More Fulton recovery

Once you get the suit on you roll out the balloon, hook up the helium and begin inflating it. It takes both helium containers to fully inflate the balloon.

I'll try it again

The Fulton recovery system has three container as you can see. One has the suit that I am putting on, the balloon that you will see shortly along with 500 feet of braided nylon line. The other two containers are bottled helium. There is an instruction card that only has pictures. You don't have to be literate to use this device.

The Fulton Recovery System

This will be a little bit out of sequence. I'm putting it here now because I haven't gotten my PI slides back yet and it's been a while since I've posted. In late 1970 I was asked if I wanted to participate in a Fulton recovery pick up. I had seen it twice before. One was another survival instructor, I can't recall his name at this time, the other was from the recovery unit. So I was familiar with what I was being asked to do and I said yes. The following slides I put together from personal photographs and information off the web. The ground pictures were taken by Butch Poe and the photos from the recovery aircraft were taken by Tim Batrell. This system was also know as the "Skyhook". This is the patch that the crews wore on their flight suits.

PI Poker

When I first got to the PI I didn’t play poker but maybe once a week on a Friday or Saturday night several of the guys would gather in one of the hooches and there would be a game of poker. There would be five players and several others standing around watching and as one player would drop out another took his place. I watched for quite a while. Then sat in one night and enjoyed myself quite a bit. We played nickel, dime, quarter stakes and had strict rules so someone didn’t get wiped out. We played payday stakes. Someone would keep track of who owed what and who won what. Then on payday everyone would either pay what they owed or receive what they won. I’ll talk about poker later when I start writing about the jungle trips.
I think I’ll stop writing in this blog until I get my PJSS (PACAF Jungle Survival School) slides back. I lent them to Jim Root. He and Tom Lutyens are writing a book on the history of survival and Jim was looking for any pictures and information to put in the book so I lent him all of my slides. I want to put some of the pictures in this blog. So bye until I get my slides back.

PI Dangers

About the first or second night there, I was going back to my hooch and there was this Philipino guard walking around the hooches, I think that there were nine hooches. He was armed with a shot gun and wearing an insulated coat. I didn’t think anything of the shot gun but I thought why in the heck is he wearing a coat on a warm night like this. I just wasn’t acclimated yet and a year later I would understand.
Let’s talk about the guards walking around our hooches at night. When I was in the Philippines it really wasn’t a very safe place. I’ll give you some examples. They won’t be in any sort of order because I can’t remember the order.
One night I was awakened by some small arms fire. It sounded like there was some automatic weapons. The next morning I heard that some armed Pilipinos had entered a Nigrito village at the back gate to the base and killed some Nigritoes. King Alfons,king of the Nigritos, his wife and a Col. Loxamana were at a small Nigrito village in the jungle. They had spent the night there and when they got up the next morning King Alfons and his wife went down to the river to bathe. While they were gone some Philipinos armed with automatic weapons came into the village to kill King Alfons and started shooting things up. They killed Col. Loxamana and a couple of others. I was in the PI during their election. What an experience. I think their political system at the time was simple. Kill your opponent and he can’t run against you. One guy running for police chief was killed in the police station. Another gut running for something else was killed in a church. So that is why there were guards walking around the hooches. There were Communist insurgents called Huks in a small town not terribly far from the base called Tarlac. It’s kind of funny because where I work now, Joe, Jack and I interviewed a Philipino sergeant from Fairchild that was about to retire. We hired him as a environmental and safety guy. His home town was Tarlac. There were student demonstrations in Manila trying to get the Americans to leave the PI. So I think that should give you a pretty good picture of the situation there.
More later.

