Well, here I am in the "zone". Rule #1 for a survival situation: Don't put yourself in a risky situation. Okay, I blew that, now what is going to be Rule #2???

I have discovered that there's not much point to keeping a survival kit on my person here. My movements are too restricted, I am at the mercy of too many others to worry about what will happen if the bubble goes up. I am not allowed to defend myself, and if I have to bug out, my BOB is always at hand, literally. The few things I might need if I can't get to the BOB I keep in my pocket or on my belt. I have a Leatherman WAVE and a pocketful of American dollars. Bottled water is everywhere here in the "zone", so I will grab what I can carry or else there is as much as I care to carry in the BOB.

Not much you can do when your life and actions are pretty much dictated by someone else. Like I said, if the bubble goes up, not much I can do about it, nowhere to evac to, no way to defend myself, just have to live with it.

One thing, you won't see me in any Orange jump suit on tv sitting in front of a bunch of masked thugs. Not my style.

Very interesting.

How about a satellite phone? GPS? (Satellite phone with GPS?) You don't mention one, but I assume
you're carrying at least one flashlight? I don't know if ANY of this would help... just throwing out
some ideas. Do you move around too much to keep a map of the general area with you? Seems like
the likely survival scenarios involve you being separated from those reponsible for your safety.

Benjammin:

Okay, I know "official" policy is that most non-military individuals are forbidden to have firearms or carry fake identification that would make it appear they are authorized to carry firearms. Is there a "wink & nod" policy with accompanying "hand slapping" as a punishment for breaking those sorts of rules, or is it a full blown "out the door, you lost your contract" policy?

I know a couple of guys (Names forgotten! <img src="/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />) working for (Organizations name forgotten <img src="/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />) who were told to check an empty apartment at 0200 in a less than safe area of (Cities name forgotten <img src="/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />). They met up there in seperate trucks, went to the apartment and one of them asked the other if he had a sidearm with him before entering to which the other replied; "No". The one said; "I do" as he locked & loaded a small semiautomatic pistol as they stood at the entrance to go in. The other pulled out a small semiautomatic pistol that wasn't there, locked & loaded to the shocked look of the one and they went in, checked the apartment out, and locked it up. When they got back to the trucks, the one said to the other; "I thought you said you didn't have a sidearm?", to which the other replied; "I didn't have a sidearm because that is against the rules, and I could get fired from my job". The other then said to the one; "It's a good thing you didn't have a sidearm either or I would have to report you to the boss and the Police for carrying a concealed weapon illegally". The one said; "Yeah, it's a good thing we follow the rules even in this bad part of town", and they went back to other work they had to do.

The other in the aforementioned incident was in his bosses office one day with his boss when he was told to look for some forms the other needed in the bosses desk. The other opened a drawer before his boss could elaborate on where to look and saw a .38 special snub nose revolver under some papers in the drawer. The boss saw it was too late and said; "I found that gun in the projects and was just going to take it to the police". The other looked at his boss and said; "What gun, where?". The boss looked in the drawer where the revolver lay and exclaimed; "Oh I forgot, I already took it to the police" as he closed the drawer and locked it.

The other did not like his boss who was a crook, but there exist unwritten rules that good men put above their own interests and the matter never came up even when the boss fired the other for trying to expose the bosses thievery.

"TWISTNAIL IT!, there is right and there is legal and sometimes they do not mesh in our society no matter what country we are in or what organization we belong to. Two of the criteria I follow is that it is better to be tried by twelve than carried by six and can I sleep with what I have done. My bad knees are twistnailing my ability to sleep more than anything I have done.

Good luck on your personal choices in Baghdad, I already know what I would do, no matter how much pay I would lose for doing it.

Bountyhunter

Nope, no sat phones, no gps, just this lousy Iraq cell phone. The Army jams comms all the way up to sat phone 50% of the time. The insurgents use cell phones and such to trigger IEDs here, so any comms is iffy.

