Mutual Assistance Groups: Vetting New Members, by Crusoe
It does not matter which survivalist forum you are on there is always a thread about vetting new members and how not to become infiltrated. The recruitment and vetting of new members are a necessity as your grow your new group and it is imperative to try and get it right the first time. Infiltration is always a concern and is something to watch out for, but for most groups this really is not an issue. Unless you are doing something illegal or are planning on some sort of direct action the government and local law enforcement are not something worth spending a lot of time worrying about. Time is better spent finding the right people with the right skills that will fit in with the mission and purpose of your MAG.
As you write your charter it is time well spent thinking about who it is you are looking for. I am a proponent of professionalizing your group to make that an easier task. There are plenty of squared away people in your local community that are looking for something other than Bubba’s Militia and want to join up with like-minded folks to prepare for what is around the corner. Take your time…there is no hurry.
Our group takes a holistic approach when vetting new members. There is a list of no-go items that are non-negotiable, and we also look at their family dynamics. As an example, we may find the perfect candidate, but their spouse is bat shit crazy and will cause significant problems down the road. In this case we would probably make a hard pass and move on.
It is also worth looking at their personality and how well would they mesh with your group. Any person on this forum that has been in the military or part of a team knows that one bad apple, regardless of skills, will rapidly wreck the dynamics you are trying to achieve. If they are a jerk, then considerable thinking needs to be done before you let them join the team.
Here is how we recruit new members as part of our charter.
- Recruiting/Vetting: All potential recruits will be sponsored by at least one member from the original members. The recruit will be interviewed off location before being invited to participate in open training. The sponsor is responsible for the overall conduct, initial indoctrination, and training of the recruit. There will be a minimum of 6 months of active recruit involvement before the member is put to a vote for admission. Voting must be unanimous for entry. If at any time it is determined that the potential recruit is unfit or just does not fit in with the mission and dynamics of the group their application will be terminated and asked to move on.
- The Group must access the recruit’s:
- Politics-Must be Conservative
- Mental stability- No obvious mental illness
- Physical Fitness- Physically able to train
- Skillsets- Desired skillsets for the group (gunsmith, medical, veterinarian, etc.)
- Family dynamics- Ability to train and immediate family is not going to be an issue
- Ability to participate- Active involvement and consistently at all training events
- Criminal background (felon, sex offender, drug/alcohol addictions, etc.)
- Financial Status- Ability to meet the gear/training requirements within the allotted time
- Medical Status- No significant medical issues that would cause a strain on the group
Crusoe is retired from the Air Force after 30-years of service as a flight crew member. He spends most of his time thinking about the apocalypse and how to mitigate its effects. When not immersed in academic pursuits, he is often on a trail hiking in the mountains of North Georgia or reading with a glass of Irish whiskey and a German Shepherd by his side. Global travel enthusiast, history nerd, Appalachian Trail thru hiker, and recovering ultra-endurance athlete. He can be reached at [email protected]
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In a perfect world, lots of time and a wide pool to draw from makes for the dream team Mutual Assistance Group.
Where I live, that pool is small and it is static. A few neighbors I know are on board, others probably nudged towards it should their situation look like it could deteriorate. Time? Plenty of it until suddenly yer out of it.
Will have to work with what’s at hand, improvising and compromising as facts on the ground dictate.
Most consoling is that everybody else will likely be in the same shape. Ideals the exception, not the rule.
Jack Lawson’s “Civil Defense Manual” likely the most used reference/guide.
Absolutely. Every single situation is different and will require modifications. In my view the goal of our MAG is to build a common operating picture that can then step out to help others when the time comes. By the nature of this idea the group will start out and remain rather smallish. Jack Lawson’s books are awesome and I just ordered Joe Dolio’s 3 books after listening to the RC episode.
I agree with the list of qualifications with the exception of physically fit. Being an old man myself I can still trot a mile with a pack but feeling my age. I’m feeling my age but as a retired engineer, ham operator, welder fabricator with a full shop of equipment I can bring other benefits to a group. I may not be able to battle with the young ones but I can bring other skills to a MAG.
The list of qualifications is a guideline, your group’s specific purpose can and should incur changes to your vetting requirements.
