Choose Your Path
Practical readiness for households, organizations, and communities without allowing preparedness to take over daily life.
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Churches across the United States continue to face threats ranging from terrorism and targeted violence to arson, vandalism, theft, and individuals acting on personal grievances. In 2025, the FBI recorded 10,881 hate crime incidents…
Read the briefBriefing work
Current assessments and intelligence-style work connected to this subject.
Do not just train for the attack. Train for the failure of the systems you expect to help you respond to it.
Read the briefUtah Valley University’s after-action report on the September 10, 2025 assassination of Charlie Kirk points to a larger failure than any single missed rooftop or security…
Read the briefA Watch Floor brief on recognizing behavior in context, reporting a useful observation, and building the handoff that gets a warning to the people who can…
Read briefThe return of Ebola to international headlines is a reminder that some threats never disappear; they simply fade from public attention until conditions allow them to…
Read briefThe current global environment is no longer defined by isolated crises. It is defined by convergence. What analysts now describe as a polycrisis is not a…
Read briefWhen people think about terrorism, they picture the moment of impact — the explosion, the gunfire, the chaos. But that moment is the final phase of…
Read briefAs the holiday season approaches, the security environment always grows more vulnerable to threat activity. Large gatherings, predictable public events, and symbolic religious observances provide both…
Read briefTechnology, human intelligence, community readiness, exercises, escalation planning, and ignored warnings all carry lessons for the United States.
Read the briefOn July 27, 2025, Abhay Nayak, a 41-year-old passenger on an EasyJet flight from London to Glasgow, caused panic when he exited the lavatory mid-flight shouting…
Read briefOn this date in 2003, a series of coordinated suicide bombings struck residential compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, targeting Western nationals. Orchestrated by al-Qaeda, these attacks…
Read briefThe upcoming Paris Olympic Games, scheduled to begin on July 26th, is preparing for a host of threats. While numerous actors could potentially disrupt the Games,…
Read briefThe Commons
Practical guidance from The Commons for turning lessons into capability.
A practical family planning guide for communications failure, blocked roads, technology outages, delayed medical response, reunification, and bad information.
Read the guideEight questions to walk through with your family before communications, transportation, power, or normal response systems are disrupted.
Read the reviewA practical test for context, repeated conduct, threats, and the right moment to report.
Read the guideWhat to tell airport, transit, or event staff when something needs a trained assessment.
Read the guideMoral injury can follow something a person did, failed to prevent, witnessed, or experienced as a betrayal when it violated deeply held values. What communities, teams,…
Read the briefA Tampa-area discussion exercise testing venue coordination, traffic and crowd movement, responder identity, hospital surge, misinformation, and a second wave of incidents.
Run the exerciseA discussion exercise for a smaller jurisdiction focused on a veterans event, limited resources, mutual aid, hospital surge, credential verification, and a second incident.
Run the exerciseA response-focused discussion exercise for testing unified command, credential verification, mass-casualty coordination, public messaging, continuity, and a second wave of incidents.
Run the exerciseA state-and-local readiness checklist covering communications, command, medical response, HAZMAT, hospitals, digital resilience, community expertise, private partners, and exercises.
Open the checklistA practical OPSEC brief for reducing doxxing exposure, protecting family information, hardening accounts, and responding when personal information is published online.
Read the briefWhy biological incidents can be difficult to see at first, what public-health patterns matter, and how families and communities should respond to official guidance.
Read the briefHow to recognize a possible chemical release, create distance, reduce secondary contamination, decontaminate safely, and follow official instructions.
Read the briefA public-safety brief on observable warning signs, avoiding stereotypes, creating distance, and reporting a concern without confronting the person yourself.
Read the briefThe basics for an ordinary household: communication, meeting points, essential supplies, medications, documents, children, pets, and a calm plan everyone can understand.
Start hereA practical guide to location data, app permissions, device separation, connectivity, metadata, and the habits that reduce unnecessary exposure while traveling.
Read on the sitePractical steps for neighborhood communication, schools and workplaces, wellness support, volunteer networks, local food and blood banks, medical training, and trauma kits.
Open the planA calm framework for assessing risk, planning communications, training volunteers, working with local authorities, and supporting people after a frightening event.
Read the frameworkThe practical difference between a first-aid kit and a trauma kit—and the training that makes either one useful.
Review the briefA Nordic idea about courage, endurance, and taking the next useful step without pretending difficulty is easy.
Read the noteA practical Commons companion to The Gathering Storm, focused on asking the right questions about terrorism threats, readiness gaps, local responsibility, and what communities can prepare…
Ask the right questionsAn expanded working paper for families and communities: communications-down planning, essential buffers, go bags, vehicles, medical readiness, chemical/biological awareness, mobility, and local relationships.
Open working paperEveryday delivery safety, from confirming an order and choosing a drop-off to avoiding doorstep conflict and protecting both residents and drivers.
Read the guideSeven overlooked dependencies in everyday systems, with questions a household or community can use to find a practical next step.
Read the guideDigital Hygiene Checklist Search your name, phone number, and email online Remove your info from data broker sites (use tools like Optery, DeleteMe, or Incogni) Blur…
Read the briefRideshare fraud can begin with a stolen account, a hijacked phone number, or someone trying to move a rider outside the app. The safest response is…
Read the briefRideshare fraud can begin with a stolen account, a hijacked phone number, or someone trying to move a rider outside the app. The safest response is…
Read the briefConsumer apps can expose more than a location. Over time, routine check-ins, fitness data, photos, rides, social posts, and account metadata can reveal patterns about where…
Read the briefWayne Black, author of School Insecurity: A Comprehensive Guide for Parents and Educators on School Security, lays down a hard truth: no child has died in…
Read the briefChurches across the U.S. have been experiencing a concerning trend of surveillance activities. These incidents typically involve one to four individuals entering religious establishments and attempting…
Read the briefTerrorist threats are expected to spike this year, with groups like al-Qaeda continuing to prioritize aviation and crowded spaces. Suicide vests remain a favored method of…
Read the briefBooks & enduring work
Books, collaborations, and other enduring material that helps round out the subject.
A Law Enforcement Today opinion piece cites Sarah Adams’s interview on the Shark Coast Tactical Podcast while discussing homeland security preparedness.
Read the opinionKeep the thread
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