Chapter 12

The following character appears in this chapter and the remainder of the story:

Chatchai Sarikalya

Lieutenant, a tall thin young Officer, 23 years of age, one of the Platoon Leaders

The roosters were very vocal again this morning, and we were up early. On arriving at our area on the camp, I found far fewer men there today than yesterday. Still there were a number of them there and the Sergeants already had them in groups of ten, but hadn't started any processing yet since I had all of the paperwork in my saddlebags.

After dismounting and the completion of greetings, one of the men, who I recognized from yesterday, took my horse off to graze after I had removed my saddlebags. There were few surprises this morning, but there were some.

As soon as I reached the area where the clerks were set up, I spied two new pieces of equipment. One was a fine laptop writing desk and the other was a campaign chest or box. Both pieces appeared to be made of mahogany and were inlaid with brass handles and accents. The campaign chest was similar to what I had been going to Korat to look for when there was time, and I had an immediate use for it. I would check on the lap desk later when there was more time.

On opening the campaign chest, which appeared to be a British Army item, I could see that it had a number of dividers in it already, and I explained to Corporal Ronnaring, who had been smiling next to it, how I wanted it arranged and the paperwork stored in it when they had time to to do that. He immediately understood what I wanted done. I also had other instructions for both the clerks and the Sergeants.

"Continue accepting volunteer's names until you have 110 names. Following that, start a new list and I will explain to those individuals that they are on a standby list and will be called if there is an opening in the current class because someone has changed his mind or there is some other problem. Otherwise they will be the first ones on the list for the next class," I explained. Sergeant Chuang took me aside when I had finished and the others prepared to start taking names.

"Guardian, the list of needed supplies was sitting on the table under a rock this morning when we arrived," he started.

"Yes, I left it there last night to see if the Amulets would notice it and perhaps produce some of the items on it. Chanthra explained to me last evening that the Amulets didn't work that way," I explained. "We will need to do our best to obtain the things needed and hope that the Amulets will provide some means of finding everything," I continued.

"Yes, Pee, it is best to not ask too much of them. They seem to know what is needed to help us when things do not work to their satisfaction," Chuang agreed in acceptance.

"We will need to see the supply people today after we finish with accepting volunteers," I told him.

"Yes, they are at the camp headquarters," Chuang said but didn't sound hopeful.

"Do you expect trouble there?" I asked on hearing his answer.

"Yes, it is always difficult to obtain things from them. The Army is usually slow to obtain things," he admitted.

We reached the 110 men cutoff point in a short time this morning, and I explained to those remaining about the waiting list. There were ten names on it before we departed for the camp headquarters leaving Sergeant Jatuporn in charge.

The supply section, or what I would call the S-4, had offices on the first floor of the building. I asked to see the Officer in charge on arriving there, and we needed to wait for him to return, but it only required a few minutes.

Captain Prompan, the Supply Chief, was a short, slightly built man. He was not happy to see us, especially when I told him that I was organizing a new unit and needed supplies for it.

"I cannot issue anything without the approval of Pham Tri (Major) Werachon, and certainly nothing to a Fa-rung (Foreigner)," he told us in a defiant voice and refused to say anything more.

"I will speak with Pham Tri Werachon then," I assured him before we left his office.

"I knew there would be trouble," Chuang said on the way to the second floor and the Major's office. Major Werachon looked tired when we reached his office. Once the greetings were completed, he told us to have a seat.

"I know why you are here," he said even before I could say anything. "Our Army is not like your foreign armies. It has been more than three years since His Majesty the King issued the decree creating the Royal Siamese Army, and we have all done our best to follow its directions, BUT we here in Korat have received little help and fewer supplies. Most of the effort so far has gone to those units in and around Krung Thep (Bangkok) and on the central plains of the Chao Phraya valley, leaving those in the outer provinces to adjust as they can.

"We do not have the equipment for a new company of any size. The soldiers that you receive will have to bring their things with them from their old unit. There are a few things that we can issue you such as food, but we will need to know how many men from each unit you are receiving so we can change what is issued from their unit to yours," he told us in a tired voice.

"What about things like maps and compasses plus weapons and ammunition?" I asked, as I could see that this would an even tougher job than I had imagined just a few days ago.

"Maps ... compasses? The Commander has a map of Korat Province, but we both doubt its accuracy. As for compasses, there are none. Why would need one? Are you planning a sea voyage?" he asked, and I immediately realized that we would be flying by the seat of our pants on any missions here. Well, Rangers in the 17th and 18th centuries had faced similar problems and had succeeded. I would carry on and do what was required. We would overcome the problem, I thought, but the Major was still speaking. "There are few extra weapons."

"One other thing," he continued, "you will need a Thai officer to sign for everything. Do you have an Officer of sufficient rank to do that? He would need to be a Roi Ek (Captain)."

"There is a Captain Prawit who has volunteered for Ranger Training as well as a number of Roi Tho (Lieutenants). I will see if he will accept the position of Training Company Commander," I told him.

"Yes, I know him. He would be a good Commander," the Major told us before we departed after exchanging greetings again.