For sure. You definitely have a ton to offer. Our fitness requirement is purely a guide for assessment. Not a deal breaker. Everyone has something to bring to the table and in a survival type situation overall health and fitness are a definite plus. I too am. I spring chicken, but I work on keeping some level of fitness to be an asset to not only myself but to my team.
One big thing I’ll add is that you must be able and willing to cultivate those skills in others.
Being in the auxilary is as useful as being “tip of the spear”.
Absolutely. All members have value.
your skill sets are invaluable sir
“Politics-Must be Conservative”
I understand the reason for leaning this way and obviously I wouldn’t read this site if I wasn’t asking certain questions about our country but what if someone was a Thomas Jefferson style liberal? Would you accept any constitutionalist regardless of where they are on the political spectrum? What about other posters (or authors) on the board?
Every new member is vetted based on what they bring to the table and how they will fit in. The main reason we added that line in the vetting process was to serve as a future guide for new members. For the most part only like minded folks are going to want to join up with you. I personally can work with most anyone unless they are a progressive socialist or an extremist from either side. Our view of conservatism is a belief in constitutionalism and traditional American values.
Thank you for the clarification. I’d love to hear other authors/trainers (incl NC Scout) chime in on this issue on where they’d draw the lines too or whether everyone is on the same page. “Conservative” doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone, statistically the vast majority of people have been removed from multigenerational farmer landholding and many removed from churchgoing for awhile. I can go for “constitutional” and “keep your politics and religion in your pocket if its not on the same page”/be sure everyone can get along as required by definition and would ask nothing more from others.
The simple fact is that there is an increasing quantity of people who identify as classically left wing who are abandoning at least the democrats for having gone too far and saying “this no longer represents me”, yet they are just as concerned that they will be hated or rejected by those who identify as classically right wing for absolutely arbitrary reasons. Some have been the subject of legitimate abuse or victimization by those who call themself right wing, or who got out of small town america for economic reasons yet believe that they would NEVER be welcomed back. They didn’t leave it because they betrayed some noble lifestyle but because they weren’t welcome where they grew up, had no economic prospects or just didn’t fit in through college age.
Some of them want to now leave the city believe the severity of the threat that seems to be facing this country is bad enough they’re willing to reassess things. Some do bring useful skills I rarely see mention of in preparedness discussion groups so far (including an underawareness of a vast range of effective “rarely seen outside the cities” alternative medicine only because that’s where the market is for something new) but would want in mine, or resources or are willing to get up to speed as rapidly as possible to try and be useful.
I wont rant on, I just wanted to share that many from the left are starting to figure out why this country had a constitution in the first place and what it really means. Some view politics not as a spectrum from left to right, but rather authentic people vs engineered marxist crap or crony capitalism globalism. The left was originally about reform and as long as you don’t view all would-be reformers as your enemy (any more than Martin Luther as a reformer was protesting against things he, i’d say correctly, viewed as wrong with the ‘traditional’ religious power structure of his time. Or the later Martin Luther King for that matter another reformer against what was ‘traditional’) i’m sure they can manage to let go of their bias or forgive past bad experience with “traditional minded” folk.
Great points and solid discussion. I believe that most people are relatively sane and it is the fringe on either side that are getting the most press.
I’d offer this study https://hiddentribes.us/media/qfpekz4g/hidden_tribes_report.pdf and 7 identifiable groups that backs that up completely, although after the riots of 2020 i’m sure things have distorted a bit. The media gives such a completely wrong impression to further divide people. I’m somewhere between politically disengaged and traditional liberal at this point, who is simply aware that the rabies of the mind marxism has run through the left in the same way that the right was corrupted by neoconservatism. I have to ask what people mean by conservatism since for 20 years it’s aligned with people who thought dubya was a good christian and cared about this country instead of a corrupt gangster family pushing the buttons of people that I believe were too trusting of someone who just said the right words in the right way. I saw through him yet nobody on the right would believe me when I tried to warn them, just like people on the left wouldn’t listen to warnings about Biden going into last year but are now finally rapidly figuring it out.
