I have recently retired from the military and have began to dig deeper into the survivalist arena. I have always been interested in this area for quite some time but have not really dedicated the amount of time that I want due to job requirements, life events etc. I have been reading all the blogs, videos and write ups about prepping, survival and there are a lot of good information out there. So I decided to use my 26 years of military experience (4 yeas Infantry, 6 years Long Range Surveillance and 16 years Special Forces)  and apply pertinent concepts toward the Survivalist Mindset.  In this paper I will discuss some planning considerations for establishing a Survival Plan of Action (SPA) and the survivalist mind set. Your skills and abilities are tools in the tool box (your mind). Hopefully this discussion will aid you into adding more tools to your tool box.                 

Throughout the Internet and online blogs you have seen a plethora of acronyms dealing with prepping, survival, and the end of the world.  Some are The Schumer Hits The Fan (TSHTF), The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI), BOB - Bug Out Bag, Get Out Of Dodge (G.O.O.D.), But we don't have an overall acronym for all the planning, resource identification, rehearsing, etc that encompasses the entirety of what we do to accomplish all of this great information and techniques. This is where the SPA comes into play. It is the Survival Plan of Action (SPA). This document should include information that outlines your groups plan to Get Home, Bug Out, Bug In, Get Out of Dodge, etc. You can add to this document by adding Annexes to augment the information like Food Storage Inventories, Vehicle Inventories,  or Bug Out Site Inventories.