How an Intelligence Analyst Prepares for SHTF

There is a lot of conflict going on in the geopolitical environment. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Forward Observer is one website that does help point out some things to think about should some dark clouds pass near you. It also helps provide some structure in addressing intelligence issues.

How an Intelligence Analyst Prepares for SHTF (1)


Understanding your local environment is important. Here on ATS it is a global community based on the English language and the Internet. The IP address is - 198.15.108.202 -, handy to know if the DNS servers fail. Just put that number in the website address to still get you through the internet. I use an open source password manager KeyPassX to store all log on details and make sure each website has a different password to limit any damage if something does get compromised.

There is a really good, smart, funny and occasionally passionate community of people here. All with amazing ideas, wisdom, experience and a common enemy of ignorance. There are a lot of deep, dark and complicated issues going on around the world and politics has a reputation of being hazardous to ones health. Clinton body count, Bradly Manning and Julian Assange are some examples.

I know the moderators can come across as stone cold killers at times with some threads, overall they run a tight ship looking for respectful and relevant discussion. Not really knowing who you are talking to at times can be a good thing to keep things on topic. After long discussions over many years it is hard to not learn something about someone. A place where ideas can get explored, ripped apart, called out, bashed around, shaped, molded or just alone left for another time does provide a strong and stable foundation for reality.

There are some big challenges coming up with some powerful forces at play. If you can see what is going on it helps avoid getting caught in the middle of it.

At the moment the Russian collusion crowd is first to get it. In the background we have Epstien brewing and attached to parts of the global and mega wealthy community. The pressure is building on Clinton and hard to say how many dominoes that will take out. Things are not looking good for the C_A. With momentum in cleaning this mess up it should put a few other mysteries to rest.

a reply to: kwakakev

Although I am one to always say better be prepared, let's be honest.

If/when the shtf some people will just freak out and not be able to do anything.
It is that fight or flight mechanism. I've seen some videos where people are attacked.
Some of them just sit there and take it, almost unbelievable, it is because they are in shock.
It's the same reason when there is an earthquake, or tornado and people run outside to take photos.


Then there are some that the fight kicks in, those people go nuts and will do anything to survive.
I think the same will happen in a disaster situation.

I know the moderators can come across as stone cold killers at times with some threads, overall they run a tight ship looking for respectful and relevant discussion

My educated guess is that a lot of the mods are former military/police/rescue or that kind background. They have literally been in shtf situations and probably find some of the posts ridiculous or even downright dangerous.

a reply to: JAGStorm

If/when the shtf some people will just freak out and not be able to do anything. It is that fight or flight mechanism. I've seen some videos where people are attacked.

There is another that is more common today than ever before. That is "freeze". As a Forensic Nurse, I come across this response more often than "flight or fight".

I think I see it more often because young people are truly in a state of shock because they have not been prepared mentally or physically for events outside of their normal everyday life.

I believe families with teens and young children will have their chances of survival greatly decreased in a SHTF scenario.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Your right but having a plan and trying to train for it will put you in a better position to deal with the shock in a constructive way allowing you to try and implement the plan.


99% of surviving an imminent collapse (natural or war) is luck with the last bit being training/planning etc.

I think we all sense something is bound to break loose in the somewhat near future. I think the biggest problem will be others that are not prepared, roaming the streets, looking for food. Those people who rely on McDonalds and KFC for their daily meals. It will be tough protecting your supplies 24/7 from that kind of situation, especially if you live in a city.
I am not well prepared for an EMP, but have been considering building a faraday cage for extra inverters and parts. My 4 wheel drive would probably be useless, with all the electronics in it. I am prepared with food, water, fire fighting, and street warfare if needed. We do have land in the mountains, and I have reserve fuel to get there, but Im stuck in the city for now

originally posted by: NightSkyeB4Dawn
a reply to: JAGStorm

If/when the shtf some people will just freak out and not be able to do anything. It is that fight or flight mechanism. I've seen some videos where people are attacked.

There is another that is more common today than ever before. That is "freeze". As a Forensic Nurse, I come across this response more often than "flight or fight".

I think I see it more often because young people are truly in a state of shock because they have not been prepared mentally or physically for events outside of their normal everyday life.

I believe families with teens and young children will have their chances of survival greatly decreased in a SHTF scenario.

I agree with you on the freeze aspect off response to threat. I have seen it. Deer in the headlights time. But of greater concern to me is cognitive dissonance.

