Partisan Logistics: Force Preparation, by Rob

The Boer community on the Eastern Cape Frontier of the late 18th century imposed an obligation on all males within a given district to attend for service mounted on their own horses and carrying their own weapons, ammunition, and supplies. This was not formally implemented into law by the South African Republic until 1898. The estimates I have seen for this force’s provisional load ranged from 7 days to 2 weeks and consisted of dried and “tinned” food(canned).

Previously a simple doctrine for thinking about partisan logistics was outlined:  force structure availability, hypothetical mission and purpose, and a clear understanding of the community industrial capacity available to the partisan. These three concepts start the partisan group down the road to sustaining their activities.

“Everything ultimately degrades to a man portable system”. I don’t remember where I heard this simple phrase but it has continued to interject itself into every logistics situation I encounter. Whether your partisan group intends to follow a light infantry model or feels it can replicate a motorized rifle unit utilizing current model trucks, everything you do will ultimately end up focusing on the individual partisan who has to eat, sleep, and conduct activities.  We can examine other platform requirements at another time but we are going to start with the individual partisan because he or she is what drives this movement.

The partisan leader initially should have determined who, how many, and what the force brought with them on their backs and in their hands. This is the “man portable” part. This data set allows the leader to begin estimating how long the assembled force can perform activities, and in what environments, without stopping to provide for their individual needs. This data set can paint a clear picture of the force structure and equipment available with the performance of a layout.

Here is one area where “Big” military techniques work. The partisan group needs to set aside a layout area and format for a leader and partisan to conduct the layout. This does not necessitate an operations order or a Standard Operating Procedure. All that is needed is a specific place where gear can be spread out without interfering with or being interfered by other partisan activities and an outline of how to examine the partisan’s equipment. The layout should be a simple diagram for the partisan to follow so they don’t forget anything. The diagram should reflect an outline being used by the inspector, with every category backed up with questions and reminders prompting the inspector to check specific items.   It is one thing to see a rifle or a pack but was the weapon inspected for serviceability, function checked, cross checked against any equipment brought with it (does the ammo match the caliber, do the magazines fit) to ensure compatibility. Does the pack fit the individual who owns it. Remember, the partisan leader gets volunteers and can’t expect volunteers to arrive fresh from the supply depot with relatively well sized gear of reasonable quality.

The layout should identify items of prime importance to the partisan leader. A serviceable weapon, foot wear, useable clothing items, load carrying equipment, sustainment gear(water bottle, poncho, night vision,etc) and in that order. Availability and serviceability of those items determines useability of the arriving partisan. The amount and quality of equipment needs to be juxtaposed against the quality of training and experience inherent in the volunteer and their fitness level. The partisan leader needs to determine how the identified assets and liabilities are dealt with within the group. How this happens needs to be covered by other trainers and in other formats. The only thing needed at this point is to identify the asset or liability and an estimate of the skill of the partisan bringing them.

Determination of experience and skill are handled in other formats better suited to the topic. In this context the inspector observes and notes the interaction with the volunteer and passes it on to the partisan leader. What is the equipment condition, is it worn from use but well maintained. Is it fresh from the package, or straight from the surplus store shelf? Is the volunteer familiar with the gear, can they manipulate all the attachments, do they know their way around their own layout? Can the volunteer perform and or show you how to perform all the procedures you ask to see regarding the equipment’s use? Without becoming a training manual these can all be observed and noted, passed on to the partisan leader for acknowledgement.

Once the layout is conducted and the volunteer is fit into the force structure, where appropriate, attention needs to be placed on mission parameters. Again not from a training perspective perspective but from a “this is what I have right now” view. The leader makes the determination concerning what the force can and cannot do based on their skill and equipment in addition to any time factors. When the determination is made planning can begin to meet the individual’s sustainment requirements.

Begin with the expected / assumed mission timeline and purpose. This will determine what is needed and how much of that requirement needs to be found and made available if any. If the force is comprised of three partisans whose job is stay hidden and watch a road for a week, there won’t be a large requirement for ammo. There may be a larger requirement for sustainment items like batteries , water purification supplies, and ready to eat calories so that the unit can stay in place undetected.

