Bugout Location Fire Piquet/Security Piquet Scheduling

Lookout on Green Mountain, Wells Gray Park, BC

Today, we will explore scheduling a fire piquet/security piquet at your bugout location and what will factor into an effective program with the available resources at your command.

There are many factors that will impact the effectiveness of your fire piquet/security piquet program at your BOL. Not-the-least of which, is how many persons can you muster for piquet duty?? The next most limiting factor is, in how many directions does your piquet need to keep a watch on?? I am assuming that all BOL's want/need 24 hour coverage a day, every day.

This first chart will show how many, can control, for how long. One note: The final column shows the maximum number of OP/LP's (observation post/listening post) that can be manned at minimum levels; the duration when maxed out is only for days, at most.

Chart 1

As you can see in this chart, when you have only a few persons to provide security for your BOL, you will not last very long before a lack of sleep/recovery will make all of you very vulnerable. You either need to increase your numbers of persons or limit the number of directions that must be observed and/or defended. Mutual aid agreements with neighbours or being a part of a community may offer solutions to very small groups.

To help visualize this process I have drawn a simple map (below) which has a small town or village that is located near a more major roadway. For the ease of labeling the main road runs North/South. The town/village is entered from the North and exited from the South.

To protect a town like this will require 3 security teams. I will provide 2 staffing options for each of the three teams and provide sample schedules to man the required positions. As this is a sample with no known real example, this will be a pure planning exercise and those leaders out there who will have to use these samples, understand that you will have to mold these samples into your reality. Understand the concepts and you can adapt these ideas to fit your needs.

First questions for this exercise: What will I need to provide an effective fire piquet and security piquet?? How many persons do I require?? Where do we place them?? Who will control them?? How do I schedule for this??

Welcome to Sample Town, population 350.

Map of Sample Town

Criteria for an Effective Fire Piquet/Security Piquet Program:

1. General Alarm – Some means of signaling danger to the town. “Stand To”
2. Two Complete Security Teams/Shifts – one on-duty, the other off-duty
3. Equal days on-duty to days off-duty
4. Minimum two man teams at night. Avoid solo posts at night
5. Maximum control through minimum posts (OP/LP, Checkpoints, CP, Etc)
6. Command the terrain. Use natural topography and man-made obstacles to drive invaders to where you can observe them before they observe you. Create “NO GO ZONES” coloured red on our map of Sample Town – between the major roadway and the access road to town.
7. Team structure: Team IC & Team 2IC will be (12 hours on/12 hours off)
8. Team members hours will depend on the total number available.
9. Allow the Team Leader (IC) to build and manage their team. Only intervene if the members of the team cannot bond. Remember the four stages of team development Forming/Storming/Norming/Performing. Not all team reach the Performing stage.
10. Maximize the strengths of individuals when designing the teams. However, the ability to work together is more important in the long run than a collection of perfect individuals working towards their own goals.
11. Keep internal patterns consistent and predictable. 4 on/4 off. Night Owls on nightshifts, early birds on day shifts. Of course, operational requirements like a small fire in Sample Town would require all hands on deck to prevent the fire from destroying the whole town.
12. Operational patterns, those that can be observed by spies, want to seem as random as possible so that infiltration cannot occur without observation. Infiltration is easier to deal with, even if the infiltrator gets inside, when you know you have been infiltrated. Prevented is preferred, but dealt with will work, too.
13. Develop Post Orders for each location that will be manned. It must be written in enough detail that a new person at that post can read through the orders and learn the job, in the event that there is no one there to training them what to do. What do I do at this post?? Primary functions?? Who do I contact if something goes wrong?? What is the alarm signal in the event of a fire/tornado/invasion?? Where is the alarm located?? What is the shift relieve procedure?? What if I am not relieved?? Are patrols out?? What is the password to let them back in??
14. Maintain a log at each post. Record time/date of shift changes. Status reports. Observation of unusual events. Patterns may occur but will only be recognized when reviewing well kept logs. 

What does our manpower requirements look like:

Table 2 - Team One

Table 3 - Team Two

Table 4 - Team Three

Table 5 - Total Requirement

OP/LP's

• Always has 2x Team Members.
• At shift rotation, the Team Members from the CP or Checkpoint come to the OP/LP to relieve those on-duty. Off-duty persons return to CP or Checkpoint.

Checkpoints

• All Team Members live/rest in the Check Point Bunker.

• When “Stand To” alarm sounded, ALL Team Members respond
• Maximum 4 On/4 Off schedule (Shift One/Shift Two)
• Challenge anyone who approaches the checkpoint
• Check-in with the Command Post (CP) every 30 Minutes

Sample Schedule 1

Sample Schedule 2

Sample Schedule 3

Sample Schedule 4

Similar to Teams One & Two, Team Three will live in the bunker at the Command Post. When not on-duty, Team Three will sleep, eat, rest near the CP. When needed, Team Members will work the CP, whether scheduled or not.

So, there you have it.....a basic understanding of scheduling for fire protect and security at your bugout location. If you want to minimize hazards and risks at your BOL you will adopt some sort of fire protection/security protection program. In the event of SHTF or TEOTWAWKI, this WILL be your insurance program. It will be paid in hours served not in dollars & cents. The new economy will not have fiat currency.

Plan to survive and we will see you on the other side!!

(Rebuilding our world, again.....)

Mountainman.