Jared Diamond wrote a book called "Collapse" in which he discussed a damn that was about to break. People living downstream were certainly going to be affected by this event. The strange thing was that people who were three miles downstream were really worried, freaked out if you will. People living two miles downstream were worried but not sure what to do other than wait and see. People within site of the dame were going about their daily lives as if nothing was wrong. The whole concept of that damn breaking and a hundred foot high wall of water wiping out their town was so incomprehensible their brains just blocked it out. When something is so frightening that it would affect our ability to function our brain just sort of censors it from our thought process.

I can imagine a time when, for example, all the power goes out. Major urban areas dependent on transported necessities will be the first to fall into ruin. Most food travels an average of 1200 miles to reach our table. When the trucks stop coming - so does the food. Commerce will grind to a halt. In the great depression from Black Tuesday in 1929 to the mid 30's the stock market lost 90% of its value. 35 million Americans lived in a family where no one had a job. The population at the time was roughly 125 million. That means 28% of the population lived in a family with no income. There were no food stamps back then. It was soup lines or starve.

My own survival kits are minimal by most standards but are enough to get me what I need for a while. I have a small stockpile of lp tanks, solar powered battery chargers and a variety of batteries, water filtration, and a few months months worth of dehydrated food packs. We have saved up a few months of prescription drugs we need, and some basic first aid supplies. We have a couple big freezers full of vacuum packed food. My next step is to have an Ng powered generator installed. I am hesitant on that last one since it is a fairly big investment and this is not our forever home. I haven't yet decided if that investment will be fully returned upon sale of the home. More research to do on that one.

I hope its all for nothing and some day I can look back on this and have one hell of a BBQ with all that meat. But, I feel a little better knowing I have a head start.

a reply to: kwakakev

My one piece of advice, one of the most important pieces of advice that seems to be forgotten a lot of the time is don't tell anyone. Not a single person. I know you've been told to share with those you trust or teach others so you can create a community etc. etc. but do not tell anyone. I have a small amount of hidden things in my home, at a local park, hidden in an area that is both hard to reach and dangerous if you don't know how to get it. I haven't told a soul. I do not trust anyone. I have no children, I have an elderly Mother who has enough medicine to take care of if we need it and we also have a collection of survival rations etc. in our house hidden in a back room, we have told no one else.

It isn't because I want others who aren't prepared to learn how to do it but that no matter how much preparation that you do the moment you tell someone you are possibly starting a chance. Example:

You tell your most trusted friend, he nods along then off her goes and he says "Hey did you hear so and so has some food and stuff because he thinks the world might end or something" they both laugh and that person goes off and tells another and another and then the shtf and these two people who were told and those who they have told remember that you have a stock of food and they're coming.

It is a mistake. You, your wife and children, heck I wouldn't even tell my kids (if I had any) I'd just get what they would need so they couldn't let slip.

How a Survivor plans for a SHTF scenario.....regular 4 day fasts and much longer periods eating below normal calories until your body weight has dipped as low as you can go your number one gold coin is your brain and your thinking must be tuned in to function optimally under the expected conditions ASAP....that is step one....and IMHO a lot of those who shall survive beyond 2022 will have already begun this one particular thing and they are already beginning to REBUILD their bodies to put on the extra weight that will be required to survive the initial shock....the overall idea is to practice to be able to shrink and think at the correct time and then at the correct time prepare for the incoming action by getting ready to grow and go....write that down you Ex and Current Military and remember your Moma2 told you what to do .

Weaning your body off of sugar will be an obstacle for many and dropping weight in large volumes or putting it on in large volumes should always be done with the help of Professionals if that can be accommodated.

If you simply do this one thing and then roll the dice with everyone else there is a high % chance you will be far ahead of the Pack no matter what they think they are prepared for.

Don't believe only what people tell you....go out and DO THINGS....and give your brain the confidence and steel it requires to be tempered into the swift sure blade it must become for you to survive a SHTF timeline.For example...go out into the Forest with no food...not with supplies….try to find enough calories to keep yourself alive and while you are doing it remember that there are others so find calories for 2-3 more people to keep your workload and intentions realistic.....learn numerically how many calories you need and then learn to connect that value to the values of the foods YOU WILL HAVE AN EXTREMELY HARD TIME FINDING IN THE FOREST to = your needed intake DAILY.Understand most people will die in that Forest in only days not months.

