The camp where the Thirty Comrades were trained was named the "San-a Agricultural Training Institute" in order to disguise the fact that it was a guerilla training base, and both local farmers and regular Japanese naval officers were forbidden to enter without special permission in order to keep its nature secret. The Burmese were trained using weapons that had been captured from Chinese soldiers, rather than Japanese weapons, for fear that if Burmese guerrillas were captured by the British during a prolonged war carrying Japanese weapons it may lead to an international incident. Aung San often served as the group's advisor, guide, and mediator during difficult points in their training.