72 old SEAL?

[Mike]

In Navy Times this week, on page 2, there is a picture of a person who will participate in the CBS show with 15 other people on an island somwhere in Asia. He was described as a 72 year old retired Navy SEAL "Rudy". CBS did not release everyone's real name. I would say he was an UDT around the 1950s and 1960s.
Navy Times 03-27-00
'survivor' May Seal The Deal
"Deprived of basic comforts. Exposed to the harsh natural elements. Your fate at the mercy of strangers. Who would you become?"
Hmm ... a Navy SEAL? Except for that last line, that's how the promotional copy reads for "Survivor," a new CBS Television "reality game show." The idea is to take 16 "castaways" and drop them on a desert island, videotape every moment and watch as they "outplay, outwit and outlast" each
other until there is only one ... million-dollar winner. The ringer just might be 72-year-old retired Navy SEAL "Rudy" (no last names, please, says CBS). Despite being by far the oldest contestant (two are in their early 60s, the others are in their 20s or
30s), Rudy should benefit from the "been there, done that" outlook of a veteran SEAL.
The married resident of Virginia Beach, Va., was chosen from a field of 6,000 applicants, all vying to be dropped onto a tropical island in the South China Sea and spend 13 weeks as camera fodder. Every three days, the castaways will vote to send one away. When only two are left, the castoffs will return to judge which "survivor" will walk home with the big bucks. The series is scheduled to run this summer. "Gilligan's Island" was never like this."

[Nissan]

COuld this be Rudy Boesch?? I know he was in back when they said and having BTDT would definetly be in his profile...any other opinions??

Maybe they will give him 1 million dollars if he last too...that seems to be a crowd pleaser right now...

[trident86]

It is most definitely Rudy Boesch. He is truly one of a kind!

[Mike]

Could be him. He looked like the half-bald guy on "Who's That Line" on ABC with Drew Carey, only a little older.

[Snake]

Greeeeatt...
Lord of the Flies meets the "Real World"? My money's on the Frogman...

Snake
25th ID(L)

[Snake]

Greeeeatt...
Lord of the Flies meets the "Real World"? My money's on the Frogman...

Snake
25th ID(L)

[Mac679]

Hey trident,
methinks that Rudy could have some decent competition, one of the other contestants is a Tracker School student: http://www.trackerschool.com/Press/extratv/survival.html

Mac

[Ursula]

Maybe one of the other contestants did take a survival class, but in my experience, those who take survival courses because they have a little bit too much money and free time and have nothing better to do typically don't get as much out of it as someone who takes a survival course knowing their life and the lives of their team may depend on it.

Just my 2 cents' worth. But I'd put my money on Rudy.

-U

[Mac679]

Nice to know I have too much money and free time and that so does trident86, as well as the 18A I met during my back to back, the other 150 people in that class, and the SEALs from both coasts that get sent there for training. Nice to know that the 150 people I saw come together for the sake of starting a fire with no man made instruments and no cut wood, no knives, etc. We had to do it an hour, if we didn't get it we would have slept outside, no sleeping bags, no fire, in our swimsuits and no dinner either. We were told that just one group/team of 8 had to get a fire and we'd be set. I watched the entire class become a mega group, materials were shared from group to group, people went around offering their help to those that could use it. Yep sounds like self oriented folks to me. Taking classes at the Tracker School is easily the best thing I have ever done!
Mac679
Tracker School student ( Standard: Aug16-22 1998, Back to Back: Sep13-25 1999 )

[pn]

Ya'll are talking like it's going to be a fight-to-the-death. The elimination is going to be done by vote, and that means *politics*. Mr. Boesch might say the wrong thing and get booted for reasons having nothing to do his skills as a survivalist/ mental toughness/cup size.

-pn

[Ursula]

Mac679,

It wasn't a personal attack against you or anyone else who's taken classes through Tom Brown's school or any other school, and it wasn't an attack on civilian-run survival schools. Tom Brown's school is one of the finest in the country and I've recommended it to many. I also have his entire book collection in my personal library because they are topnotch.

