Know Your History: Coal Miner’s Revolt, The Battle of Blair Mountain

Coal Miners Revolt: The Battle of Blair Mountain

 

One of the greatest examples in the 20th century of how a well armed and willing populace can hold their own against a well organized larger armed force.

Take Notes and Prepare Accordingly.

History is circling around yet again.

Stay Alert, Armed and Dangerous!

 

Ascensión: A Tale of the Mexican Drug War (Fictional Intelligence)

ASCENSIÓN: A TALE OF THE MEXICAN DRUG WAR

Small Wars Journal is pleased to present an excerpt from Ascensión: A Tale of the Mexican Drug War  by Small Wars Journal-El Centro Fellow Michael L. Burgoyne.

This fictional account—or FICINT (Fictional Intelligence)—describes the security situation in Mexico in an accessible manner.

Here the situation in Mexico is described through the lens of fiction and intelligence to depict future conflict scenarios grounded in reality.[1]  Is it ‘criminal insurgency,’ ‘civil strife,’ ‘crime wars,’ ‘non-international armed conflict (NIAC),’ or something else. Burgoyne seeks to inform the policy and operational debate surrounding insecurity and criminal armed groups (CAGs) in Mexico in this text.

Comments from the author:

In 2020, Mexico suffered over 35,000 homicides, marking another year of exceptionally high rates of violence that are comparable to a war zone. Mexican transnational criminal organizations drive the violence in Mexico and play a key role in the over 70,000 annual drug overdose deaths in the United States. Yet, Americans lack an understanding of the complex security situation just south of the border.

I am thankful to Small Wars Journal-El Centro for the opportunity to present an excerpt from, Ascensión: A Tale of the Mexican Drug War.  I wrote the story as modern day western designed to bring the reader into a violent and complicated world where there are no easy answers. While the story is fiction, the events depicted are drawn from reality, which is documented in the accompanying notes section. These notes also include references to outstanding scholars that provide excellent analysis of the ongoing conflict in Mexico.

Finally, this excerpt is augmented with a brief interview with Alexei Chevez, a Mexican scholar and security practitioner with a deep knowledge of the nature of the internal stability struggles in Mexico.

My hope is that this work of fiction provides an engaging way to understand the very real and daunting security challenges the Mexican people face.

Stay Alert, Armed and Dangerous!

 

Guerrilla Logistics

For someone looking for a role in the resistance auxiliary they might consider logistics. Undoubtedly logistics will be the difference between victory and failure of any guerrilla campaign. For supporters of the movement not able to physically fight, participation in the logistical chain would fulfill a vital and necessary role. What would be some the…

Guerrilla Logistics By Sig357 — American Partisan

Guerrillas in the Mist: A look back at an obscure classic

Glancing over the bookshelf there’s a number of old books that I’ve come back to over and over again through the years. Like all classics, you seem to read something new in them each time. Not necessary something you missed, but maybe things you’ve come to view another way. The wisdom that comes with age…

Guerrillas in the Mist: A look back at an obscure classic, by NC Scout — American Partisan

Excellent examples of fire and maneuver

Outstanding SUT (Small Unit Tactics) study here.

Brush Up and Prepare Accordingly.
The Days are Short.

Badlands Fieldcraft

Violence of Action. Making fast decisions, getting off the X quickly, and fixing and flanking their enemy were all critical to the success of these men. Violence of action is the difference between life and death in a fight. The following two videos are excellent depictions of fire and maneuver, a topic among many we will be covering in the Fieldcraft Course.

This first video is squad size fire and maneuver done correctly. Note how Lt. Winters deploys his men into two groups, one as a base of fire, and one as a flanking element. That is text book stuff there. But also note as the assault develops these elements begin firing and maneuvering on their own as well, using their own individual initiative to assault the enemy when they felt it was the right time. They didn’t pause and wait for orders, just kept up the momentum and pressed…

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