The article below seems like more of the same confirmation we have seen over the last two years.  Military has had several "economic meltdown" scenario drills by themselves and with local law enforcement.

I suppose if they were not doing this we would be complaining that they were not preparing for what is obviously coming down the pike.

We can only last so long at the current rate of consumption before something has to give...and the military is making sure that it is not the one who will be caught unprepared.

On the flipside...depending on who is running the military and what their goals are, it could be taken as a sign that people will be treated like cattle in mass evacuations and martial law crackdowns.  The only silver lining here is that we still have time to prepare.  Get some food people.  You can get Freeze Dried high quality food that has a storage shelf life of 30 years.

Mountain House Freeze Dried is the best you can get.

If you do not get it from me...then please get it from somewhere.

Some other great survival tips can be found all over the internet...

But here are a few that I have been working on.

1.  Store water in used containers with a drop of bleach.  Put it in a dark place where the plastics will not be broken down by the sun light.

2.  Get some 100 or 50 pound bags of rice, beans, flour and raw wheat (get a manual grinder too) and begin using them, rotating your stock with new purchases as you use them to keep your reserves up and available.  Buy some extra canned goods every time you go to the store.

3.  Learn how to can food.  Canning is an essential part of preserving what you grow.  Get turkeys, hams, chicken and other meats on sale so that you can preserve them using canning methods for later consumption.  A pressure cooker is a good thing to have.

4.  Get some seeds so that you can plant additional food before your storage runs out.  Learn how and where to put a garden on your property.

5.  Collect rain water for irrigation using a drip system for your growing plants.

6.  Put your money where it counts for the future.  Basic preparations will go a long way if you have put a little forethought into what you are doing.

7.  Get some guns and ammo to protect yourself.  Get some firearms training so you know how to use them and when to use them responsibly.  This is your right under the 2nd Amendment to keep and to bear arms. Do it!  What are you waiting for?  Plenty of places to make that happen.

8.  Talk to your neighbors and friends about what they are doing (if anything) to prepare for harder economic times when the stores have been run and there is no food left.

9.  Get some silver and gold like everyone else is doing.  These will come in handy as a natural currency of metals when the time comes.

10.  Stock up on common toiletries like Toilet Paper, Toothbrushes, Dental Floss, Toothpaste, Mouthwash.

11.  Stock up on trade items like alcohol, wine, beer, cigarettes, makeup and things that generally make people feel human.  They will become very valuable when they are not available anymore at stores.  Simple supply and demand.

12.  Get Medical Supplies!  More than just bandaids people.  Think about what people need when they go to the emergency room for a major injury.  You will need these when emergency services are no longer available.  Gauze, Suture kits, A variety of adhesive bandages, medical tape, rubbing alcohol, super glue (amazing replacement for stitches), scissors.

13.  Firewood, Ax, Woodsaws, Wood Mauls.  Make a secure place to store your firewood and equipment, so it won't get stolen.

14.  Hunting guns, shotgun, 22 rifle, 308...etc.  And plenty of ammo for hunting.  Perhaps a bow if you want to hunt quietly.

15.  Make some plans about where you will go and who will go with you if things get ugly in the big city (and they probably will).  Decide when you will leave.  What kind of events will trigger your plans.  Otherwise you will never be ready to go when it is time.

16.  Keep some storage bins available with blankets, warm clothes, winter gear, fire-starting utensils and materials, basic defense weapons, knife, and basic supply of foods that are easy to prepare and consume with limited resources.

17.  Keep a smaller version of the "to go" kit in your car at all times so you will be prepared for anything anywhere if you can not get home.

18.  Get some training for self defense with guns, knives, and survival skills.

19.  Gasoline storage containers...keep them full and stabilize them for longer term storage with "Stabil" that preserves the octane.  Rotate your gas in appropriate increments so you have full stock of good gas when you need it.

20.  A 4 x 4 Truck is nice to have when the roads are clogged with unprepared travelers and military or police blockades that are directing people to where they want you to go...instead of where you want to go.

This is just a beginning list...but you can see that there is lots to do for you to be self sufficient and prepared when things get ugly.

Don't panic.  Don't be a doomer, gloomer...just look around, open your eyes, study history, look how things are going and keep a pulse on what you should be doing to prepare.

I am personally quitting smoking, because the money can be better spent elsewhere at this time..and for other reasons too.  Cut out the stuff you do not need.  This is what we should have been doing 10 - 20 years ago...it would have kept our economy on the level.

And above all...Seek the Lord Jesus and get your life right with Him now.  Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your decisions and plans so that you can be prepared to be a resource for others when the time comes.

The Strong Watchman

Original Article at: TheNewAmerican.com

Skeptics who continue to assert that the economic plight of the United States has been overstated need not look further than the Pentagon to find out just how wrong they are. CNBC has learned that the Pentagon is currently playing out “war games” pertinent to an American economic meltdown.

According to CNBC, “The Pentagon is planning for real economic threats to America.”

CNBC’s Business News analyst Eamon Javers explains:

Ever since the crash of 2008, the Defense Intelligence establishment has really been paying a lot of attention to global markets and how they could serve as a threat to U.S. National security interests. At one upcoming seminar that we’re going to see here next month, they’re going to be taking a look at a lot of the issues … [including] the use of sovereign wealth funds to manipulate markets, currencies; nation state economic collapse, sovereign default, nation state instability; U.S. Allies’ budgets, deficits, national security infrastructures.

Similarly, the Army has launched an operation called “Unified Quest 2011” in which it studies the “implications of ‘large scale economic breakdown’ inside the United States that would force the Army to keep ‘domestic order amid civil unrest.'” The Quest also trains the Army in how to “deal with fragmented global power and drastically lower budgets.”

In October, the United States Marine Corps visited J.P. Morgan to “study markets and the economy.”

Javers concludes:

All different parts of the Pentagon and Defense Intelligence establishment are looking at markets and looking at ways they can present a new kind of threat to the United States. These are the guys whose job it is to think of the worst possible things that could happen.

According to Wired.com, the Army hosts a Unified Quest every year, which entails “the Army’s chief of staff [instructing] talented mid-career and senior officers and senior enlisted (wo)men to evaluate where the service is falling short — and propose remedies.”

However, the 2011 Unified Quest lends truth to assertions that the United States is indeed not witnessing an upward economic recovery, as so many in our federal government have asserted. Soldiers are being trained in evacuation and detainment as a response to rioting, revealing the possibility that the United States military may resort to martial law in order to maintain order.

Unified Quest 2011 also prepares soldiers to act as diplomats in the event that there is a limited availability of diplomats at combat outposts, or on the streets contending with hungry and angry Americans. Wired.com writes, “There’s a strong consensus that negotiations ought to be part of the Army’s toolkit — something backed by a ream of recent doctrinal manuals and various short courses in negotiation at the Army’s many schools.”

Blacklisted News explains that the Pentagon’s war games are just one of many examples that show the direction in which the world is headed. Others include the decentralization of FEMA from a single distribution facility in Washington to 15 regional facilities across the nation. Blacklisted News also claims, “Anecdotal evidence indicates that the U.S. government has been the leading buyer of freeze dried foods for the last couple of years, and private emergency shelter contractors have reported a shortage in equipment and supplies for building personal-sized bunkers.”

Other global powers are apparently preparing for “Doomsday” scenarios. Russia has reportedly been preparing for the development of 5,000 new underground bunkers for the city of Moscow, while the European Union commissioned the building of a “Doomsday Seed Vault” in a mountainside several hundred feet above sea level in 2006.

Additionally, FEMA’s website recommends that American families have emergency preparedness supplies readily available, including food and water, for at least several weeks.