Second in a series of two stories

SALUDA — After a brief address, author-professor William “Bill” Forstchen did what he says he most enjoys doing  — fielded questions from attendees of his keynote address at the Preppers Camp on Sept. 13 at Lake Orchard Campground.

The most common concern of the prepper audience involved the threat of a devastating attack on the United States.

Eschewing the term “survivalists,” which they feel has been unfairly stigmatized by the mainstream news media, “preppers” is the preferred reference to those (including participants at the Prepper Camp) who prepare for possible future crises by stocking up with critical supplies, training in various survival skills and making other changes.

Forstchen’s aforementioned address appeared in October’s Daily Planet, in which he predicted a scenario in the near future wherein ISIS terrorists from the Middle East would bring their fight directly to the U.S. — where he said they already are embedded — and will take aim at “soft targets.”

Forstchen, a New Jersey native and military history scholar who teaches at Montreat College and is author of The New York Times bestseller “One Second After” (in 2009), addressed about 600 people who attended the three day camp, where classes in a wide array of survival topics were offered, along with fellowship and a number of products from vendors.

Forstchen also spoke of potentially catastrophic electromagnetic pulses, coronal mass ejections (serious solar flares) and, in general, a collapse of the nation’s antiquated electrical grid that could take years to repair and, in the meantime could result in the death of 90 percent of Americans within a year and leave the survivors living a lifestyle without electricity.

During a lengthy question-and-answer period,  a woman asked what would happen if “one state is good” with a reliable power system “and everything goes out around it?”

“Most likely, the answer is, ‘Yes, the grid would go down’” in the state that had a a good electrical system,” Forstchen replied. “ In North Carolina, our grid also feeds into South Carolina and Virginia. Our nation has four major power grids in the county, plus the state of Texas, that are all interconnected... Now we’re pulling New Hampshire in....”

A man asked Forstchen if it would be correct to say that the professor-author seems “very determined in your resolve that EMPs (electromagnetic pulses) are known” and feels that “if it (the problem of a power grid unprepared for an EMP) is understood” and that if the system were hardened to withstand an EMP, “it would fix the problem.”

“First, EMP is real,” Forstchen replied. “Anybody that doubts that... look up Soviet Test 184 (which, he said, blew out a power grid over Kazikhstan). Also, look up (America’s) Starship Prime. ... That was our first (known) popping of a nuke above the atmosphere. Before that , there was the theory called the Compton Effect,” for which Arthur Compton received a Nobel Prize. Forstchen said the Compton Effect was tied to the Soviet Union’s alleged 1962 blowout of Hawaii’s power grid.

Further, Forstchen said, “EMP is a first-strike weapon, meaning he who launches first an EMP... disarms an opponent. Ninety percent (of the targeted area’s residents) are dead one year later. Even if we turn Iran into a glass factory, they still have one (an EMP).

“Therefore, I see a ‘hardening of the grid as one part” of the solution. “Furthermore, I see a (need for a) more robust foreign policy.” He said America’s enemies need to know that its leaders harbor the attitude of “‘Listen, you blanks, the minute the (EMP) missile clears that pad, we’re going to blow it out of the sky... If you try it again... you better be in your bunkers real deep.’” As the crowd chuckled, Forstchen added, “An EMP needs to be stopped before it is launched. That’s something a lot of people don’t understand.”

On a separate note, Forstchen lamented, “I’m sort of stunned that tomorrow and Sept. 11 aren’t national holidays. Tomorrow is the 200th anniversary of the “Star Spangled Banner.” As for Sept. 11, 2001, more than 3,000 people were killed in separate terrorist attacks on American soil.

A woman asked about the Sheild Act — “What is involved with the hardening of the infrastructure?”

“The vulnerability is not just in the distribution system,” Forstchen replied. “Even if the generating system survives, how do you get the electricity from there to here if the lines are gone? You don’t. The majority of the system would still be off-line five years later because of the non-availability of spare parts. So the Shield Act is about hardening infrastructure and stockpiling key parts. We should be retrofitting now. We should at least get some of our infrastructured hardened. That could be the difference in recovery time of months versus years.”

A man asked, “What’s the possibility that they (terrorists) would come in on a container ship? Bringing a scud in? Do we have any other way to protect against it?” (A “scud” a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union.)

In response, Forstchen said, “All you have to do is lower a Scud onto a container ship, about 200 miles off the Gulf of Mexico and just pop and shoot... That’s also the perfect outline for delivering an EMP. Container ships also could be a way for infiltration... On the Southern border, we have no defensive missile systems.. From launch to destination, it’s about 5 to 7 minutes. California will not get through this.”

Someone asked, “In your opinion, what groups or nations represent the top threats of firing an EMP over the U.S.?”

First, let’s make sure it has nothing to do with Islam,” Forstchen said, alluding to political correctness that he sees afflicting the U.S. government and prompting laughter from the crowd. “Iran and North Korea — they’re the big players... maybe fed by Russian technology.... particularly, North Korea, where they have a little leader with a bad haircut... What do we hit back, when they have bunkers 100 feet deep?” He then reiterated that the “EMP is a first-strike weapon.”

A woman asked, “Is China a threat?”

“China has as much to lose as we do,” Forstchen replied. “It’s really three countries... In China, you have 500 million in the first world, 500 million in villages and 50 million still living in caves. I’m more concerned about Russia than China.”

Someone queried, “Does Congress not care at all” about the threat of an EMP attack on the U.S.?

“The guy I supported for president is no longer a candidate,” Forstchen said. “When the Continental Army moved to Philadelphia, they stopped and said, ‘Either you pay us or we stop here’... In 1782, some of Washington’s officers said (to Washington), ‘Screw Congress and we’ll set you up as dictator’ — and Washington turned them down,” telling them, “‘As you can see... I’ve gotten old and blind in service of my country.’

“We came within a hair’s breath of losing the country... many times... in America’s history... I still believe in America. As tough as it is, we still need to soldier on.... We can all look at the log-rolling and everything else. We’ve always had to rely on someone like Ronald Reagan to straighten everything out. I liked Ronald Reagan!” Forstchen asserted.