Jungle Survival Panama & RPI

Sometime in1969 I received orders for the Philippines. Then they got cancelled, then I got them back, then they got cancelled then I got them back. In fact that happened so many time folks started calling me “On Again Off Again Everman”. I did finally get the orders and actually went there.
That summer I went TDY to the jungle school at Howard Air Force Base, Panama. It was a good school and I learned a lot there but I thought that if conditions were the same in the PI (Philippines), I didn’t want to go. Everything in the jungle cut or stabbed you. There was black palm that had spines that stabbed you and broke off causing and infection if you didn't get it out, there was broom palm that was similar to black palm. Then it seemed most of the vines were serrated. I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s back up. I flew in to Panama City Panama and was to take a cab to the base. Imagine this, I’m 19 years old, had never been out of the US and everyone looked different. I got my luggage and stepped outside the terminal in to the evening. Humid and hot, those were the two words that instantly came to mind. There were a long line of cabs along the curb and I use the word “cab” loosely. I selected a cab whose driver didn’t look too mean. Off we went after I told him where I wanted to go. Howard AFB was a fair distance from the air port and through the country. The road was lined on each side by tall grasses that looked like sugar cane. It was getting dark and I though “holy cow I’m dead”. He did in fact take me to Howard AFB and all was good.
Class started the next day and they taught us all the basic survival skills as they relate to the jungle. I don’t remember how many were in my class but after a couple of days we headed for the jungle.
We established a static camp, had demonstration performances by the instructor on shelters, fire craft, water procurement etc. When we went to bed that night and all the rest of the nights in the jungle we used mosquito nets to sleep under. When darkness fell the mosquitoes came out. They sounded like a squadron of B-17’s flying over head all night. I did get some sleep though. Sometime during the night my bare arm laid against the mosquito netting. I must have gotten a thousand mosquito bites.
I crawled out on a mango tree over the river and picked a mango. That was my first taste of green mango. It’s like eating a granny smith apple.
We also had ethnic familiarization in the jungle. We traveled a couple of miles through the jungle to a Choco Indian village. Their homes are four feet off the ground to keep wild animals and snakes from coming in. They are made of poles and the roofs are palm fronds. The women had made us a meal like they eat. I was pretty good, rice, palm heart and other wild jungle vegetables and iguana.
We went back to the base and spent the night. Then headed for the airport. Most of us got on one flight and the rest had to wait for the next flight. We got one the airplane and it taxied to the end of the runway and we sat there for a long time. No one ever told us why. I found out later that there was some sort of political problems and when we finally took off we were the last plane to leave for awhile.

I left Fairchild for Clark Air Base The Republic of the Philippines In October of 1969. My first stop after leaving Fairchild was Travis Air Force Base. That’s where military contract overseas flights originated from. The air terminal was bustling. Everyone on their way to South East Asia was going through there, Army, Marines, Air Force and some Navy. Military contract flights were civilian airlines that were contracted by the military. My flight stopped in Hawaii. We didn’t get off the plane. Our next stop was Wake Island. There was a big battle there in WWII. I looked out the window and thought “holy cow we’ll never be able to stop on that runway”. The island is just a corral island and the runway and associated buildings took up the whole island and there wasn’t much runway. From there we landed at Clark Air Base.
When I stepped off the plane I was pleasantly surprised. It was warm but not so humid like Panama. Someone from the survival school was there in a military Jeep. It had a canvas top like on the MASH tv show. Anyway he took me to the PACAF Jungle Survival School. PACAF means pacific air force. I did all the regular things that you do when you arrive at a new station, in processing, getting a place to live for the next 15 months and meeting new people and people that you already know.
My home was a “hooch”. It had plywood sides and a screen all the way around it about four feet high. It slept four people. My bed was on the left side of the door when you came in. Actually it was divided in half by a wall across the middle. I can’t remember who I shared the hooch with right now. All the hooches had a house boy. He shined our boots and shoes, took our dirty clothes to the laundry, made our beds and cleaned our hooch. Before I was to leave the PI I realized that he was more than a house boy, he was a friend. His name was Nick Padicio. More on him later. There was a dog that stayed at the school. She was nobody’s dog. She just stayed at the school and we fed her. More on her later if I remember. I’ll post more pictures later about my PI experiences.
More later.

