We are Survivors.
X=42 is led by me, John Oscar. I'm a highly decorated Army combat logistician, and I've spent more than 20 years on one problem: what happens to people when disaster hits and they have nowhere to go.
I'm not a genius. I just stay with a problem longer than most people.
How it started
I was medically retired after 14 years of active Army service in June 2005. Two months later Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I watched the Superdome on TV with the rest of the country and thought somebody needs to fix this.
Less than a month later Hurricane Rita hit, and tore my own home apart. I couldn't protect my family. The evacuation turned into one of the worst traffic jams in American history. People ran out of gas and died in the Texas heat. That jam ran less than 200 yards from my house, as far as I could see.
I decided somebody needed to fix this, and it might as well be me.
People went to the Superdome because they had no other option. People drove into that traffic jam because they had no other option. I sat in my house while it came apart because I had no other option.
From Survivor Storage to X=42
Why a logistician
Logistics is getting people, food, fuel, water and shelter where they're needed, on time, under pressure, when things are going wrong. That's what disaster response is. It's what I did in the Army.
So X=42 isn't built on hope or on technology that doesn't exist yet. It's built on basic common sense, physics, the regulations as written, and parts you can buy off the shelf today. The threats are coming in the next few years. The answer has to be ready in years, not decades.
About all of us, not one person
X=42 is about our loved ones and their future. I've done what I can on my own for a long time. Building the first facility takes a team.
If you learn enough about this, I think you'll want to be on it.