, since we don't have the funding or facilities to stockpile weaponry to dole out
to the teeming masses as a militia unit, we hope that each person, as they come along in
their militianess, will begin to accrue extra gear and weaponry to arm at least one or two
of their fellow citizens. As you change or upgrade your gear, keep your old stuff laying
around in case Uncle Vince one day sees that we were right all along. That way (assuming
some dreadful point in the future when guns are not available, or the Rude Guy has
purchased them all), you can at least arm one more person. Over time, each of us can
accumulate enough stuff to arm and equip a fire team sized element (between three and five
persons). Old military surplus bolt-action rifles are great to keep in mind for this
reason. It's up to us, folks, each and every one of us...
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Militia Term: "Gearvana": The state or condition of a militia person who has
finally decided that his/her gear does not require any further upgrades. This stage is
very difficult to reach, and some persons will never experience "gearvana".
Militia persons must be warned against feeling a false sense of "gearvana", and
are advised to look at the latest "Cheaper Than Dirt" catalog one more time.....
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Was thrilled to see the high percentage of AR15s at the latest (May 4th) Camp Stasa
training. Easily could have fielded a fire team or two with ARs, and maybe a few other
rifles chambered in 223 as well. Would this piss Fred off? I think so, but there was a
Holy M1 also at the range that day, so maybe we will be forgiven. It would be nice to see
us all go to the same caliber, and that would make the .223 the round of choice right now.
I'm not telling anybody what they should buy, but it was lovely to see all those AR folks
out there...
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It looks like the PA-63 factory might want to kick into high gear, as I almost don't know
anybody who is not going to be getting one. Nifty little guns in 9x18 Makarov round, they
only run around $100 or so. I also know a couple of folks who have picked up the somewhat
more expensive Bersa Thunder .380 recently. These seem to be lovely little guns as well,
chambered in the 9x17 .380, although I don't know if any .380 should be named
"Thunder". (Full 9mm is 9x19).
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The Cabbage Guy had some wonderful plastic-tipped varmint rounds for his .223 bolt-action.
These might be considered for home defense, as they transfer their energy into the target,
and are much less likely to over penetrate, and kill Cousin Jeb next door. They would be
great on woodchucks, too.....Be nice to hear more about these from him.........
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*****Sun, 5 May 2002 18:26:47 end of
message *****
| since 06-02-02 |
