Rob Turnbull

I am a retired Naval officer living in Portland, Oregon. Both enlisted and commissioned, I served primarily as a Cryptologic Officer with the NSA, and as an Surface Warfare Officer aboard an amphibious ship and an aircraft carrier. My many tours include several billets located overseas and in some of the world's most volatile operational theaters. More than anything else, my military service taught me the valuable skills of maintaining situational awareness and how to thrive in chaotic environments.

A few of the dystopic and apocalyptic novels I have read portrayed what I think were unrealistic or untenable events, interactions, or dialogues in their presentation of TEOTWAWKI situations. They conceive of a world where hands are extended for no other reason than because that's how we generally act in the mundane and routine world of today.

I may not have actually lived through an end-of-the-world scenario, but I do know this: It won't be nice, it won't be civilized, and the weak will perish or become victims of the strong. Soft and fluffy novels of the apocalypse should be mandatorily listed under the Fantasy section of the bookstore, because if you can't keep up, kill without mercy, or contribute you, sir, are a burden, and burdens get left behind or used as bait.

Harsh? Maybe. Realistic? Definitely. Do these sentiments make me sound like a sociopath? Probably, but time will tell.