Similarily titled but also relevant https://cpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/sites.uci.edu/dist/1/863/files/2019/10/Clark-et-al-2019.pdf we all have biases and it would serve us to be more conscious and humble about them. Unifying around legally restoring the constitution which has been in-effect degraded for over a hundred years (the federal reserve most obviously, but the enshrining of corporations and effective loss of fully informed jury nullification are two other serious hits from the late 1800’s) is one thing everyone in the middle could agree on. I’m willing to accept both sides have had buttons pushed and misinformation used to control them and just ask that others consider the same, both sides simply get updated propaganda and shifting messages over time. (like the right wing told it’s pro business then big tech takes all your rights away, people on the left tried to warn about that) Those hostile to this country are pushing accelerationism for the same reason during the civil war the brits wanted to see us split, for future divide and conquer. Even if there was a separation of red and blue states now there’s just a way for hostile outsiders to land on the left coast to mass for an invasion.
If America cannot find a way to de-corrupt her systems taken over by generations of racketeering, our natural invasion protection of two huge oceans becomes irrelevant and balkanization is the likely outcome, never to stand up the same way again against international tyranny. Even if there are regional holdouts and unconquerable redoubts they’ll be isolated, trade blockaded and a unified america cant stand against global forces or international marxism. The enemies of this country are staging the right/left divide just like they staged sectarian violence in iraq to stir up internal warfare that runs on autopilot even after they leave, and both sides are falling for the same book of tricks just with different flavors because they both have biases they can’t see from their side. REMEMBER despite all the preparing people are doing here for projectile battle, they didn’t lose a shooting war in 2020, they were taken down by a bunch of computer nerds and journalistic corruption working with intel agencies that no longer believe in the rule of law were supposed to be under. I dont want “the right” to win per se, I would rather think of it as wanting america and constitutionalism to win, meaning all of us city and rural alike, and heal the staged engineered wounds that have had salt poured in by design. Because if it cant I fear for the entire future of the planet and the horrors generations of children will live through in the meanwhile.
One path for america if the cities fall is decades of attrition warfare county by county with drone strikes on farmhouses and a dirty war, another is realizing that the left is now going through it’s own awakening just like Alex Jones had to lead the right through, and at least the sensible left will eventually realize only the constitution can save them from a terrible future. It’s good that Brandon sucks so bad – since nobody here is in leftist circles and the media reports nothing you wouldn’t know that the left is now waking up too and the ‘dumb’ millenials and college age kids are dropping the democrats faster than anyone they just don’t know what to replace it with since they don’t see swinging hard right as viable either. Ridiculing and antagonizing the left doesn’t really help them grow up, i’d argue wanting socialism is arrested development more than mental illness. Just because they are learning late lessons the right was already figuring out mostly thanks to Alex Jones doesn’t mean they are hopeless, theyre the most scientifically propagandized generation in history – see what Bertrand Russell said about producing humans with the unshakeable conviction that snow was black. We just don’t know if there’s enough time left in the country for them to go through their growing up phase. This is just MUCH harder now thanks to big tech censorship and forcing echo chambers on everyone in social media to keep out contradictory messages. The right doesn’t need to DO anything to help the immature left grow up fast, other than to understand what it’s going through and to try to not add to or misrepresent the problem.
NC recently talked about the book The Power Elite being lefty in origin, the US has always had vigorous debate on both sides of the fence but at the end of the day agreed we were on the same team and just trying to better the whole country and avoid extremes. Left wingers fear living under theocracy (which in practice would become one denomination over other denominations, it wouldn’t be a restoration of christian values but rather protestants killing catholics like in ireland, or whatever other fracture line the globalists can hammer away at next just like the marxists hammered at the racial line) just like right wingers fear living under increasing Fabian socialism but the one thing we were all agreeing on up until the 1980’s was we WERE on the same team at the end of the day. Yet even Reagan knowingly or unknowingly contributed to the problem with 5 trillion of debt and starting the influx of illegals as we watched red California turn irreversibly blue, and if anyone still defends Dubya at this point I would be surprised.
So i’ve outed myself as a left leaner who happens to read this site because the AJ-listening right has better news sources most of the time. The question is based on what I just said and tried to reference, whether anyone on this board thinks i’m the kind of left winger that they believe is contributing something to the discussion? (or as NC said recently, what qualifiers do you have? What right to speak? Why should we listen to a damn thing you have to say?) Am I passing the test or failing? Because i’m still more afraid of the rabid marxist left than I am the small town right and i’m not going to mess with unit cohesion, if the Comadante decided that this kind of talk was hurting not helping I would check my shit at the door and keep my opinion to myself and i’m fine with it.
SOLID things too consider.
This has crossed my mind.
