The Survival Template

By John A. Heatherly

A unique survival guide... The Survival Template encapsulates a singular survivor's mentality into a model that can be duplicated and personalized. The product of years of practical study of wilderness survivors, political captives, Prisoners of War, and more... This book is a force multiplier.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John A. Heatherly
• Release date: Apr 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452491493

Book preview

THE SURVIVAL TEMPLATE

by

JOHN A. HEATHERLY

Smashwords Edition Copyright © 2011 John A. Heatherly

Smashwords Edition License Notes

All rights reserved.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ISBN-13: 978-1461036562

ISBN-10: 1461036569

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This writing would not have been possible without the love and support of my wife and son. Thank you, and I love you.

Thanks also to Jeffrey Beed and the team at NRH for your hard work and outstanding input.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org

CONTENTS

Introduction

1: Basic Training: The Objective

2: Mentality Exercise

3: The Three Day Ruck Rule

4: Heuristics

5: External—Physical Condition

6: Internal—Mental/Spiritual

7: Survival and Work

8: Second Wind

9: Testing

10: Sample Format

Recommended Reading

About The Author

"The survivor’s attitude is the most important element of the will to survive. With the proper attitude, almost anything is possible."

In normal living, people can avoid decisions and let others do the planning. But in a survival situation, this will seldom work.

—AF Regulation 64-4 Volume I, p. 53

INTRODUCTION

January 1995, 1600hrs—Cougar Mountain, Just south of the Canadian Border

The thermometer rose and settled at an unusually warm thirty-four degrees Fahrenheit as twelve nervous trainees fumbled through their rucksacks and whispered wise cracks and complaints to one another. The late afternoon’s white out fog and drizzle swirled up the ridge from the valley, begging the question: which is more problematic, 31.9 degrees and snow, or 32.1 degrees and rain? Tiny details make a difference. In either case, an inexperienced survival student usually ended up cold, wet, and wishing he had chosen a different career path. One Instructor called the environment, Hell painted white. After a couple of weeks in these conditions, the troops had grown accustomed to the weather and knew that, in the most likely scenario, they would be up all night drying out themselves and their gear by a fire.

On this particular day a greater concern presented itself in the form of their first solo exercise. They didn’t know the details but knew that soloing involved an undetermined amount of time alone in the forest with objectives to be achieved.

"Listen to me, one Cadre announced, you goobers don’t know what you are doing, and you’re forgetful; so take out your notebooks and write down what I tell you…"

The objectives were fairly simple that day: build a shelter, a