How to Identify Enemies in Your Midst
In the clandestine world of intelligence, a fundamental tradecraft skill is the ability to discern friend from foe.
This concept extends beyond the confines of a spy’s covert universe and to the realm of everyday normal life.
In our everyday lives, recognizing the veiled adversarial intentions in those around us can be crucial to personal success, peace, and well-being. This intel focuses on discerning these hidden enemies, be they at work, within your social circle, or even family.
Recognizing the Hidden Enemy
Identifying covert enemies starts with understanding that not all adversarial intentions are overt. Indeed, some of the most damaging negative influences can come from those who portray themselves as friends, colleagues, or family.
Excessive Flattery: Consistent, unwarranted praise can often be a mask for ulterior motives. Realize that genuine compliments are often specific and rare, while flattery tends to be vague and excessive.
Inconsistent Behavior: A person whose behavior varies widely may be presenting a false front. If someone’s actions don’t align with their words, this inconsistency can be a sign of hidden adversarial intent.
Over-Interested Parties: Be cautious of those showing undue interest in your personal affairs or professional endeavors. This could be a sign they’re gathering information for their own benefit or against your interests.
Negative Vibes: Trust your instincts. If you feel consistently uncomfortable or on edge around a particular individual, this could be your subconscious picking up on subtle signs of adversarial intent.
Tactical Discernment
Once you’ve identified potential hidden enemies, the next step is to employ strategic methods to confirm your suspicions.
Probing: Casually ask probing questions that might encourage them to reveal their true intentions. Listen carefully to their responses and pay close attention to any signs of defensiveness or evasion.
Observation: Watch their interactions with others. If their behavior towards you is significantly different from their behavior towards others, it may be a sign of underlying enmity.
Test Loyalty: You can construct scenarios to test their loyalty. For example, entrust them with a piece of ‘sensitive’ but not critical information and see if it gets leaked.
Strategic Silence: The Art of Concealment
After confirming who your hidden enemies are, you may choose not to confront them. Instead, utilize your knowledge as a strategic advantage. Understanding your adversary’s mindset and motives can provide you with a unique insight that helps you anticipate their actions and prepare accordingly.
In fact, allowing them to think that you are oblivious to their real intent keeps you in a position of power. This tactic—called “strategic silence”—can be effective in a variety of situations, whether in corporate politics, social circles, or familial disputes. It gives you the upper hand to control the narrative and possibly even manipulate the outcome to your favor.
However, it’s crucial not to allow this knowledge to consume or distract you. Your energy should be primarily focused on constructive endeavors—enhancing your skills, building strong relationships with genuine allies, and achieving your goals.
Ultimately, identifying the hidden enemy is about self-preservation and ensuring you are surrounded by those who genuinely have your best interests at heart. Remember, everyone deserves a place where they feel safe, respected, and valued. Anyone who threatens this harmony, covertly or overtly, is indeed an enemy, and understanding this is the first step towards taking control of your environment.
[INTEL : How to Turn Your Enemies Into Allies]
![“Survival in any form for any environment is an act of prevention and or recovery, best enacted by preparation.” -Det V Cader The problem with survival prepping is the assumption that you’ll be home when the SHTF, if not then it was all for nothing. This is the solution: Standard “prepping” is the practice of stockpiling pertinent supplies and the training of survival techniques to be used for a possible lifestyle altering, large-scale catastrophe or SHTF event. The typical process is simple; slowly but consistently acquire food, water, weapons and other relevant equipment and store them in a singular central location such as a home or private “bomb” shelter. Just as important but far less utilized is the ongoing learning and practice of survival, defense and use of the prepped equipment. Having everything in one location has one fatal flaw, however. It assumes that you will be at that very location at all times or it will always be easily accessible and nearby to your present location. There’s no way of knowing when or where an “event” will take place. Meaning getting to your home base where all your survival prepping is stored may be impossible due to the nature of an “event”; mass gridlock traffic, land / infrastructure destruction, social panic and violence, restrictive martial law, vicinity containment, active combat / hot zones and public transportation collapse. The average person commutes to work or school 5 days a week far enough that they need to take motorized transportation, public or private. Then there’s leisure, recreation and errands time at other homes and facilities as well as being away on vacation. So all that survival prepping, across town or half way around the world can be lost or seized by another. For more than a decade I’ve been doing the “vagabond survival prepping method” of which evolved from stashing small city-specific go-bags around the world as part of my former operative profession. It wasn’t about survival back then but about professional utility and function. Equipment that wasn’t ideal to equip on my person at all times because of unnecessary baggage or non-permissive locales. As time went by and the more I returned to some of these “prepped cities”, the go-bags that were already stashed became better equipped and for more dynamic use such as urban / wilderness survival. To this day, I manage these hidden go-bags whenever I happen to be in their respective countries. That’s my way of survival prepping while vagabonding. These are located in a growing number of the cities I frequently visit in secure but relatively easily accessible spots such as; under a boulder access in New York’s Central Park, inside a tree stump in the Amazon Jungle and a derelict manhole in Bangkok – all of which have been my active stash spots for years. Unlike typical at-home-preppers, I don’t have the luxury of a long term address so I can’t hand pick the exact items I want off the internet to ship to. But this works out for me just fine as I build / upgrade my kits with readily available materials from the city I’m in. So if an “event” does take place (which will often affect major cities first and most), I’ll have my prep kit close by no matter where I am in the world. Instead of having to rely on a singular base a continent away. Due to the limited opportunity but unlimited variety of goods available while constantly traveling, each go-bag is completely different. Some by design and others by necessity. All are sealed to protect from the elements and hidden but easily “accessible”. Various Kit Items List: Backpack, Duffle Bag or Dry Bag MRE’s, Canned Foods and Vitamins Bottled Water and Energy Shot Water Treatment Tablets Prescription Contact Lenses Kevlar Vest or Shield Climbing Rope and Gear Euros and US Dollars Gold and Platinum Bullion Urban / SERE Kit Wilderness Kit First Aid / Trauma Kit SD Card w/ Data Smartphone Gas Mask Knife, Machete and other Weapons CB and Two-Way Radio Full Change of Clothes Multi Tool and Pry Bar Flashlight and Chemlights Sleeping Bag or Parka Solar Charger Some may consider renting a locker in a facility like train stations or self storage units. It’s not easy to maintain them for years at a time when you’re not even in the country for years at a time. Also, when considering an “event”, it’s logical to expect the loss of power grid and the mayhem in busy public areas. It’s best to stash them where no one will look in an area that won’t be too hectic but not where it will be too difficult to reach with limited transportation options. The vagabond survival prepping method isn’t limited to location independents and nomads, however. Consider your travel requirements of daily life and stash a go-bag in strategic spots accordingly; in your car, near your job, somewhere between your home and work, a friend’s place and near a hangout you frequent. Survival prepping doesn’t end with the acquisition of supplies and equipment, it only begins there and continues on with honing skills to survive and thrive. [OPTICS : Triple Aught Design Pack]](https://trdcrft.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Vagabond-Survival-Prepping-FAST-Pack-Litespeed-1-490x550.jpeg)