The force’s load carrying capability needs to be identified. Both how much and how. Here begins the separation of good sustainers from box throwers. A box thrower will throw everything in a bag for the partisan to completely reconfigure and pack. A competent sustainer will know what the partisan’s requirement is and how they are transporting it. Let me use a US Army example to make this clear. The US Army provides MREs to troops in large tan pouches, 12 to a case. They are loaded with many items Soldiers don’t eat, need, or want to carry. Those Soldiers spend time repacking and reconfiguring each and every meal to suit their needs. The 1st Strike ration solved some of this by reducing the auxillary items and tightening up the packaging.

This is where the partisan sustainer can speed up the process, reduce the work load of the partisan, manage inventory, and reduce total supply demands by the force. The partisan sustainer needs to determine what the calorie requirement is by meal and how they will meet that? The specifics of that activity are another topic, suffice to say once that is done how many units will that be divided into? Here the unit leader needs to be consulted. Main meals might be better utilized if put into one package and small meal items (energy bars, trail mixes, jerky) packed so as to be more easily accessible in small compartments. The intent here is not to treat the partisan like some elite special forces super star but to ensure control over the limited resources coming into the operation, ensuring portion control to maximize available food stuffs, and reducing the overall demand for material (packaging) that might signify your presence.

The operational environment will dictate how some of the requirements are met. Water purification may be met with filtration/purification devices in warmer weather but may need to shift to chemical during colder weather to alleviate equipment breakages. Warming or insulative material may need to be added to loads to assist the individual partisan. This does not include individual items like shirts or socks but common use items such as additional flameless ration heaters or butane cannisters, additional batteries, cold weather specific lubricants for weapons

Preparation for the operation is complete and sustainment items are packaged and in useable configurations. The entire package should be handed off to a designated group leader who ensures all sustainment requirements are met. A check-off with a group representative also ensures previous lessons learned were implemented and any variations from SOP’S were met.

In large military operations the inventories and hand receipts may already have been completed but in this case the designated sustainment representative will need to tally what was used and subtract that from what is available for the group. This needs to be made available to the group leader as soon as possible, preferably as soon as the load is configured, delivered, and accepted. This ensures the partisan leader can plan future operations around what supplies are available and estimate when more supplies need to be retrieved. As simplistic as this sounds remember this is a partisan activity. Stopping by the local China-mart may not be an option. Subsequent operations may need to acquire additional supplies and those operations may take weeks or months to accomplish.

In this article we covered making an assessment of the forces available to the partisan unit and its leader. Using that assessment to determine what is possible for the partisan force and what needs to be corrected. In addition we discussed the beginnings of how to allot supplies for partisan activities and some of the reasons for such prescriptions. And finally we touched on a vitally important act, showing the partisan leader what they have left to plan against. Each of these topics can easily fill a field manual but for now the purpose is to ensure the modern partisan begins thinking differently about sustaining operations, moving away from just mimicking large military or paramilitary organizations.

 

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About the Author: Patriotman

Patriotman currently ekes out a survivalist lifestyle in a suburban northeastern state as best as he can. He has varied experience in political science, public policy, biological sciences, and higher education. Proudly Catholic and an Eagle Scout, he has no military experience and thus offers a relatable perspective for the average suburban prepper who is preparing for troubled times on the horizon with less than ideal teams and in less than ideal locations. Brushbeater Store Page: http://bit.ly/BrushbeaterStore

One Comment

  1. FJB February 5, 2023 at 10:02

    The IRA operated successfully understanding that for every person in the field there needed to be at least 3 people supporting him (I think I remember seeing some putting that number as high as 6). Fighters are only as good as their supply lines and in partisan operations, there is no “regular” supply system in place. Many people are needed to support any type of kinetic operation.
    Learn your community, neighborhood, locality well.
    Prepare accordingly and stay safe.

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