Imagining A Future United States Militia — Force Size and Other Considerations

Expanded from Discord comments including some contribution from members of the Open Source Defense discord.

This is a work of hypothetical speculation.

Currently, in the USA, the militia legally consists of the National Guard, which is a fraction of a percent of the population, and the “Unorganized Militia”, which is a nonentity, or rather merely a recruiting category for the military, consisting of men of military age who are not members of the National Guard. Obviously, this is a far cry from a grassroots national citizens’ militia that was equivalent to “the people” and which was seen as a challenge against and an alternative to the threatening shadow of a national standing army. Not very many people take the idea of re-establishing the general citizens’ militia very seriously. Those who do are dissidents at best and, frankly, cranks at worst.

To be realistic, the tendency for modern war (even at a low intensity) to be heavily influenced by expensive technological equipment, complex and self-directed maneuvers that require a high standard of training, and machinery such as armor and aircraft that have financial and logistical footprints of many people mean that the situation is very different from in the late 17th century. One often sees this idea displayed in a ridiculously exaggerated form justifying a certain form of “liberal-democratic bloodlust”, in which various left-leaning figures in the USA claim that the American national military, an entity they did not build an usually do not understand, could effortlessly and quickly stomp flat any right-leaning popular uprising or secessionist movement in the USA with few casualties or economic losses. This sometimes attains to the grotesque fantasy of the federal government killing tens of millions of rebellious American citizens in a thermonuclear bombardment. Such ideas are clearly as absurd as they are morally repugnant, and additionally while the bureaucratic state is one way to manage large expenses and group assets needed for anything resembling modern war, it is not the only way to do so. (Much has been written on the topic by anarchists right-wing and left-wing, some of which even makes sense.)

As a dissident, I think that the idea of a re-established American militia deserves study, especially given the present seemingly unstoppable state of decay in the national government and its infrastructure and capabilities. Therefore, I have done a short, very casual study of what a futuristic American militia growing out of a recognizably-modern society might look like from the perspective of force size. To be clear, I am thinking of a grassroots / general service national militia, not the much-maligned voluntary associations of private citizens which sometimes represent themselves as being elements of the Unorganized Militia.

Realistically, we are not going to get away with an “all able bodied military-age male citizens” call in the 21st-century-so-far. The contemporary American citizenry are are just too disengaged, the society is too urbanized (i.e. even the raw basics of non-military fieldcraft and outdoor life must be taught), and a fair amount of training will be needed to get past the basic issues. Additionally, the historical militia, even in the period when it was active, was simply never very combat-effective for longer than the shortest actions, because militiamen would eventually need to return to their homes and everyday jobs. Realistically, this is going to need to be an at least somewhat self-selected force.

In The Federalist #46 (1788), James Madison (who was on the side in favor of the Constitution and a strong federal government, and believed that the decentralization he supported, including a militia, would provide adequate checks and balances) talks about a standing military of 30K troops, which would be 1% of the population of American citizens, and a militia of a little under 500K, which is most military-aged citizen men. The USA did not have a navy at this time, but before and after this period (in which we suffered problems with piracy), the personnel strength of the navy was about 0.05% of the citizen population, or 1.5K. At this time the population of the USA was roughly 3.7 million (though this was thought to be an undercount) of which about 18 percent were slaves, for about an even 3 million citizens.

James Madison seemed to think that 1% of the total population in the army was a reasonable amount for a country to support in this time period. Modern industrial states can pull off a significantly greater number in wartime emergencies even short of utter desperation, for example, in late WWII the USA had about 5.7% of its population (8.7mil) in the ground combat branches (Army and Marines), plus the navy which was also of considerable size. The number of military-aged citizens (male and female) was approximately 40% of the citizen population, giving us a militia “utilization factor” of about 83% of all military-aged citizen men.

As such, we can characterize the conceptual military strength for 1788.

James Madison’s Numbers: 1% regular army, ~0.05% naval, 16.6% militia.

There were no modern police as we know them at that time, and I cannot find any numbers for these. It appears that any significant numbers of them emerged organically from the people in a similar manner to the militia, so I am not including them.

The modern USA is a very , very different place, and has a population nearly 300 times as large (and, mercifully, slavery has been extirpated from the country and there is no vast, utterly subjugated caste. It is somewhat ironic that today the USA has 444K National Guard total. The Army and USMC together are 629K, while the Air Force and Navy are 670K. The Space Force is military only in name and function, not in character or capabilities as commonly understood, so I am not counting them. Additionally, these numbers are active duty only.

Law enforcement officers are not military, but they are a force and a body of men under arms, so they should be counted. There are about 700K LEOs in the USA today, plus 42K Coast Guard (which are considered military in some cases, but generally lack the heavy armaments of the Navy and are best known for their law enforcement role).

The population that goes with these numbers is 336 million. This includes resident non-citizens and illegal aliens; however, I have not excluded these people as they do not represent a totally marginalized or subjugated caste as slaves did historically. Today’s military-age population, interestingly enough, is also just about 40 percent, though far more people are older rather than younger. In modern times with longer life expectancy and better health the 45 to 54 block probably can be considered relevant in some marginal roles, but I am not counting them. Therefore, that gives us the modern US force sizes.

Modern USA: 0.19% regular army, 0.20% naval/air, 0.21% law enforcement, 0.13% National Guard, no militia. Reserves add 0.32%.

That isn’t even 1%, although it was bigger before the fall of the Soviet Union and during larger wars. Also, the naval / air forces have much larger personnel strengths and professional law enforcement is now an entity unto their own. Note that the USA is currently struggling to recruit. Additionally, while the USA now has only allies as neighbors and a position defended by the oceans, it also is a globally interventionist force, even an imperialist one, and not merely on a naval basis.

A note: My generic “military age” statistics are from 15 to 44, since for some reason statistics that cut on at 18 are unavailable. While we do not like to consider it, people ages 15 to 17 are realistically militarily relevant especially in desperate situations. I have estimated about 37% of Americans today actually being 18 through 44, and my future militia numbers are based on this.

Now, let’s consider what a hypothetical foreseeable-future American grassroots militia might look like, considering the changes in society and culture — including that some women will presumably be part of it, and that it is very unlikely to be an actual majority of all people theoretically eligible even if it is a large fraction compared to the present-day professional military and “part-time professional” National Guard. All of my estimates will use the present American population to allow comparisons with today.

