There are only a few occasions previously decade that I’ve opened a e book and felt a right away reference to its writer. That’s what occurred once I started studying The Area Intelligence Handbook, by Mike Shelby.
I suppose that a greater title for the e book could be: The Space Intelligence Handbook For Survivalists, as a result of that’s how the e book is geared. This 249-page commerce paperback is not only a generic guide on Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB) for people within the Army Intelligence (MI) area. Relatively, it’s really tailor-made for preparedness-minded non-public residents, in anticipation of a extreme state of affairs corresponding to an financial collapse, societal collapse, martial legislation, civil conflict, and even an invasion. In Shelby’s estimation, America is already in a Low-Depth Battle (LIC). The Space Intelligence Handbook postulates a unbroken escalation of that battle. Most significantly, the e book describes how one can conduct an in depth Space Intelligence research of your individual area, to arrange for a variety of attainable threats and outcomes.
I ought to again as much as point out a bit concerning the writer’s background: Mike Shelby is a former Intelligence NCO. You in all probability already know him from listening to his glorious Forward Observer podcast series. Shelby is a veteran of each Iraq and Afghanistan deployments, and the depth of that have actually reveals. He served on energetic obligation and later went again abroad to work as a contractor. Clearly, he has “walked the stroll.” Each his logic and his methodology are sound. He isn’t an alarmist. Relatively, Shelby forthrightly and dispassionately lays out some believable menace spirals and viable menace mitigation choices.
In Half One of many e book, Shelby describes Space Intelligence, and how you can conduct an Space Research, with descriptions of each the Operational Surroundings and the Risk Surroundings. Then he briefly describes how you can do Mission Evaluation. In Half Two of the e book, the writer does a deep dive into the varied facets of the Operational Surroundings: Bodily Terrain and Climate, Human Terrain, Vital Infrastructure, Politics and Governance, Security, Safety & Protection, and Economics & Finance. Half Three of the e book is a succinct set of very helpful annexes. That’s adopted by appendixes on net assets and assortment necessities.
All-in-all, The Space Intelligence Handbook is an excellent reference. It concentrates on one facet of preparedness that almost all different preparedness books virtually fully ignore. I discover that commendable. As a result of I additionally served in army intelligence, this e book actually resonated with me. In enhancing SurvivalBlog, I’ve strived to generalize, to be able to make it helpful to a large viewers. However in Shelby’s e book (and on his podcasts and in his Grey Zone coaching collection) he zeroes in on the significance of intelligence gathering and evaluation.
Mike Shelby does an awesome job of turning an in any other case dry topic into some fascinating studying. This e book is clearly meant for readers in North America. His insights into American tradition generally, and economics particularly, are fairly helpful. Relatively than simply itemizing societal developments, he goes deeper and identifies the basis causes — the “drivers” — of these developments. It’s this depth of study that makes The Space Intelligence Handbook significantly helpful.
When studying The Space Intelligence Handbook, pay specific consideration to Chapter 15, titled Subsequent Steps.
The one noticeable weak spot of this e book is that it underemphasizes the significance of discrete mobile group, to attenuate the chance of getting your preparedness group or “tribe” penetrated or co-opted. Shelby does appropriately stress the significance of “going grey”. In his Grey Zone coaching collection, the writer covers that in nice element, however by necessity that’s past the scope of this e book beneath evaluation. However please, people: be vigilant, be cautious of newcomers, and set up indifferent cells for Leaderless Resistance. Relatively than constructing a big hierarchical group, it’s best to try to create really indifferent cells which can be virtually invulnerable to agent provocateurs. I’m assured that Mike Shelby absolutely addresses these OPSEC points in his ongoing Surveillance Awareness (SA) Courses.
The e book makes use of Shelby’s personal area, in and close to Austin, Texas, as a mannequin. However you possibly can in fact take that as a template to use to analyzing the econo-socio-political milieu of your individual locale. All the instruments that you just’ll must do an Space Research of your area are between the covers of Shelby’s e book. I strongly suggest that you just get a replica of The Area Intelligence Handbook. Research it carefully, after which put it into motion. – JWR