After you have wimpered out and discovered that 99% of what you have learned is absolute bunk and that surviving in the wild is absolutely difficult dangerous and nearly impossible without a well defined skillset and knowledge....well then you should get the proper legal paperwork done so you can buy a couple of popular models of firearm that hunters and or Military use in your local area....learn how to use those tools and teach your loved ones how as well.....because if you aren't prepared to co-operate and think on your feet to get things done or if that is not negotiable you better be able to shoot your way to the things you need ... yes if you cannot find a safe group it will mean taking things by force from anyone you see....or you and yours will simply perish.

We can all learn ANYTHING...but we need TIME TO DO THAT.....unprepared people need MORE TIME...hence a bigger safety cushion.....hence a lot of stored food and water and some weapons to go get more when you need to.

To top all of this off everything as we know is LOCTION LOCATION LOCTION.....so if you are learned enough to prepare for the right catastrophes at the right times and have the right locations picked out for each of them allowing yourself to be on the move if need be.Well maybe we will cross paths and share water one day!



Everyone prepares for different things....this is what I prepare for … I was gifted the data to learn about it from Non-Terrestrial Human friends who have already taken many DNA samples of life so they may replace it exactly as it was pre-event and I call it a Vlar Global Continental Displacement Wave event…. this is what the old stories say and what was originally in the bible quoran vedic texts and ALL RELIGOUS DOCTRINAL WRITINGS ...…. www.youtube.com... .... for what good olde Gill Broussard calls Planet 7X... www.youtube.com...

I am not religious nor were the People who gifted me my knowledge..... but Gills work is in alignment. www.youtube.com...

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: kwakakev
Then there are some that the fight kicks in, those people go nuts and will do anything to survive.
I think the same will happen in a disaster situation.

I have come to believe that the same qualities that make it hard for me to exist in normal society will be valuable if/when it collapses. For one thing, my mind ALWAYS defers to the worst-possible-scenario. This may not be useful in manifesting my dreams, but it helps me see lots of problems well before they occur. I'd call it a blessing and a curse.

originally posted by: NightSkyeB4Dawn
a reply to: JAGStorm

If/when the shtf some people will just freak out and not be able to do anything. It is that fight or flight mechanism. I've seen some videos where people are attacked.

There is another that is more common today than ever before. That is "freeze". As a Forensic Nurse, I come across this response more often than "flight or fight".

I think I see it more often because young people are truly in a state of shock because they have not been prepared mentally or physically for events outside of their normal everyday life.

I believe families with teens and young children will have their chances of survival greatly decreased in a SHTF scenario.

Agreed...physically they are a mess...when I was in prime physical position I could break a finger and wrap it in duct tape and keep on trucking......when I was beginning my preperations for long term survival under SHTF circumstances and was down to 126 lbs of skin and bones from 200 lbs of solid muscle mass I cut my finger on the edge of a Soup can lid as I stood at my Kitchen sink and when I saw the blood and tasted the tin in my mouth I experienced my first "FREEZE" it was like what they say an anxiety attack is you cannot do what you want to do....it is like a mental version of rubber legs when you push yourself beyond your limits.....it had zero to do with the blood because I have no fear of it from personal experience and from helping others I once held my entire hand inside the back of a mans skull talking to him and trying to hold that mans Brain where it belonged...until Emergency personal could come relive me...no problems with that level of involvement.In fact as usual for me under extreme stress when everyone else froze I went into typical slow motion and took control of EVERYTHING immediately....slow motion in my head but light speed to everyone else who was frozen to the ground or wildly looking around for help and not able to actually do anything more productive.

Having experienced that moment I know it can be lived through...but boy oh boy in that physical and mental state under those circumstances of being severely weakened I did not feel that way at all!... I uber over-reacted as if a small cut was a life threatening wound.To me its the same things in a way as the uncontrollable shiver effect we get.

In my opinion, practice makes perfect, however I dont see young people actually trying as they believe that their social skills and downright shadyness/DGAF attitude will save them.

They won't even step good on a trail without the newest under armour , a yeti cup, and fitbit...

They are concerned with their appearances that they cannot actually learn anything without a social network to blather about it.

Just having the skills is not enough, actually training yourself to accept and enjoy food that is extremely basic, without many seasonings is too much for someone who isn't ready for that change.

Let alone cooking over wood fires, locating or making potable water, even just basic shelters can be too much for someone who isn't somewhat ready to improvise/make do with available raw materials.

The sheer waste involved with modern life will doom many, as they will get sick, or lead others to them.

Information available is aplenty. The Foxfire books are absolute gold for learning basic living off the land.