"I have heard that he is a hard but fair Officer," Chuang told me on the way out of the building.

Following a stop at our area to secure the list of Officers who had volunteered for Ranger Training, we set out to find Captain Prawit It required some time to find him though the Captain wasn't a difficult man to locate. We found him and several other Officers watching a sparring session between two Thai kick-boxers. Chuang and I waited until they were finished before approaching the Captain.

"Captain Prawit, we need to speak to you," I told him after we had exchanged greetings with those present.

"Are you ready to begin the Training, Chief Trainer?" he asked in an expectant voice.

"Not yet, Captain. There are a few details that need to be taken care of before we can begin training," I told him.

"Such as?" he inquired.

"Obtaining supplies and food among other things. To do that we need someone to be appointed to the position of Commander of the Ranger Training Company. Since you are the only Officer of sufficient rank who has volunteered for Ranger Training, yours was the name that came up when I spoke with Major Werachon a short time ago," I finished.

"Yes, they would want a Thai Officer to be in charge," he said with a smile.

"Yes, they won't issue the Training Company anything until there is someone appropriate to sign for it. Major Werachon said that he would have you appointed as Commander if you were agreeable." I had just finished telling him this when we were joined by the two men who had been sparring.

"This is Deng Thaiprasert, the Governor's Champion. He will soon appear in a series of matches before His Majesty the King to determine the King's Champion. The Governor himself is an expert in Muay Korat, and he is the one responsible for bringing together the various techniques and codifying the style which is very old," the Captain assured us following the greetings. The man indicated was about 5'-6'' tall and well-built but not overly heavy. He didn't seem to smile a lot.

"And this is Kruu Bua Wathim another of the Governor's students and a Sergeant in the Army. He too is a volunteer for your Ranger Training," the Captain informed us with a smile. Kruu Bua was about the same height as Deng but was a bit less heavy and smiled a lot more.

I was a bit surprised by this revelation, as I had no idea that such an important part of the training could now be delegated to this man to teach – that is if he was willing to do it of course. I would need to speak to him about it but later. I needed to focus on what Captain Prawit was saying.

"I will go to see Major Werachon in a few minutes, and then bother my old friend Captain Prompan, the Supply Chief, to see what is available that we may need," he continued.

We departed shortly after that, as there were other things that needed attention today. The most important of these was training area. I needed to see what was available and how useful they would be to us. Also what in the way of improvements or changes they would require. Additionally, I had a question for Sergeant Chuang.

"Were you aware that Sergeant Kruu Bua had volunteered for Ranger Training?" I asked him on the way back to our area.

"No, Guardian, I didn't see him when he signed up, but there were times when I was doing other things. I will ask Jatuporn if he remembers him being there," Chuang told me.

"We need to look at training areas. There are training areas here, aren't there?" I asked to be sure.

"Training areas?"

"Areas where the men are taken to learn to march, to do physical training or to fire their weapons," I told him to a somewhat surprised look.

"What is physical training?" he asked, confused.

"Aren't the men required to do exercises to keep them in shape?" I replied, but had a bad feeling about his question.

"The men are always kept busy. There is much work to do, but no exercises," he told me.

"We will have PT, Physical Training – exercises, each day when we have training at the barracks, but none when we have training in the field locations," I told him. "All modern armies have this to keep their men in fighting shape," I assured him.

We inspected the various training areas following that. There were several large fields that were available for multiple uses and there was a weapon firing area. It was poorly done and appeared dangerous. It would require quite a bit of work to make usable for our purposes. It did not appear that marksmanship had a high priority in the Royal Siamese Army at present. Given that many of their weapons were still smooth bore muskets, and many were also flintlocks and not percussion ignition, that wasn't all that surprising.

In any event, we still had no weapons, so weapon's training and range work would go on the training schedule for late in the program. There was training in many other skills that could come before it. Sergeant Chuang and I were sweating heavily by the time we returned to our company area in the heat of the early afternoon. It was well past the midday meal time by then.

The clerks and Sergeant Jatuporn were glad to see us and even had food for us that they had brought back from their company when they ate. They had also taken care of my horse, having fed and watered him. It wasn't until sometime later that afternoon that Captain Prawit arrived with seven other men. I had been working on the Master Training Schedule, but was alerted to his arrival when all of the others rose from what they had been engaged in. After greeting the Captain and the men with him, I had a question.

"Who are these men and why are they here?"

"They are cooks and a supervisor," he told me, but continued. "From what several men told me about your lectures, it appeared that those in training would be too busy to do their own cooking. I arranged to have these men transferred to me. They will also pick up the food and other items from the supply people each day," he finished.

"A very good idea, Captain. I wasn't sure how meals were prepared in your Army. We will include them in the School Detachment along with the other personnel necessary to run the school like the clerks, the Platoon Sergeants and the Instructors such as Kruu Bua, if I can convince him to teach the self-defense portion of the training," I told him to see him smile.

"And what will you be teaching?" he asked still with a smile.

"I will be instructing the men in a number of areas and overseeing all of the training. I am also hoping to find men with specific knowledge in survival skills and movement in the jungle and other areas," I informed him.