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Subject: Survival School
gf0012-aust    4/17/2008 7:07:11 AM
The following TV program is now playing in Australia. For those who don't know, NORFORCE is primarily comprised of aboriginal australians. Up until recently their commander was usually from the SASR. They have always been highly regarded for their soldiering craft and have been involved in providing OPFOR elements against elements such as the US Rangers who have been thrown into the Kimberleys and associated areas for hostile environment training. These guys are part timers, they're not regulars but are very very highly regarded. There are a number of stories doing the rounds where these blokes have rounded up experienced SASR teams in HE and snatch exercises. It's informational only and I'm unsure whether its available for streaming. ------------------- Survival School is a rare journey into a primal world few of us have encountered. One student said: "We were broken down to nothing. Nothing mattered except the tasks we had to carry out in order to stay alive. It changed my life. I realise how little separates us from death". Each year NORFORCE, a regiment of the Australian Defence Force, organises an environmental survival course for fifteen elite soldiers. They endure extraordinary physical and psychological challenges to prepare themselves for the dangerous situations that their work involves. The group, often a mix of white and Aboriginal men and women, are forced to live off the land. The students are taught textbook-army survival skills as well as learning about bush tucker, bush medicine and hunting from Aboriginal instructors and the local Yolngu community. The course is held in one of the harshest environments in the world: the mouth of the Daly River in the Northern Territory. The students are not informed what the program will be for the two week course. The objective is to destroy the students' comfort zone, to create a sense of fear and disorientation that approximates their state of mind in a real survival situation. The workload is relentless and the discipline brutal. The students risk heat exhaustion, mental breakdown, injuries and snakebites. Once the bush survival stage starts, the students cannot take food, bedding, tents, cooking utensils, watches, compasses or matches. When they reach the mouth of the Daly River, a barren and desolate coastal plain infested with some of the biggest crocodiles in the world, they discover that there is no fresh water. They must live off the land using the survival skills they have learned. In the middle of the day, in forty-degree heat they look for anything that can be used to make a still to distil the salt river water. They live off whatever they can find, including mangrove worms, often a metre long. They get weaker and increasingly exhausted. The group is mixed in terms of experience, however there is no rank amongst the students and they must decide the issue of leadership. This creates real tensions. Rivalries develop between the students as atavistic, tribal instincts rise to the surface. Will all of them survive the distance?
 
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bob the brit       4/17/2008 12:50:05 PM
sounds like fun, wouldn't mind having a go myself [though the 'ferkin' old age', as it has been fondly referred to on here, would probably get the better of me now].
 
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GOP       4/17/2008 1:14:57 PM

sounds like fun, wouldn't mind having a go myself [though the 'ferkin' old age', as it has been fondly referred to on here, would probably get the better of me now].



Haha. Bob, I'd guess you are probably very prepared for such a task. You aren't that old
 
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bob the brit       4/17/2008 3:14:24 PM




sounds like fun, wouldn't mind having a go myself [though the 'ferkin' old age', as it has been fondly referred to on here, would probably get the better of me now].





Haha. Bob, I'd guess you are probably very prepared for such a task. You aren't that old

trust me, you notice drastic changes once you pass the half a century mark, especially when you ran your body ragged up to that point. as for being prepared, i'd like to think i would be, but i'm sure these lot could teach me more than a thing or two. still, i have had a fondness whilst living here in canada for going somewhere in the middle of nowhere with very little apart from clothes and getting 'lost' for a while. i suppose it's my way of reliving the glory days. some of the lads have their martial arts, others run survival/mock selection courses for stag do's etc. others do BG and PMC stuff, i just like getting lost all alone in the middle of the wilderness and seeing how i get along.
 
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GOP       4/17/2008 3:58:12 PM








sounds like fun, wouldn't mind having a go myself [though the 'ferkin' old age', as it has been fondly referred to on here, would probably get the better of me now].







Haha. Bob, I'd guess you are probably very prepared for such a task. You aren't that old


trust me, you notice drastic changes once you pass the half a century mark, especially when you ran your body ragged up to that point. as for being prepared, i'd like to think i would be, but i'm sure these lot could teach me more than a thing or two. still, i have had a fondness whilst living here in canada for going somewhere in the middle of nowhere with very little apart from clothes and getting 'lost' for a while. i suppose it's my way of reliving the glory days. some of the lads have their martial arts, others run survival/mock selection courses for stag do's etc. others do BG and PMC stuff, i just like getting lost all alone in the middle of the wilderness and seeing how i get along.

 

Yeah, Im sure you do. But for guys your age, you are probably in the top 1% for these types of things.