Yeah, I have an LED light in my pocket, and a zippo lighter as well. Not much chance of being separated from the compound except when going to chow or the PX and then it is along well travelled highly public paths and in groups. You might have to dodge a mortar or two, but you're not going to be nabbed in the green zone unless you are truly foolish.

If we are overrun, which is a remote possibility, then it is every man for himself, and if I can scavange a firearm I will add it to what I already have. My BOB stays with me, just in case.

I am of the same opinion. However, we are under high scrutiny here (go figure, you'd think they'd want to watch the bad guys instead of us, whatever), and the corporate rule is if you have a firearm and they find out, you go home now. No exceptions. KBR is even worse, they don't even allow their security team to possess firearms, what is up with that???

I do have a nice Cold Steel SRK, which is nearby, and there are some items here I can improvise with. By and large I am at the mercy of others. I disovered that when properly motivated eg mortars dropping nearby, I can run faster than just about everyone here in our compound. It taks a while to recover, but inside of 400 meters I am hell on wheels. Funny how getting shot at makes you forget how bad your knees hurt. Sure I pay for it later, but the old quote of "I don't have to outrun the bad guys, I just have to outrun the poor sod next to me" applies here as it does out in the woods facing grizzlies. I did impress a few folks who didn't think a 42 year old weighing 260 lbs and 6'6" tall could move so fast.

When you are at the bottom of the food chain, you can't always stand and fight, it is better to run away quickly. It is like a barracude moving through a school of fish.

Of more immediate concern is knowing what is safe to eat at the chow hall and what is to be avoided. Two bouts of food poisoning and I have learned. I may never eat pork or fresh produce again.

One other point, anyone thinking of coming here for the pay is a fool. If you don't have a better reason than that, you won't last more than a couple months here. The money is only one small factor, which offset my need to stay with my family. Otherwise I'd have come here for a lot less. Some of you may understand why, others won't but it is not something that can easily be explained.

You will understand f you can answer this question: Why did Davey Crockett go to San Antonio? John Wayne gave a good monologue in the movie "The Alamo" that sums it up nicely.

Maybe, in the big picture of things, this is the biggest survival technique of all. I dunno. All I know is they asked me to come help, and I said I would. The rest is trivial.

Benjammin:

I read your post and I think of those helpless US Marines in Lebanon back in, I think October 23, 1983 who were the victims of a desk jockey that let a truck bomber kill so many of them with one stroke.

For those of you that don't know or don't remember, the idiot superior officer had ordered unloaded rifles be carried by the guards and there were no heavy (.50 caliber) machine gun emplacements in the buildings perimeter. There was a straight road from the gate to the building housing the Marines and after the suicide bomber drove his truck through the gate, he went straight into the building before anyone could lock, load, and respond. One of the perimeter guards saw the bombers face who gave a large genuine smile before he pushed the button.

TWO HUNDRED FORTY ONE AMERICAN UNITED STATES MARINES died because of rules by some **** *** bureaucrat who was probably put in command there so he could get combat pay on his retirement credit.

That incident made me realize why so many officers were "fragged" by their own men in Vietnam.

It amazes me that none of the surviving Marines didn't personnally make sure that would never happen again with that officer.

If you are not there for the money, get out because there are too many wrong rules that will eventually hurt or kill you. Leave the guilt trip about not being around to help at the airport when you leave.

Good luck!

Bountyhunter

On another forum, I made friends with a guy who did his year with ("cant remember the company" <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) He did NOT have a "firearm" per say, but he had made friends with enough "guys in tan" that they made sure he knew exactly where a firearm was stored - conveniently within 5 feet or so of where he worked - gather it was a captured AK47. He said in the year, he never touched it, but if the base was attacked, he knew he had something to work with

Good luck... keep yer head down & yer eyes open... find an "old fart", stick to him (or her) like glue, and learn everything (s)he can teach you... get home in one piece.

Troy