There I Was...#44
Published on January 17, 2008 By Big Fat Daddy In Misc
It was the coldest I had ever been in my life...even colder than the railroad platform in Minnesota at three o'clock in the morning, winter of 1954. I was in the cab of my fuel tanker, without a working heater ( driving around during the day, you could get a little heat from the engine compartment coming in through the hole in the firewall that was supposed to be for the heater duct but it didn't stay at all warm once the engine was shut off). We were in the woods on the side of Mount Baldy, overlooking Wildflecken. It was January of 1965. We had been out on this exercise for about a week...mostly on the move. Cav doesn't sit still much. I was fully dressed in my sleeping bag...laid out across the seat...with no way to get warm or comfortable. Every time I shifted my weight, I would loose what little warmth I had generated and I would start to shiver all over again. " Stand To" was at four in the morning...that was the time everyone started their vehicles at the same time so the enemy couldn't listen to them start up individually and get a count of how many vehicles were actually in the woods. " Stand To" was the first time I could start the truck and it seemed like such a long time away.

Finally, someone tapped on my door and told me it was fifteen minutes to "Stand To"...I sat up and got ready. It was one of those full moon mornings...probably two hours before the gray of sun up would start creeping in. The moon was so bright on the snow that it was a kind of "shades of gray" daylight. At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks. A mound of snow next to one of the trees near my truck started to tremble and suddenly ...WHOOSH...this sergeant stood up out of the mound of snow. He was fully dressed and appeared dry and warm. As loathe as I was to talk to any sergeant, let alone one I didn't know, I had to know how he did that. I got out of the truck and walked over and asked, "How did you do that?" "Do What?" "Stand up out of that snow like that..." He looked me over sternly and asked if I was cold. I was. He asked if I had a sleeping bag. I did. I guess at that point he felt some sort of pity for me...maybe it was my uncontrolled shivering...he just led me over to my truck and told me to grab my TA-50 (thats Army code for field gear they give you so you can freeze to death wearing the correct shade of green). He proceeded to teach me how to construct a "tanker's roll".

Start with your shelter half (half of a pup tent), lay it out flat. Then fold one army blanket length wise and lay it on the shelter half. Then lay the air mattress (deflated) full length on the blanket...then lay the sleeping bag on the air mattress. Take your second blanket, folded length wise, and lay it on the sleeping bag. Finally, cover it all with your poncho, tucking the ends and sides under between the shelter half and the first blanket. Now you have a bedroll... fold the ends of the shelter half up onto the bedroll. Then fold the sides up onto the bedroll...like a big OD colored burrito. Starting at the foot end, roll the whole thing up as tightly as you can, making sure all the pieces stay covered by the shelter half as you roll it up. The bedroll carrier (we called them "spaghetti straps" because there were a bunch of straps and they aways seemed to be tangled up and no one knew what they were for) is then used to secure the roll, you can even attach it to your field pack with those straps.

He told me that the next time I had a chance to sleep, get out of the cab...roll out the bedroll...blow up the air mattress... get undressed...and climb in. He insisted that the fewer clothes you had on, the warmer you would be. Put your boots under the poncho, pull you clothes in the sleeping bag with you, if they are dry. The shelter half protected the bedroll from rocks and twigs and helped to keep things dry. The first blanket was further protection for the air mattres and provided a layer of insulation. The air mattress kept you off the ground...more insulation and comfort. The sleeping bag then could do it's job efficiently. The next blanket insulated from the top, the poncho kept it all dry. He claimed you could sleep in -20 weather and stay warm and dry out on the ground...even if it rained or snowed. Then he asked me if I hadn't been taught any of this before. I answered no, that if I had learned this before, I wouldn't have been a cruitcicle that morning. He wanted to know who my squad leader was...and my platoon sergeant. I told him.

Two things I learned that morning. The value of the tanker's roll has no monetary sum...it is priceless. For the rest of my military wanderings, which encompassed a lot of sleeping in the woods, hills, mountains, plains, deserts, seashores, and so on, I slept warm and dry and comfortable no matter what the weather. Many times I was asked why I preferred to sleep outside when we were in the field...my reply was always that I didn't want to miss out on a good night's sleep. I have a tanker's roll in my garage right now...need be, I could roll it out and have a warm night's sleep anywhere.

The second thing was that my squad leader didn't appreciate getting lectured on what he should be teaching his soldiers before they go to the field. I heard about it (and paid for it in various ways) for months. I don't know who that old sergeant was, but I have thought about him many times...usually at night...when it is cold and the rain is running off my poncho as I lay warm and dry and cozy in my tanker's roll.

on Jan 17, 2008
I saw lesson number 2 coming!  But #1 is worth it!  I am bookmarking this for any future camping trips!
on Jan 17, 2008
a cruitcicle

that cracks me up. Thanks for the laugh on yet another FBAC day.
on Jan 17, 2008
I am bookmarking this for any future camping trips!

When the Army adopted the foam style ground pad and did away with the air mattress, I rounded up as many of the old air mattresses that I could...the ground pad don't cut it. I still have a couple but I don't think they would hold air anymore...but there are plenty of commercial air mattresses that will work just fine. And by the way, I ain't about to do no campin' ever again.


??? I have caught on to some of the acronyms but this one escapes me.
on Jan 18, 2008