See. Do. Teach.

So this is a topic/concept that isnt exactly new, but is still pertinent (or should be) for many.

Many of us, myself included, are isolated from other like minded individuals. Try as we might, getting a super strong group together in our immediate area is a struggle. At least for now. I suspect that will change when things truly ”go down”.

So what to do? My suggestion is work on getting a core group together. You dont have to be neighbors. In todays age of social media you can be hours away from each other and still communicate and coordinate.

An excellent example is a recent range day put on by some local guys (Marauder who is on here participated). It was coordinated through a social media outlet. Planned and executed well. All told it was a great experience. The crutch? Many of those who attended went to their respective areas afterward. Some two hours drive (multiply by X factor for walking) away. So how do we get fruit from this seed?

My suggestion is to formulate the classic “see, do, teach” paradigm.

Depending on time and resource availability this can be done in a couple of different ways depending on how your group chooses to go about it. My personal choice would be to break up the day(s) in instructional blocks. The group decides on, say, 8 topics they want to cover; then they devote 30 minutes to 1 hour to each topic. Rotating topics (and ideally teachers) each time. Each block can build on the last, or be a completely separate topic entirely.

The goal is to maximize the time at hand for the topics covered. If you have 8 (sticking with this number for simplicity sake) members of roughly equal experience and knowledge, but each one can really deep dive into certain specific topics or aspects; then that one person is the teacher for that block of time. (If you are training multiple days on the same topic, then you rotate the teachers.) This is the SEE portion of the paradigm.

Now here is where the accountability aspect comes in to play. Each member has SEEN the topic. They have followed along and participated. Now comes the DO portion. Their homework is to go back and DO THE THINGS. As long as its within their location capability they should take the time between meet ups to really focus and practice on all the blocks covered at the recently completed TD (training day). Will they become an absolute master? Doubtful. However the more they do the tasks and become familiar with it the better.

Now for the final piece to the puzzle. TEACH. At the next TD plan to essentially re-do the following TD topic material (picking complex material is the best option. Its going to get old doing reloads once a month for so many months). The difference? NEW TEACHERS. Rotate who is teaching which block. This not only holds them accountable for doing the homework between TDs but reinforces the material to better engrain it into their minds. As well as add some low stakes pressure for them to get used to working through.

SEE the material. DO the work. TEACH the topic.

So, why does this matter? Well it all comes down to isolation really. As i spoke to earlier, not all of us (myself included) are lucky enough to live in relative close proximity (neighborhood) of our core group/team. Life just isnt like that. While plans to link are always great, they are just that. Plans. If you cant link up and are in fact isolated, what to do? Well those in your area that werent super receptive to your gospel of preparedness before, most likely are now. You have SEEN the material. You can DO the material. You can TEACH the material. You now have the opportunity to turn what would have been solely an 8 person group (if you had linked up) to 8 groups of 10 (more or less but you get the point). The bonus is you will all be on the same sheet of music for the most part. If you do manage to link up? Well guess who now has 80+ members instead of 8.

“Be fruitful and multiply.” Genesis 1:28

-Sam