A Guide for Operating in Hostile and Non-Permissive Environments

 

Military personnel deployed to a combat area, their supporting contractors overseas, government civilian employees overseas, non-government organizations (NGOs), businesses attempting to establish a foothold in developing countries, and individual travelers to remote areas of the world can all find themselves in hostile and non-permissive environments. Aircraft go down, vehicles become separated from convoys or break down in remote areas, individuals miss their scheduled transportation, or that transportation never arrives.  Sometimes missions fail and when they fail you may find yourself alone and isolated in a remote and hostile area.

The Guide for Military Personnel Isolated from U.S. Control makes the following recommendations for personnel operating in hostile and non-permissive environments:

1. Follow all local force protection guidance to avoid hazardous situations.

2. Develop a plan to communicate, flee, and fight, if necessary. Holding out for a short span of time may make the difference in being taken prisoner or not.

3. Develop a plan of action with several backup plans before departing a secure area.

4. Be familiar with the route and map --study it in detail.

5. Ensure vehicles are reliable and have all necessary emergency equipment.

6. Study the local norms and be alert to situations and changes in behaviors of the locals that may signal that something bad is about to happen --clear the area.

7. Have a "grab and go" kit. It should include a communications device (cell phone or radio), water, basic first aid kit, etc. Consider including local clothing to assist in any necessary improvised disguise. A weapon with extra ammunition may be appropriate if local conditions permit lawful possession.

8. Have personal affairs in order, and prepare family members for the potential of isolation.

9. Develop the will to survive and resist. Mental preparation is invaluable, and demonstrating a strong will can help overcome seemingly overwhelming obstacles.

In addition, in expeditionary locations, work with local military officials to:

1. Develop an emergency communications plan that provides connectivity to military or governmental support units. Include potential emergency contact ground-to-air signals. Ensure all personnel know how to implement the plan.

2. Maintain situational awareness: blocked streets or someone trying to direct traffic down a side street could be a funneling effort for an ambush or toward an improvised explosive device.

Evasion. Successfully evading capture by hostile forces depends upon personal preparation, planning for the contingency, and to some degree, fortunate circumstances or luck. Attention to detail when preparing an emergency action plan, complete familiarity with communications devices and emergency procedures, and knowledge of personal survival kit items, indigenous personnel, and regional knowledge (flora, fauna, topography, climate, etc.) will aid in successful evasion. Isolated persons should carefully consider contact with indigenous people. The United States is currently operating in areas where there is strong potential for mixed attitudes towards foreigners, especially Americans. There may be a high-risk of indigenous persons responding negatively or even violently, and your presence may result in personal danger to them regardless of their sympathies. Areas controlled by insurgents and illegally armed groups or criminals, locations of mob activity, roads, railroads, trails, rivers, border crossings, and heavily populated areas are normally considered high-threat evasion environments. Individuals must take great care to prevent exposure or capture. As a first move, isolated persons should attempt to establish contact with friendly forces, break visual contact with hostile elements, and move to a secure hiding site. If in a damaged vehicle, move away for as long and as far as possible. If forced to abandon the vehicle, the isolated person should move fast and change directions frequently. When possible, the isolated person should evaluate the immediate situation and again establish communication with friendly forces. Only after careful consideration of their situation should they attempt to evade to an area to initiate recovery. Isolated persons should treat all travel as evasion.

Emergency Contact Signaling. If isolated, individuals should consider improvising a ground-to-air signal. Standard survival manuals describe effective ground-to-air signals being geometric patterns, such as triangles, straight lines, circles, and Xs. Signals should be as large as possible and made of material that contrasts with the background to improve their visibility by rescue forces. As stated above, the isolated person should annotate their pre-mission emergency plan with the shape or type of signal they plan on using.

Imminent Capture. If faced with imminent capture by hostile forces, personnel must assess their options and take action quickly. Initial contact may be the most dangerous and unpredictable of situations. The adversary will likely use as much force as deemed necessary to gain complete control. If hostile contact is unavoidable, offensive driving may be the best or only option to break contact --plan not to stop when under attack. Even a partially disabled vehicle allows for leaving the kill zone and movement to a more defensible position. Personnel should hide, destroy, or neutralize all equipment and information having intelligence and/or military value. Consume any water and food available. If given no opportunity for evasion or escape, personnel should attempt to contact friendly forces, transmit a distress signal, or even leave a note at the scene before capture to verify or validate their status. Isolated persons should let friendly forces know they are facing imminent capture, as it improves potential for rescue or initiates a response by a recovery team. It also facilitates accountability and allows the United States to fight for their release by name. If captured, the individual should remain calm and follow directions while remaining alert for escape opportunities. Captives should consider and plan for escape at all times and realize the best opportunity for escape is usually in the very early stages of captivity during initial capture and movement.

Escape. Escape is a fundamental survival and resistance tool. Escape is risky, especially under hostage conditions but may become necessary if conditions deteriorate to the point that the risks associated with escape are less than the risks of remaining a captive, including credible threats of torture and death. Certain extremist groups are now more willing to execute hostages than hold them for ransom or exploitation. Captives are in the best position to determine if escape offers the best chance for survival. They should think about escape and remain alert for opportunities at all times. Captives should begin planning for escape before and immediately after capture. They must not take escape lightly; and deciding when to escape can be very difficult. In a group situation, captives should attempt to communicate with others to evaluate and assist with escape possibilities. They should base any decision to escape on a careful consideration of the unique circumstances of the situation. Escape planning includes an assessment of the captors' security, the conditions of captivity, the risk of retaliation if recaptured, and the impact of an escape on captives remaining behind.

A copy of Air Force Handbook 10-644 (652 pages), "Survival Evasion Resistance Escape (SERE) Operations" (27 March 2017) is available here: https://fas.org/irp/doddir/usaf/afh10-644.pdf

Multi-Service Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Survival, Evasion and Recovery (March 2007) https://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-50-3.pdf is also worth studying.

The Federal Aviation Administration has posted Aircrew Survival Videos to provide information to pilots and air crew on how to survive following a crash or disabled aircraft:

• Cold Land Survival (20:42 min)
• Hot Land Survival (24:26 min)
• Survival Kits: Rafts & Accessories (15:13)
• Survival Medicine (23:14 min)
• Surviving on Open Water (25:22 min)
• Survival Signaling (15:52 min)
• The Will To Survive (17:44 min)
• Tropical Survival (11:31 min)

The 'Serving Abroad for Families and Employees (SAFE)' course (5 hours) is designed by the US Department of State and provides guidance on security practices while working overseas. There is a tuition rate to take this course through the State Department, but it is available for free on JKO (for those personnel with a DOD CAC). The course consists of the following ten modules:

• Safety Module
• Security Module
• Crisis Management Module
• Evacuation Module
• Sexual Assault Module
• Counterintelligence Module
• Hostage Survival Module
• Radio Communication Module
• Weapons of Mass Destruction Module
• Improvise Explosive Device Module

Level A SERE Education and Training in Support of the Code of Conduct (FOUO) - (4 hours) is also available for those with access to JKO (J3T A-US1329-SERE 100.2).
 

The more security education you have, the greater your ability to recognize threats and employ countermeasures to mitigate those threats. However just having education, knowledge, or awareness of a particular topic will not protect you from threats - you must actually employ security techniques and integrate those techniques into the routine of your daily life.