Let’s say 2/3 of women are categorically not interested (only a small percentage of combat arms roles are filled by women in the modern military) and then let’s say that only 1/4 of people left after that are interested in militia service — that gets us 20.7mil out of 125mil eligible. Let’s then say only 80% of those actually serve, which is a bit lower than James Madison’s “utilization factor”. This leads us to:

Hypothetical militia: 16.5 mil, 4.9%

Some notable features of this:

• It is very close to the estimated number of Americans who currently own at least one AR-15.
• It is a fair margin larger than the largest national military right now (the Chinese People’s Liberation Army), though large countries in wartime have fielded larger armies. However, especially without logistical support and society-wide economic efforts, a large fraction of this force cannot mobilize for any significant period.

Now, let’s imagine a future USA which has gone through some social and governmental changes that “draw down” the size and budget of the bureaucratic national and state governments, including the regular military, and in which the militia is significantly more normalized and taken more seriously in national military planning. 1/6 of eligible women and 1/2 of eligible men are interested in militia service; once again the utilization factor is 80%. The USA is still a major naval power and still has a potent national military.

Imagined Post-Drawdown USA: 0.1% regular army, 0.15 naval/air, 0.1% law enforcement, 0.17% National Guard / professional militia cadre, 9.9% militia (33.3mil)

In this case, the Navy is about the same size, the Air Force, Army/USMC and professional Law Enforcement have shrunk significantly, the National Guard has been expanded and is being used as cadre for the militia, and the militia is rather closer to James Madison’s concept. This is a society that is recognizable to us in many ways, but also one that is a lot more decentralized (probably also in ways that have nothing to do with violence) and in which the everyday work of guarding the society is done much more by ordinary people rather than small, often-insular cliques of professionals or “cossackified” segments of society.

It should of course be noted that here the Navy, the oceans, and the general modern untenability of wars of conquest are a big part of what is protecting the USA from foreign invasion.

The earlier example could still have a somewhat insular militia. In this case, it’s enough of society that unless intensely self-selected (and this society would probably have mandates or incentives for people from all walks of life to serve in the militia) it would be a lot less insular.

Now, let’s consider something very different from what we know today, that doesn’t have a typical standing army at all. Instead, we have segments of the militia flowing upward towards higher training and operational tempo, plus a state military logistics corps that provides the logistics needed for a modern military. This system has a militia as large as James Madison’s.

Imagined Decentralized USA: 13% general militia, 3% militia select levy, 0.025% stipended deputies, 0.2% Militia Stipended Special Forces, 0.2% National Military Logistics Corps

“General militia” are the basic grassroots all-military-age-men-with-personally-owned-weapons citizens’ militia. The select levy are a bit intermediate between that and the National Guard; they are a fraction of the general militia with more dedication, better training, and better equipment, however, operationally they move with the general militia. Stipended deputies are full-time sheriffs’ deputies; their small numbers mean that they are picking up criminals, responding to serious situations, and serving warrants, not solving everyone’s problems. Militia Stipended Special Forces include SOF but are not just that, they are full-time soldiers who are still part of the militia structurally, but have the time to dedicate to air, armor, artillery, and the like. National Military Logistics Corps are the only federally organized force here, basically a standing supply branch, with no weapons heavier than organic AA. This is very different from how any modern military operates, and I do not know if it can be made to work. But it’s an interesting thought.

What Is The Citizen’s Field Network?

This is a work of fiction.

It is several things:

• First, it is a collection of areas of public land (BLM and National Forest, mostly) where variously target shooting or hunting are legal, areas of private land which landowners have variously opened to target shooting, martial training or rucking, airsoft, paintball, or hunting, and undeveloped/wilderness ranges available for hike-in or drive-in use.
• Second, it is a nationwide open-source database and GIS system (maintained by Taichi Arakawa Training) that lists the location, owner or legal authority, accessibility, permitted activities, features, rules, and any required fees, agreements, or reservations for all the above areas.
• Third, it is a community focused around these public assets and their use, stewardship, and upkeep.
• Fourth, it is a nonprofit which encourages landowners to allow the use of their land, handles fees, insurance and legal issues, develops model safety and conduct rules, and owns some elements of Citizen’s Field Network land itself.
• Fifth, it provides a certificate and reputation system — the CFN Prudence Chit — to credential responsible users and weed out incompetents, criminals, and silly gooses.
• Sixth, CFN operates a fund to provide for legal defense of everyone involved in case of litigation.

What is the Citizen’s Field Network not?

• It is not a government organization, nor is it associated with one.
• It is not a firearms training company, a shooting range operator, or a hunting outfitter.
• It is not a private militia.
• It does not tolerate criminal activity or violent extremism.

What can I do with the Citizen’s Field Network lands?

All of the land in the Citizen’s Field Network is in the form of wilderness or austere facilities, and is available, on a self-directed or casual basis and with at-your-own-risk policy, and either for free or for a fairly low fee, for one or more of the following:

• Hunting
• Recreational or target shooting.
• Milsim, paintball, airsoft, militaristic LARPing (Live Action Role-Playing).
• Martial training, rucks or hikes with military equipment.
• Testing or experimentation with firearms, munitions, tactical equipment, etc.
• Some similar pursuits that may be loud, explosive, fiery, etc or require access to a very large outdoor space such as amateur rocketry and high-performance drones or model aircraft
• More conventional outdoor pursuits such as overland 4×4 driving, hiking, camping, horseback riding, etc — as well as those with twists that may be awkward or disfavored in mainstream parks, such as hiking or 4x4ing at night with night vision.

Additionally, all CFN listed lands, even those not part of the CFN system, allow the mere possession of legally-owned firearms.

Unless the policy listing for a CFN parcel or area states otherwise, you should assume that CFN lands are only available for non-commercial use, and that when commerical use is allowed, it requires an additional fee. A number of private CFN lands are available for low intensity use for Youtube and similar video production with certain qualifications — see the Citizen’s Field Network Youtubers Program. Additionally, a large number of CFN lands are available for community-based classes with certain qualifications.

At the low end, CFN lands often provide an option for practicing target shooting in a rural environment rather than a crowded range (and as of early 2038, every point within the lower 48 states is within 300 miles of a CFN listed land where shooting at a range of at least 500m is possible). At the high end, an example of the capabilities of CFN lands are given by the New West Society’s Recon Challenge, which combines a 20-mile hike with five to twelve match stages spaced along the length, and which has used seven different routes over the course of its existence.

