We discussed the concept of survival. We analyzed a complex camping trip that turned into the loss of two lives. Much of this may seem hypothetical, meaning how does this pertain to me as a student-cadet in Norwalk, CT. We have snow storms, hurricanes, and storm surge flooding; but a tornado or a earthquake in or near Connecticut...come on. Lets take a look at how you would need to survive an earthquake.
Survival is not just about getting lost in the woods and getting rescued. Sometimes it is about surviving from a natural disaster. During a natural disaster the first responders and city services will be overwhelmed and may not be able to help you for 2 or 3 days. You need to learn to prepare and in extreme cases solve your own problems as a person, household, neighborhood, and community. Lets see how one city dealt with a severe earthquake....
Yesterday, we were introduced to the concept of survival and a brief discussion of some of the key elements of survival. You were formed into groups and developed your own group definition of what survival is. (See the comment section from the previous blog post). Orientation to the video and the associated homework: We are going to look at a story of two young men who were stranded in the Canadian wilderness. They had experience being in the woods and a adequate amount of skills and equipment. They were confident in their abilities. Watch this video and I want you to take notes during the video viewing and afterward your homework is to make a comment today or tonight in the blog post comment section.
Homework Questions to post in the Comment Section of this Blog Post: Question 1: What was their plan for their wilderness outing? Question 2: Where they properly trained and equipped for this trip? Question 3: Describe what happened to them which they didn't expect or plan for? Question 4: What planning and preparation could they have conducted which would have helped them minimize the risk and increase their changes of survival? This is due tomorrow.
We are starting the third Marking Period of Academic Year 2015. We are going to talk about Survival. The topic of survival is in Unit VI of the book, Introduction to Navy JROTC which is part of the NJROTC curriculum. You should consider Survival as a part of your life skills.
Enduring Learning Objective for this Survival Module: Each student-cadet develops an understanding of the concept of survival in a variety of situations and conditions so that they can survive themselves or assist others. Additionally, the goal is to develop the concept for prior planning and preparation and survival skill development ensuring their safety, security, and mental well being.
Classroom Activity: Form into three groups and take about ten minutes to develop a group definition of the concept of survival without looking anything up. Have one person write down the group definition. Following the group discussion, you will share the group definition with the entire class. The intent of this activity is to generate each person determining their start point on an understanding of what survival means
Here is a 8 minute video about the concepts of survival from an experienced outdoor guide. Like many people with some survival experience he has many opinions, some of them you might agree with and some perhaps not. The goal is you need to be the "eternal student" (vice self proclaimed expert) when it comes to developing your survival capability.
This short video (3 minute) on the basic components of How to Survive. Final Comment: There is a tendency to think of survival in terms of big disasters such as surviving a plane crash or a tornado. But consider the following:
What about your family's care breaking down at night in an unknown location?
How about visiting your family in another country and you get lost in an urban environment?
A simple hike in a national park where you get lost and the weather turns bad?
What if there was a terrorist attack and you were separated from your loved ones? Dad is at work, mom is at home with your little sister, and you are away at college. How will you link up? What if there is spotty cell phone coverage and power is down?
What if you were on vacation on an enormous lake and the motor broke down and you were miles away from anyone? Everyone is just wearing their bathing suits and there is poor cell phone coverage. Would would you do?
How do citizens become terrorists against their own country and countrymen. Do they wake up one morning and turn to violence or is this something that is cultivated and groomed in them. Does it happen by chance or is their a deliberate process that transforms a citizen into a terrorist. How do we deal with this in a democratic society...?
Subjective: placing excessive emphasis on one's mood, attitudes, and opinions.
Objective: not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice, based on facts, unbiased.
Overview: As the situation in Ferguson, Missouri has developed many sides have a subjective opinion of what happened and who is right or wrong in this highly reported national level incident. Some are of the opinion that the local police gunned an unarmed innocent person down? Others are of the opinion that a police officer responded to the report of a crime and confronted a suspect who attacked him and struggled for the police officer's gun, the suspect was killed in the process. Many await the results of the Grand Jury to determine a more objective determination. The variety of perspectives offered are for open and balanced discussion utilizing this situation as a vignette for seeking to determine subjectivity versus objectivity.
The link below has the Grand Jury Transcripts from Ferguson, MI. Ferguson Grand Jury Transcripts Here are some perspectives following the Grand Jury Verdict clearing Police Officer Darrel Wilson of any legal wrongdoing in the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. POTUS
Cornel West
There were different responses to the Grand Jury decision.
Chain of Command...? What does that mean and what is its purpose? Is it just a military concept? If so why study this concept if you are not in the military? If it has applications in non-military organizations then perhaps understanding the concept of a "chain of command" has other applications. Let's watch this video and see how you could apply this concept to other activities....
What examples would you give on how the concept of a "chain of command" applies to other organizations and activities? In your opinion, what are some of the universal purposes of a chain of command based on the activities and discussion you have had up until this point. Let's take a look at the NJROTC chain of command briefed by your fellow students.... Remember, chain of command will be a part of your mid term exam.
Watch the video? What do you think the central message in this video is? We had a long break from school from 23 Dec 2014 to Jan 5 2015. Welcome back to school. It is time to get back to work! We have mid terms right around the corner, and then the end of the second marking period. For seniors this may be the last marking period colleges will review before making their decision to accept you to their institution or not. Good luck, come to work, and finish the marking period strong.