Haha, that sounds like it would be alot of fun. My thing when hiking is always about finding a better, more effecient, fast route. I went out to Red Rock Canyon with my best friend (we went to Vegas, but me and my buddy hung out at Red rock for 2 days instead), and on the first hike we hiked out about 4 miles and then cut back through the desert and met up at the road (cutting the trip time nearly in half). The next day, we did Turtle head peak. Normally a 6 hour hike, we did it in 3.5 using some shortcuts (we literally went up the side of the mountain instead of the trail), and then ran down. Fun stuff. Nothing like what you are capable of, but I can see how you enjoy these things for sure.
 
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bob the brit       4/17/2008 6:38:19 PM
my best yet was a 25 night stint in the forest [more northern ontario] with 'nout but a machete, my little homemade survival tin, matches [that's cheating i know], a water canteen, button compass, and some paracord. got ito to some rather hectic situations [bloody weather decided to give it to me for a week straight], and my weight was considerably less afterwards. i'm no 'lofty' wiseman but i did alright.
 
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GOP       4/18/2008 12:55:27 AM

my best yet was a 25 night stint in the forest [more northern ontario] with 'nout but a machete, my little homemade survival tin, matches [that's cheating i know], a water canteen, button compass, and some paracord. got ito to some rather hectic situations [bloody weather decided to give it to me for a week straight], and my weight was considerably less afterwards. i'm no 'lofty' wiseman but i did alright.



Bob, your the man. That is some amazing stuff for sure lol. 25 nights? That is freakin' awesome. Did you spend you entire yearly vacation time on the trip or did your employer understand?
 
 
 
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Enterpriser    GF...   4/18/2008 2:04:31 AM
Having seen  the program, I am horrified by the fact that it was aired on TV at all. To think that this program might influence the recuiting prospects of the ADF is a scary thought. I am offended by the continual suggestions that those depicted are in some way "elite" and reject the notion that those portrayed in the program were undergoing anything other than rudimentary training. NORFORCE is indeed an invaluable asset filled with magnificently skilled personnel - but this program was a diservice to the regiment.
 
The general demeanour and disposition was more indicative of very early stage recruits rather than elite soldiers, and their competence could be very severely called into question based on the skills demonstrated.
 
Brett.
 
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static       4/18/2008 4:06:53 AM

my best yet was a 25 night stint in the forest [more northern ontario] with 'nout but a machete, my little homemade survival tin, matches [that's cheating i know], a water canteen, button compass, and some paracord. got ito to some rather hectic situations [bloody weather decided to give it to me for a week straight], and my weight was considerably less afterwards. i'm no 'lofty' wiseman but i did alright.


So tell us the truth... what did you do to make your wife kick you out of the house for nearly a month?

Ah well.  The joys of the internet.  You get to poke fun at people who would otherwise break your leg in "real life".  I probably enjoy being outdoors more than the average person but 25 days?  I don't know about that.  I would probably rather lift weights and take naps with extreme prejudice but to each his own...
 
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bob the brit       4/18/2008 5:46:31 PM




my best yet was a 25 night stint in the forest [more northern ontario] with 'nout but a machete, my little homemade survival tin, matches [that's cheating i know], a water canteen, button compass, and some paracord. got ito to some rather hectic situations [bloody weather decided to give it to me for a week straight], and my weight was considerably less afterwards. i'm no 'lofty' wiseman but i did alright.





Bob, your the man. That is some amazing stuff for sure lol. 25 nights? That is freakin' awesome. Did you spend you entire yearly vacation time on the trip or did your employer understand?

 

 


my employment here was always informal. i wasn't so much part of the team as a regular that could show up whenever he wanted to receive a pay cheque, working for good friends has benefits like that.
 
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bob the brit       4/18/2008 5:49:39 PM




my best yet was a 25 night stint in the forest [more northern ontario] with 'nout but a machete, my little homemade survival tin, matches [that's cheating i know], a water canteen, button compass, and some paracord. got ito to some rather hectic situations [bloody weather decided to give it to me for a week straight], and my weight was considerably less afterwards. i'm no 'lofty' wiseman but i did alright.




So tell us the truth... what did you do to make your wife kick you out of the house for nearly a month?

Ah well.  The joys of the internet.  You get to poke fun at people who would otherwise break your leg in "real life".  I probably enjoy being outdoors more than the average person but 25 days?  I don't know about that.  I would probably rather lift weights and take naps with extreme prejudice but to each his own...

luckily, she was back in britain visiting her family for a couple of months, so i had the house to myself and could be my own grumpy self. but i got bored after a couple days and decided to go off on that adventure. ofcourse i was off the christmas list for a while when she returned as she had frantically been trying to call me for some reason or another, and with my being out of doors, was unable to reach me. oh well, i had fun.
 
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