Chapter 13

Arriving at our unit area earlier than the previous morning, I found the cooks preparing breakfast for the men who were already up. Kwaikai took my horse to have him graze in a new area. Captain Prawin greeted me immediately after that.

"Chief Trainer, yesterday evening while talking with the Sah meeuhn (clerk), I asked him what provisions there were for writing letters or keeping a journal. He showed me the paper that you had provided and mentioned that there was a writing box here, but that it was yours," the Captain told me. I had completely forgotten about the lap desk that had appeared on the second morning here.

"Yes, there is a lap desk here, but I haven't done more than notice it, as I have been somewhat busy and am not sure where it is," I told him. The Captain called Ronnaring, and he appeared in a few seconds with the lap desk.

The box appeared to be made of finely figured mahogany and looked to be about 18'' long, 10'' wide and about 7'' high. The exterior corners had inlaid brass reinforcements. In addition there were inlaid brass reinforcements on the four sides and a pair of brass straps that went all the way around the case. Ronnaring opened it to reveal the sloped red leather writing surface with gold embossing around all four edges. Both writing surfaces were hinged for the storage of papers under them. There was provision for two ink bottles, a sand container and writing implements at the top end. There was even a provision for two candles along with their removable candle holders at the top end. Finally there was a document drawer at the bottom of the large section and there were inlaid brass campaign handles on each end of the box. It definitely appeared to be a British Army item perhaps made in India from the fancy brass inlay work on the top surface.

"This is a very fine piece of campaign furniture, but I'm afraid that I would have little use for it. As the Unit Commander, would you like to have it?" I asked Captain Prawit, as I could see how he was looking at it.

"Yes, Chief Trainer, I would very much like to use it if you do not need it," he answered with a very respectful wai and a small bow.

The first group of volunteers arrived shortly after that. The clerks and their Platoon Leader were already set up to process them in, and Sergeants Chuang and Jatuporn took charge of them temporarily after that to get them settled in the second barracks building.

Things proceeded in a very orderly manner for the remainder of the day as new groups arrived at regular intervals. There were a few men who had apparently changed their minds, or who had been persuaded to remain in their original unit, but by the end of the day we had just over 100 trainees. There were six Sergeants, one for each platoon plus Sergeant Chuang for the School Detachment. There were now also a number of new men in the School Detachment who would be teaching various specialized subjects. I, of course, would be teaching subjects that these men had little or no knowledge of such as first aid procedures, intelligence gathering and reporting, patrolling, Ranger and small unit origination and operations plus a number of others in addition to leadership principles.

There was a formation on the road at the end of the day. It was a bit confused as the platoons weren't well organized yet, but we would work on that tomorrow and on PT the following day. However, I noticed that Captain Prawit was less than happy with the way the formation had turned out and thought that the next one would be more orderly and military-like.

The formation the next morning was much better and the platoons were very well organized for it. It was apparent that there had been some practicing after I had departed last evening.

Following breakfast, each Platoon Leader took his platoon to a different part of our area to go over Roger's Rangers Standing Orders. Chanthra had copied them in Thai from the card that I always carry in my wallet. She had made the necessary changes in the wording to cover things that the Thai didn't normally carry or use such as substituting Miit (a large knife or machete) for the word hatchet. The clerks had made numerous copies of the 18 Standing Orders, and they were now posted in all of the barracks in several places so the men could spend time memorizing them. Of course that presumed they had someone there who could read the orders to them, as not all of the men could read.

The afternoon was spent with basic squad and platoon formations and movements. Explanations were done under the barracks with the formations first drawn on the floor and then demonstrations by one of the squads. Later that afternoon there was a limited amount of practice out on the road in front of the barracks. I had gone over all of this with the Officers yesterday while the men were being interviewed. The formation that evening went very well and the men were beginning to look really sharp. I announced at the formation that PT would start early in the morning.

Arriving at the unit just before 0600 hrs the next morning, I found the men already in formation. One of the men took care of my horse, and I proceeded to the front of the formation to take the report of Captain Prawit.

"All of the men are present for duty," he informed me after we exchanged salutes.

"March the men to the PT field, Commander," I directed, and he turned to take command of the company and marched them to the field that we had checked yesterday. Sergeant Chuang had had several men move one of the unused sleeping platforms from the School Detachment to the field after we had inspected it.

On reaching the field, the Officers moved their men into the extended formation for PT and had them squat down so they could all see as I had my demonstrator go through the first exercise – the push up. I explained what my demonstrator, Sergeant Jatuporn was doing and had him go through the exercise several times while I pointed out the various important points of the exercise.

