Once thought of as a fringe mind-set, the prepared citizen movement is gaining traction in a world shaped by war, the pandemic and extreme weather.
Ten men, some wearing camouflage, others in vests loaded with ammunition for their AR-15 rifles, gathered under the morning shade of oak trees in Central Florida last month. They were there to learn marksmanship tactics common among Special Operation forces and elite law enforcement units.Their instructor, Christopher Eric Roscher, an Air Force veteran, introduced himself and then led the group in prayer.“Lord, you would use them as assets, to be protectors in this world, in a world that’s full of evil,” he prayed.The men gathered around him were not soldiers, police officers or right-wing militia members. They were mostly civilians, including two pilots, a nurse and a construction company executive. The class’s title — Full Contender Minuteman — even referred to the civilians turned soldiers of the American Revolution.
In a world shaped by war, a pandemic and extreme weather, more Americans are getting ready for crisis — whether it’s to fight a tyrannical government, repel an invading army or respond to a natural disaster.They are known as prepared or professional citizens, part of a growing number of gun owners who are adapting their mind-set to uncertain and polarized times. And rather than being part of more fringe “prepper” culture, they are growing more mainstream, catered to by companies ready to offer them the tools and training to be ready.
Nothing we haven’t seen before, and definitely something we’ll see more of. Interesting read, though.
Hey Cmdr, it recently occurred to me to wonder where the 30-50 y.o. preppers hang out in ye olde blogosphere… Most of the places I visit are full of the 50+ fellows like myself.
Any insights?
n
Nope. Its not something that ever mattered to me. My interactions with people on the interwebz is almost entirely about information and experiences, and those things are independent of the age of the person. Could be lessons from the experience of a 25-year-old who did two tours in Iraq, could be the insights of a retired 76-year-old who has been living in a cabin in Alaska for twenty years.
That said, I’d imagine the more ‘social’ media like X or Facebook, perhaps, might be where the ‘younger crowd’ is…I wouldnt really know.
Roach knows his business. Those men in the article are learning legitimately.
Strongly dislike the tone of the NY Times’ article (whodathunkit?). Preppers are White trash and conspiracy theory nuts who just want to hoard ‘stuff,’ while ‘prepared citizens’ are diverse, responsible, and cautious. Note the deliberate use of ‘citizen,’ because that includes anyone with magic papers/born on magic dirt. Plus we’ve been told everyone is a future US citizen and right-thinking people consider themselves ‘citizens’ of the world. Personally, I find any story about non-Whites actually training with guns distasteful, because they generally use them on Whites. And I’d rather NY Times’ readers not be prepared; saves the trouble of securing/removing them later. Yeah, yeah, save the pejorative labels – I don’t give a f**k.
“In a world shaped by war, a pandemic and extreme weather, ….”
They completely refused to mention their core foot soldiers. Antifa and BLM, not to mention the idiots attacking anything Tesla.
He says, “They wanna have a war, keep their factories
They wanna have a war to keep us on our knees
They wanna have a war to stop us buying Japanese
They wanna have a war to stop industrial disease
They’re pointing out the enemy to keep you deaf and blind
They wanna sap your energy, incarcerate your mind – Dire Straights
People are ignorant and easily manipulated. They see red or blue, liberal or conservative, black or white, gay or straight. All I see is a bunch of brain-dead idiots who fell for the oldest play in the book, divide and conquer.
Wars are started by bankers for bankers. Jamie Dimon has done more to erode the wealth and prosperity of this country than all the liberals put together. He and his ilk outsourced the jobs, took away the pensions, imported illegal aliens to work cheaper, polluted the land and poisoned our water. Made deals with the chi-com devils and now wants us to pay for it while he laughs at our stupidity.
Americans fighting Americans, that’s what we do best.