SURVIVAL TRAINING

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Four of us were tasked to go to Norway as part of a training exercise. It was a good will gesture by the regiment and the British government to our European allies. There were troops from several countries involved in the exercise, Dutch and Swedish regulars, as well as Norwegian reserve commandos. The four of us from the regiment were dressed with parachute insignia, so as far as anyone was concerned we were regular British soldiers. The exercise was to last only 24 hours, with the objective being to allow the other troops to practice their skills in tracking enemy troops. For our part, we would have a chance to hone our escape and evasion skills. The scenario for the exercise was that we were the survivors of a helicopter which had crashed in a hostile county and had to make our way back to an ERV for a pickup. (Very original idea, the Ruperts must have spent hours thinking that one up!). We were allowed to carry our basic belt kit, emergency signal flares and were each given a sketch map of the area. We were not allowed to carry our weapons, or use any pyro other than the signal flares in an emergency. As the exercise started we were told to split up into two groups and head in two different directions. I was with `Steve`, a good mate of mine and I knew we would work well together.

We were given an hours head start on the hunter force, but we knew we could not move quickly enough to outrun them. The hunter force had a variety of resources at its disposal. As well as the standard trucks to move the troops around, they had jeeps fitted with a search light, as well as a heli which could be called up to search an area from the air. There was also specialist Dutch units with tracker dogs. As an extra incentive the hunter force was also promised four days leave to any of the troops who managed to capture us. The incentive for us regiment guys was two fold. One if we were caught we would have to go through a rather unpleasant interrogation. Two, If a regiment guy was captured by a reservist they would be given stick for the rest of their time in the regiment. Capture was simply not an option.

Steve and I decided to put as much distance between us and the hunter force as quickly as possible. Keeping track of our position was going to be difficult, the sketch map we had been given only showed the major features of the land. The main problems for us avoiding capture would be the tracker dogs and the heli. The main body of troops wouldn’t be too much problem because there wasn’t really enough of them to properly cover the area we were using because it was so vast. We thought we could slip through them without being detected. The area contained large pockets of woodland, so the heli may not be able to see us if we used them effectively, as the heli had no thermal imaging equipment on board. All of this meant the priority was to confuse the tracker dogs, to slow down the pursuit of us. We decided to locate a river, as this is a simple but effective way to confuse the scent trail for the tracker dogs. The sketch map showed only one main river on it, but it was too far from our position. We needed to find one closer to us. We moved through a small wood and saw some high ground ahead of us. We moved towards it, as it would allow us to get a better view of the terrain around us. We carefully moved to the top to survey the area. At the back of my mind was the worry that the hunter force was closing in. Both sound and smell can travel for considerable distances on a light breeze, so you need to be aware of the wind direction. If the hunter force is down wind of you, the dogs will pick up your scent a lot quicker than they normally would. We needed to find a stream to buy ourselves some time. We couldn’t see or hear any sign of the hunter force, but we knew they would be on our trail. The only stream we could see was in the distance to the East of a woodland block. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do. We moved towards it as quickly as was possible, without leaving trail for the hunter force.

As we were approaching the stream, Steve and I went in different directions. This is to lay two trails to confuse the dogs and trackers. We met up a short time later at the stream and started to work on confusing the dogs. Its a common mistake to think that all you need to do is cross over the stream and your scent will disappear. All you will do is slow the dog down for a few seconds. It will easily pick up your scent on the other side of the water. What you need to do, and what we did is to cross the water diagonally and then double back. You then travel in short loops on both sides before moving along the stream for several minutes. This gives the dog one obvious entry point, but a large number of possible exits, any of which could be the new trail. Steve and I knew this would buy us some time, but it was unlikely the trackers would lose our trail. It was at this point that Steve and I decided to split up. It is always advisable to split up as this gives the dogs more trails to follow. Before we split I had a bet with Steve that I`d make it to the ERV before him, and then off he went. The next few hours were pretty uneventful. It appeared that we must have thrown any tracker dogs off our trails at the stream. Occasionally I would hear the sound of a heli in the distance, but it never came into the area I was travelling in. I was starting to feel a little tired, so I had a 15 minute rest and ate some rations from my belt kit. I would have to eat them cold as I could not risk the light from a hexi block being seen. I had bacon and beans, which tastes good even when its cold. I felt good. It`s strange how something as simple as eating can improve your morale so much. I wondered if the other guys were doing as well as I was, and wanted to be the first back to the ERV so I could have bragging rights. I don’t know why but I started to switch off a bit. It was very unprofessional. Yes it was only an exercise, but you learn in the regiment to treat everything as if it is for real. I moved without too much care, concentrating on keeping my speed high. If I was properly switched on I would have heard the noises before I did, but I was not concentrating properly. I was thinking about finishing the exercise. My body switched me back on. It is your natural survival instinct. It stopped me, but if I had been concentrating properly, I would have heard the danger signals sooner. Ahead of me was a group of troops, sweeping the area towards me.

