#338: Building Affordable Survival Communities at Fortitude Ranch with Drew Miller, USAFA ‘80
Service Academy Business Mastermind
Release Date: 09/29/2025
#343: Leveraging AI to Close Real Estate Loans Faster with Zach Farkas, Army Veteran
Service Academy Business Mastermind
Need financing for your next investment property? Visit: Want to join us in Tampa, FL on January 26th & 27th? Visit: ____ Speaker Bio: Zach Farkas is the founder of Relos, a proptech company automating real estate workflows to streamline transaction coordination and reduce hours of manual work. Before launching Relos, Zach was the #4 ranked VA lender in the nation, a career he built by focusing not on volume, but on educating veterans about how to leverage their VA home loan benefits. A former Army officer, Zach built his lending business by combining his personal mission...
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#338: Building Affordable Survival Communities at Fortitude Ranch with Drew Miller, USAFA ‘80
Service Academy Business Mastermind
Need financing for your next investment property? Visit: Want to join us in San Francisco, CA on October 7th & 8th? Visit: ____ Drew Miller is the CEO of Fortitude Ranch, a survival and recreational community for disaster preparedness and everyday use. A former Air Force intelligence officer and longtime prepper, Drew founded Fortitude Ranch over a decade ago, creating a network of secure rural compounds supported by professionally organized teams and sustainable resources. With eight locations nationwide, Drew’s mission is to offer members affordable access to well...
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#337: Bringing Institutional Discipline to Multifamily Investing with Curtis Cullen, USMA ‘09
Service Academy Business Mastermind
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#336: Finding Opportunity at a Crossroads: Raj Kankaria and Lone Star Attorney Service, USMA ‘13
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#334: Helping Small Businesses Overcome Financial Challenges and Access Capital with Juan Dominguez, USMA ’89
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Need financing for your next investment property? Visit: Want to join us in San Francisco, CA on October 7th & 8th? Visit: ____ Juan Dominguez is the founder of Dominguez Advisory Group, specializing in business mediation and access to capital for small to midsize companies facing financial obstacles. Drawing on three decades of business experience, he has built a practice focused on business advocacy for those who have hit a bump in the road. After a successful corporate career, including leading a $1 billion company and managing a team of 600, he launched this consulting...
info_outlineNeed financing for your next investment property? Visit: https://www.academyfund.com/
Want to join us in San Francisco, CA on October 7th & 8th?
Visit: https://www.10xvets.com/events
____
Drew Miller is the CEO of Fortitude Ranch, a survival and recreational community for disaster preparedness and everyday use. A former Air Force intelligence officer and longtime prepper, Drew founded Fortitude Ranch over a decade ago, creating a network of secure rural compounds supported by professionally organized teams and sustainable resources.
With eight locations nationwide, Drew’s mission is to offer members affordable access to well defended, well-supplied communities. These are places to vacation in good times and also survive during societal collapse. Featuring defensive walls, cleared lines of fire, and a blend of staff from military and law enforcement backgrounds, Fortitude Ranch stands out for its depth of planning and national media recognition.
In this episode of the SABM podcast, Scott chats with Drew about:
- Fortitude Ranch’s Mission: Delivering affordable professionally managed survival communities and recreational opportunities for the middle class.
- Survival Model and Member Experience: Combining secure compounds, armed and organized membership, farming and recreation for both collapse preparedness and yearly vacations.
- Growth and Expansion: Eight locations nationwide, including NY, WV, TN, WI, CO, NV, TX, with a focus on raising capital to build more sites and support franchise expansion.
- App Based Preparedness: The Collapse Survivor app provides threat alerts, training exercises, and offline access to Wikipedia and maps for emergencies.
- Industry Challenges: Operating in a sector unrecognized by traditional financing, countering misinformation, and advocating for civil defense reform.
- Long Term Vision: Publishing practical resources to change policy, increase government readiness, and protect ordinary Americans, not just elites, in the age of collapse.
Timestamps:
00:12 Understanding Fortitude Ranch
01:50 The Concept of Collapse Survival
03:33 Origins of Fortitude Ranch
05:10 Locations and Media Coverage
06:34 Membership and Benefits
10:05 Future Goals and Challenges
18:21 Government and Preparedness
Connect with Drew:
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A special thank you to Drew for joining me this week. Until next time!
-Scott Mackes, USNA '01