Military Star Lighter JUNGLE EXPERT

Description: The Jungle Expert Badge was often worn by graduates of the Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC) at Fort Sherman until the school became inactive in 1999. The badge was authorized for wear by soldiers assigned to U.S. Army South who graduate from JOTC but the badge was never recognized Army-wide. Deep in the jungles of Oahu, soldiers are confronted with mock ambushes as part of a two-week training program. The terrain of the jungle is similar to what is found in the Philippines or Taiwan. The difficult conditions of the terrain and the intense training mean not everyone is able to complete the program. was September, 1966. I got my orders to Nam on July 4th (how patriotic is that?) and was given thirty days to clear post, go home and tell family goodbye...perhaps for good. Lo and behold, in the mail was a set of orders to report to Ft Sherman, Canal Zone, to attend Jungle Expert School. This, I guess, was to acclimate you to the wonderful tour in Vietnam that you were about to experience. Had no idea what to expect. Leave your pens and pencils behind; this was something different. We arrived in Panama on Sunday evening; we were housed in very old wooden barracks. The group of men going through this training with me came from all sorts of units, jobs, and backgrounds. If there was a common thread, I didn't find it. We were going to do "jungle training" for two weeks, complete with a 24-hr E&E (Escape & Evasion) exercise, to include "enemy combatants" who would be turned loose to seek us out and take us to a POW camp. You were warned that you "had better not get caught" because you can expect to be treated roughly. After all, you are a POW. Meanwhile, you were warned not to engage in brutal fighting to get away...in other words...the captors could hurt you, but you couldn't hurt them. There would also be many graded exercises during the two weeks. You could "wash out" and not get your coveted Jungle Expert patch. (But you were going to Nam anyway!) I knew the definition of "monsoon", but I was never in one; had no idea what they were like. We were told that, tomorrow morning, a monsoon would start. But training would proceed anyway. Well, that's the military manner. Made sense. Until you experience the monsoon first hand. After chow, we line up in formation. Meanwhile, the rain started. Did I say rain? How about "the rainSTORM" started. An NCO is our first instructor; his subject is teaching how to tie knots that may come in handy in the jungle. We stood "at ease" while the Instructor droned on, demonstrating how to tie various types of knots. There is just one problem here, folks. IT'S POURING DOWN RAINING AND YOU'RE GETTING SOAKED. Our Instructor was so accustomed to this situation; he just went on with the lesson. Guess what? In a monsoon...the rain doesn't STOP! You had better get used to it now, cause it ain't gonna let up. After an hour of constant rain watching someone tie knots, I wouldn't remember how to tie my boots. You have to get used to getting soaking wet and thinking "nah, it's not really raining". If you asked beforehand that I could have gotten used to training in the driving rain, I would have said, "No", but I found out differently. And so it went; all the classes held outdoors in the driving rain. We took turns wringing a chicken's neck, being taught how to cook snakes for meals, which plants were edible and which ones to avoid. We were seriously warned to avoid, at all costs, "the black mamba". This was the biggest and baddest snake of the jungle. But all that was the "polite" stuff. We all had to do the famous "slide for life" whereby you started at the top of a steep hill, grabbed on to a handle and pulley, and slid down at break-neck speed to a tree across a river. Some NCOs were stationed at the bottom to tighten the ropes at the exact time you were about to splat yourself into a pancake against a tree. But, that wasn't the real danger. The real danger was NOT bringing your legs into a horizontal position underneath you, otherwise your body would twist and turn and be sliding down out of control. You could break several miscellaneous bones in the process. Actually, it was fun if you were in good physical shape to stretch your legs out horizontally and hold them there. In fact, there are several parks today that offer a version of this stunt. But...here's the stupid kicker. Who the hell would be carrying ropes and pulleys in the jungles of Vietnam where you are expecting combat to break out at any moment? It wasn't meant to teach you to cross rivers in a jungle. No, it was meant to see just how much tolerance you had for fear of your life. There more tests like this to come; in fact, it may have been the very intent of sending you here. The Chagres River played a major role in the Jungle Expert training course. It was a very wide, swift and deep river running through the training area. You would cross it many times in various ways before you left. It was almost guaranteed that you would fall into the Chagres eventually and lose "points" on your final score. The third of three exercises was almost a certainty that you would drop in the river. The first exercise was three ropes extended across the Chagres; one at the top, and two below. This one was easy; you held on to the rope over your head and put your boots on the bottom two ropes. Then, you walk across with the overhead rope keeping you balanced as you moved your feet forward. Piece of cake. The second exercise was only two ropes; one above and one below. This one was more treacherous; you had to hold on to the upper rope and slide both boots across the lower rope. It was very "doable", but at a much slower pace. But then came the "killer"...just a single rope across the river. Okay, pal...suck it up! You now have to hold on to just a single rope while your entire body was weighing you down, to include your M-14 rifle...as you went "hand over hand" to the other side. Nope! I didn't make it. The NCOs had canoes nearby and plucked many a soldier out of the Chagres. Most all the "fat boys" were dead meat; they had better swim well until they were rescued. Rappelling? Of course! What jungle course would be worth a darn without the art of rappelling? Well, if you had any agility, it was pretty simple. You start at the top of a very high hill, hook yourself to a rope and a "d-ring" and hop down the side of a mountain. Again, if you properly