The CFN is dedicated to the rights of the common citizen and does not support or condone the restriction of any class or asset to law enforcement or military personnel only. The CFN terms of service forbid the use of CFN lands in a CFN capacity for purposes that are prejudicial to certain citizens or which are restricted to favored groups of the government.

What Are Some CFN facilities of particular interest?

• CFN has made a particular strategic effort to get access to and qualify minimal outdoor tactical ranges and minimal training grounds in Eastern states and areas where there is no good access to public (BLM or NF) land. Please see our Minimal Training Facilities Roadmap. At the current time, every point in the lower 48 states has places (either public or private) that qualify as both a Minimal Tactical Range and a Long Static Range within 375 miles and which are collectively open for at least 80 days of the year.
• CFN has qualified a Minimal Patrol Range in each of the Pacific, Western, Central, Southern, and Eastern regions of the USA. (please see our Facility Grade Definitions).
• CFN has developed a significant amount of land available to hunters in regions of the USA where public land is limited, mostly in Texas and the Eastern USA.
• CFN has two urban training areas which allow for simunition, laser/MILES, airsoft, and some limited live-fire practice around buildings and built-up areas.

What Does The CFN Community Expect Of Its Users?

• The CFN expects all users to act with integrity, prudence, duty, and cordiality towards each other, towards CFN land owners, and towards the nation.
• The CFN expects all users to take responsibility for their actions and for the stewardship of CFN assets.
• The CFN expects all users to respect the spirit and the letter of CFN impact distribution rules and algorithms so that all members have a fair chance to make use of limited facilities.
• The CFN expects its users to act with cooperation towards the coexistence of different people in the American project and to support the First and Second Amendment rights as the common heritage of Americans and of free people.
• The CFN expects its users to avoid unduly provocative or aggressive messaging or the appearance of criminal conspiracy, as is neccessary and appropriate when deadly weapons and martial skills are involved.
• The CFN requests that its users and members address disputes with grace, respect, and cooperation, and not bring negative attention upon the CFN or the Second Amendment community at large.

How Can I Get Started With The CFN?

• You can look on our public list for a #Public and #Community tagged match, ruck, practice day, or exercise; these are open to the public and have a CFN coordinator present.
• Apply for your CFN Prudence Chit. Your first three marks on the Prudence Chit can be satisfied in a large number of ways, both in and out of the CFN. Note that external applications to the CFN are subject to rate limiting and social sanctioning.
• Attend a CFN open house.
• Get your CFN Prudence Chit through a local rifle and pistol club or sport shooting society.
• Get qualified for the CFN through a CFN member community security society or community training cooperative.
• Work at a CFN Range Cleanup.

We look forward to training with you!

Arakawa Associates Social Classes List for Spring 2038

This is a work of fiction. None of this is actually being offered.

This page lists our currently offered classes and seminars covering social skills, defensive communication, and tactical negotiation topics. Community / political related seminars, classes and seminars for FFLs and other dealers and professionals, classes and briefings on legal issues, and classes directly related to social aspects of self-defense or emergency contingency community defense are on their own pages.

See Taichi Arakawa’s Class Directory for an exhaustive list of classes of all types by numerous providers that are available unrestrictedly within the USA.

Note: It is the policy of Arakawa Associates and the Arakawa Advisory Ethics Board to avoid as much as possible providing any class curriculum restricted to agents of the government such as MIL/LEO or professionals with restrictive credentials. In some cases, non-professionals or private citizens are not accommodated in the same classes as professionals and agents of the government, or special arrangements must be made in advance. In rare circumstances and when forced by law or other exigencies, there exist exceptions when the Advisory Ethics Board has determined that offering the class with restrictions serves the interests, freedom, and autonomy of responsible citizens more than not offering the class. Arakawa Associates policy will never endorse any class restricted to agents of the government to enhance their capabilities against the citizenry, to deny the citizenry knowledge, training, or the development of tradecraft, or under the principle that responsible citizens lack need, right, or justification to learn.

General Citizens’ Classes and Seminars

A wide variety of classes of general interest to responsible, prepared citizens, including those relating to communications, socialization, and everyday self-protection.

– Voice on Voice: Social Survival Confrontations

De-escalation is the first line of self-defense. This in-person class uses case studies and roleplay to guide you in becoming confident in speaking to people under stress, de-escalating conflicts, and handling tense situations without insulting people. Additionally, this class addresses social survival negotiation with a wide variety of cultural styles of communication and cultural patterns of expectation — because these vary a great deal, especially in immigrant and ethnic communities.

– The Silk and the Sword: Confidence, Assertiveness, and Duress Negotiation for Women

The first step to safety for women is confidence and assertiveness. Sadly, after nearly two centuries of progress, many young women are not effectively taught these virtues or the skills that spring forth from them. To be able to establish boundaries and to say “no” in an assertive voice or to evade a confrontation and walk away from a bad situation is the first line of self-defense. This class teaches confidence, assertiveness, social maneuver, and legality of self-defense, as well as giving an on-ramp to physical self-defense and the use of lethal and nonlethal weapons.

An unfortunate fact is that attempts to teach women social self-defense skills have all too often been twisted by a political agenda, which at best centers on ineffective imitation of men, and at worst urges abrasiveness bordering on a parody of machismo. In other cases, effective vigilance and self-defense takes a backseat to developing an “empowered” mindset. In reality, being able to respect others — including people with different cultures and lifeways — while defending your boundaries is essential both to safety and to a full and wide-reaching life. The Silk And The Sword teaches assertiveness, confidence, politeness, and boundary-setting as a four-sided approach to social preparedness. The Silk And The Sword curriculum is developed by Mrs. Mizuki Arakawa with the input of a wide variety of professionals and subject matter experts.

This class is offered in person as a weekend or two-days class. You are urged to wear clothes that are reasonably comfortable but which represent what you routinely wear. If you currently carry any weapons for self-defense, you are urged to bring these on the second day for critique; however, this class is not focused on firearms or other weapons technique.

