How To Survive A Terrorist Attack - Air Or Ground!

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Instructor/owner Walter Philbrik.
Photo copyright by Ron Laytner
and Edit International.

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We are going through the beginnings of terrorist attacks in America - A car bomb in Times Square, suspect quickly caught, the young Nigerian who burned himself while trying to set off an explosion on a Delta/Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit may be just the first of many. If you find yourself in danger on an airliner or near a terrorist action anywhere else - reading this story could save your life.

HOW TO SAVE YOURSELF AND OTHERS

ON A PLANE

It's best to catch a terrorist bomber before it comes to armed struggle. The same goes for hijackers.

Look at who is boarding your plane. Watch for Red Flags - someone wearing an expensive suit but a military watch, extremely nervous passengers, people with neither carry-on bags nor luggage, someone wearing military boots with normal clothes, strange behavior. Tell someone in charge it could save your life.

Be most on guard in the beginning of the flight. Ninety percent of hijackings happen in the first 20 minutes because the plane is still full of fuel.

Don’t be unnerved by scare tactics. Control your breathing and heart rate. Try to stay calm.

The first thing the hijackers will do is stab a couple of people, slit their throats, then shake blood on nearby passengers. This is to control you with terror. The terrorists then herd everyone to the back of the airplane. Why? Because they are afraid of passengers rushing and overpowering them. There are many more passengers than hijackers.

Do not go to the back of the plane. Do so and you and everyone else are probably dead. You must take back the aircraft.

Assess the threat, assume leadership, designate help and take action. How many hijackers and how many weapons? Where are they located on the aircraft? You are all leaders. What do people do when a leader gets up? They follow. Tell someone to help you. “You two guys grab him while we get the other one!” You must take back the aircraft at all costs.

What about hostages? Would you risk the life of an airline stewardess? How about your wife or child? Could you rush the terrorists if they have your eight-year old boy and they say that if anyone moves they will cut his throat?

You must because if you do nothing he is going to die anyway.

In a hijacking the passengers are divided up into hostages and victims. Terrorists kill hostages to scare you and control you. So if you have a loved one who is taken hostage their best chance of survival is you fighting back.

Look for ordinary items that can be used as weapons. Prepare in advance. Always bring along a hardcover book, a newspaper, keys and a pen and ask for a blanket and two unopened soda cans. Keep a fairly heavy bag under your seat. These ordinary items are weapons that can save your life.

When the terrorist comes down the aisle as soon as he passes you throw your blanket over his face so he cannot see. Then knee him in the spine, pull him down and strangle him with the blanket until you get another passenger to help you restrain him.

Wrap the blanket around your forearm and you can block knife slashes. Hold the blanket out and catch the arm of the terrorist as he slashes at you. Then hold the knife arm wrapped up while other passengers take the terrorist down.

A hard cover book can block any stabbing attack. A heavy book can smash a hijackers nose, collar bone Adam’s Apple or back of his head.

Always ask a stewardess for two unopened cans of soda. A full soda can thrown at someone’s temple can kill him. They can smash a terrorist’s nose, knee cap or head. If everyone throws a full soda can at a terrorist he can be stoned to death. A full soda can wrapped inside a blanket can be swung as a deadly mace.

A newspaper folded once or twice and stuck inside your shirt is body armor strong enough to stop most knife stabs. A rolled newspaper becomes extremely hard and can be used to smash the nose or stop the heart by hitting the arteries on the side of the neck.

Stab a pen into the terrorist’s eye, hand, throat, anywhere. Stick him and stick him until he is the victim.

Keys can be stabbed through a terrorist’s ear into his ear drum, gouge out his eyes, or even cut his throat.

A leather belt wrapped around your arm can stop knife cuts or the belt can be swung as a flail. Smash the buckle into a terrorist’s face. Belts can quickly strangle terrorists and can also tie them up when they are disarmed and unconscious.

Women can take off their high-heeled shoes and punch them at the terrorists who will be knocked out.

A heavy bag kept under your seat can be used to block knife slashes, smash a terrorist or can be thrown into the aisle to trip him.

An undercover Air Marshall may attempt to take back the airplane. If that happens keep your head down or you could be accidentally shot and killed.

Be prepared to recover and shoot the Air Marshall’s gun if he is injured or killed, otherwise the terrorists have another weapon.

When firing a gun the most important thing is aiming. Do this quick exercise: hold your index finger up to a spot on the wall. Close one eye and then the other. Looking with one eye your finger will appear to jump while with the other eye it will stay on target. The eye that does not jump is the one you should aim with. Keep your eye on the front sight and align that with your target.

In the end the only way terrorism is going to be stopped is if ordinary people start fighting back. We have to make terrorism more dangerous for the terrorist than for their victims.

ON THE GROUND

QUICK RULES OF SURVIVAL:

1 - Do not go to the scene of a terrorist attack to watch. Terrorists like to set off secondary targets to kill as many police and rescue personnel as possible.

