Secrecy and security in the Free Militia

"And I pledge never to willfully betray the Militia's principles, members or tactics." — From the Oath of Office for the Free Militia

2.4.1 Enemy capabilities and countermeasures

For now, the existence of the Free Militia is largely kept a secret because we are a relatively small organization. If and when the Free Militia should ever "go public," our principles and purposes would become open to public scrutiny. Unless people know we are guided and motivated by lofty constitutional principles we might be misunderstood as fanatics, vigilantes, or even criminals.

But our personnel and plans must always be kept private. We cannot allow a potential enemy to know the names and addresses of our entire membership nor can we let them know how we intend to defend ourselves. Therefore, our personnel and plans must be kept secret to all those outside the Free Militia.

Of course, we are faced with a wide array of modern technologies and age-old tactics that any potential enemy may use to spy on us. For convenience, we may classify these methods of spying under the headings of eavesdropping, surveillance, snooping and infiltration.

Eavesdropping

  • Telephone wire tapping is probably the most common form of eavesdropping. After tapping your phone line outside your house or at the phone company's facilities everything you say on the phone is recorded.

Countermeasures. The best way to thwart wire tapping is never to say anything sensitive over the phone. Either don't use the phone or make sure you use a prearranged code and speak in vague terms.

  • Microphones or bugs might be placed in your home, office, or car to record your conversations. These are more difficult to accomplish than phone wire taps since someone must actually enter your home to place microphones.

Countermeasures. Wired bugs may be found simply by following wires. Wireless bugs operate on radio frequencies and may be found using a bug-detector which is basically a specialized radio receiver.

  • Window vibrations may be monitored from a nearby house or across the street using sophisticated equipment. This is a method used to record whole conversations in rooms without having to bug them with microphones.

Countermeasures. Window vibration eavesdropping may be defeated by talking in rooms that do not have outside windows. You may also just turn the radio or stereo up loud to drown out your conversation.

Surveillance

  • Visual surveillance by a person simply watching you from another house or car is the simplest form of surveillance.

Countermeasures. Keep your drapes and curtains drawn and make efforts to "lose" people following you.

  • Night vision technology allows someone watching you or your house to see just as well in the dark as in the daytime. Various scopes, binoculars, and goggles give this capability.

Countermeasures. At home, you can keep curtains closed. In combat, you can use flares to "level the enemy" and at least put you and the enemy on the same level of vision.

  • Infrared scanning technology is even more sophisticated. By picking up the infrared image your body heat puts on the wall of your house, your location in the house is known to an observer even if all your windows are covered.

Countermeasures. If walls are thick enough, this might thwart attempts to watch you using infrared scans. Such scanning also only tells where you are. It does not show what you are doing or saying.

  • Satellite photography allows someone to see incredible detail from miles above the earth. It is alleged that satellites may photograph and transmit sufficient detail to read a license plate!

Countermeasures. Whatever you do at night, or under heavy cloud cover or indoors, or underground cannot be seen by satellites. A satellite is just as limited in its photography as a camera without a flash.

Snooping

  • Access to records like copies of your checks, credit card purchases, loan applications, and tax returns is easy for many agencies like the IRS, often without a warrant.

Countermeasures. Since such records reveal what you buy, where you go, and who you do business with, be sure all sensitive transactions are in cash.

  • Garbage is searched by "reporters" for tabloid "newspapers" to get dirt on celebrities. Federal agents from the DEA and FBI also routinely sift trash and garbage to obtain evidence.

Countermeasures. Never put anything sensitive in the garbage! Burn or shred Free Militia materials, your own notes, and personal financial records to keep them secret.

Infiltration

  • A newcomer may be a plant (someone posing as a sympathizer who is really working for the government). Such infiltrators often gain confidence by exemplifying heroic behavior or by zealously agreeing with your cause.

Countermeasures. The way we attempt to avoid infiltration in the Free Militia is to have members approach potential recruits rather than vise versa. We also only recruit those who we have known well a long time.

  • Blackmail and extortion is a more sinister way of infiltration. If the government finds out something they can use against a loyal member of a group, they might be coerced into cooperating with an investigation. Blackmailed persons may inform on friends or even lead them into an ambush.