extend your legs each time, you fall, stab your boots into the side of the hill, get your bearings, and do it again...and again...and again until you safely reach the bottom. So...what's the challenge? The "challenge" is to never look down; you'll liable to crap in your fatigues and go into a a panic session. Oh, yes! It happens! More than one candidate "froze" and some very experienced faculty NCOs actually went up and got them down safely. They flunked the exercise, of course. Oh...but there's more! The sneaky sons-of-bitches who designed this "jungle expert" course had you learn the basics of rappelling on a water-soaked mountainside that made it very easy to "push off" and stab your boots into the next stop. Piece of cake! But! The course "for record" and making your official score was a freakin' WATERFALL OVER ROCK SLABS! You didn't have the safety and security of sinking your boots into the mud. Noooooo! You had to bend at the waist and have your boots hit a slab of rock with water running over it and HOLD that position until you were ready to drop again! Oh, the worst was yet to come! Another "Chagres" exercise was to swim across the river in teams of two with your gear. The gear including two "half-tents". You were taught how to snap them together, load all your gear inside, and make it a cargo/flotation device. The problem was "x" number of us were not good swimmers and crossing a swift river like the Chagres would likely have saved some of us the trouble of being sent to Vietnam; they could bury us there. So, the game plan was to divide us into the "Swimmers" and the "Non-Swimmers". The swimmers would take the lead and the non-swimmers would provide the "kicking" for all they were worth. I thought this might be indeed the last exercise I would have to endure. I kicked for all I was worth, but I give credit to my lead swimmer for being alive to write this narrative today. It was a very scary experience! We were getting closer and closer to the grand finale...the E&E exercise. To prepare for that, they broke us into teams of four. We were given a compass and map, a starting point and a partisan point, and had to arrive at the partisan point in "x" amount of time in order to get the necessary grade. Now, this was a piece of cake if you had become accomplished with maps and compasses. Having graduated from Field Artillery School, this course finally had something on the training agenda that I could identify with. Oh, yes...to make it challenging, the test was conducted in the dark of night IN THE JUNGLE. Well, my teammates were veterans of map exercises and we literally RAN the course and found the partisan point pretty quickly. Unfortunately, we came in 2nd because a team of Navy Seals beat us to the partisan point. Being cocky smart-asses, they said, "What took you so long?" To which I replied, "Who are you kidding?" You guys are breathing so hard, you just got here!" That shut them up; they beat us by seconds. ESCAPE & EVASION: This was the centerpiece of the jungle training. They turn you loose in teams to find the Partisan Point. They give you a map and a compass. If you want to eat, you'd better find it and kill it. So, you run through the jungle, avoid the captors, and find the Partisan Point. Just one problem, dude! In addition to the ongoing monsoon, a major storm was heading our way. It was a dangerous storm, with high winds and causing the Chagres River to overflow its banks at every point. So...did they call off the E&E? YES! But...only after they started the exercise and we were already turned loose for 24 hours. This was a major safety "f...up", let me tell you. Getting the students out of the path of this storm, monsoon and the dangers of a raging river could not be turned back. We were in the thick of it..."tough shit", as they say. I will never forget my "personal disaster". The night before the E&E, we were instructed to find a tree and sleep in it. Well, not knowing a maple from a birch to begin with, I chose one whose sap irritated my skin terribly! I got virtually no sleep and I had to be alert and ready for the next 24 hours. Don't ask how I made it, because I don't know. The storm was bad! The rain came down harder than before and actually DISINTEGRATED the map they gave us! It became a sloppy mess of melted pieces of paper from all the rain...we could not use it. Thus...my team relied on compasses. I don't have much recall about the E&E other than being extremely tired and hoping we would end this damn exercise. The School staff had already convinced me that the usual "stateside safety" procedures don't apply to jungle training; if you don't survive this training, maybe Vietnam isn't for you. (Hah!) I do recall that we spotted the "enemy captors", as we were running along, but there were on the opposite side of the Chagres River. So we smiled and gave them the finger. The only thing I remember is that we reached what we thought was the "Partisan Point" at early daylight. All we saw was a large bamboo pole sticking above the flooded area which was supposed to be the shore of the Chagres River. It had a thin pink ribbon tied to it. So, we said, "This must be it. We're staying here". Minutes later, along comes an LST. Now...can you imagine a gigantic bastard of a ship heading right for you? They dropped the plank and we came aboard. That’s when they told us they tried to stop the E&E, but it was too late. Thanks a lot, you worthless piece of s---t! Oh...by the way...congrats on the effort to mark the Partisan Point. You outdid yourselves! Thus, it was time to pack your bags and baggage after washing the scum from your body from being out in a jungle monsoon for two weeks. My team was greatly exhilarated to have finished this bullshit alive and well, but we didn't feel too kindly toward the command and staff of the Jungle School. They, in turn, didn't give a shit either. We certainly earned our Jungle Expert patches. They had an aircraft waiting to take us directly to Vietnam. How convenient. But, at the last minute, we get an announcement saying that some Infantry Battalion had a higher priority than we did. They got the plane; we got an additional 30 days leave and a new Port Call to Vietnam. Oh, my...as if that really hurt my feelings! Goodbye, Ft Sherman! Goodbye, Canal Zone! Hope to God I never see you again!

Price: 19.95 USD

Location: Mesa, Arizona

End Time: 2024-10-29T00:34:43.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5 USD