Book Review: "Contact!" by Max Velocity

(Source: Amazon)

Book: Contact! A Tactical Manual for Post Collapse Survival by Max Velocity (2nd edition) (586 pages for the Kindle edition).

Overview: A manual of small unit tactics intended for a post-collapse, loss of rule of law and/or a resistance movement.

Impression: To understand what is this book, it is helpful to know what this book is not. It is not a book on self-defense or personal security. Although there are some ideas concerning fortifications and "bugging" in place,  it is not a book about defending or hardening your home. It does not discuss how to make or use improvised weapons or booby-traps. It is not a manual of arms, or a guide to shooting. It does not teach field craft or basic military skills. It does not teach individual tactics.

So what is this book about? I think the best description is that it is an intermediate level book on small unit tactics (i.e., a couple fire teams up to company level) that is tailored, to a certain extent anyway, to a survivalist or resistance fighter.

By intermediate level, I mean that it seems to be intended on someone with at least some background or training in small unit tactics, such as military basic training or boot camp, or perhaps attending a basic course in small units training. That is, it does not discuss or only has minimal discussion of individual skills. For instance, there is no description of hand signals and only a cursory overview of tactical movement. It does not teach land navigation, and only lightly touches on basic communications issues. It doesn't have the number or detail of diagrams for many topics that would be desirable for a beginning text. Although it has tips on using weapons, it is not intended to be a primmer on shooting, and does not cover weapons retention techniques. It discusses some aspects of camouflage, but does not address the basics of applying camouflage on the person (such as face or hands). For someone without some background knowledge in small unit tactics, I would recommend at least reading through some of the basic military manuals or a book such as Light Infantry Tactics by Christopher Larsen to get a better handle on the fundamentals, and perhaps a book on the use of a tactical carbine (such as Green Eyes and Black Rifles by Kyle Lamb or one of Gabe Suarez's books on tactics) before trying to delve into this book.

On the other hand, Contact! has too broad of an overview to be considered advanced. There is almost no mention, let alone discussion, of movement or tactics for mountainous terrain, and not much more about urban combat. If you want to learn about air assault or insertion from a small boat, this book is not for you. It is, as I stated, intermediate.

Don't let this fool you, though. There is a lot of information here. It is not a "quick read". For instance, it has taken me several months to work through it--albeit, I have also been reading other books at the same time (such as The Collapse of Complex Societies). You will probably want to read the book straight through first, and then revisit the sections--at least that is what I plan to do.

What makes this book useful is that it presents its subject matter with an eye toward the survivalist or resistance fighter. As the author notes:

Something has been pointed out about the mindset of many prepper[s]; the whole barricading yourselves in the homestead, growing tomatoes, and beating off marauders with precision rifle fire at long range, while leaving the actual fighting to 'others.' It is that aspect that I am picking up on and hoping to help with.

(p. 444). And so, the book focuses on teaching concepts of fire and movement, including the principles of patrolling, setting ambushes, reaction drills (thus, the title), and some escape and evasion tactics. For those who are bugging out, there is a discussion of vehicle movement and roadblocks. It covers the use of vehicles in tactical movement, caring for or dealing with casualties. The author has also included blog posts that answer or discuss specific questions or topics that readers of his blog has raised. Most importantly, the author includes a lot of little details and pointers that only come through combat experience.

Some of the strengths of the book are also its weaknesses. Although there is useful information provided in the posts from the author's blogs, a lot of the information is redundant or repetitive. I would have preferred for those discussion to better integrated into the main text. The focus on tactics and operations using units also means that there is little information on operating alone or in a pair. That is, this book is not intended for the individual or family. However, even in that situation, it provides information on how units will act (or react), and thus may be useful to the individual prepper or family.

The military focus is beneficial if you think you may be facing military or paramilitary units. However, the author also assumes access to military or military style equipment--automatic weapons, grenades and explosives, and so on--as well as a large supply of ammunition and fuel for vehicles. (This is where the book's roots in the author's other book, Rapid Fire, shows up most clearly). There is no discussion of constructing or using improvised munitions, methods of substituting civilian weapons or compensating for a lack of military equipment, or low tech booby traps. It doesn't discuss movement using bicycles, horses, or other modes of transportation once the gasoline runs out. It also will take a lot of practice to become proficient at the skills discussed in the book--something that may not be possible unless you can attend the classes offered by the author or similar teachers and/or are part of a large group of people similarly dedicated to learning the skills.

I also have my doubts as to whether practicing the principles outlined in the book on your own, or even taking the classes, is going to get you accepted by a community as a skilled fighter. I suspect that in most situations, a person that has a military background--even if it was limited to working in a mess or similar support position--will be looked to for advice or assistance before someone without, even if the latter has more actual knowledge and skills.

In short, this is not an introductory or first book on combat, but is one for after you understand the basics. Unless you are part of a large group of preppers, this book may not fit into your preps. Obviously, the small unit tactics discussed are not going to have a great deal of application prior to a collapse, and cannot be implemented unless you have a relatively large number of people to work with. Its value for the individual or family group is to inform you of what an enemy will do. The exception is the information on vehicle movement and escape and evasion techniques--those can be applied even by a family group. However, it has a lot of information and tips on actual combat. So, even if you can't field the 16+ troops needed to implement most of the tactics, the "tips and tricks" are worth the read.