Countermeasures. The best way to avoid being blackmailed and used by a potential enemy is to lead a spotless and open life. Avoid excessive debt, adultery, alcohol, drugs, and crime. If you have done something wrong, just confess it to those around you. Then it cannot be used against you.

These are just some ways the Free Militia could be compromised to a potential enemy. Attempting to counter every one of these threats all the time would be expensive, complicated and cumbersome. Yet there are five simple things we can do as individuals and as a group to thwart them:

  • Keep a low profile.
  • Keep your mouth shut.
  • Be as decentralized as is possible.
  • Be as transient as possible.
  • Protect all records and information.

If every member of the Free Militia rigidly follows these five principles of secrecy and security, then the Free Militia will be secret and secure.

2.4.2 Low profiles and closed mouths

The best thing you can do as an individual and we can do as a group is to maintain the lowest possible profile. If a potential enemy does not even know that we exist or that we are members of a militia they will not bother watching or listening in on us. All the technology in the world is useless unless it is put to use. And it is only used when suspicions about you are somehow aroused that technology will be used against you.

Keep a low profile by not drawing attention to yourself, your actions, or your militia equipment. They can't watch you if they don't know you exist!

Equipping yourself

  • As we discussed in Section 2.2, never sign anything, never give your name and address, always pay with cash, and be as innocent looking and inconspicuous as you can when you buy guns, ammunition and military gear.

Storing your equipment

  • Don't openly display your guns, ammunition, uniform and military gear in your home. If people see it they will talk about it.
  • Ideally your guns, ammunition and gear should be cached somewhere away from your home. We will cover caching in section 3.0.
  • Do not leave your field manual or training books out where people can see them. If a book is on your coffee table, people will put two and two together. Do not mark the binding or cover of your field manual so people can tell what it is even if they do see it on a shelf.
  • Don't put your name or address on your Field Manual or training books. If they should somehow fall into the wrong hands, there should be no way to trace them to you.

Training with your cell

  • Train only with what you need for training. Don't carry your gun or wear a uniform when you are patrolling. Don't wear your uniform when target shooting. Don't carry a gun when you are digging foxholes.
  • Train only with the people you need to at the time. Don't allow unnecessary spectators, even from your own cell, since they will only draw attention.
  • Train in the privacy of your own home. All kinds of things short of actual shooting and field exercises can be done in a house: gun disassembly, gun cleaning, practicing firing positions, detaching and replacing empty magazines, and much more can be done inside.
  • If you do need to train outside, do so in private or remote places. Shoot where people can't see the style of weapon you are shooting.
  • Do not advertise your cell meetings to the public! Keep them low-key. Meet only in houses, not apartments where neighbors might overhear what you say.

Don't expose yourself

  • Don't unnecessarily disclose yourself to the public. During the riots in Los Angeles many store owners used their guns to ward off looters. The problem is that news reports, video tapes and pictures of armed store owners were later used to identify and prosecute people who violated gun registration laws! So don't make a citizens' arrest with your assault rifle and don't try to suppress a riot in your uniform.

Of course, it does you no good at all to hide if you announce your location with a loudspeaker. So also it does you no good to keep a low profile in the Militia if you tell people about it.

Keep your mouth shut and do not tell anyone outside the Free Militia about your membership, actions, equipment, or plans. Loose lips do sink ships!

Recruiting new members

  • We must be careful who we approach. Make sure that you know someone fairly well and determine that they are sympathetic to our cause before you sound them out or attempt to recruit them.
  • The procedure for recruiting a new member is to sound them out on things like how they feel about guns, the Second Amendment, the government and warfare in general. Discuss the candidate with your cell leader. Only if he approves, should you take the next step of revealing your membership in the Free Militia and giving him Section 1 of the Field Manual. Never try to recruit anyone without your cell leader's approval!

Holding your own tongue

  • Never volunteer anything about the Free Militia to anyone outside the Free Militia.
  • Never boast about the guns you own, the things you do in training, or your membership and rank in the Free Militia.

