Tactical

What Military Comms-Denied Training Teaches Armed Citizens

October 30, 2026

A piece posted at American Partisan, attributed to a social media thread from Raise the Black (@KTB_500), argues that American units need to train and fight assuming radios, drone links, and GPS will be jammed from the opening hours of the next conflict — and that leaders who already know commander's intent will keep functioning when the screen goes dark.

Key points

  • Training record cited: the author says Blackhorse OPFOR at NTC beat rotational units roughly 3 to 1 while fighting at about 40 percent strength, locating command posts and jamming capabilities within hours of each rotation.
  • Core argument: a unit that can't operate without the network stops operating when the network goes down, so comms-denied conditions should be trained from hour one, not treated as a late-exercise injury.
  • Recommended drills: give a simple intent, go quiet, and see what lieutenants and sergeants do with it; push strike authority down to small units with target lists pre-agreed before jamming starts.
  • AAR shift proposed: after-action reviews should ask what troops did when nobody answered the radio, not how clean their reports were.
  • Real-world tie-in: the author notes 1st Armored Division soldiers used a Skydio X10 drone and a VMAX electronic warfare system during Combined Resolve training at Hohenfels, and argues the next step is pointing EW at friendly nets.

Quick take

The argument isn't really about hardware — it's about not being helpless the moment your tech fails. That logic scales down fine to armed citizens: know your plan, know what your people do if phones and radios go quiet, and don't build your entire self-defense setup around a signal staying up.

Read the full story: americanpartisan.org