Outdoors, Hunting, and Social Landscapes Classes and Seminars

Classes regarding social aspects of life in the outdoors, socially navigating unfamiliar rural regions, and different types of social landscape

– Civil Fieldcraft Intro and Civil Fieldcraft Extended

Of interest to city slickers, new hunters, and anyone interested in developing the skills to navigate the physical and social environment beyond the National Parks and marked trails, this class introduces the social landscape of rural and wilderness areas and an approach to observing the social landscape, reading maps for social and legal information, identifiying and developing routes for foot, horse, ATV, jeep, and car, and and politely making contact with people on public or private property.

The intro class is taught in the form of a road trip. Civil Fieldcraft Extended is a two-part class covering the intro and then a field trip by vehicle and on foot.

– Quick Online Seminar: Four Common Social Landscapes

How do aspects of physical environments like terrain, land use, and population density determine the social landscape of a place? This short online seminar provides a short introduction to the social-physical landscape and how it affects movement, communication, boundaries, and some basic concerns of confrontation, covering dense cities, suburbia, rural areas, and wilderness. We highly recommend this seminar to people who have little life experience with different social landscapes and to LEOs and tradesmen whose jobs take them into types of social landscapes they are unfamiliar with.

– Quick Online Seminar: Four Other Social Landscapes

A short follow-up to Four Common Social Landscapes, this class expands to cover four variants of common social landscapes: Deep rural areas, city marginal areas and slums, “rur-urbs”, and several kinds of ‘contact zones’ formed by the interface between two different social landscapes.

– Seminar: How To Negotiate Land Use

This short online seminar covers basic legal issues and social practicalities of negotiating land use either as a land owner or user. Includes case studies of successful land use agreements.

– Quick Online Seminar: Incoming Rounds?!

Someone is shooting near you… or at you… from a significant distance, probably with a rifle! What do you do? In ordinary life, this may well be accidental — or may not be an attempt to murder you. On the other hand, it is always a deadly threat — and the considerations are very different from those typical to self-defense in urban areas. This quick seminar draws on a variety of real-life experience to develop a principle of response to encountering incoming gunfire in a rural area in contexts where intimidation or negligence are more likely than a deliberate attempted murder.

This class is offered online or occasionally as an in-person seminar. Please see your sign-up email for details.

Law Enforcement, Security, and Military Focused Classes and Seminars

Classes of primary interest to law enforcement and other professionals, including some free seminars meant to help law enforcement officers achieve their best performance and unity with the community

– Free Seminar: Police Work In The Citizen-Participatory Era

The past two decades have seen utter transformation both in the structure of American law enforcement and the legal environment that law enforcement officers operate under. This seminar, led by decorated sheriff John Vasquez and criminal defense lawyer Abraham Donovan, covers both recent developments and the last 20 years in policing law and includes studies of recent notable incidents. In a country which is currently reforming the police power to be in line with the rights of the ordinary citizen, we strongly recommend that all law enforcement officers stay up to date, especially those who went through the academy under the influence of the past.

– Seminar: Military – Citizen Relations In Peace And In War

Relations between a military or paramilitary force and the citizens who live in the area it is operating can be extremely important to success, even when there is no concern of an insurgency or serious abuses and even when they are nominally on the same side. This seminar covers a large number of cases of both successful management of these relations, and cases where they failed, from Roman times to the recent era. Particular focus will be given to the Vietnam War, the Global War On Terror, and some recent conflicts inside and outside of the USA.

Emergency Contingency / SHTF-related Classes and Seminars

“Emergency Contingency” situations are those where law enforcement is not operating effectively. Both the threats one may face and the scope of action for responsible citizens will likely be different from normal, and in some cases these are extremely speculative situations. Emergency situations may involve a moderate level of disruption to everyday life, through severe but temporary chaos, up to the outright breakdown of society.

– Quick Seminar: Evidence-Based Emergency Analysis

Planning and preparedness for emergency contingencies often rests very heavily on speculation, since it necessarily covers events that have never happened before, or that have happened only a few times. Inevitably, normalcy bias and the fact that despite dire worries no truly massive disaster has yet occurred duels with knowledge of fragility of the world and clear vision of how past crises could have escalated much worse if things had gone differently. This seminar takes introduces an approach to evidence-based analysis of past crises and recorded emergency contingencies, the mitigating factors that limited or helped resolve them, and the limits to those mitigating factors. Particular attention is given to intermediate levels of emergency.

Military Surplus From Another World I

This is a work of fiction. Nothing is actually for sale.

New Items And Restocks This Spring

We just got back from our latest purchasing trip, and we’ve seen some unusual timelines and picked up some very interesting products for you. Our FFL and import license continues to pay off as this time we have our first really large haul of truly unusual firearms as well as the usual military clothing and gear, and we have some very interesting prospects in the pipeline for this fall. So, without further ado, here are our new products for the spring, along with some notable restocks:

“Am-Cap” Chest Rigs

Some military procurement organizations go for careful design of complex, high-quality gear. Some go much more for volume and low cost — and some of the ones that do come up with something that transcends its quality and inspires a whole world of imitators, such as the various Chicom chest rigs. And sometimes, a very different national military will bring it right back to its very cheap roots.

These appear to be a chest rig based on the Chi-Com Type 56 Chest Rig with some modernization and some influence from the SADF Type 83. There are three large flapped pockets that fit a pair of AR-15 magazines each and close with velcro, a pair of smaller general-purpose pockets, a small elastic pocket that appears to be meant to hold an SOF-TT torniquet, and a small field of two columns of laser molle. The straps are a simple X-harness made of webbing and seem much higher quality than the rest of the rig. They are all plain webbing, no padding, but they are joined so they don’t separate, and the back strap has elastic. Material is a miserable but surprisingly durable ranger green non-woven synthetic, with some Cordura reinforcement on pouches and strap buckle mounts. To our surprise, they are also NIR compliant. There is also a small velcro loop field on the pockets.

Markings are pretty sparse, but you have “USA”, a small USA flag, and either “United States Army” or “[State] Milita Supply Office” or “[State] Militia Quartermaster”, with many of the states you know of and some that you don’t. Many of these have names written in them. Based on this it looks like these were meant either as stopgap — or emergency — load bearing gear for a beleaguered Army, or as inexpensive basic turnout gear for an American militia, possibly one where it was expected that people who actually cared would buy their own gear.

We have a lot of these, some in rough condition ($5), some seemingly unissued ($30), most moderately used ($15). Expect these to be inexpensive and plentiful for years to come.