Keep your wife and kids out of it

  • The less your wife and kids know about the Free Militia and your participation in it, the better. Their knowing about it will not help you much, but will multiply the number of people who might "spill the beans." Moreover, if you love them, you should not want to involve them in any way that might endanger or incriminate them.
  • Of course you may explain the principles of the Second Amendment to your wife and kids, but don't specifically tell them the details about the Free Militia, names of others in your cell, and so on. They may put two and two together, but you should never confirm it yourself.
  • Under no circumstances is the material in your Field Manual to be divulged to or read by your wife and kids unless they have been approved by your cell leader for actual recruiting and membership.

By keeping a low profile and a closed mouth, you may be saving your own life, the lives of others, and the liberties of everyone!

2.4.3 Decentralization and transience

The next best thing we can do is be as decentralized as is practically possible. They can't watch all of us if we aren't all together.

The less any member knows about the whole Free Militia, the less he can divulge if he is watched, overheard, blackmailed, or arrested by the enemy.

Decentralization among the cells

  • Recruiting is done by the individual cells instead of a central organization and no central records or lists are kept of membership in the Free Militia. This way, we cannot all be compromised by one individual or one set of files.
  • Under no circumstances are you to reveal the identity of any member of your cell or of the Free Militia to anyone outside your cell except to your cell leader's immediate superior. The only exception to this is if the person whose identity you are going to divulge has given you explicit permission to tell the particular person or persons you are about to tell. Just because someone appears to belong to the Free Militia does not mean that he is a genuine member or that he has any business knowing certain identities even if he is a member.
  • Training is done within each individual cell with a view toward fostering its ability to survive, grow and fight even in the event it is separated from the rest of the organization.
  • Any methods used to communicate within a cell — such as telephone chains — will be developed and held in confidence within the cell.
  • All codes, passwords, recognition codes and signals will be developed and used uniquely within each cell so "breaking a code" for one cell will not compromise all Free Militia communications.

Decentralization in the Free Militia

  • As discussed in Section 2.3, the organization of the Free Militia is as decentralized as possible.
  • Some information from recruiting and interviews with cell leaders is passed on to higher command. For instance, the equipment and materials available within the cell but useful to command must be made known. However, the names and addresses of cell members with the skills or equipment are not passed on. All superiors normally know is the capabilities of a cell, not its identities. In the event of a mobilization, a general call will go out for the skills or equipment.
  • As discussed in Section 2.3.4, you will only know two direct levels of rank above and below you. This will permit continued contact if someone is lost, arrested, or killed, without exposing the whole group to everyone in the group.

A fourth key principle of secrecy and security in the Free Militia is to be transient. Change things and do them differently. Present a "moving target." Even if you are compromised, it will be difficult to track you if you keep changing the circumstances.

Try to avoid patterns. Don't keep doing the same thing the same way at the same time and place. They can't keep watching you if they can't find you.

Within the cell

  • Every cell will have its own rendezvous point where it will meet in the event of mobilization. Keep changing the rendezvous point so if anyone finds out about it, it will be "old news" and "wrong news" whenever you actually have to meet.
  • Don't train in the same place and at the same time. Besides the fact that you might draw attention to yourself or even be watched, it is good experience to train under a wide variety of conditions. Vary the time of day, the weather, the terrain and so forth.
  • In addition to being decentralized, codes, passwords and signals should also be transient. Change them from time to time. This does not mean you have to keep coming up with new ones. Some codes might be reused sometime later on. As long as the code itself does not reveal what code you are using. (If each code has different characteristic words, then certain words will tell a listener which one you are using. If codes use the same words different ways, simply listening in will not disclose which code you are using.)

Within the Militia

  • Command posts will be moved regularly as will sources of supplies.

When someone leaves the Militia

  • If someone leaves your cell for any reason, certain measures must be taken to change things so they cannot compromise you. This applies whether someone leaves you voluntarily, is discharged, arrested or taken prisoner.
  • Whenever someone voluntarily leaves, they will be debriefed by their superior's superior.
  • Whenever someone voluntarily leaves a cell (either leaving the Free Militia or joining another cell) the cell's rendezvous points, codes, passwords, arms and ammunition caches should all be changed fairly soon.
  • Whenever someone forcefully leaves a cell (either by being arrested, captured, or lost) the cell's rendezvous points, codes and passwords must all be changed immediately. Arms and ammunition caches should be moved as soon as it can safely be determined that they are not under surveillance.

