Zombie Squad: Preparing the Populace for Destruction (not TFB's spelling, by the way).

Disclaimer: TFB is concerned with the propagation of zombie rhetoric and the ever increasing frequency of self-proclaimed zombie experts and zombie-fighting pundits. These self-proclaimed experts are publishing zombie defense manuals and video of undead suppression techniques of very dubious technical accuracy. The authors or alleged Subject Matter Experts frequently have no real operational experience. True, boots on the ground, real lessons-learned zombie fighting tactics by guys who’ve been there, done that, are hard to find. There are a few out there (JL Bourne, Robert Kirkman and certain classified elements of the Zombie Squad), but not enough. Fewer still are those who will offer insight on the ‘big picture’ necessities of preparing for the zombiepocalypse. Sure, you can clear the house of the walking dead. Can you plan the campaign that will clear them out of your entire town? What about all of western Missouri? (If nothing else, push them out west and let Kansas deal with them.) Amateurs talk tactics…professionals talk strategy and logistics.

So, if you’re serious about the art and science of warfighting, you should absolutely be familiar with Sun Tzu. (One would hope that name need go unexplained.) You should also have at least a passing knowledge of the substantially less existential Clausewitz and the martial aspects of the frequently self-righteous (and pedantic) Machiavelli. Doesn’t mean you have to agree with everything they say (for instance, you may think a lot of The Prince is bombastic) but it’s worth studying. Just like you should read about Gustavus Adolphus and Von Moltke.

So, anyway, you can get copies of the book in a number of places (including on line). Alternately, if you’re one of those who only read when you’re perched atop a porcelain throne, you can watch the video series Art of War.

Don’t get too worked up about the theatrics and contrived cool-guy serious voice…it’s a tv show, they have to sell advertisements, and remember to keep it all in context and perspective. If you don’t know have a clue what a Condottiere is, you may not grasp everything old Niccolò is trying to say, and if you don’t have at least some appreciation for Taoist spiritualism, you might not appreciate Sun Tzu…then again, that might just be the perfect reason to watch instead of read.

Especially if you can park your laptop in the bathroom.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 at 23:30 and is filed under Military, Survival, Training, Zombies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.