I had heard that the Pentagon was requesting permission to deploy 400,000 troops on U.S. soil during a major emergency or disaster. I didn’t want to believe it, so I did a search on the web. The following link is just one of many articles I found on the subject:

The Pentagon Wants Authority to Post Almost 400,000 Military Personnel in U.S.

Okay, so it’s true. Never mind about Posse Comitatus and how this isn’t supposed to happen. I suppose the Pentagon wouldn’t be asking if they didn’t think they would get approval. So, why are they doing it?

I don’t know. I suspect it may have something to do with the Swine Flu. I have read where the Greek government is going to require all of their citizens to take Swine Flu vaccinations. Here is a link to that story:

Greece to vaccinate entire population for new flu

Mandatory vaccinations hasn’t happened in the U.S. yet. But, there is a lot of talk on the news about the upcoming Swine Flu this fall and winter.

I can not say if the Swine Flu is just a big joke, or if it’s going to be really bad. What I do know is that if this does happen, and there is a pandemic, the troops will be stationed all over the U.S., and curfews will be enforced. If there are quarantines, you may not be able to leave your home for an extended period of time. What will you do then?

This is a prime reason why you need to take stock of the amount of food you have stored for your family. If you have just a few days of groceries in the house, you should consider storing more. If the grocery stores were closed, you would still need to feed your family.

If you know nothing about food storage, please click the big Orange Button at the top right of the page. You can get our FREE REPORT that will tell you what you need to know to get started with food storage and basic preparedness. It is provided to you at no cost. All it takes is your time to read it.

Whether you start with a small freeze dried food unit, or just get more groceries from the store, do something while you still have time.

Amateur Radio is the grandfather of all forms of radio communcation. It’s usefullness as a form of emergency communcations is unparalleled. We will look at this form of communcation in Part 3 of our series.

If you missed Part 1, you can read it here:

Emergency Communications for TEOTWAWKI, Part 1

If you missed Part 2, you can read it here:

Emergency Communications for TEOTWAWKI, Part 2

Amateur Radio operators, also know as Hams, have pioneered radio communcation since the first decade of the 1900s. Amateur radio is the most flexible and most powerful of all forms of radio communcation. It is also the most regulated. To become a ham radio operator you must pass a test. When you pass the test, you will be granted a Technician license. There are actually three licenses classes. Each requires a test, each is successively more difficult to pass, and each carries with it more privileges.

The three license classes are Technician, General, and Amateur Extra (commonly referred to as “Extra”). For decades, knowing Morse Code was a requirement for obtaining a ham radio license. However the FCC has dropped the Morse Code requirement, which went into effect in February 2007. Now, you just have to study and pass a test.

When you have a ham radio license, there are many “ham bands” that can be used. The ham bands are areas of the electromagnetic spectrum that the FCC has set aside for amateur radio operators to use. Hams can communcation on the HF, VHF, UHF, Microwave, and Satellite bands. However, the license you hold governs which bands you are able to transmit on.

A Technician license allows you to transmit on the VHF and UHF bands. These are “line-of-sight” forms of communcation, and are generally only good for 0 to 50 miles. However, when the conditions are just right, you can talk over distances of hundreds, even thousands of miles. But, that doesn’t happen continuously. Just some of the time.

General and Extra class licenses allow you to transmit on all of the amateur radio bands. You can transmit on HF, which is good for some local communcation, but is primarily suited for long distance communcation. Often hams can transmit on HF for thousands of miles. It is commonplace to talk to people in other countries halfway around the world.

The amateur radio service is called “amateur” for a good reason. No business transactions can occur over amateur radio, and no money can exchange hands between ham radio operators. That’s why it’s called amateur.

So, now that you have had a brief introduction to amateur radio, you must be wondering how well suited it is for emergency communcations. It is ideal.

The FCC allows hams to transmit on a great number of radio frequency bands for primarily one reason. Amateur radio operators provide emergency communcations support during disasters. In exchange, the hams have these bands set aside for their exclusive use. These same bands are the envy of commercial communications companies, who would love to have them for commercial use. But the FCC has set aside these bands for hams because of the support they provide during emergencies. Also, it’s all volunteer. No amateur radio operator is paid anything for their assistance during a disaster.

There is a slogan in Amateur Radio, “When all else fails, Amateur Radio.” What it means is that when normal communcation services go down, for whatever reason, there is always amateur radio communcations available. Generally in an emergency, ham radios are on the air within minutes providing communcations for emergency service personel who have lost their normal forms of communcation. Hams pay for their equipment with their own money, and they maintain it with their own money. It is generally not cheap, just because of the many different types of equipment that hams end up owning. However you can get started with ham radio for $200 – $500. Less if you go to a “ham fest” and purchase equipment. Ham fests are flea markets for amateur radio equipment. You generally can find just about anything there. From new gear to some that is decades old, but still works.

Hopefully, you have enjoyed this introduction to amateur radio. If you would like more information, just go to the ARRL website located at:

Amateur Radio Relay League

The ARRL is the national association for amateur radio and provides many services to the amateur radio community.

If you would like to get started with amateur radio, here is another site you might find of use:

Welcome to the World of Ham Radio

You may be wondering how I know so much about ham radio. I hold an Amateur Extra class license and have been licensed since 1990. I am also a Volunteer Examiner and can administer and grade licensing exams.

Did you know that there are Freeze Dried Food units developed especially for First Responders and Government agencies? Yes, there are.

Are you one of the following types of organizations?

The following chart shows the different food units available, along with the number of people they feed, and the calories per person per day.

Click on the buttons for more information.

Mini Unit - Group Emergency Food Reserve #1	Mini Unit - Group Emergency Food Reserve #2	Mini Unit - Group Emergency Food Reserve #3
10 People/3 Days	20 People/3 Days	50 People/7 Days
4500 Calories/Day	2250 Calories/Day	2500 Calories/Day

Mountain House Freeze Dried Food boasts some of the largest shelf lives in the food storage arena. However, the length of time it stores varies by the package type.

Mountain House Freeze Dried comes in several types of packaging:

• Regular Pouches
• Pro Pak Pouches
• #10 Cans

Regular Pouches from Mountain House generally have a 7 year shelf life. However, not all pouched freeze dried food stores for the same amount of time. Freeze dried ice cream and organic fruit products have a shelf life of 2 years. All other Mountain House freeze dried food pouches have a shelf life of 7 years.

Pro Paks are another type of Mountain House freeze dried food pouch. These pouches also have a 7 year shelf life, but they are a special case. Pro Pak pouches are a special type of foil packaging that comes completely vacuumed sealed for ultra compact storage. In addition, they are made to not expand when hiking or camping in higher elevations. Each pouch takes up less space in your backpack, boat, rv, emergency pack, or car, and they feature a convenient stand up zipper foil pouch for simple and easy rehydration and eating.

Regular pouches and Pro Pak pouches don’t have to be used on a backpacking or camping trip. They also fit well in a family food storage pantry. The benefits for backpackers also apply to food storage enthusiasts. Compact, lightweight freeze dried food storage in a pouch.

Mountain House freeze dried food in #10 cans are packed airtight and have a 25 year shelf life. Testing has shown that the shelf life actually exceeds 30 years. The interior and exterior of these cans are coated with protective enamel for double protection. Mountain House’s canning process is equal to military standards, and uses vacuum oxygen removal and nitrogen flushing.

In all cases, you should treat any rehydrated food as you would fresh food.