Survival 4: What Is An Area Study and Why You Need To Do An Area Study Now.
We’re besieged by advice, information and equipment to help us prepare and survive. How do you sort through it all? What is the most efficient way to focus your time and money?
When my Special Forces A-Team received a mission packet while in Isolation, the first thing we did was an Area Study. We had to understand where we were going and how that impacted the mission.
The Area Study focuses your preparation efforts and saves time & money. An Area Study will not only help you prepare, it will also make you much more aware of your situation and improve your quality of life. It assesses your own, and your team’s, assets and liabilities. It can be useful not only in preparation, but in choosing where to live. I’m currently planning on moving this year and am evaluating various locales using an Area Study.
Everyone’s situation is different. We’re different individuals. We have varying households/situations. We live in unique places with differing climate, terrain, and potential natural and man-made disasters. Thus, before we begin to ‘prepare’, we must know what we’re working with and what specifically we’re preparing for.
This planning is what makes Special Forces elite.
What is the process?
Evaluate yourself and your team/family: What special skills and background do you have? The people on your team? The key is to know what you can and can’t do, and what those around you can and can’t do. These skills include medical, military, gardening, hunting, survival training and experience, pilot, boat operation, camping, weapons, cooking, land navigation, swimming, communication, construction, problem solving, fire starting, knot tying, the list goes on and on. It also includes the physical condition of yourself and your team members.
Once this is done, you can see how we all begin to take different paths down the preparation path.
Then move outward. Look at your Area of Operations, examining climate and terrain, then potential natural and man-made disasters. Examine preparation in terms of a grab-n-go bag based on what you now know, bugging out, and finally notes on scavenging and sustainment.
How close are you to the nearest military base? Nearest police station? Firehouse? Hospital? Do you know where the closest emergency room is? How long it will take to get there? Could you drive the route in the dark? How quickly can an ambulance respond to your location? We often don’t think of the last one until we experience an emergency.
You live in a tsunami zone. Have you actually driven your evacuation route? How long does it take? Have you figured out the quickest escape route on foot. You work on the 40th floor of a skyscraper. Do you ever look around and ask yourself: how do I get out of here if the normal means of egress are blocked? While schools run active shooter drills, what about the workplace? How prepared are you for an extended blackout? One scenario I’ve run for a client is the catastrophe that would occur if Phoenix experienced an extended wide-spread blackout during the height of summer. How would you prepare for that?
It’s too late once it happens.
Where is your closest source of potable water if your drinking supply is contaminated? This often occurs during natural disasters especially floods. Are you prepared to a base level with emergency, drinkable water?
You want to examine your environment for many things. What can harm you? What can help you? What can hide you? What are your enabling factors? What are your disabling factors? What is the terrain and how can it help you or hamper you in movement? What are the roads, trails, rail lines, tunnels, etc. What effect does your environment have on you? What are choke points, particularly river crossings, bridges and tunnels?
I grew up in New York City before I went into the military. I’ve had clients who wanted me to help them figure out how to safely evacuate the city in the event of a large disaster. Given that four of the five boroughs are islands, it’s a daunting task. But once you dive in with an Area Study, you start to learn things other don’t know. There is a 41-mile tunnel through which you can walk from mid-town Manhattan to north of the city that few are aware of. The city actually has over 10,000 miles of tunnels and no one knows all of them. While vehicle bridges and tunnels will be choked with traffic, rail lines offer bridge and tunnel options most won’t think of. And, of course, there is always air or water evacuation options to consider.
80% of natural disasters also include flooding. Do you live in a flood zone? Would you be cut off if your area floods? Note that there are many areas that were not in flood zones just a few years ago, that are now included. A new map as of 2020 includes 6 million more homes than previously mapped. Our house on top of a ridge line in Boulder, Colorado flooded during an extreme rain event and the rocky ground couldn’t absorb the downpour.
There are also man-made disasters. Here is a partial list: Car accident, boat/ferry accident, train/subway accident, tall building evacuation, fire, power outage, burglary, robbery, carjacking, civil unrests/riots, terrorist attack, active shooter, nuclear power plant accident, nuclear weapons, biological weapons and infectious diseases, chemical weapons/accident, industrial accident. Prepare in order of likelihood.
What industries are in your area? Are your power lines buried? What are you downwind, downstream of? What toxic materials and/or gases would be emitted if there was an accident? Is there a rail line or waterway near you? What is transported on those trains/barges? Where is the closest nuclear power plant and/or storage area? Are there labs in your area that work with dangerous biological agents? What about the local university? Does it have a Level 4 lab?
This is just the beginning. But by answering these questions you will begin to frame the priority of preparation. This will determine your plans and what supplies and equipment you need. Of course, there are baseline survival supplies every household should have, such as water, first aid kit, emergency radio, etc. but beyond that, an Area Study will give focus.
An Area Study isn’t just for disasters. It can lifesaving in day-to-day living. As a key example: Does your family have an IRP? An ERP? A BOHS: An Immediate Rally Point is where everyone will assemble if they have to rapidly evacuate the house, such as a fire. An Emergency Rally Point is where everyone will assemble if the home or IRP isn’t viable and everyone is coming from different places such as work and school. You also should designate an ERP any time you go to a crowded venue such as a sporting event or concert. Where you will meet up if separated.
The Bug Out Hide Site is where you will evacuate to in case of extreme disaster. It’s also where you’ll probably put in a basic survival cache to be recovered.
A key to all this is getting everyone in your family/team involved. Doing an Area Study can be a fun exercise by parceling out portions to different members and having them ‘briefback’ their results to the other. On top of that, you want to do some rehearsals, primarily all going to the IRP, ERP, BOHS and doing a recon of your area of operations and key routes.
The IRP, ERP and BOHS is a great place to begin. Start now to get focus.
Because it’s too late once you’re in a disaster.
(Note that there is now a workbook that walks you through doing an Area Study and has a completed example: The Green Beret Area Study Workbook: How To Save Time and Money By Focusing Your Preparation)
This is excerpted from: The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide
You can follow me here https://bob-mayer.medium.com/subscribe You can subscribe to Medium (well worth it for the articles you can access) here: https://bob-mayer.medium.com/membership You can sign up for my email list for occasional free books and survival advice here: http://goo.gl/XnSgtB