Once again, the life and liberties you save by taking these measures may be your own!

2.4.4 Classification of documents

All military organizations must secure their plans if they are to surprise and evade the enemy. The final principle of secrecy and security is to maintain a system of classifying records, documents, plans and maps. By restricting access to the most sensitive information, it is less likely that it will fall into the wrong hands. This section of the Field Manual will be the last thing you read pertaining to the Free Militia that does not have some kind of classification or restriction attached to it. They can't read about us if we do not give them reading material.

The U.S. Department of Defense has three levels of classification. These are confidential, secret, and top secret. Anyone having access to classified information must have the appropriate clearance which is granted only after a fairly thorough investigation of the individual. But the right clearance is not sufficient to gain access to the information. A person must also have a "need to know." Thus, someone with a top secret clearance is not necessarily allowed to read a merely confidential report unless the report directly pertains to his work or plans.

The Free Militia also operates on a need-to-know basis. However, we do not have the resources to do a detailed personal investigation. Nor are the three levels of government clearance suitable to our situation. So for the Free Militia, your clearance is based upon your rank.

In the Free Militia, you are only cleared to know or access information which is made available to your rank and only if you need to know it.

Printed and written materials (like this Field Manual and maps) will indicate on the cover which levels of rank are cleared for accessing it. You are never to open or read any document that is classified for ranks higher than yours. Even if you have the rank, you still must not read it unless a superior indicates that you have a need to know. Inadvertent and intentional violations should be reported to your superiors.

As said before, the particulars of a cell's own codes, caches, meeting places, and so on should be restricted to the cell. As far as the Free Militia as a whole is concerned, the following guidelines regulate the general classification of materials:

  • Ideology is restricted to potential recruits approved by the cell leader.
  • Training information is restricted to actual recruits (privates and up).
  • Positional details such as staging areas are restricted to cell leaders.
  • Tactical information is restricted to officers (lieutenants and above).
  • Strategic information is restricted to the two highest echelons of command, depending on the size of the Militia.

When classified material is in your hands it is your responsibility to secure it. Read it only in private. Lock it in a filing cabinet or hide it when you are not using it. When you are done with it, either destroy it or return it to your superior. Never just throw it away! As a standard procedure, you should have a closed box or other secure location — not an open waste basket — to discard all Free Militia materials before burning or shredding.

Remember that information is classified whether it is written or verbal. So treat discussions of sensitive material as you would a document. Do not discuss it over the phone. Do not discuss it in the presence of non-cleared people whether they are in the Militia or not.

Where do you stand?

I have attempted to present everything I can concerning the Free Militia's purpose and organization as well as what is expected of you should you decide to join us. Of course, much has been left out for security reasons. If you do join us by taking the oath of office in the presence of your cell, there is much more that will be at your disposal in terms of training, plans, assistance and encouragement. But this must be reserved for the committed minuteman who knows and promises to carry out his duties.

So this is the end of the "information highway" for mere inquirers. You are at a crossroads, and must either part company with us or jump in with both feet. You know what the Free Militia is all about. You know how you will need to equip yourself. You know how we are organized and what authority structure you will be coming into. You know the basics of how you will need to maintain secrecy. Now we need to know something about you. As I asked before, are you vigilant, active and brave? Do you have a strong heart? The Free Militia is not for the half-hearted, it is for the lion-hearted.

Of course you are free to walk away from us without obligation. We have no physical hold on you. We have no legal authority over you. But I wonder if you can so easily walk away from our cause. Ideas not only can energize and embolden us, they can enthrall and captivate us. The lofty principles of Liberty are not easily forgotten by subjects nor ignored by tyrants once they are first tasted. How much less can they be forgotten or ignored by people like you and me who have lived and breathed them all our lives? How much less can the light of Liberty be forgotten or ignored by people like you and me who are seeing with our own eyes the attempts to snuff it out forever? The Free Militia is not for the short-sighted, it is for the far-sighted.

