I hope my paranoia isn't showing, but here goes...

We live very near to a full scale military base.

While the village we live in is small 5 churches, 1 bank, an elementary school & only one night spot (local American Legion). About 1/3 of the inhabitants are military, maybe more.

Maybe I've seen too many movies, but I can't shake the feeling that we're living in the shadow of a benevolent giant that will turn nasty on us. There's thousands of soldiers just 7 miles down the road, and many of them have families on site...

We want to stay in our community as long as possible, but I think we should buy a "fixer-upper" a little bit away from here, as an escape route.

How far is far enough? Am I being silly? Should I be ashamed of thinking that the people who give their lives to protect us may turn on us???

-- Debbie Lavoie (lavoierd@gisco.net), June 26, 1998

Answers

Debbie,

So much to worry about, so little time.

You have to evaluate your situation based on quite a number of things. Unless you cover the important issues in planning, you could be going from the frying pan into the fire. Evaluate your personal 'community' (family, friends, neighbors, church etc.) where you are now. Ditto anywhere you might decide to get a "vacation home." Where will you be better off as far as your human resources are concerned? Where is your support structure the greatest?

What kind of unit(s) are stationed on your base? What do they do? Most of the modern military is "tail" (support units) and not "tooth" (combat units)- the ratio is about 90% tail and 10% tooth. Being around a bunch of logistics types might not necessarily be a bad thing if the bug bites hard. There are apt to be Guard and Reserve units all over the place handling problems if things are bad, so moving might not necessarily get you away from people in tree suits. That depends on your going far enough away from anything anyone will pay attention to. And again, is that worth being a 'stranger in a strange land?'

I personally would not care for living under any sort of military strictures. As an alternative to freezing and starving in the dark it doesn't seem so bad though. And I am not too much worried about the troopies turning tyrannical on us. Some of the leadership, both civilian and military, seem not to have any better sense than to think they might have to TAKE OVER! (or is it that they WANT to take over?) to 'save' the situation (see Gary North's posts on martial law at his web site for examples). But I get to talk to the troopies a good bit. Most of them still have minds of their own.

Take care of the FIRST THINGS FIRST, no matter where you decide to be. Find your inner strength and use it. Build on your 'community.' If you're going to move, do it soon so you'll have community relationships where you're going. Get a couple month's expenses in cash on hand. Be sure you have an alternative source of heat if you need it. Make sure the water will be there. Fill up the pantry, plant a garden, learn to can/dry/root cellar. Get all your doctor and dental stuff taken care of now, and learn first aid if you don't know it. Be sure your vehicle is in good condition. Be prepared to provide for your own physical security. Hug the kids if you've got any, kiss your significant other and pat the dog (anybody's dog will do, if it's friendly) occasionally in the process. Read things that will help you learn to be more self sufficient. Use your spare time to worry about the troopies, ours or anyone else's. If unfriendly folks of any stripe show up, see "Be prepared to provide for your own physical security" above. That should about cover it... .

LPL

-- Lee P. Lapin (lplapin@hotmail.com), June 26, 1998.