If it had been just the troops it may not have been to bad, but they had a tracker dog and handler with them, and it had picked up my scent. I backtracked as quickly as it was safe to do. I knew that I would not be able to escape the tracker dog trailing my scent, but if I could put some distance between us, I may be able to make outrun them to the ERV. Once the tracker dog picks up the scent, the handler knows that you have been in the area and will alert the other troops. They will all move more quickly to try to close in. The handler may also release the dog from the long leash to give it a free run. I had to move quickly out of the area and try to box round the troop. If I moved too quickly I may be seen or heard by one of the soldiers and if this happens I would be captured quickly. They may also call in the heli to scout the area. As I moved I could hear the sound of the tracker dog and the handler. They were gaining on me and it sounded like other troops were moving towards me. The only advantage I had was that the terrain was covered in thick vegetation which offered me some protection against the soldiers seeing me, but not against the dog. The pursuit continued, I was heading away from the ERV, but there was nothing I could do about that at the moment. I could hear the dog gaining on me, and as I turned to look, I saw it was only about 30 Metres behind me. It would be on me within seconds. Without thinking, my training took over. I pulled my knife out of my kit, and turned to face the oncoming dog. The dog was off it`s leash so it had a free run on me. I knew I would have to be quick and as silent as possible, as the dog`s handler and the other soldiers would not be far behind. The advantage I had was that the dogs are not trained to kill, just to detain. They are trained to attack a limb, so if you offer them a target, they will usually go for it. I stuck my left arm out and held the knife with my right. The dog leapt at me and went for the left arm, it`s teeth bit deep into my arm. I had to get it off me quick, but a dog`s skeletal system is so tough it is virtually armour plated. You have to go for soft spots such as the abdomen or above the breast bone. I stabbed furiously at the dog about half a dozen times before I managed to weaken it enough for it to stop it`s attack. I had virtually killed it, but it had done a lot of damage to my arm. I considered killing it to put it out of it`s misery and suffering, but the dog`s howls and my own cries of pain must have alerted the troops to my exact position and I didn’t want to be around when they arrived. I moved as quickly as I could, but my arm was in a bad way and I was leaving a trail of blood from my wound. I pressed a dressing on to the wound to try to slow the blood loss down, but I had little success. I just had to move out of the area as quickly as possible. I could hear shouting, they must have found the dog. Maybe I had gone too far in killing the dog, it was after all only an exercise, but I was determined not to be caught. My priority was now to get to the ERV to get some medical attention for my arm.

When I thought I was a safe distance away from the incident, I stopped and bandaged the wound as best I could, which was not easy. It was a serious wound, which could easily become infected. I spent the next two hours boxing around the area I had nearly been caught in, and then finally made my way on to the ERV. I never seen or heard any of the hunter force after I had got away. Perhaps they had given up after I had killed their dog, but it would be more likely that it would make them even more determined to catch me. If they had, I know they would have given me a good kicking because of what I had done.

When I reached the ERV, I gave the signal which had been pre-arranged and made my way to the waiting truck. Looking in I could see the other three regiment guys sitting having a brew. We had all made it back without being caught. Also inside the truck was the Rupert who had come with us on the trip. He knew all about the incident with the dog and was none too pleased. He could also see that my arm was injured, so the priority was for me to be treated. I got a bit of a bollocking for killing the dog, but I told him that I would have had to do it if it had been for real instead of an exercise. The Dutch dog handler whose tracking dog I had killed was furious about it. He was apparently ready to string me up from a tree if I had been caught. When I got back to Hereford I was given another bollocking, but it was more to please the Dutch military who had complained about my actions. They said I should have surrendered, rather than kill the dog. An SAS soldier will never surrender if there is a chance to escape. My arm took time to heal, but it recovered fully. But I still have the scars today.