THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 9, 1995 TAG: 9506090656
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
Air Force Capt. Scott O'Grady survived his six-day ordeal by relying on military survival training.
O'Grady was trained at the Fairchild Air Force Base near his home in Spokane, Wash., where he learned to live off the land by identifying safe berries and roots to eat. He was reportedly first in his class.
Instructors at the survival school, which O'Grady attended in February 1991, teach crew members to find water and teach them the importance of purifying any water they find.
Air Force Lt. Col. William E. Osborne, deputy commander of the school, said a piece of clothing or parachute material can be used to purify water in most cases. Crew members carry iodine tablets in their survival vests.
After talking with O'Grady by telephone, members of his family said he had slept during the day, moving only at night since being shot down. He relied on a small supply of survival rations and used his radio transmitter only sparingly, they said.
The radio that was part of O'Grady's survival pack has two parts: One transmitter allowed him to send and receive voice communications, as he did in the hours and minutes before the rescue. The other mode, a beeper, sends a signal to alert military officials of the pilot's location.
The voice radio, which works like a standard AM radio, can be adjusted to transmit over five frequencies. The beeper can be adjusted to transmit over two different frequencies, one used primarily by civilian pilots, the other by military pilots. The radio has a range of about 100 miles.
In the survival kit were a first aid kit, 5-inch survival knife, 9mm pistol, a compass, strobe light and whistle.
KEYWORDS: RESCUE U.S. AIR FORCE BOSNIA U.S. NAVY
U.S. MARINE CORPS by CNB