As I stated, *in my experience*--which includes both civilian survival courses and courses for SFers, SEALs, and many other DoD folks--on the whole, military folks are more eager, pay attention to more detail, and retain more information than their civilian counterparts. Everyone gets whatever is important to them out of each learning experience. If you know you're going into hostile territory and you may need to survive off the land with very little, I would reckon you're more inclined to learn as much as possible about surviving in extreme conditions. If your wilderness adventures take you no farther than a 2-mile loop through the wooded city park, then the part of the class about learning how to build a fire using a bow and drill probably isn't as important. I've taught to both types of groups.

I apologize to you and the others if my original post came across offensively. It wasn't my intention. As an instructor in survival and related courses, I have the utmost respect for teachers like Tom Brown.

-U

[This message has been edited by Ursula (edited 03-24-2000).]

[recce_o]

Hi guys,

Re Tracker School:

1. What's the "Back to Back" course?

2. 150 students?!!! How many instructors are there?

3. How much time do you spend actually being instructed by Tom Brown?

Thanks in advance,

Recce

[Mac679]

recce,
1) Back to Back refers to the Advanced Standard and Advanced Tracking/Nature Observation classes, they're given on consecutive weeks and designed to be taken together, hence the name Back to Back
2) there are 5 instructors not including Tom Brown himself ( there are two Tom's there ) plus there are also helpers who have already taken the classes and have volunteered to come back and help out ( ratio is about 1 helper for every 10-15 students ). Also, Jon Young, Tom's very first student ( and "punching bag"-Tom taught Jon the same way Grandfather taught Tom, Tom's revenge and chance to do it to someone else so to speak :-), has been stopping by the School more frequently. He was there for my Back to Back. Never saw him during my Standard.
3) the amount of time Tom teaches depends on the class, he lectured once or twice a day during the Standard, about the same in the Advanced Standard, but more frequently in the Advanced Tracking/Nature Observation class because of the focus on tracking. You might not see him but he's almost always around:-) I'm currently signed up for Scout and Advanced Scout classes ( provided my ship date won't interfere ), and considering Tom refered to Scout class as "his baby" in the Standard, I imagine he'll be around a lot more. You can definitely hear him coming when he drives in though, that Hummer of his has a pretty distinctive sound.
Ursula, military folks are more eager to pay attention because they've had discipline drilled into them. Anyone who's paid $700 for a course is probably gonna pay attention as well ( I won't get into the folks from Canada, Switzerland and Germany and how much they pay to go ). The Tracker School has something that everyone can benefit from. The courses range from Philosophy, to Tracking and Awareness, to Survival. And the Standard contains elements of each. One person might not be as interested in pure survival as another but maybe the portion of the class that deals with Tracking and Awareness will help them realize the importance of the Survival and give them a little more enjoyment of that 2 mile trail, and who knows maybe they'll go off the trail as well. All those tracks are connected and you've got to have an understanding of each to master the others. I doubt the military folks that go through are always 100% excited to hear Tom explain dynamic meditation, Grandfather's outer worlds, etc., I could be wrong though. As for the 2 mile loop, in my city park, that could still get you lost. Trails are well maintained but at 8000+ acres, it's one of the largest city parks in the country. But hey, not everyone really knows their own backyard to begin with, hell I don't all the small animals that live back there. The part about a bow drill fire might be important with the Creation myth and philosophy behind it to the person that's interested in the Philosophy classes. Tracker School isn't just about survival. Guess I did go a little overboard on my last ;-)
Mac
"To see the world in a grain of sand, and heaven in a wildflower; hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour."-William Blake

[Ursula]

> I doubt the military folks that go through are always 100% excited to hear Tom explain dynamic meditation, >Grandfather's outer worlds, etc., I could be wrong though.

I'm sure many enjoy it. For those that don't, they can head out this way and get strictly hard skills from us. http://www.specialoperations.com/ubboard/smile.gif Although Brown's combination of hard and soft skills, in my opinion, is a better way to teach. You can teach someone how to build a fire, but if you give it a symbolic meaning that they embrace then it becomes much more than just spinning a drill with a bow.

> Guess I did go a little overboard on my last ;-)

Glad we cleared this up. Have a great weekend, and enjoy your next classes at Tracker School.

-U

[This message has been edited by Ursula (edited 03-24-2000).]