US Navy Space Operations Group Pistols And Parts Kits

These come from a timeline where the US Navy began research on space small arms starting in the late 1980s in order to equip a team of military astronauts (probably Navy SEALs) with small arms suitable for vacuum use. It appears that in this timeline, a very large number of a wide variety of prototypes were tested and eventually surplussed. We have both parts kits and complete pistols (Must ship to FFL). Parts kits are guaranteed to include all parts needed to make a fireable pistol other than the frame/receiver, though they may be missing some elements like sights, grips, magazines, and magazine catch parts, and may include a torch-cut receiver. Most have been fired at least 1000 times. Complete pistols are guaranteed to be fireable but may not be complete or working properly. Details on what you get are luck of the draw.

Space 1911s: A total of 123 1911-platform space guns are available. Most are fairly crude, modified from issue M1911A1s, many have trigger guards sawn away. Most have some form of PTFE coating. Most have TiN coating on the slide rails and some internal parts and electroless nickel on other parts. No two of these are alike. Most have a large lanyard loop welded on. All are complete guns. $600.

Space P226s: These appear to be custom made, and are much more uniform. A total of 400 P226-platform space guns are available, of which 126 are complete guns. These have a big trigger guard for gloved fingers and extended controls with several different shapes. There are a variety of different coatings present, but the majority have TiN on the slide rails, firing pin, and sear. Many have “white graphite” boron nitride resin coating. Many have electroless nickel or nickel boron in weird places. Most have long-expired tritium sights. Most of these have a peculiar large peep sight. All come with a tube of “Apeizon Weapon Grease” which appears to be a synthetic grease with boron nitride that will not evaporate in vacuum. Our source claimed that these were not flown in space ever, but some of them have signs of space weathering — possibly from testing in a vacuum chamber. $750 complete gun / $400 complete gun in poor condition or with crude modifications (very limited quantity) / $250 parts kit.

Space Berettas: These are also custom made, but are much more diverse. A total of 253 Beretta 92-platform space guns are available, of which 182 are complete guns. Most have a hinged trigger guard for gloved fingers and a wide variety of modified, extended controls. No two seem to have the same coatings. A slim majority are based on an unfamiliar design that’s somewhere between the M9 original and M9A3 that was the standard issue handgun in our timeline, but the rest span a wide range of commercial and military M9 and Beretta 92 designs. Some may have threaded barrels, long barrels, extended grips, compact frames, etc. Some have frame mounted safeties. All come with a tube of “Apiezon Weapon Grease”, some come with a cleaning kit typically containing nearly empty squeeze bottle of a teflon and perfluorocarbon lubricant labelled “Lubricant, Small Arms, Exterior, Vacuum Use”. $560 complete gun / $200 parts kit.

ALICE Plate Carriers

Somewhen there is a US Army out there that never developed the PALS webbing system, or at least hadn’t adopted it by the time that modern-style plate carrier type body armor became common, but did adopt the SAPI plate standard. Apparently, at some time they surplussed a large lot of body armor carriers, possibly when they actually did move on from ALICE. And so, we have the “modernized ALICE” plate carrier.

We lucked out on getting a huge load of these — and we also have a small number of unissued ones. All of these are ‘M03 Woodland”, which is somewhere between M81 Woodland and Multicam in overall appearance, and has a temperate-woodlands color set, as well as being NIR compliant.

These are an interesting piece of gear — they have fairly straightforward front and back plate bags that accept SAPI cut plates, and a cummerbund with mesh padding for breathability and pockets that accept a standard side plate plus a larger soft armor backer. The placard has four two-AR-mag pockets and attaches with a pair of G-hooks and side release buckles. ALICE webbing is sewn at the top front, bottom front, all along the cummerbund, and on the back, which also has loops to attach a flat backpack (details unknown) or a buttpack. The cummerbund is attached at the front with ALICE buckles and at the back with LBV-style lacing.

Note that these are a modernized, light-weight design that will probably be unfamiliar to those who are used to classic ALICE gear — there’s significant use of composite laminate, laser cutting, and an unusual form of lightweight, stiffened webbing, and the ALICE clips are replaced with a composite clip resembling stiffened MALICE strips — in many respects, this resembles a modern plate carrier by a high-speed vendor — but with ALICE attachment system.

“Woodland Fairy Rig” And Pouches.

We’ve usually referred to our cross-time suppliers as “The Faeries”. It’s usually not that literal. With this stock-up we are adding to our offering a variety of surplus “woodland fairy” tactical gear of impressive lightweightness and unconventional aesthetics — sort of a Legolas-meets-LRRP kind of thing.

What all of this has in common is that it has an unusual curved-organic design style, it’s impressively comfortable, and it seems to be made using a strange, mostly-natural-materials version of the best of modern high-speed gear, with things like resin, lacquer, leather, silk, and natural fibers taking the place of adhesive, epoxy, vinyl, ripstop, cordura, and tegris. (There definitely is some artificial plastic in these.) The vast majority of all of this is in an unfamiliar green-forest camouflage that resembles a less-digital version of Finnish M05. There is one additional distinct feature, which is that most pouches are flap-covered, and all flaps are leaf-shaped, with stitching forming the rib and veins in the leaves. It’s kind of pretty — some of this may make sense as street gear. It is also all NIR compliant. Pouches are attached via a not-quite-PALS pattern of laser-cut basket-woven fabric– it should work with PALS attachments as long as they’re not oversized (think one-wrap or WTF straps, not Natick webbing or MALICE clips).

This stuff seems to be handcut and handstitched, and is not exactly uniform — while a standard is clearly being followed, no two pieces are identical. Most are marked with runes our supplier has deciphered as “Pattern IV 1251” and then a description of the piece.

All of this is available in good quantities and lightly used.

We have:

“Woodland Fairy Pistol Belt” — Fairly narrow, lightweight padded belt with large triangular / leaf-shaped sewn-on pistol pouch (stiffened and velcro-lined), spare magazine loop (will accommodate most 9mm double stack mags) and smaller general purpose leave-shaped pouch. Has flat zippered pockets behind each pouch. Will fit most compact handguns — add a Kydex trigger guard cover — and most smartphones. Three sizes. No molle, though the inside is loop velcro so it will accept one-wrap attachments of pouches. $110. These are going fast.

