Amelia Earhart should have flown a B-17 instead ...

[JohnB]

When I was assigned to the staff (and attended the various courses) of the USAF Survival School, there were displays of the various old and newer survival kits, it was always interesting to see what was in them. I always wondered how the canned water would taste after a couple of years.
I can attest the water purification tablets made the water terribly acidic, and to me at least, pretty much undrinkable.

Seeing the Navy crews in the partial fuselage reminds me that in the late 40's the USAF Survival School...or it might have been a SAC school...was up at Elmendorf Alaska. They had the remains of a C-82 sticking out of a lake. There are great color photos of it in a period National Geographic magazine.

[ffuries]

When I was assigned to the staff (and attended the various courses) of the USAF Survival School, there were displays of the various old and newer survival kits, it was always interesting to see what was in them. I always wondered how the canned water would taste after a couple of years.
I can attest the water purification tablets made the water terribly acidic, and to me at least, pretty much undrinkable.

Seeing the Navy crews in the partial fuselage reminds me that in the late 40's the USAF Survival School...or it might have been a SAC school...was up at Elmendorf Alaska. They had the remains of a C-82 sticking out of a lake. There are great color photos of it in a period National Geographic magazine.

The water had a metallic taste to it, kind of hard to explain it. The directions were to open it and let it breathe. The water could last forever it seems. All we did was a slap test to inspect if. If you pop the can on the palm of your hand and the water made a slap sound it was good, if it sloshed it was bad.

Survival school, fun fun, I did SV-86-A Water Survival at Homestead AFB 17-19 Sept 86, and SV-80-A Combat Survival at Fairchild AFB 25 Mar -10 Apr 87. Interesting times, learned a lot about myself, but I have no desire to live through Combat Survival school again.

[JohnB]

As a school staff officer, I was required to do both schools, SV-80 in May, '82, the water school at Homestead a year or so later. Homestead was fun. The 20 day basic combat course, less so. It was particularly hard emotionally considering I had just lost my wife. The DO, was apologetic when he learned that, he said if he had known, he would have waived it.
But at least I was in the spring and not winter.

Oddly, I retired not too far from the training area in the national forest.
I see the Fairchild busses taking and bringing out the students and run into instructors at our local supermarket where they get some last minute rations. The Twin Hueys fly over my house all the time, last year I was walking the dog and waved, they circled around and waved back.

I still have the AFM and other momentos.

[ffuries]

As a school staff officer, I was required to do both schools, SV-80 in May, '82, the water school at Homestead a year or so later. Homestead was fun. The 20 day basic combat course, less so. It was particularly hard emotionally considering I had just lost my wife. The DO, was apologetic when he learned that, he said if he had known, he would have waived it.
But at least I was in the spring and not winter.

Oddly, I retired not too far from the training area in the national forest.
I see the Fairchild busses taking and bringing out the students and run into instructors at our local supermarket where they get some last minute rations. The Twin Hueys fly over my house all the time, last year I was walking the dog and waved, they circled around and waved back.

I still have the AFM and other momentos.

Still have the bolt knife I carried, the "Evasion map" from the training area, POW tap code, sign language / code of conduct combo card, and a scar on my leg.