On finishing the demonstration, the company was brought back to their feet and the position of attention before I gave the command for them to start ten repetitions of the exercise. It required a number of corrections before the men were doing the exercise correctly. The next exercise was the 'Jumping Jack' which was a bit simpler for them to do. The last exercise for the day was the sit up, which the men were also able to do with little correction required.

The Company was then double timed back to the company area, but again it required quite a bit of correction before they fully understood what was required. It appeared that the Royal Siamese Army was not big on organized movements at more than a walking pace. At the barracks following the run, while the men cleaned up and had breakfast, I approached Captain Prawit about something that was bothering me.

"Captain, I have only seen the men in their bare feet. Don't they have sandals?"

"The men are very used to going barefoot. Many have never worn sandals or other foot wear," he told me.

"Even for marching long distances or when traveling in areas with thorns or other objects that could injure their feet?" I stated.

"Their feet are very tough, but they are mainly used to walking on the type of ground that you see here in this area. It is the kind of ground found everywhere in Korat Province."

"What about in the mountains where there are other kinds of ground and lots of rocks to travel over?" I asked.

"Yes, I can see what you mean," he replied, "and that could be a problem."

"Would it be possible to obtain sandals from the supply section?"

"I will see what can be done, but do not believe that there will be 100 pairs of sandals available," he told me in an unsure voice.

"We won't really require them for several weeks yet, but it would be best if the men had time to break them in before we need to use them for an operation," I told him.

Classes that day were devoted to basic first aid and were followed by a lot of hands-on practice until the men understood what to do to save a fellow Ranger's life. More advanced classes would follow later in the training cycle.

The next four weeks were filled with classes at the barracks and in the field as well as practical exercises. The PT schedule was expanded to six exercises and the runs were lengthened to two miles. A number of the classes were given by the new specialist instructors and they were amazing. There were several classes that dealt with the construction of makeshift field equipment. The one on making canteens from sections of large bamboo was amazing and all of the men soon had new canteens as well as other field expedient gear that wasn't presently available from Army supply.

Other classes on survival in the forest and jungle were just as amazing. Many of these men had lived close to nature all of their lives, and they knew what plants could be eaten, how to get drinkable water from certain vines in the jungle, how to snare small animals for food, and how to cook them over smokeless fires so you weren't detected.

The classes on movement in the forest, the jungle and even in areas of rice paddies were given by men who also had a lot of experience in those types of terrain, probably as poachers or robbers, but they were very good and the men learned a lot from their experience.

Sergeant Kruu Bua's classes on Muay Korat had been extremely well received by the men, and they had practiced both during the classes and on their own time after hours. Even I had learned a lot from the specialty classes. My own classes had gone very well also and the men were coming together as not only squads and platoons but as a company – a brotherhood of Rangers.

As the fifth week and the end of May were drawing to a close, to my surprise we had only lost 20 men and were now down to 80 trainees plus the Officers and the Sergeants, and I had begun to worry. Weapons training was due to start in a few days and there were NO weapons. Captain Prawit came to see me with a request while I was worrying.

"Tomorrow is Wisaka Bucha, the most important religious holiday in the Buddhist calendar. It celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and the passing away of the Buddha. The three events all occurred on the same day of the year but in different years.

"It is a day for visiting the Wats to bring flowers and offerings, and to make merit and listen to sermons from the monks. In the evening, there will be candlelight processions and those attending will walk three times around the Ubosot (main hall) to celebrate the three natures of Buddhism – the Buddha, the Dhamma (his teaching), and the Sangha (the monkhood). It is also a time for the observation of the eight precepts by all Buddhists. May the men have off tomorrow? All of them have worked very hard during training," he finished.

"Yes, you may all have off until next Saturday the 2nd of June. Hopefully, we will have weapons by then," I told him.

"Even the cooks!" he asked in surprise.

"Yes, especially the cooks. They have worked even harder than the other men with no break, as they needed to cook every day," I assured him.

"If they all leave, who will watch the company area then?" he asked somewhat disturbed.

"The Amulets will watch over the company area, just as they watch over my house and have taken care of other things," I assured him.

"I have heard the stories that Sergeant Chuang tells, but thought that he was exaggerating the things that happened, especially his claim that these buildings were brought here by them. I thought that they had only been repaired," he told me, but sounded confused.

"No, these are not the original buildings that were here. Sergeant Chuang's and my best guess is that they were built somewhere near Bangkok and moved here. That is based on their type of construction and the materials used. Who do you know that could move three buildings that far in a single night?" I asked him.