“Woodland Fairy Battle Belt” — This would be a bog-standard (and quite excellent) contoured padded belt, if it wasn’t so comfortable and so downright weird in other ways. Needs an interior belt. Available in five sizes. Very breathable and probably will work well for women or others who have trouble with typical battle belts. Weird woven not-PALS needs some getting used to but is very study. $175.

“Woodland Fairy Belt Buckle” — Mechanically similar to an AustriAlpin Cobra buckle, but leaf-shaped. Made of nonreflective green anodized titanium, engraved legend translates as “8.89 kN”. Will fit 1.75 inch webbing. $45.

“Woodland Fairy Lumbar Pack” – Seems to be meant to attach to the battle belt, and comes with a suspender harness with a twisting vine aesthetic. About 18L capacity, and a bit flatter and higher-sitting than a typical buttpack. Has leaf-shaped main flap and side pocket flaps. Has laser-cut scrim on the upper sides. $185.

“Woodland Fairy Chest Rig” — Not anything like a traditional chest rig (though it has a pair of webbing loops that could attach swift clips for a placard), this is something like an integrated pair of cross body PALS bandoliers. Straps have a twisting vine aesthetic and some laser-cut scrim at several points. Will take some getting used to, and does not seem to be meant to be loaded real heavy. Two sizes, though the smaller one is frankly tiny. $110.

“Woodland Fairy Admin Pouch” — Slanted leaf-shaped admin or multipurpose pouch, seems to be meant to go on the left slant of the Woodland Fairy Chest Rig. Main pocket is approx 7.5 in x 4 in. Will accommodate most smartphones, a small notebook, pens and pencils, and will hold a pistol mag or a multitool in the side pocket. Has an internal elastic Faraday-shielded pocket. $40, we have an awful lot of these.

“Woodland Fairy Mag Pouch” — Leaf-shaped, flapped magazine pouch. Will accommodate a single 10 round .308 magazine or 20 round 5.56 magazine, or a 30 round 5.56 magazine if you reposition the hook fastener. Very lightweight. Has a composite resin-fabric insert that makes it easy to re-index magazines, and additionally prevents it from catching on stripper clips. $25. Weird basket-weave not-PALS makes this possible to mount vertically. horizontally, or at a 30 or 45 degree angle.

/u/IWouldRatherNot’s Guide To Your First Militia Muster

This is a work of fiction. This describes participating in a government-authorized militia system that doesn’t exist in real life — at least, not yet.

Overview

So, you’ve read the sticky post on how mustering for the militia works. You’ve read my quick post on how militia service compares to the state defense forces, National Guard, reserves, or standing military. You’ve accepted that the most common reason to be called up is natural disaster response or some kind of majorly boring security. Importantly, you’ve read my post on getting through orientations ahead of time. You’ve read /u/robomojito’s wiki page on the distinction between the local Militia Muster and the Community Defense Group system. If you haven’t read all of these, go back and read them. The most important thing in the militia isn’t being able to fight, and it isn’t being able to march or to dig, and it isn’t being able to obey orders slavishly. It’s being able to comprehend what is asked of you, to do it diligently in spite of danger, difficulty, or boredom, and to make a smart response to a situation, even an unexpected one. If you struggle to do this, you will end up in Orientation Purgatory, where endless orientation classes are frankly used as a way of weeding out people who refuse to learn.

Additionally, please check if you live in New York Metropole, Portland Metropole, Chicago Metropole, Washington DC, New Jersey, Maryland, or the San Francisco Metropole as these regions treat the militia differently enough to each deserve their own pages.

Getting Ready

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, please read /u/raifusempai’s First Muster Militiafolk Gear List. Note that it is pretty short and that it doesn’t include any weapons. The most important things to pay attention to are clothing suited to being outdoors in your region’s weather, good boots, sleeping bag, an approved first aid kit (not a trauma kit), hygiene stuff, a water canteen, a comms endpoint, and webbing or cargo pants. Do not bring anything that it is stated to leave at home. At best you will end up in Orientation Purgatory. Also, make sure all of your exposed gear is an appropriate drab color. If you’re even vaguely unsure about your ability to stand for hours on end, bring a lightweight folding stool.

Don’t sweat the comms endpoint, all smartphones that meet the NGSC 2045 Standards will work. However, this is dependent on you setting it up properly, so you definitely will want to pay attention in the comms class.

You can bring weapons, and if you already have your own rifle, you probably should bring it and you’ll have an opportunity to make sure it’s zeroed — and if you go to a three-day muster or mega-muster, you will get some shooting and combat training with it — however — this isn’t the main point of your first muster, you don’t need to already have a rifle, you’ll get advice on what to get and access to a good group buy if you don’t, and it’s simply not your first priority. In any case, any weapons you bring must be cased and unloaded when you arrive at the muster and all your ammo also needs to be contained in a bag of some kind. Depending on local policies, there also may be drills for which an airsoft gun is desired — you’ll want to check the muster packet or local website, but in general this is something I recommend having. In general, the introduction track to get your first stamp at your first muster is long on rules of engagement and short on actual shooting.

Fitness

I wouldn’t sweat fitness too much at your first muster. It is a lengthy, physical day, and if you’re not accustomed to the outdoors it will be harder, but it also is not particularly intense. You will face more physical training in the future as you pick up stamps. The most important thing is to bring water and drink it. You should be able to walk 6 miles, with some breaks, over terrain that’s representative of the area you live in whether hilly, mountainous, or flat, while carrying your gear load minus camp gear, without getting exhausted.

Things I don’t Recommend Bringing

(but which won’t get you sent home in shame or put through Orientation Purgatory):

• Handguns — They aren’t really relevant in the militia for most purposes, and when you’re a new militiafolk they’re another annoying thing to handle since they must be cased.
• Large, Heavy Webbing such as large load bearing vests, battle jackets, pouch harnesses (unless they can be separated) — these tend to just get in the way, and encourage you to carry a lot of weight everywhere.
• Body Armor — It’s a lot of dead weight. Unless you’re in really, really good physical condition, don’t bother. Later classes will cover using this effectively.
• More than 4 rifle mags — Assuming you use 30 round AR magazines, more than 4 rifle mags are simply not needed on your first muster — you won’t be shooting that much. Personally I think you need two for most militia trainings that aren’t explicitly firearms training.
• Complete military gear outfits — These are best put together once you have a bit of experience and/or with the help of someone more experienced or the Militiafolk Gear Class at your first or second muster. The chances of getting something you don’t need, or something that isn’t favored in your area is high.
• A Big Backpack With Everything In It — Really you need to be able to separate your camp gear and your field gear, so having a single large backpack is not advisable. There are several good options, my favorite is the one generally recommended in Eastern states, the Small or “Day” ROSA Pack, commonly available used or as surplus or one of its many cheap and high quality clones. For some reason it seems like Western militias treat this as a mysterious wonder. But even just having a separate “day” / “assault” pack and “camp” / “sustainment” pack that can contain the former will work fine. Another option is a ROSA Carry-all with enough webbing to strap together your camp gear.
• Insufficient boots — You will hate yourself.
• Camouflage — It’s fine to have it, but you don’t need it, so if you’re getting equipped on a budget and already have sturdy, outdoor-worthy clothes in drab colors, don’t bother. The main element of the base militia uniform is the brassard, anyway.
• Anything you can’t readily carry for around a 2 mile walk on flattish ground.

