HI Bob,

On Sun 2038-Jul-04 09:31, Bob Klahn (1:124/311) wrote to Richard Webb:

BK>  You learn to jump when it's necessary to jump, without waiting  for
BK> an explanation.

Yep, and sometimes that's just waht you need to do, jump as
in react to the stimuli without having to do the "what do I
do next?"

THat old adage, "what you do in training you do in combat."


BK>  And you could learn to break down and unjam a rifle in the dark. 

OF course, or any number of things that need to be done to
keep the unit fighting, whether that means operate a radio,
dig a trench, cook dinner, unjam a weapon, or ...

 RW>> get a high school diploma young people should undergo cert
 RW>> training.

BK>>  I have often thought about that.

 RW> At first I went into that course thinking it would be just
BK>  ...
 RW> knowledge that I'd either find it a waste of my time but
 RW> complete the course for the paper, or I'd find it was
 RW> great.  With this instructor and others like her it's a
 RW> damned good course, and every American should take it.

BK>  Lotta stuff like that. But it ain't the 3R's, so they won't fund 
BK> it.

THey should.  WHat's not to like?  Gives them some first
aid, some fire suppression, some rescue.  IF nothing else it helps one
answer the "should I or shouldn't I?" question
when it comes to even attempting the rescue.  At even more
elementary level than that it teaches one how ot to become a further victim
while assessing the situation.

 RW>> meanwhile my lady's sitting there in her wheelchair.  I
 RW>> pushed her forward and said something like "she may not be
 RW>> able to operate a lever, but she should get a shot at
 RW>> coordinating the team.

BK>>  Exactly what I was referring to.

 RW> YEp, and she was quite observant, told the third man who
 RW> would be actually grappling with the body to get his hands
 RW> back more than once.  YEs, we assembled debris as it might

BK>  And that is something you can do even if you can't do the actual 
BK> job. OTOH, that man needed to be told, which suggests runing the 
BK> show would not be something he was ready for.

Maybe, but he was being gung ho about getting the body, as
he probably would be in the real life situation.  THat's
your first rule, don't become *another* victim.


 RW> We usually arrive about lunch
 RW> on their Sunday training day, let the folks see the old van
 RW> just sitting in their parking lot.  Half an hour after
 RW> they've entered the classroom to pick teams for the
 RW> assignment they come out to see a tripod antenna mast and a
 RW> bunch of gear set up ready for operation.

BK>  Yep. Get them interested, show them, don't tell them.

OF course, then after the exercise we do a bit of just
playing with it, if the hf is wired to a good working
antenna make a contact on 20 or 40 meters, play a bit of
repeater tag with area vhf/uhf repeaters.

ONly thing I"ve got to do yet is see how quickly we can get
Kathy to assemble tripod and vhf/uhf antenna by her
lonesome, from the wheelchair.  IT might be tough, but she
could sit in the back of the van at first while she began
the process of unloading tripod mast and antenna, transfer
to the chair, tilt the boom over on the tripod stand, hose
clamp antenna to it, lever the boom back standing vertical,
tighten down the fastener which holds it that way, then
possibly telescope the whole assembly further.  I've meant
to see if she can accomplish all that from packed to
operational, but I'm usually in a hurry so we haven't run
her through the complete drill yet.



Regards,
           Richard
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+