Clay Martin | Author of Concrete Jungle: A Green Beret’s Guide to Urban Survival | SAFETY DOC PODCAST LIVESTREAM 7-18-2020

By David P. Perrodin | July 20, 2020

[Podcast] Retired Recon Marine Clay Martin leverages his bonafide credentials and experience to provide listeners with fact-based, authentic concepts regarding the application of survival techniques in their homes, neighborhoods, and any environment that spins into chaos. Clay shares captivating personal stories, including a time when a momentary fatigue of his situational awareness resulted in juggling a hot potato tear gas canister decoyed as a Dr. Pepper bottle. Read the full blog post for episode #143 at safetyphd.com.

DIRECT LINK to MP3 of this Episode: https://tinyurl.com/SDP143-AUDIO

ABOUT CLAY MARTIN

Clay Martin is a former USMC Infantryman, Reconnaissance Marine, and Scout Sniper. He crossed deck to the US Army and spent the rest of his career in Special Forces, because he is a glutton for punishment. Medically retired at 15 years of service, he wandered the Earth like Caine from Kung Fu, before remembering he could type and starting a career as a gun review monkey and novelist. He is the author of Last Son of the War God and the Sword of the Caliphate, fictional works.

CONCRETE JUNGLE – AMAZON BEST SELLER / SEVERAL REVIEWS

Written in 2019 and released in June 2020, Concrete Jungle: A Green Berets guide to Urban Survival, is unfortunately a non-fiction book appropriate to the times we live in. As cultural war clouds gather, cities are becoming the flashpoint. In this volume, retired Special Forces soldier Clay Martin teaches you how to survive it. A multi tour GWOT veteran and Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat instructor, as well as long time prepper and competitive shooter, Clay brings a different type of skill set to the party. From laying in supplies to siege proofing your apartment building, this volume answers the questions other experts cannot.

HOUSE BURNED DOWN, MEDICAL EVENT, AND THEN COVID19

Clay and his family were out of town when their house caught fire and was destroyed at the end of January. A week later, Clay was hospitalized with an unexpected blog clot in his right arm that extended into his lungs, and by the time he was released in February, the COVID19 pandemic became something that couldn’t be ignored by Americans – so his family prepared for the pandemic, without many of their possessions, while living in a rental house – and as Clay was a medically-compromised person due to the recent hospitalization. Conditioned for chaotic times, Clay rolled with the situation and stated, “We have water bottles and a backpack, we’ll be fine”, but also found his young children asking, “where are our toys, why are we living in BnBs, …?”

SITUATION AWARENESS – YOU CAN LEARN IT

Clay wrote that the American civilian population has been largely insulated and comfortable since 1941. People in America wake up expecting and experiencing a predictable, safe day. He believes that most people are deficient in situational awareness skills unless they’ve grown up in a volatile area, such as a big city – in which situational awareness and survival skills are an evolved process.

SNIPER SCHOOL

Clay shared that sniper school focused on identifying nuanced things through binoculars or being able to recall what you passed while walking to lunch. The more you observe your environment, the more you automatically attend to what’s happening around you and also apply a filter of, “What can hurt me right now?” David built on this with an example of taking his family to a baseball game last summer. He taught his daughters to watch the position of the infielders and outfielders in order to predict what might happen next.

HOW CLAY BUILT HIS PROXY NETWORK

Clay notes that different people have different abilities to handle things – so learn people’s strengths and play to those strengths when building your information network. If someone’s a spreadsheet fanatic, give him an assignment of aggregating data from members in the field. Clay describes how he built his information network similar to a phone tree – and have the primary people be the ones that live close to you. Remember that your connections in other parts of the country are likely to have their own regional networks.

PREDICTORS OF THINGS TO COME

Clay identified alarming patterns of behavior last year including some states and cities choosing to selectively enforce the law and dropping charges – and a trend toward a more lawless society. Clay feels we might be 6-8 months out from hyperinflation and an economic collapse.