Jungle survival school - Clark/Subic

[VeeVee]

I came across a website of a Vietnam vet who has an account of his jungle training in the Philippines. Their instructors were aetas (negritos) no doubt from the Subic/Zambales area.

Here is a picture of their instructors wearing WWII Japanese helmets and a heavy machine gun:

www.petester.com/html/jss028.html

Here are interesting pictures and accounts from the training:

www.petester.com/usafpw.html#jsspics

Very interesting story about the Escape and Evasion portion of their training.

When I visited Subic in 2002, we hiked around the southern hills of the area. Our hike guides showed us how to start fires the same way shown in the above website. They also showed us how to drink water from the reeds.

[drunkpunk]

i was fortunate to experience this jungle survival training back in highschool. it was part of our educational trip in clark. too bad i did not pay much attention.

[VeeVee]

I didn't pay too much attention myself. I think it needs to be very interactive for the lessons to stick to you. You have to do it yourself and not just watch someone show you how.

The stories and photos in the link above were very fascinating.

[Sandata]

I attended short briefings from the US commander and the Aetas who worked in the JEST (Jungle Environmental Survival Training) in Subic during the mid-1980s. I was able to visit the site again in 1998 and in 2003 after the Americans left and it was already run by the Subic management as a tourist attraction. There is an option to take an hour-long trek in the jungle for those who want to commune with the mud and insect bites of the jungle (which I also undertook).

The Aetas taught the same things during all three visits, with minor variations. The USN and USMC trainees who had to take the JEST course had to spend two to four weeks in the Subic jungle (usually without their own survival supplies) in order to pass the course. The regular tourist just gets a shallow taste of the entire thing. As I understand it, many of our own AFP jungle fighters also had to go through a similar survival course.