COM-08 Dead Drop and Courier Protocols

COM-08: Dead Drop and Courier Protocols

Non-electronic message passing for EMCON-heavy scenarios, drawn from SOE courier doctrine and adapted for disaster-response teams and MAGs. Learn when to leave the radio off — and what to do instead.

Course Overview, One Page

A single printable page covering what COM-08 teaches, the 6 lessons, what you need before starting, and the doctrinal sources behind the method. Useful for deciding whether the course is for you, or for handing to somebody in your group who is weighing it up.

Why This Course

BLUF: This course teaches you what to do when the radio itself is the risk — dead drops, live drops, brush contacts, cut-outs, signal plans, and courier protocols. It’s the non-electronic companion to COM-04 EMCON, and it pairs with COM-07 (OTP) and COM-12 (DRYAD) for protecting what a message says, not just how it moves.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

  • Explain why non-electronic message passing is sometimes the lower-risk option under EMCON conditions
  • Distinguish a dead drop from a live drop, brush contact, and cut-out, and select the right method for a given risk profile
  • Apply site-selection criteria to choose and describe a defensible dead drop location
  • Design a simple signal plan (load/clear/duress indicators) usable by a small team without electronic confirmation
  • Apply basic courier tradecraft — compartmentalization, route variation, recognition procedure — appropriate to a neighborhood/MAG context
  • Build an integrated, locally tailored dead drop and courier SOP as a capstone deliverable

Lessons 01–06

Lesson 01

Course Introduction

Why non-electronic, why now — and where this course fits alongside COM-07/COM-12

Lesson 02

Dead Drops, Live Drops, Brush Contacts, and Cut-Outs

Four methods, four risk/speed trade-offs

Lesson 03

Dead Drop Site Selection

Criteria for a site that fails safe instead of getting found

Lesson 04

Signal Plans

Confirming drop status at a distance — including the duress signal

Lesson 05

Courier Protocols

Compartmentalization, route variation, recognition, and compromise procedure

Lesson 06

Capstone: Building Your Team’s SOP

Assemble everything into one dead drop and courier SOP, including your FEP MESSAGE DROPS page

How This Course Works

Format Six lessons and 27 knowledge checks; answer each lesson’s checks correctly to continue
Sequence Lessons unlock in order; progress is saved in the browser you use
Recommended first COM-03 COMSEC and COM-04 EMCON — EMCON judgment is assumed, not taught here
Capstone Your team’s own dead drop and courier SOP, including your FEP MESSAGE DROPS page
Certificate Unlocks on the Course Map once all six lessons are complete
Scope Note

This course is disaster-response and team-coordination doctrine, adapted from historical courier tradecraft (SOE / Camp X). It is not intended for, and should not be used for, unlawful surveillance-evasion or clandestine activity.

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