A MOMENT IN TIME

This is about a brief moment in time, a simple thing that took place once, and this is as much of a war story as I will ever tell.

It was the early nineties, after I had returned from Okinawa. I was working as a survival instructor at the Special Warfare Center. As you can imagine, the SWC survival school covers a little more than just which roots and berries you can eat, or how to catch fish and game. It's called S.E.R.E. - Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape; I've briefly referred to it in Blog STORMBRINGER. I was working the Evasion team in those days.

Anyway one cool night in early fall I'm out on a rural dirt road, on the side of a hill in the northern part of Moore County. It was a pitch black night; looking over the land as it sloped far away toward the lights of downtown Southern Pines (near where my house is now). I could make out a faint glow in a bowl shaped area which is the swampland of Camp MacKall, and the brighter lights of the Rockingham Speedway. Out of habit I'm constantly making geographical references, I'm constantly orienting myself to the terrain, and this night I could make it all out.

So I'd parked the white panel van, had gotten out and was standing on this absolutely deserted dirt road on the side of a hill. I was waiting to make linkup with a group of soldiers who were going through the training; the scenario was I was some sort of underground operative, assisting them in their evasion.

The hill was behind me, directly to my front the shoulder of the road dropped off and there was the usual wall of pine trees. Of course stretching out for miles I could see in front of me, across the tops of the pines, what I'd described above; the distant city lights. All around me it was absolutely pitch black; a moonless night in the woods in the Carolinas is like black velvet soaked in black ink.

While I was waiting I became aware of an almost imperceptible woosh! sound from somewhere above and behind me. I looked up and for a moment I could make the outline of a giant owl. It flew right above me only an arm's reach above my head. The thing was huge, six foot wingspan if it was an inch. It was dark, the giant bird was darkness against black ink of the sky, and it was only there for a split second but somehow in that split second I could make out every detail of it's feathers, right on down to the individual strands of each feather, almost as if it was an ink lithograph.




All this in just a split second, and then it was flying away. I could feel it's wings beating the air, I could feel the air on my face, it was like the feather's on the tips of its wings practically brushed against my face.

From that point on, that moment always made me think of the song by Peter Gabriel:

Solsbury Hill

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light

Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night

He was something to observe
Came in close I heard a voice

Standing stretching every nerve
I had to listen had no choice

I did not believe the information
Just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom-boom-boom
Son, he said, grab your things I've come to take you home
Eh, don't quit

To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut

Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut

So I went from day to day
Oh, my life was in a rut

'Til I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut

I was feeling part of the scenery
I'd walk right out of the machinery
My heart going boom-boom-boom
Hey, he said, grab your things I've come to take you home
Eh, back home

When illusion spin her net
I'm never where I want to be

And liberty, she'd pirhouette
When I think that I am free

Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see

No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me

Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom-boom-boom
Hey, I said, you can keep my things They've come to take me home


That song always meant a lot to me after that night. I don't know the meaning of that song and I doubt anybody else other than Peter Gabriel himself does either; but it always made me think of that brief moment in time, that brief split second in my life when I could make out every minute detail of that bird's feathers as it swooped directly above me in the total darkness.

If I want to get symbolic about it, that was the beginning point in time when I started living in Moore County, and I was looking out over the land that I was to make my home, the land that would be my kingdom and my playground, the place where I would cool my heels between deployments, over the next couple of decades.




I love Moore County. If I have my way, it is my wish to die there.

STORMBRINGER SENDS

TWO SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIERS KILLED IN PHILIPPINES

An old buddy of mine from Okinawa Uncle Jimbo carried this story on his blog Blackfive. I became aware of this last night, as I sat at the bar scrolling through my Blackberry, so of course I did the modern thing and texted this sad news throughout my contacts in the Brotherhood. Then I had one in honor of our fallen heroes - S.L.




FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, Oct. 1, 2009) – Two U.S. Special Forces Soldiers died when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device Sept. 29 on Jolo Island, Philippines.

The following Soldiers, both assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) headquartered at Fort Lewis, Wash. They were in the Philippines supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher D. Shaw, 37, a native of Natchez, Miss., was on his second deployment in support of OEF-P.For Sgt. 1st Class Shaw's bio, click here. For the Shaw's Family statement, click here.

Staff Sgt. Jack M. Martin III, 26, was a native of Bethany, Okla. This was Martin’s first deployment in support of OEF-P; he was a veteran of Operation Iraq Freedom. For Staff Sgt. Martin's bio, click here.


Honor them.





Jimbo mentions how, during his first deployment to the Philippines 20 years ago, terrorists killed SF icon COL Nick Rowe. I was there also, in a different part of the P.I. - needless to say it was a bad time for the home team. In the years that followed that event - right up until very recently - I had the honor to be involved the US Army SERE program, at the US Army Special Warfare Center and School, Camp MacKall NC. SERE - Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape - was COL Nick Rowe's creation based on his experience in Communist Vietnamese prison camps in the U Minh Forest, south of Saigon. - S.L.

THE DESERT LIVES & BREATHES . . .

My good friend & brother-in-arms Erik is in the great Sonorra Desert of the American Southwest . . . a place I know well and love . . .


Mornings are beautiful there . . .


Erik is originally from this area, he was raised in the desert, so I asked him to track down some wildlife for STORMBRINGER . . .

Horned Lizards, known as Horny Toads, abound . . .

A coyote was here . . .

A snake - NOT a sidewinder - was here . . .

Hard to tell what we've got here, from the photo - I'd say some kind of lizard, although there is no tail drag. Not a bird. Maybe a small critter of some kind . . .

From a survival point of view, knowing where the animals go tells you 2 things: A) where to set your traps & snares, and B) where to find water. Now get busy with that shelter, the desert sun is coming up and it's going to get hot . . .

SURVIVAL KITS

Even the smallest survival kit, if properly prepared, is invaluable when faced with a survival situation. Before preparing your survival kit, consider the environment you plan to operate in, and the equipment and vehicle(s) you will have on hand.

SURVIVAL KITS

The environment is the key to the types of items you will need in your survival kit. How much equipment you put in your kit depends on how you will carry the kit. A kit carried on your body will have to be smaller than one carried in a vehicle. Always layer your survival kit, keeping the most important items on your body. For example, your map and compass should always be on your body. Carry less important items on your pockets, or a survival vest. Place bulky items in your rucksack.

In preparing your survival kit, select items you can use for more than one purpose. If you have two items that will serve the same function, pick the one you can use for another function. Do not duplicate items, as this increases your kit's size and weight.

Your survival kit need not be elaborate. You need only functional items that will meet your needs and a case to hold the items. For the case, you might want to use a Band-Aid box, a first aid case, an ammunition pouch, or another suitable case. This case should be--

• Water repellent or waterproof.
• Easy to carry or attach to your body.
• Suitable to accept varisized components.
• Durable.

The six categories of survival to be covered by a survival kit are:

• Medical (First aid items).
• Water acquisition & purification (tablets, drops or filters).
• Fire starting.
• Signaling.
• Food procurement & preparation.
• Shelter.

Some examples of these items are--

• Lighter, metal match, waterproof matches.
• Snare wire.
• Signaling mirror.
• Wrist compass.
• Fish and snare line.
• Fishhooks.
• Candle.
• Small hand lens.
• Oxytetracycline tablets (diarrhea or infection).
• Water purification tablets.
• Solar blanket.
• Surgical blades.
• Butterfly sutures.
• Collapsible plastic containers for water storage.
• Chap Stick.
• Needle and thread.
• Knife.

Include a weapon only if the situation so dictates. Learn and practice survival techniques. Consider the environment in which you will operate. Then prepare your survival kit.