The Extraordinary Civil Defense Radio Podcasts and Website
Follow Preston Schleinkofer's Remarkable Civil Defense Podcasts, Book, and Websites
I had the privilege of being interviewed on Preston Schleinkofer’s remarkable Civil Defense Radio podcast about Children and Civil Defense three years ago. His civil defense knowledge is encyclopedic, visionary, intelligent, practical, and vital to the American people and Republic.
Like Michael Mabee’s tome The Civil Defense Book, it is a treasure chest of civil defense knowledge. Mabee’s book and website are written word. Preston’s civil defense expertise, in addition to his website, is taught and communicated to American families via his multiple civil defense podcasts with other experts.
He has also written A Guide for Developing Continuity of Community Through Community-Based Civil Defense An Introduction to a New American Civil Defense Structure. In it, he says presciently in the introduction:
The current emergency management process has not worked very well for Americans as it has failed to see the value of the citizen population as a resource for the community. The decades that have passed since the old cold war era Civil Defense (CD) organizations were discontinued has seen an increase in severe natural and man-made disasters throughout the country. And the modern era has many new threats that were not foreseen when the current emergency management structure was created. The emergency management process that took the place of Civil Defense has looked at the civilian population as something to save not something to employ as additional resources for the benefit of the community.
I agree. Americans can, and do, plan, organize, equip, learn, and exercise as not just an additional but the most critical component. Americans are a force multiplier resource for America’s survival and prosperity before, during, and after natural and manmade disasters.
Private citizens are the ones who stand in the breach to save the American Republic. Always have. Always will. Study American history and it happens time and again. (To learn how Americans stand in the breach, see these two resources: The American Civil Defense Association and American Tactical Civil Defense.)
Preston has thought long and hard about what civil defense is and why it matters. Below is his solid definition of civil defense from his website.
What is Civil Defense?
There is not a modern American definition of “civil defense” that works for our current all-hazards threat environment. For many, the term hearkens back to the cold war era preparing for a nuclear missile attack from the old Soviet Union. There are many new threats, in addition to a nuclear attack, that should be on our list of local, regional and national threats, but are not. We created the following definition using inspiration from multiple definitions found during our research that is more appropriate for today and the threats we face as a community and nation:
Civil Defense is the system of civilians and civilian government authorities within cities and counties partnering in protective measures and emergency relief activities conducted by community members for their own safety and protection in case of severe natural or man-made disasters and catastrophic events, including:
protecting families, neighborhoods, and communities,
training members in disaster preparedness, response and recovery measures,
maintaining Continuity of Community by preserving safety, security and constitutional governmental functions and, restoration and protection of critical infrastructure.
In my article Children and Civil Defense in the TACDA Journal of Civil Defense of December 18th, 2020, p. 18) and my American Tactical Civil Defense Substack post Children Need Civil Defense Skills, I have a related definition that includes the children because, in the end, it is all about their personal protection and golden futures.
Civil defense includes all the tasks undertaken to ensure the safety of citizens and to protect them from manmade attack (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, cyber, etc.) as well as from the negative impacts of natural disasters (fires, floods, snowstorms, drought, etc.). At the very core of civil defense is the protection of children. In the United States, this is mostly done by unpaid volunteers in support of front-line emergency personnel with oversight by the government.
Preston describes the mission of his Civil Defense Radio podcast as:
Civil Defense Radio is more than about a “New American Civil Defense Structure,” it is also about providing you with valuable information. We design each show to inform you of the many serious natural and man-made threats that our nation faces; those threats many news outlets are afraid to speak about or unwilling to mention.
Beside the many threats we talk about, we also bring helpful topics. Topics on preparedness, community resiliency building and examples of other successful community efforts to motivate and guide your efforts.
This information driven approach will assist you in making the BEST possible decisions about the safety and security for yourself, your family, your neighborhood and community during disastrous events. It takes more than information, it takes action also.
Civil Defense = Resiliency = Survival
To be resilient it takes preparation, organization, and training to meet the needs of whatever situation we may find ourselves in. The original Civil Defense system of the 1940’s was designed to help reduce panic in a disaster through training and awareness. Can you think of anything more frightening at that time than nuclear war? Unfortunately, today there are many more threats, some of them much more serious than a nuclear bomb exploding in the United States. That is why we strongly recommend establishing a community-based civil defense corps in your city or county. It is better when done in partnership with your local emergency manager and community leaders.
We offer guidance on our “Resources” tab. Look for “the Guide” at the top of the page. Our CD “Guide” provides enough information to get the discussion started and begin building your leadership team. We are always here to help, just drop us a line here.
Please download our shows regularly and visit our social media platforms often where we post regularly. You can find us on Facebook at @CivilDefenseRadio, and on Twitter @Civil_Def_Radio. Facebook is where we post most often, though.
At the bottom of his Threats to Our Way of Life webpage, he does an excellent job listing and describing the greatest civil defense threats, including: A Major War, Power Grid, EMP, Solar Flare, Cyber-Attack, Physical Attack, Financial Collapse, Civil Unrest, Terrorist Attacks, NBC Attacks, and Severe Weather. He summarizes well the impacts of several worst-case scenarios as well, with first-rate analysis of the potential results of those scenarios, which follow.