Hopefully you see the dangers on the horizon. Indeed, the perils to our liberties are already upon us! But perhaps you are inclined to run away rather than face them. Patrick Henry would tell you, "For my own part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it." Do you know enough truth, if not the whole of it, to cause you anguish of spirit? Can you see the evils of the "best" that can happen, if not the worst? Are you willing to provide for it?

The Free Militia is committed to providing for the worst. We have the cause in our favor. We have the means at our disposal. Do we have you? Are you ready, willing and able to "march" with us to secure the Blessings of Liberty for yourself and your children? If you are, take the oath and join us now!

"I, ________________________, promise to defend and observe the Constitutional liberties embodied in the Bill of Rights for all American citizens by example, persuasion, and force of arms if necessary. To that end, I intend to arm myself, I voluntarily join the Free Militia, and I agree to obey its commanders — to the extent that my conscience allows — for the duration of my service in the Militia and I pledge never to willfully betray the Militia's principles, members or tactics."

We are the few, the free, the Militia!

2.4.5 Discussion questions

Do the technologies and capabilities available to our potential enemy frighten you? Does the fact that such technologies could be turned against you by a "big brother" government give you a sense of urgency to defend your liberties while you can?

Can you see the importance of maintaining the strictest possible secrecy and security in the Free Militia? Why are such measures important to your own personal well being, liberties and perhaps life?

What are the five general things the Free Militia does to keep our existence, membership and plans secret?

Which of these security measures will require the most drastic changes in thinking, behavior and life-style on your part? Why? Do you think that you are sufficiently motivated to change? If not, how can we help you to change "dangerous" behavior?

Would you say that you tend to be flamboyant or low-key? Talkative or quiet? Boastful or humble? Habitual or spontaneous in your routine? Open or private about personal affairs? If any of the bold adjectives are fitting, these are characteristics you will have to change or temper with respect to the Free Militia. Do you see the need to make these changes?

How comfortable are you with the idea of a decentralized organization? Does a degree of independence and initiative among individual cells in the Free Militia give you a sense of confidence or confusion? Why? A sense of liberty or insecurity? Why?

Do you have any questions about what is expected of you concerning classified information?

What two conditions must be met before you are permitted access to a classified document? How must you guard such information when it is in your possession? How should you dispose of it when you no longer need it?

How do you feel about following orders from a superior officer? Is it hard for you to follow directives that seem unnecessary? Unwise? Risky?

Are you prepared to take the oath for the Free Militia? If so, what are your reasons for desiring to join? Fame? Fortune? Power? Glory? Adventure? Fear? Survival? A sense of duty? Something else?

"I, _________________________, promise to defend and observe the Constitutional liberties embodied in the Bill of Rights for all American citizens by example, persuasion, and force of arms if necessary. To that end,I voluntarily join the Free Militia, and agree to obey its commanders — to the extent that my conscience allows — for the duration of my service in the Militia and pledge never to willfully betray the Militia's principles, members or tactics."

Sensitive subjects and words

The following is a partial list of the types of topics and words you should stay away from when talking openly in public or on the phone.

  • Ammunition
  • Assault
  • Attack
  • Body armor
  • Bullet(s)
  • Carbine
  • Explosives
  • Free Militia
  • Gun
  • Gun show
  • Kevlar
  • Machine gun
  • Militia
  • Mini-14
  • Officer(s)
  • Patrol/patrolling
  • Rifle
  • Sniper/sniping
  • Strategy
  • Tactics
  • Uniform

Main ideas of this section

If every member of the Free Militia rigidly follows these five principles of secrecy and security, then the Free Militia will be secret and secure.

Keep a low profile by not drawing attention to yourself, your actions, or your militia equipment. They can't watch you if they don't know you exist!

Keep your mouth shut and do not tell anyone outside the Free Militia about your membership, actions, equipment, or plans. Loose lips do sink ships!

The less any member knows about the whole Free Militia, the less he can divulge if he is watched, overheard, blackmailed, or arrested by the enemy.

Try to avoid patterns. Don't keep doing the same thing the same way at the same time and place. They can't keep watching you if they can't find you.

In the Free Militia, you are only cleared to know or access information which is made available to your rank and only if you need to know it.


    

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