Handling Orientations

The biggest and most important thing you must do if you want your first muster to be productive is get through your orientations ahead of time. Orientations, if you go through them directly, take about 6 hours in theory. In practice, being dumb or having a bad mindset (whether rah-rah belligerence, thinking it’s all about shooting and stacking bodies, being racist, being selfish and disobedient, wanting to just follow orders, or thinking you’re in disneyland or a cushy office job) will make them take many times longer — this is the fabled “Orientation Purgatory” that can easily take 3/4 of a 3-day muster. Unlike the regular military, the militia doesn’t put militiafolk through days of harsh, intensive training to reshape their way of life. HOWEVER, if you can get your orientation done ahead of time, you can both show that you’re smart and proactive, save time for actual training at the muster, and handle the boring stuff in a less annoying way.

There are always orientation class sessions, often partially over video call, before each muster, and they’ll be detailed in the muster pamphlet — though it tends to be vague and you’ll want to find the detailed website or social media site for the orientation classes. Getting this done over a couple of weekends will give you an idea of basic militia discipline, expectations, procedure, how to avoid various dumb things, a preliminary look at your gear, and they will get your comms endpoint set up.

Going to the Muster

General militia musters are always accessible either by public transit, by a special shuttle bus, or by some form of carpool arrangement — you generally are not able to drive up to them especially without prior arrangements. The pamphlet will explain. In any case, you’re expected to come with any firearms unloaded and cased. You’ll line up and be sorted based on orientation, and assuming you have gotten all your orientations done, you’ll get set up with a group, and get a short “What we are actually doing” / Don’t Do The Dumb” talk.

There will generally be a short ruck to where you’ll be camping, you’ll make camp, and then there will be some discussion, some short lectures and lessons, and then your first maneuvers. For the second day, or the second day of a 3-day muster, you’ll be split up into groups and you’ll have some choice over what specialties you work on. This is your chance to get two stamps rather than one if you play it right and are driven and knowledgeable, and also some chance to get some shooting practice. If you do a 3-day muster, you’ll be back together for maneuvers on the 3rd day, and there will usually be some night patrol work on the 2nd evening.

Mega musters are a bit different. These last 5 days plus an evening, and are made with the intention of still giving you a weekend when they are done. Additionally, partway through you will be sleeping in a barracks type setting with showers, rather than the camp. Mega musters are a bit of a tradeoff, and they may not even exist where you live, or not be offered for green militiafolk. I recommend them especially if you are young and/or single. However, in many cases they are better as your second muster as this will probably give you the ability to get at least four stamps as you’ll have all three of a disaster response class, a civil response class, and a military response class, as well as either a patrol class or a long force-on-force class.

What Comes Next

The overall intended framework of militia training is:

1. Orientations (ideally done before muster) and pre-existing skills, get orientation signoff
2. First Muster, get your greenie stamp and maybe one other (basic disaster, basic civil, basic military, basic support, or basic arms).
3. Various classes and/or various basic Community Defense Group events.
4. Second Muster 3 months to a year later, get your blue stamp and some intermediate skill stamps, and maybe a rating.
5. Advanced classes, get some ratings and learn skills beyond the basics.
6. Third muster and beyond — you are “playing with the big boys now”.

You can of course also start with the Community Defense Group path, but that’s not covered in this article.

Now get out there and train!

FAQ for Minnesota vs Arakawa and The 21st Century Militia Act

This is a work of fiction.

What is This All About?

Two different things have happened in Federal politics that will influence the structure of law enforcement and the rule of law in America as well as gun rights, gun control, training, and how the police and the FBI can address issues like domestic terrorism. It’s important to note that the Arakawa case in the Supreme Court and the Millennium Militia Act are distinct and separate events, though they overlap somewhat.

What is Minnesota vs Arakawa?

It is a Supreme Court case that was decided a few days ago, and it’s going to be a landmark case, as well as the first major Second Amendment related case since the Tanner case in 2033. To summarize a lengthy decision in a single sentence, it says that the combination of the right to bear arms, the right to free association under the 1st Amendment, and some other factors mean that the government can’t criminalize “the bearing of arms as a community or voluntary association” unless they are actually planning, doing or threatening to do a criminal act beyond just being an organization, having weapons, and training with them. You can also read the actual decision and its concurrence and dissents. As a note, it was decided 6-3, it is not a just-barely-edging-out-the-progressives case.

What is the 21st Century Militia Act?

It’s a federal law that was signed by President Fuentes on the same day as the Minnesota vs Arakawa decision was announced, and it reforms the 1903 Militia Act which basically established how the National Guard works for the last 141 years. It’s a pretty lengthy law which mostly modifies the finer points of how it works for the Federal Government to call up the National Guard. It goes into effect next year.

The thing that’s notable about the 21st Century Militia Act is that it is responding to the Arakawa vs McPatricks Supreme Court case, which did not get much press attention and involved details of the little-used State Defense Forces. However, the Arakawa vs McPatricks decision (it was indeed the same Taichi Arakawa, who has been involved in no fewer than three Supreme Court Cases to this date) included a side-note that “moreover, the unorganized militia represents the casual and organic capacity for defense of the country by its citizens, and the reduction of it to a mere recruiting category or a theoretical entity is not consistent with the text, history, and tradition of American constitutional law”.