Also many older military survival course books have a wealth of knowledge.

But in the end, it comes down to practice, comprehension, and good decision making.

There are not many true woodsman anymore, and they couldn't hold a match to the woodsman of 40 years ago.

We lose too much for our convenient, internet based lives these days.

It's sad to me, as i love living rural and all the availability of the experiences i get with my kids.

We camp, hunt, fish, sail, kayak, snowshoe, hike, climb, forrage, and a hundred other things im not listing.

Get out there people, bring your kids, significant other, dog, whatever.

You'll see what you've been missing.

And your body will thank you.

Forgot to add, my statement about the luck element..

If you are in a cross country flight or over the pacific and a carrington event on steroids occured your screwed, or if you are in another part of the country from your preps and support network and nukes go off, or the big volcano, or california breaks off in to the seas.

basically there will be an element of good luck to have you near your preps, and support system and have the disasterbe something you prepared and trained for.

Used to live in suburb off busy east/west interstate. Four years ago sold everything and went very rural on sizable acreage with spring water fed creek with closest neighbor at a mile, next one 3 miles.

House built for SHTF structurally and is off grid totally with solar/battery/engine, cabin on/off grid along with RV.

Teens do not have cell/TV/E-games to distract and having close to farm diet are mentally and physically very able.

When in suburb already had two years food storage, now have that along with vegetable garden. Working on fruit bearing trees but have many wild berry bushes to collect from. Nut bearing trees are next.

Working outside job in region so shy on livestock but next spring gonna start small.

Rest of defensive and other things taken care of along with mindset to weather most any eventuality.

Not sure about

Vlar Global Continental Displacement Wave event…

but am high ground.

Intelligence analysis, always important before, during and after a SHTF scenario. But the possibilities are endless on how things might go down, so general preparedness for general crisis situations seems the only way you can go. There are going to be certain steps to be taken as the situation progresses, so a basic plan can be made, but you can't cover all the bases for every scenario. The master plan might be in phases like low level, mid level, and high level crisis with a generalized plan to cover as much as possible for each level.

I'd say be the best prepared for the most likely scenarios for your area and concentrate most of your intelligence analysis on those. Figure out what events are more likely to occur, ie. global war, financial crash, nuclear plant meltdown, rioting and unrest, EMP attack, etc. and how those would effect your region.

Two of my priorities for prepping right now mostly concern security and wildfires. These two are of high concern in my location.

a reply to: Dwoodward85

My one piece of advice, one of the most important pieces of advice that seems to be forgotten a lot of the time is don't tell anyone. Not a single person.

Discretion is a very important line at times. Some things are your business and some people will take it the wrong way or exploit the situation. Better to just keep your mouth shut at times.

When it comes to SHTF events you will have a better chance working with your community than trying to lone wolf it, especially with a family to look after. Finding some connections to the local law enforcement and the military community can help you get on page and up to speed on any specific threats. When mass panic hits everything is nuts. Having a network, plan and community you can call on will help your and those around you survival rate. An individual does not have much chance against a cohesive group.

Lone wolf is plan Z as we eat insects and drink our own pee. Until then there is one community here to help and help stop any issues before they start. When working in security no news is good news.

Something STRANGE Is Happening In AMERICA (2019)


This video provides a short analysis of the cultural influences surrounding the communities we have. It highlight the importance of being an informed citizen and what is at stake if we should lose our right to talk about stuff.

Calculate the km to your safe spot …. for you AND your loved ones..... expect to be walking optimally @1.5 miles per hour....12 miles per day for your group....everyone needs 2 liters of water per day and enough calories per day to support walking with load bearing....every 2 days there must be a water cache …. using dehydrated or freeze dried foods every 7 days a cache must be buried or hidden...other supplies like mole-skins and bandages and anti-biotics should also be cached along the way.
I am around 20 days from my safe spot.Caches are in place.

A.I. Death Squads don't need foods.

Plus all the old folks / crazies / feeble without the meds.

Apocalypto.

originally posted by: Lysergic
A.I. Death Squads don't need foods.

Plus all the old folks / crazies / feeble without the meds.

Apocalypto.

Camoflage mylar tarps and you are on your way.....small one-man portable pulsed Emp generators and some energy leeching limpet mines to drop AI in the Air and on the Ground and your 6 is covered.Once you hit Homebase you are 26 feet underground in bedrock.

a reply to: one4all

Probably best to get the one-man portable pulsed emp generators and energy leeching limpet mines when they are on sale at Walmart.