Long-Term Interruption of Power
People will be without heat/AC
People will be without refrigeration – this includes grocery stores, hospitals, clinics and pharmacies
People will be without the ability to perform basic functions like cooking and boiling water or providing heat to their homes during cold temperatures causing increased fire dangers
People will be without basic sanitation and, hence, at risk for diseases
People may be without transportation – without fuel due to no electrical power for the pumps and no resupply
Most, if not all, forms of communication will be disrupted
Long-Term Interruption of the Supply Chain
Food delivery will stop
Fuel delivery will stop
Banks will be closed, no cash withdrawals or ATM service
Delivery of medicine and medical supplies to hospitals, clinics and pharmacies will stop
Delivery of all products, parts and supplies will stop
Long-Term Interruption of Essential Service
Water service will stop
Sewer service will stop
Fire, EMS, Police/Sheriff will not be able to respond (for lack of fuel, personnel and communications)
Collapse of Law and Order (after first three-plus days)
The Police/Sheriff will not have the manpower, communications, or transportation to provide security for the community
Desperate people will resort to looting, burglary, robbery, or any means necessary to get food and water
It is unlikely that state or federal help “is on the way” anytime soon, no way of knowing
Many local governments will quickly become ineffective
Without ATMs there will be a lack of cash for purchasing few available food items
EBT cards will not work and those receiving them will not have a way to obtain food and other life sustaining supplies
Even after the restoration of power for a prolonged period there will still be areas within your jurisdiction that will need to be reestablished within the normal standards of civility (Once civility fails, it is often hard to bring it back under control quickly)
Starving and Sick Refugees Arriving from Larger Urban Areas (Urban to Rural Mass Migration)
Even if, miraculously, you are in a jurisdiction that is prepared and has a plan to attack the above challenges, look to your nearest urban areas – refugees will soon be forced to flee the cities due to lack of food, medical, and safety. Any plan for a community’s survival will have to address how to humanely handle desperate refugees while protecting your community and maintaining law and order
Farms and rural homesteads will be targets of gangs and opportunists looking for food and valuables to use as barter. Produce and livestock will be slaughtered and wasted by criminals not knowing how to properly process these resources
Safety of rural residents will be severely imperiled by a lack of civility and no law enforcement coverage
City/County borders will have to be monitored and protected
City/County assets will have to be guarded from looters/criminals (assets include: government buildings and offices, other critical infrastructure, banks and credit unions, grocery stores, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, liquor stores, gas stations, etc.
After more than a week without food, locals, as well as refugees, will be looking for food at the farms and ranches in the rural parts of the country
To save the most amount Americans we must have a plan. FEMA doesn’t have a plan. The state emergency management agencies don’t have a plan. There most likely isn’t a city or county government in the nation that has a plan. Our big federal government and FEMA’s centralized big government top-down style of emergency management isn’t the answer. Responding after the fact is not a real plan for the type of catastrophic event this threat represents. They won’t even be able to respond to help themselves in their secret bunkers, let alone every city, county and state in America.
Preston is absolutely correct. Plan accordingly.
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Civil Defense Radio Broadcast Gems
For years, Civil Defense Radio has been broadcasting amazing civil defense gems trying to educate American families about how to build civil defense protections into their daily lives. Visit Preston’s remarkable work on his podcasts, website, and Facebook. A few sample podcasts are below.
Michael Mabee (Author of the Civil Defense Book) and Preston on Building a Culture of Preparedness
Cameron Hamilton: Former Naval SEAL, My American Heroes Series
My Comeback Podcast Preston Schleinkofer is the owner and host of the Civil Defense Radio podcast. He is retired from over 22 years in the armed forces of the United States, retiring at the rank of Sergeant First Class (E-7). He is also retired from 27 years of federal law enforcement service, ultimately retiring at the federal grade of GS-14.
Children and Civil Defense Nov 17, 2020 · 37m 11s The topic of discussion was Children and Civil Defense. We also talked about The American Civil Defense Association (TACDA) and what that great organization has done. Their biannual Journal has great information in it, which is where the article came from on children and civil defense that we spoke about. The TACDA Survival Store also has items in it that we talked about.
Links
Guest Links
TACDA Website: https://tacda.org
TACDA Survival Store: https://tacda.org/the-survival-store/
TACDA Journal of Civil Defense: https://tacda.org/journal-topic/journal-of-civil-defense/
TACDA Academy: https://tacda.org/resources/#TACDA-ACADEMY
Children and Civil Defense (https://poetslife.blogspot.com/2018/10/why-civil-defense-matters-for-children.html)
Church Emergency Evacuation, Shelter-in-Place, and Lock-Down Plan (https://poetslife.blogspot.com/2017/05/church-emergency-evacuation-shelter-in.html)
I consider Preston Schleinkofer a national civil defense treasure and am confident that if you explore his solid, practical, visionary civil defense work, you will too.
The government needs to convince the population they are childlike and incapable of helping themselves. ("Only the government can do that.")
So they never incorporate a plan where intelligent citizens clearly form the most important resource of them all in emergency management. It would interfere in their psychological programming plan for learned helplessness.
You need only think of Chinese villagers following severe ice storms pushing overturned 18-wheeler trucks on the highway back upright by working as large groups of 100+ people in order to clear the roads to know that people working together are so much more powerful than the government there is no comparison. What would have taken months to do to get the highway traffic flowing again by the government took the villagers a few hours to clear miles of road. By the end of the day traffic was normal bringing in much needed food and supplies.