Where to start
Within The Professional Citizen Project series of manuals...
The following is shared from a post by Jack Morris with The Professional Citizen Project
Where to enter the fray...
“It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war.” — Miyamoto Musashi”
So many of us like this quote; we visualize ourselves an ethnically adjusted samurai with a garden implement in our hands. The quote makes its rounds through the socials once a year or so with the posting individual hoping to get credit as the original author. Each scroller secretly saying to themselves “heck yeah man, that’s me!” But what does this quote really mean for us as a community? What does it mean for you? I have the sense that we have never been closer to a significant crisis than we are right now. This isn’t fear-mongering or apocalypse clickbait, you guys know me well enough to understand this is never my (or The Project’s) position. This is a call to action; action to honestly assess where you are and then make a decision about where you want to be in terms of readiness. The Mushashi quote encapsulates volumes of commentary about professionalism; all the hidden work that was done tirelessly and without ego or fanfare, just a commitment to making oneself better.
Self-promotion (kinda’). So where is this discussion going? Jay and I had a conversation that generated this week’s content, a discussion that centered on multiple questions from readers, clients, and friends in the readiness community. The most often asked question we get is where should one start with the references? The addition of several new Citizen Manuals (CMs) from The Professional Citizen Project requires a short discussion of where one should enter the series. and of course, as with all questions in the community the answer begins with “it depends.”
Where you enter the series must be guided by your goals and your level of training and experience. I was a bit resistant at the idea of doing this since it may come off as self-serving for the business. After talking to Jay we decided the value back to the community outweighs the risk of this coming off as one giant advertisement. Our social platforms are so throttled and censored our messaging is simply not getting out. When we receive questions that can be easily answered (and will apply to hundreds of followers) on those platforms the answer has a high probability of being unseen. We must use the outlet where we can speak and be heard so here goes…
If you are new to the readiness community, limited experience. You may be a 35-year-old father of two, a 15-year-old teenager, or a grandparent that has decided to start prepping / enter the readiness community. Inside this category there are two distinct groups of folks with different goals and associated requirements. There are those interested in general preparedness, and those who want to purse prepping and readiness that also includes tactical skills. To cover each of these two use cases our recommended sequence for the series is below:
Some (or a lot) of experience. The other slice or group are those who have some experience with prepping or readiness. You may have a background with small unit tactics through the military or your local assistance group. You know how to do individual movement techniques, basic weapons skills, and are familiar with land navigation. This approach adds in the CM-2 Reconnaissance manual that goes deep into troop leading, planning, and the tactical skills that build on the other foundational manuals. Ensure you understand the CM-1 and CM-8 skills before you dive into the CM-2.
Summary. No matter where you are in the process this is an ongoing effort for all of us. And to be clear you do not have to use any of these references, the point is you must understand where you are now and where you want to get to with your skillsets. What do you want to be able to do? Do you have a plan to learn what you need to? We want all of us to be those warriors in the garden, not the dad bod sports fan confusedly watching our community descend into chaos.
Interested in the Citizen Manuals from The Professional Citizen Project? Click on the link below to shop the entire series!
https://tpcproject.com/collections/references