The provision of the 21st Century Militia Act that is of most importance to the average citizen is that it makes the normal funding of a State’s National Guard (which is currently dependent on the National Guard meeting various standards) also depend on some vaguely defined standards regarding “Voluntary training of members of the unorganized militia” and “a system for mustering the unorganized militia”.

What Does This Mean, Though?

It’s not 100 percent clear. A lot of the effects of Minnesota vs Arakawa outside of Minnesota depend on how lower courts interpret the decision, and a lot of the effects of the 21st Century Militia Act depend on how exactly the federal government actually interprets it and what laws may be made in the future, as well as exactly what the state bureaucracies do. There are already at least three court cases against the latter coming from the states, though it’s not clear how they will shake out.

What can be said with a fair amount of confidence about Minnesota vs Arakawa:

• Minnesota’s 2025 “Paramilitary Organizations and Training Act” and laws in several other states based on it are definitely overturned.
• Vermont’s “Paramilitary Training Camps” law and some similar laws based on it, which forbid military-style training provided that it is to be used in a somewhat broadly defined “furtherance of a public disorder”, are probably overturned. Vermont already has a bill in progress to modify this bill to include a more narrowly defined standard of “a clear and present danger of a public disorder” and to note that a “public disorder” does not include “legally justified self-defense or community defense”.
• A wide variety of laws in numerous states regarding “unauthorized military organizations”, “drilling in public”, or “wearing of uniforms” may be affected, though it’s unclear how much. The judgement specifically states that “wearing of clothing such as camouflage coveralls, webbing, or body armor without insignia of any government organization” is generally constitutionally protected.
• Washington’s 2029 Military Simulations Act, which affects airsoft and similar mock battles, is definitely overturned (although it was already gutted by a preliminary injunction).
• New York’s 2026 Terrorist Training Prevention Act, which affects airsoft and similar mock battles and also USPSA/IDPA and some similar shooting competitions is also definitely overturned.
• Regulation of security guards is somewhat impacted as long as they are involved with a nonprofit organization. It remains to be seen how much of an effect this will have.

What’s not entirely clear about Minnesota vs Arakawa:

• Exactly how broad the “clear and present danger” or “imminent lawless action” standards are.
• How broad the latitude for actions by a “community self-defense organization” or “voluntary group of armed citizens” can be (and how much it can be affected by state or local law).
• Some of the finer details for laws of evidence of intent to commit a criminal act.
• Some details related to what “a broad view of pragmatic and responsible defense of one’s self and one’s community” means.
• How all of this affects action rather than training or preparedness or constitution of an organization.

What can be said with some confidence about the 21st Century Militia Act:

• States are expected to give some sort of consideration to military training of members of the “unorganized militia acting voluntarily”, i.e. ordinary citizens.
• Average citizens who are not members of the regular military, reserves, National Guard, or state guards are probably going to have some kind role in national defense that they haven’t had since the 19th century.
• There will probably be some kind of opportunities for said ordinary citizens to make some kind of use of military facilities for some kind of training, somehow.
• The law is unlikely to go away entirely, and any replacement would have to address the same Supreme Court decision. It’s also unlikely that any state will flatly refuse to go along with it (and thereby lose a bunch of funding).

What’s not clear about the Act:

• Basically all of the details.
• How this will affect states that have historically followed restrictive policies on private ownership of firearms, on self-defense, etc.

Aren’t Militias Already Legal?

Yes and no.

After public controversies about the “Militia Movement” starting in the 1990s, there have been a lot of publications making a claim that “militias” or “paramilitary organizations” are illegal in every state, which is not entirely accurate (in many cases, the laws only outlaw organizations actually intended to do something criminal). On the other hand, it’s an established principle of American law that the “militia” does not refer to random groups of people acting on their own initiative, and that the unorganized militia or groups thereof is not unbeholden to the civil government.

The Arakawa decision uses the terminology “Bearing arms as a community or voluntary association”, “Community self-defense organization”, and “Voluntary and law-abiding group of armed citizens”, and while it does reference the “well-regulated militia” clause of the 2nd Amendment and the history of the American militia in the early Revolutionary War, it’s much more focused on the 1st, 2nd, and 9th amendments and their overlap. The Act uses the terminology “members of the unorganized militia (acting voluntarily)” and “defense by the unorganized militia of their homes and immediate communities”.

Doesn’t This Allow Domestic Terrorists Free Reign?

Not really.

First, the Act doesn’t do anything that would help domestic terrorists except that well-disguised groups might be able to have some access to training facilities. The Act allows this access to be regulated by the Federal government.

The Arakawa decision is clear that it does not permit “voluntary associations” to commit or plan to commit crimes, and it also makes a distinction between “preparedness for defense against crime or unrest” and “the actual plotting or preparation for a violent crime or insurrection against the laws of the United States”.

Definitely this limits what can be done regarding domestic terrorists. However, it does not “legalize domestic terrorism”, “give domestic terrorists immunity until they have actually killed someone”, or “prevent the government from investigating terrorist training camps”. The decision establishes that the laws can criminalize an armed group that is preparing for an “imminent lawless action” (using language echoing that of the decision that secured free speech rights for extreme political parties that have an abstract belief in a violent revolt) or when a group’s “intent regarding the present or immediately foreseeable situation represents a clear and present danger of a violent act.”

Nothing in either the Act or the Arakawa decision prevents the Government from monitoring or investigating groups that are suspected of plotting violence, or from charging people who plan violent felonies and commit some overt act related to them with conspiracy.

What is Known To Be Changing In The Near Future?

Some degree of “armed community groups” or “voluntary association of armed citizens” which are not directed towards the commission of crimes are now legal in every state.

In the time leading up to the passing of the 21st Century Militia Act, a number of reports were published by various organizations of the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security relating to a revitalized role for the unorganized militia, and some vague statements of policy were made. There are three types of actions under active consideration: options for members of the Civilian Marksmanship Program in Eastern states to make some use of some military training facilities, establishment of programs that would serve as feeders to the National Guard but also could support an “unorganized militia” community in its own right, and a program where the National Guard and sheriffs’ departments would work together to help people prepare to defend their communities against riots. All of these show some sign of possibly being set up in the next two years.

New York, Washington, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Illinois are known to be working on bills to respond to this court case in the current legislative session, though unlike the attempts to functionally nullify Bruen or the “massive resistance” against Tanner, they mostly seem to accept the actual statement of the court case. I think you can compliance with the law to be an ordeal in these states and in the San Francisco region.