Thanks! It isn’t a perfect system but has proven to work for us.
I’ve found the local Jiu Jitsu gym is a place where I’ve met the correct type of personalities. Ymmv.
Great post and very good points. The stuff brought up in the comments are awesome as well.
My problem is the time part. As an RV’er, I get 8 to 24 months in one area and then it’s on to the next area. It is great for having a network of folks but by the time the vetting and relationships are established, See You Later!
We good Patriots are so freaking guarded though that we miss out on allot of opportunities to grow our groups. I teach skills, build hope and trust, and confidence with the little time that I have.
The facilities & training that Mr. Scout shares with us is a Godsend though. I am amazed by the openness to his knowledge and especially his home.
That is definitely a unique challenge but I don’t think it is insurmountable. You have the luxury of potentially being a part of multiple groups that you can reach out to when you are in the area. I agree…Scout and the AP team are extremely generous with their time and knowledge. I am an avid consumer of the AP site and use it as my daily news aggregate.
My only requirement is that they aren’t a Marxist. Everything else can be worked through. I have to say this post rubs me the wrong way. It’s this “vetting” that causes division. Later on if people are “kicked out” for various reasons you now have an enemy with dangerous knowledge. You figure out who’s good and who’s not but you don’t exclude anyone. Sure, you don’t tell them your secrets but you don’t let on you have any either…
That is a solid requirement. I agree that most things can be worked through, but it boils down to how much effort and at what cost. The key to our vetting process is that we are transparent with it. All the cards are on the table and it is up to the individual to say yes or no if they want to join. No divisive agenda. As far as them leaving, that is why information is compartmentalized like it is for any organization. Just my 2 cents. Thank you for reading the article and posting your thoughts. I learn from others and appreciate all the comments.
If your only criteria for letting people into your group is that they’re “not a Marxist,” you’re going to get people who will become problematic. It only takes one obnoxious loudmouth to destroy your serious group and make good people want to leave.
This is the problem with every single “militia” I’ve ever encountered. They want people, not Assets. And that’s why they all end up the same way.
I completely agree re missed opportunities. The approach here by me is the opposite of Crusoe’s. Not saying he’s wrong or flinging poo. He decided what kind of group he wants and looks for the people to populate it. I look at the people on hand and figure what kind of group can form from it. We skip the ideological purity tests and focus on common interests. With the “home” group that is the health and well being of the neighborhood. If you live there you’re in. Similar for the “business” group. Interests mesh if we have small businesses in proximity and helping you makes me stronger. All pull together. And guess what? That “flaming Liberal” down the street is also the electronic genius who is wiring the battery bank (the one he sourced) into my grid-tied solar system. In my mind he can think and believe what he wants. Who voted for who doesn’t matter when community resilience is at stake. Also “Fed Infiltrators” aren’t an issue since we’re not planning anything that would be a problem – who isn’t for building a stronger community? I can elaborate if needed but that’s it around here in a nutshell..
Great comment! Thank you! We all have different ways to skin the proverbial cat. It all boils down to what the purpose and goals are of your group. From your comment you have a different goal and purpose than I do and that is awesome. I don’t think either one of us are right or wrong…just different.
Best comment section on AP I’ve read so far.
Why would anyone want to skin a cat? The cat wouldn’t like it. (With apologies to Robert Heinlein, RIP.)
Lots of meat to chew on in the OP and comments. I would like to add that it’s just as important to know how to vet a MAG you might be thinking of joining or have been invited to join. I’ve wasted valuable time and resources contributing to a few groups that later proved to be practically and tactically useless. I learned the hard way to interview a group while being interviewed myself. Thanks for a great article!
100% right brother. Thanks for reading and commenting!
I am lucky. I live in rural Arkansas and am surrounded by thousands of rednecks with rifles. 97% of my county voted for Trump in 2020. Only real problem is getting these folks, trained, prepared, equipped, and organized. Most I have talked to say, as the expression goes, “I just want to be left alone.” Resolve to be better this new year. Better informed – Better prepared – Better equipped.