2 - If you are on a bus or train be alert for unidentified packages or someone hurriedly getting off and leaving a package. If this happens try to throw the package out a window if you can't get off .

3 - If you are on a subway system that has been attacked try walking down the tracks until you find an emergency ladder leading up to the street.

4 - If you are on a subway car or a bus that has been attacked first assess your own injuries then, if possible, help those around you.

5 - Keep low to breathe the best air possible. Smoke inhalation is the number one cause of death after an explosion.

6 - Stay out of the subway system and don't take buses until you feel secure again about using them. Terrorists sometimes strike the same targets twice to reinforce fear.

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SURVIVE A TERRORIST ATTACK: A HOW TO GUIDE

By Lance Laytner
Copyright Edit International


HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA – We were sitting in a Florida classroom when I noticed something wrong.

Everyone was in light warm weather clothing except a dark-haired young man covered in a zipped-up and bulging jacket. His eyes were closed. He seemed to be praying quietly, his forehead covered in sweat

Before I could act – scream out, or maybe run – he jumped to his feet, threw over a table and shouted, “Allah Akbar! God is great! Death to Infidels!” In a last cruel moment he opened his jacket exposing a vest of dynamite sticks and pulled on a detonator.

My heart stopped for a moment. There was a shocked silence.

“You are all dead because you’re stupid,” ruled our tough anti-terrorism instructor, Nelson Ricardo.

The former American Special Forces soldier who fought secret guerilla wars from Nicaragua to Afghanistan, explained. “Many of you saw this man in class wearing a buttoned up jacket in Florida heat. But you didn’t say or do anything. Now you are dead.”

The “Suicide Bomber” was our first test in an Anti-Terrorism course taught by a team of former American Special Forces troops, S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics) Team instructors and military Intelligence operatives at International Protective Services [I.P.S.] in Hollywood, Florida.

They’ve trained hundreds of police and FBI agents and are now training ordinary people to survive the terrorist attacks everyone agrees are coming to all countries, especially after the Madrid Train Massacre.

“Barked Nelson. “The purpose of this course is to teach you to be aware and prepared. You have to react!”

Through the use of innocent-appearing sleeper cells the enemy is already in place waiting a signal to help pick a target with the most possible casualties.

Walter Philbrick, a SWAT instructor and president of IPS Services told us, “Terrorism has no rules, either fight or die. We are going to teach you how to survive a terrorist attack.”

The first thing is to become more alert. Be aware of your surroundings.

Nelson said that from his experience as a combat veteran he knew, “The terrorists of 9-11 were scared. They knew they were going to die. They were sweating and jumpy. Somebody had to sit beside them on the planes. Those passengers might have been able to save the planes and buildings if they were aware enough to realize something was wrong.”

The First Rule of survival is to see terror coming. We must build up our reflexes from totally unaware to almost instant reaction – what’s called Condition Red.

If a man walks into a restaurant wearing a raincoat when it’s not raining and you see bulges in the coat, get up and walk out. He might be wearing a bomb. You may walk out twenty-five times and on the twenty-sixth BOOM!!”

If someone comes into a restaurant and puts a briefcase down and walks away get your family out first, then make a phone call to alert the restaurant of a possible bomb.”

Don’t just jump up and start yelling ‘BOMB!’ You will cause a panic and everyone will run out. If it’s not a bomb the restaurant owner will lose thousands of dollars and might sue you.

If a terrorist throws a hand grenade down in front of you don’t run. You will be killed by flying shrapnel piercing vital organs or your head. Seek shelter behind a chair or table in the two to four seconds before the grenade goes off.

If there is no cover fall face down with your feet facing the coming explosion. Pull your elbows into your sides to protect vital organs and cover your ears. This will change you from a five or six foot tall standing target into a tiny six inch box on the ground. The blast may miss you entirely or flying shrapnel may hit the soles of your shoes. At worst you can you lose your feet – but you will survive.

Another terrorist tactic spreading to the rest of the world is suicide bombing.

When faced with a suicide bomber you must first determine which type of detonation control he is holding. A Remote Control Detonator looks like the button held by a photographer in a studio. The explosion is caused by pushing the button. You must grab his thumb so he can’t press down.

The ‘Dead Man’s Switch’ is similar to the safety pin on a grenade. If the terrorist is shot or killed or releases his grip the bomb goes off. You must not let him open his hand.

As a last resort if you are behind a suicide bomber and can’t see what type of detonator he is using you must use him as a cushion to save your life and the lives of others.

First grab the hand with the controller. Then kick him with your right leg in the back of his right knee. Then you are going to fall on him as he goes down. The explosion will go off under him. His body will protect yours.

You will probably be thrown fifty feet in the air, break a few ribs and suffer second degree burns – but live. A soldier in Israel stopped a suicide bomber in a café using this technique and survived.


-THE END-
By Lance Laytner
Copyright Edit International



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