The DM-1701 is an inexpensive dual-band VHF-UHF DMR/Analog radio. It includes some features that are not legal on the amateur bands such as two different modes of encryption, but overall, it is a nice radio that’s rugged enough for commercial use. If you’ve attended NC Scout’s RTO course recently, you know that he’s picked up …
Continue reading Setting Up A Baofeng DM-1701, by Captain Attilla
You’ve got your column formed- the world has taken a turn for the worse, and the baddies are inbound for a raid. Fortunately, your team has the weapons they need and you agreed on a group standard with serviceable day optics and a combat load to go with it. Right on. Time to form up …
Continue reading Night Fighting: Basic Rules for Implementing NODs in a Guerrilla Column
The second run of FM 7-93, Long Range Surveillance Handbook and the Special Forces Antenna Handbook are back in stock- there was a huge demand for the first run and they sold out very quickly. I've added FM 23-10, Sniper Training, to the mix. They're $20 each, spiral bound and pocket sized to make them …
A couple of years ago I wrote a commentary on the role of the Special Purpose Rifle, which was originally a special operations project to make a more accurate carbine than what the M4 afforded, providing ground units with precision fire capability while keeping magazines and ammunition loadouts standard across the team. My buddy and …
Continue reading The Recce Carbine: Jack Of All Trades, Master Of A Few?
Making the standard AR-15 into something more than an intermediate carbine is an old concept, going back to nearly the genesis of the weapon itself. It really hit its stride in the early 2000s with the Special Purpose Rifle (SPR) concept- a Small Unit level Designated Marksman’s rifle. It’s advantages are numerous; light weight, accurate …
Folks, I've been inundated with emails and course requests. I'm answering between 50-75 emails a day, and that's on top of coordinating people for courses. This is not a complaint, hell, if anything its validation. The free market spoke and in this case its loud and thunderous...cue the inner Sally Field. But that said, please, …
Going back to the early days of the Brushbeater blog, the Jungle Antenna post has been and continues to be one of the more popular posts I’ve done. And for good reason- I wrote it to be used. It’s the antenna every student in the RTO course builds and one of the designs they get …
Continue reading The Jungle Antenna Revisited: Task and Purpose for the Partisan and Prepper
The cornerstone of why you need communications in the field is unit coordination. Teams must have a way to relay what they see and update the situation to other partner teams in the field and to a command location. This is what’s known as Inter-Team Communications and should be thought of as your lifeline for …
Continue reading Guidelines for Integrating Inter-Team Communications Into Your Kit
The use of Directional Antennas are the most basic way to improve communications security even if all you’ve got is a set of inexpensive radios. In Part 1 we talked about the theory of use and why they’re important to have for the dedicated RTO of a small unit. Sending your signal in one direction …
Continue reading Directional Antennas For The Small Unit, Part 2
One of the biggest misconceptions behind communications security revolves around misunderstanding not just the role of the equipment but also how it functions. A big part of that is the basics of antenna theory. For most radio seems to be a plug and play kinda deal- it either works, or it doesn’t. Antennas are a …
Continue reading Directional Antennas For The Small Unit, Part 1
