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Introduction
SURVIVAL ACTIONS
The following paragraphs expand on the meaning of each letter of
the word survival. Study and remember what each letter signifies
because you may some day have to make it work for you.
S - Size Up the Situation
If you are in a combat situation, find a place where you can
conceal yourself from the enemy. Remember, security takes
priority. Use your senses of hearing, smell, and sight to get a
feel for the battlefield. What is the enemy doing? Advancing?
Holding in place? Retreating? You will have to consider what is
developing on the battlefield when you make your survival plan.
Size Up Your Surroundings
Determine the pattern of the area. Get a feel for what is going
on around you. Every environment, whether forest, jungle, or
desert, has a rhythm or pattern. This rhythm or pattern includes
animal and bird noises and movements and insect sounds. It may
also include enemy traffic and civilian movements.
Size Up Your Physical Condition
The pressure of the battle you were in or the trauma of being in
a survival situation may have caused you to overlook wounds you
received. Check your wounds and give yourself first aid. Take
care to prevent further bodily harm. For instance, in any
climate, drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration. If you
are in a cold or wet climate, put on additional clothing to
prevent hypothermia.
Size Up Your Equipment
Perhaps in the heat of battle, you lost or damaged some of your
equipment. Check to see what equipment you have and what
condition it is in. Now that you have sized up your situation,
surroundings, physical condition, and equipment, you are ready
to make your survival plan. In doing so, keep in mind your basic
physical needs—water, food, and shelter.
U - Use All Your Senses, Undue Haste Makes Waste
You may make a wrong move when you react quickly without
thinking or planning. That move may result in your capture or
death. Don’t move just for the sake of taking action. Consider
all aspects of your situation (size up your situation) before
you make a decision and a move. If you act in haste, you may
forget or lose some of your equipment. In your haste you may
also become disoriented so that you don’t know which way to go.
Plan your moves. Be ready to move out quickly without
endangering yourself if the enemy is near you. Use all your
senses to evaluate the situation. Note sounds and smells. Be
sensitive to temperature changes. Be observant.
R - Remember Where You Are
Spot your location on your map and relate it to the surrounding
terrain. This is a basic principle that you must always follow.
If there are other persons with you, make sure they also know
their location. Always know who in your group, vehicle, or
aircraft has a map and compass. If that person is killed, you
will have to get the map and compass from him. Pay close
attention to where you are and to where you are going. Do not
rely on others in the group to keep track of the route.
Constantly orient yourself. Always try to determine, as a
minimum, how your location relates to—
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The location of
enemy units and controlled areas.
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The location of
friendly units and controlled areas.
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The location of
local water sources (especially important in the desert).
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Areas that will
provide good cover and concealment.
This information will allow you to make intelligent decisions
when you are in a survival and evasion situation.
V - Vanquish Fear and Panic
The greatest enemies in a combat survival and evasion situation
are fear and panic. If uncontrolled, they can destroy your
ability to make an intelligent decision. They may cause you to
react to your feelings and
imagination rather than to your situation. They can drain your
energy and thereby cause other negative emotions. Previous
survival and evasion training and self-confidence will enable
you to vanquish fear
and panic.
I - Improvise
In the United States, we have items available for all our needs.
Many of these items are cheap to replace when damaged. Our easy
come, easy go, easy-to-replace culture makes it unnecessary for
us to improvise. This inexperience in improvisation can be an
enemy in a survival situation. Learn to improvise. Take a tool
designed for a specific purpose and see how many other uses you
can make of it.
Learn to use natural objects around you for different needs. An
example is using a rock for a hammer. No matter how complete a
survival kit you have with you, it will run out or wear out
after a while. Your imagination must take over when your kit
wears out.
V - Value Living
All of us were born kicking and fighting to live, but we have
become used to the soft life. We have become creatures of
comfort. We dislike inconveniences and discomforts. What happens
when we are faced with a survival situation with its stresses,
inconveniences, and discomforts? This is when the will to
live–placing a high value on living-is vital. The experience and
knowledge you have gained through life and your Army training
will have a bearing on your will to live. Stubbornness, a
refusal to give in to problems and obstacles that face you, will
give you the mental and physical strength to endure.
A - Act Like the Natives
The natives and animals of a region have adapted to their
environment. To get a feel of the area, watch how the people go
about their daily routine. When and what do they eat? When,
where, and how do they get their food? When and where do they go
for water? What time do they usually go to bed and get up? These
actions are important to you when you are trying to avoid
capture. Animal life in the area can also give you clues on how
to survive. Animals also require food, water, and shelter. By
watching them, you can find sources of water and food. Keep in
mind that the reaction of animals can reveal your presence to
the enemy. If in a friendly area, one way you can gain rapport
with the natives is to show interest in their tools and how they
get food and water. By studying the people, you learn to respect
them, you often make valuable friends, and, most important, you
learn how to adapt to their environment
and increase your chances of survival.
L - Live by Your Wits, But for Now, Learn Basic Skills
Without training in basic skills for surviving and evading on
the battlefield, your chances of living through a combat
survival and evasion situation are slight. Learn these basic
skills now –not when you are headed for or are in the battle.
How you decide to equip yourself before deployment will impact
on whether or not you survive. You need to know about the
environment to which you are going, and you must practice basic
skills geared to that environment. For instance, if you are
going to a desert, you need
to know how to get water in the desert. Practice basic survival
skills during all training programs and exercises. Survival
training reduces fear of the unknown and gives you self
confidence. It teaches you to live by your wits.
PATTERN FOR SURVIVAL
Develop a survival pattern that lets you beat the enemies of
survival. This survival pattern must include food, water,
shelter, fire, first aid, and signals placed in order of
importance. For example, in a cold environment, you would need a
fire to get warm; a shelter to protect you from the cold, wind,
and rain or snow; traps or snares to get food; a means to signal
friendly aircraft; and first aid to maintain health. If
injured, first aid has top priority no matter what climate you
are in. Change your survival pattern to meet your immediate
physical needs as the environment changes.
As you read the rest of this manual, keep in mind the keyword
SURVIVAL and the need for a survival pattern. |