Because it is not only a serious practical issue, but it also an indicator of a person’s mindset, I would require at least one year’s worth of food. Without food, nothing will happen, but more important would be their mindset. Mindset is the key to success. One could have enough stuff, yet lack the necessary mindset. Their life style usually tells me everything I need to know. I have found it very difficult to find solid people who are somewhat self sufficient, and who have the necessary mindset. They could have skills, but they gotta meet that basic criteria first. I can not feed them all, and they must be willing to make the sacrifices now to get it done. If so, this indicates they’ve got their priorities straight and will continue to strive to do what ever is needed to git it done. I’ve lived on less than $3K per year, for years, and am better prepared than 99 percent of those with comfortable incomes. If they can not hack it now, will they hack it when it gets tough?
Tunnel Rabbit again you cut to the bone of the situation. A history of Action Vs Words.
Anybody can SAY, Look to what they have DONE.
If your not already prepared with a year PLUS of Food your not realistic. No military survives an empty belly, No FAMILY survives with an empty belly. As Proverbs says avoid Easily Angered people as they are troublesome and likely to be easily compromised by Fed folks.
Proverbs 22 Verse 22. – An angry man stirreth up strife. This is a variation of Proverbs 15:18 and Proverbs 28:25 (which see). A furious man aboundeth in transgression. “A furious man” is a passionate person, who gives way to violent fits of anger (Proverbs 22:24). Such a man both makes enemies by his conduct and falls into manifold excesses of word and action while under the influence of his wrath.
Too easy for Fedbois (OR hidden troublemakers who want to BE BOSS) to manipulate such folks.
ALSO any group should remember INTERNAL OPSEC. Need to Know. Layers of Trust. People must earn my trust, not just parrot some nice words and welcome to the MAG. Does everybody need to know everything. I am automatically suspicious of new folks that are constantly bragging about “Their Stuff” to DRAW OUT our own tendency to show off “Our Toys”.
Such internal OPSEC limits how much damage an ANGRY tossed out soul can do.
Tunnel+Rat Good perspective. I think you living on $3K annually would be a good article in itself!
I have worked metallurgy and examined the work of a late nuclear physicist enough to learn the annihilation of gold unto room temperature superconductor – my point being it would probably take a VERY long time for someone else to even dream of doing that again…. one of my mentors was Jeffrey Benavides, systems design engineer for Reagans’ SDI program working from underground of Chino Lake Naval Weapons R&D first job out of the university after declining a job offer from General Atomics of San Diego due to his fiances’ parents wishes for their daughter to stay close and make grand kids… Jeff worked his whole life developing weapon systems for apache, and other war fighting systems including contributions to CDROM optics, etc.. I believe I am the only one left who knows the how to of that nuclear physicist I mentioned first… Jeff said to me that we could do everything in star wars with room temp superconductor and we made plans to resurface in Los Angeles upon his return form UK on March 16 of 2006 but his wife Francine said he had a clean bill of health upon departure – his last of four trips to UK to contribute to one of their satellite systems for launch – and died upon landing back in these States. Nurses say long high altitude flights may cause blood clotting in the lungs and upon landing these clots can move into the heart causing sudden cardiac arrest. This happens to my associates everytime right on the edge of the needed paradigm shift. Now I see that the bastard jew pegasus backend to pedophilesoft, I mean microsoft, are the shit wits who project their fake shit onto the rest of us. Oh, sorry, off topic. My point being we may be heading for another time before the 1800s, before the 1700s or even before the 1600s until we identify the threat. Thanks.
Crusoe, this is a great series of posts, and best comments so far.
At the risk of repeating others, I would think MAG formation would begin with approaching neighbors and go out from there (parishioners, school parents, coworkers). My assumption is that when the MAG needs to act, it may need to link up immediately, which may be under circumstances where traditional travel methods may be restricted; “sole express”, bicycle, or four legged animal travel is more likely. In those circumstances, mutual support amongst members is dictated by time/distance. Proximity of members and access to land helps.
I haven’t seen any mention of joining the local Sheriffs’ civil defence force by way of volunteer training with first responders like fire departments CPR courses but that would just be a start, there are also the search and rescue volunteers who get all kinds of training. I’m going to open Jack Lawsons’ books for insight into this approach to MAG or CDF volunteer acceptance. Any insights are appreciated. Thanks.
May not always be an option.
Hello North Carolina. I don’t have any felony charges / convictions… I don’t even have a misdemeanor. I keep my jurisdiction in Idaho although I am temporarily residing, not living, in California for a Canadian mining company with a mill site here I’m guarding for now. Let me know what you think when you get a chance. Thanks.