After Graduating From the Instructor Training Class

When I got back to Fairchild I began certification training. This was training that taught me the lessons that I would be teaching the aircrew members. Once again a lot of research and writing lesson plans. I would observe a whole class first. Then start teaching a lesson or two and after six months be teaching the whole trip.
It was great. Our instructor training class was the second class at Fairchild so there had been only a year of aircrew classes using the woods. The woods were almost untouched. We could take our crews out across the creeks and mountains and not see any signs of people except to run across an old homestead or logging camp or another crew once in a while. At that time all the crews were at least 13 men. I say men because there were no women going through the training at that time. Women did not go into combat.
Let me tell you a thirteen man crew kept you jumping both on base and in the woods. What a responsibility. I was nineteen years old and I was responsible for the health and well being of thirteen men. At that time, 1968, the class leader was a full Colonel. Sometimes some of the element leaders were full Colonels, but most of the time they were Lt. Colonels. The crews were much tougher back then. The last few years of my career they were pretty pathetic. I think life was making them soft.
Anyway, I want to tell you about one Colonel I had for an element leader. He was an older man, I don’t know how old because I was a young man then and older men looked older. He impressed me so much I never forgot him. The training was pretty hard on him. For students, there was not much food, some abandon aircraft rations like we had when we were going through training, a rabbit and some beef, potatoes and onions. The beef was to be split. Most of it went into making jerky for the trail. The rest was used for cooking with the potatoes and onions. While in static camp I taught shelter site selection first then shelter construction since that was the most time consuming for the students to do and they had to have a place to sleep that night. I demonstrated two parachute shelters. Half the element built one kind and the other half built the other. Then the next day they would tear their shelter down and build the other. Imagine watching, critiquing and helping thirteen students.
Just hang on, I’ll get back to the Col.
While in static camp I also taught food procurement, water procurement, night navigation, signaling and vectoring, talking on a radio and directing and aircraft to your position. In those days we vectored a fixed wing aircraft, I think it was called a Beaver. Col. Mosier the commander was the pilot. He evaluated the ground to air signals the students put out and dropped a food packet to the element that had the best signal.
I’m still getting to the old Col. After two days in static camp we began mobile training. The students carried everything they had in their improvised packs. I don’t know how heavy their packs were but I imagine they were at least forty pounds. Once we started this Col. never stopped except when we took a long break for instructions. He was slow and when I went back to check on him he would say he was doing just fine. When I allowed the element to take a five minute break, the Col. wouldn’t be with us. When he reached us he would tell us to get off our ass and get moving. So we did.
While on the trail I taught walking techniques, terrain recognition, map and compass work and always taking the opportunity to teach anything as it presented its self. Our trek route was maybe 5 or 6 miles and when we got into camp that evening I taught how to make evasion shelters using a poncho that they carried and camouflaging them. The squad leaders would be at the point until all the crews got in to make sure everything was ok and none of the students needed medical attention. After that they went back to the command post and we didn’t see them again until the next evening.
After finishing with the students the instructors would make a camp together. We also carried everything that we would need while on the trail. Our packs averaged 50 to 60 pounds. Some of the best times of my life were spent in those camps. To be with good friends around a campfire at night, eating, laughing and just having a good time discussing the events of the day.
The next morning we began teaching evasion lessons, camouflage, travel techniques in a hostile environment, food and water procurement in a hostile environment etc. When the students were all camouflaged we hit the trail.
While traveling in an evasion mode there should be enough distance between students that they can just make out the student in front of them and if they were to turn around the student behind them. So my element of thirteen men could stretch out two or three hundred yards, depending on the terrain and vegetation. I had to keep an eye on all of them so I was constantly moving to the front, then the back, sometimes being off at a distance just watching them to critique them later. Instructors usually traveled almost twice as far as students during mobile and evasion.
During evasion training there were opening and closing times at the points so we had to be there when the window was open. Usually it opened at twelve o’clock and closed at one. Prior to the point opening and turning our students over to AEF we divided the crew into travel teams of two or three men. Usually paring one who was good at survival skills with one who we thought would have troubles.
After we had made contact and turned the students over to the assisted evasion forces the instructors went back to the command post and showered and ate.
We went back out at mid afternoon as aggressors hunting the students. As aggressors we had a twofold purpose. Capturing those students that were doing something wrong and giving them in roll hints as to what they were doing wrong and how they should do it right. They had Evasion cards with a list of infractions and we would mark each infraction they committed and send them on their way, but most importantly we were there for the safety of the students. They all carried whistles and if they got injured or in some sort of danger they were to use the whistle to attract attention and get help. After the student’s final point for the day had closed we would have to go out searching for those students who hadn’t made it yet. That usually wasn’t too difficult but occasionally a team or two would get totally lost and sometimes it would be almost dark before someone found them. I remember one time we had to call off the search because it did get dark and it was unsafe to have instructors in the woods searching. We didn’t have helicopters then. After we got them the search was easier. We resumed the search the next morning at light and eventually found them.
The final point for the students was usually a fun place to be. In the early days whoever was running the final point in the winter would get a big fire going and put on a garbage can of water to heat. It was a special garbage can that was only used for that purpose. When the water was hot we dumped a lot of coco mix in so the students could warm their insides and outsides. It was fun standing around listening to them talk about their experiences. Then as your students came in you could go over and talk to them and see how they did.
When everyone was in the buses were loaded and the instructors loaded up in their trucks and we all went back to the base.
Many times, back then, the students would ask you out to dinner that night. It was always a good time. I’m not sure that that happens now.

Later on I’ll reminisce about some things that occurred in the field and things that I thought about but for now let’s continue forward.