“Though largely forgotten today, one of the most creative and destructive terrorist groups in the United States was the Galleanists, a fiery band of Italian anarchists active during the early 1900s. Luigi Galleani, a gifted writer and charismatic speaker, tapped into widespread disappointment among Italian immigrants concerning their lives in America. Unemployment, low wages, long working hours, discrimination, and a poor quality of life made many Italian immigrants receptive to his words. He called for the destruction of existing political, economic, and religious institutions. In 1905 he published a bomb manual, much like al-Qaeda and ISIS have done in their online magazines in recent years.”
As a kid I read paperbacks about SHTF. These included a number of “Survival” vehicles in the stories, like “The Guardians” pic above, or the “Survivalist” series hero Rourke, who rode a Harley during his exploits. The vehicles used were considered “The Best” available for the task in the stories.
The Guardians used Cadillac Gage V450 “Commandos”, and of course I thought they were the ultimate survival vehicle, bar none (A Harley can’t compete with a ten ton armored and armed truck). Real world kicks in 30 years later, and low and behold, guess what my “Survival” vehicle in Iraq was? Yup, a Cadillac Gage Commando (The US Army calls it an ASV or the M1117).
Was it a good vehicle? Hell yeah! Would I want it for normal “Bugout” preps? Hell yeah! Is it practical to use till SHTF hits? HELL NO! (The surplus ones I’ve seen are pushing…
Since the first tanks and armored cars appeared on the battlefields of WWI Europe, infantrymen have been forced to find ways to deal with them. The modern minuteman is no different, and any prolonged civil conflict in the United States is bound to see armored vehicles used in one form or another. I’m not even talking about fighting a professional military, partisan groups and gangs/cartels have ways of getting or making armored vehicles for use in a prolonged period of conflict/disorder. Some examples are below;
In 2020 alone, there were at least two police MRAPs and one National Guard humvee stolen in California during the rioting. The humvee and one MRAP have since been recovered.
Private ownership of military surplus armored vehicles is perfectly legal as long as the weapons are disabled or removed. For about the same price as a new car you can own an OT-64 SKOT (Polish wheeled amphibious APC). For much less you can buy a surplus humvee. There are many such vehicles in the hands of private citizens for collecting, war re-enacting, etc.
I predict that in a prolonged civil conflict, WROL scenario, etc, it will only take a few weeks before people with access to these vehicles start to roll them out for whatever purpose. For this reason and the hypothetical Chinese invasion, any serious minuteman should be thinking about how to deal with armored vehicles. In this article I will cover the types of armored vehicles, the threat they pose, and how you can fight them or mitigate their effectiveness.
You must be logged in to post a comment.