WHO I AM AND WHY I DO THIS
You, my readers are wondering who Gerald is and rightly so. How did I get here and what makes me the Man that I am and why I’m doing this Website? What are my qualifications and experiences that I gained the hard way over the years starting as a child to the present time.

My Dad fought in WWII in the U. S. Army at the very start in the Philippines. He managed to escape the Japanese invasion with most of his Platoon. He later went back to liberate the Philippines and was part of the occupation forces in Japan. Between then and the start of the Korean War, he gained his Ranger Tab and fought in that War as well. Afterwards he went on to become a member of the U. S. Army Special Forces and served in Viet Nam among the first “Advisors” to arrive and served several tours there, thereafter. He served his Country in a distinguished career for 39 years. Retired as a Sargent Major.

Where do I come into this? Well, he met and married my Mum while he was doing duty in the UK. We lived in Aberdeen, Scotland. I did not much care for him as he spoke an odd form of English and he was coming between me and my Mother. They got married without my consent or blessing. We then left Scotland and went to Ft. Bragg, N. Carolina for a few years. In that time, Dad, in his duty left us for wherever the U. S. Army sends Green Berets. When he would come back, we did all sorts of things as a family, especially camping. From him I learned how to survive in the woods. How to make fish traps, snares both large and small. How to build shelters with what is on hand. How to find water that won’t make me sick. Eat plants and other things (bugs) as well. Taught me how to make primitive weapons. Find and knap Flint into tools and arrowheads. I got my first deer with a longbow I made, and an arrow tipped with a flint arrowhead. He was a great woodsman and he passed that onto me and I hope to pass that on to you.

I was a Cub Scout, then a Boy Scout and saw in the Boy Scout Magazine “Boy’s Life” an ad for the Outward-Bound Schools. I wanted to go in the worst way. But being an Army Family, we did not have a lot of extra money and not the amount that would be needed. My Dad, as usual had the answer for me. He pushed the power mower out of the shed, gave me a can of gasoline and said that there would be a lot of NCO’s in our neighborhood of Base Housing, as well as a few officers in their neighborhood that would pay me to do a job that they did not want to do. He was right!! So, armed with the desire, mower, edger, shears and loppers I set forth. After about 70 acres of lawns, 10 miles of edging, 20 bushels of pulled weeds and about 100 bushels of raked leaves and nearly a year later I went to the Outward-Bound School in Mazama, WA. I was there for a month and what I learned was in accord with what my Dad taught me. But on top of that, I learned leadership.

After graduating Highschool and then attended college for a year, I too went into the U. S. Army. Not as an Infantryman like my Dad, but as the most dangerous and feared soldier in the Army; the Company Clerk: no one messes with Radar. Did my tour in Viet Nam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade (“the Herd”) at a little place named Phu Bai. One would think that I’d be safe in a sandbagged bunker and you’d be right. I was until I was walking back from the latrines that a mortar round came down and wounded me. I took a piece of that mortar round in my ass. Half an inch down and an inch to the right, it would have been “Rotor Router”. Ouch!!

I extended my tour so that I could come back with the Brigade to Ft. Campbell, KY and was within 6 months out of the Army. Went home to California to see my parents and then back to College with a goal in mind to become a Registered Nurse. I took a lot of College Correspondence Courses while stationed in Viet Nam (not a whole lot to do on off-duty hours) so I got all my required courses out of the way and concentrated on all the science courses in college; carried a full course schedule plus some. Graduated in 2 years with a 4-year degree. I knew where I wanted to go.
I went active duty from my Army Reserve Unit 2 weeks after graduation. I was sent to Ft. Benning GA for my Airborne refresher course. After that I applied for the Ranger course. I graduated from there and instead of going to a Ranger unit, I applied for and was accepted to the Special Forces School at Ft. Bragg, N. Carolina.

I thought I was in good shape after the Ranger course but, how wrong I was!! They took me apart, piece by piece and put me back together the way they wanted me. The “Q Course” nearly killed me, but I survived it because I had the “right stuff” to do it. Then it was off to Language school, Specialized Medical Training, cross trained in Explosives Ordinance & Demolitions, Radio Communications, Weapons and since I already had my fixed wing license, I was sent to Rotary-wing School; Helicopters.

After nearly 30 months of training I joined my newly formed A-Team and trained with them for another 6 months and was deployed to Rhodesia (north of S. Africa, now Zimbabwe) as a guard detail for: Well, I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you. Thirty-four months later I was back a Ft. Bragg for some much-needed R & R. A couple of months later we were off again to another part of the world. And so it went till I got so chewed up that I couldn’t go play in the “Field” with the Kids anymore. So I taught at Ft. Bragg to Newbie Hopefuls and then later at West Point, to the Cadets. After a total of 28 years, I retired as a Sargent Major, and God above, how I miss it.

Got into Prepping in a serious way when Y2K was a few months away. “I drank the Kool-Aid and believed the Techies that the End of The World as We Know It was going to happen. Well, we all know that that did not happen. I had all this stuff and no disaster to use it for. But I kept it and did some more reading and learning. Went for a couple of courses offered by the Mother Earth News on Farming on a small plot of land, Hydroponics, Windmills, Photo-voltaic Systems, Wood-gas Generators, Solar Water Heaters and Heat Storage Boxes, Animal Care and Mucking out the Milk Cow Parlor. Horses, Mules, Cows and Bulls with horns, Sheep and Goats and Chickens. Orcharding and what to plant around your trees to scare away the insects that would harm them. Milking those cows and goats by hand, making butter and cheese. How to butcher and make sausage. How to Build a Smoke-house and how to Smoke the various cuts of meat.

2012 came and went just as Y2K did. Shook up a lot of people. Made a pretty good movie with two male actors I really like. But again, we’re still here. We’ve had several record setting Hurricanes, Tornados and Rain Storms accompanied by Flash Floods and Landslides. How many Preppers were there in each of those disasters that came through them in good shape? That is an answer that I cannot give you.

Think for a moment that if you were in a natural disaster and lost power for an indefinite time, what would you do. What would you eat, drink, attend to personal hygiene, shelter from the elements and protect yourself and your family from the human madness that follows on the heels of these disasters. What if it was something more than a natural disaster induced by the weather. What if it were a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), when the Sun burps and spews affecting the whole world. Anything with an unprotected microchip will die a flaming death. All trucks and cars that have a computer controlling their ignition system will stop. Airliners will fall from the sky. Ships on the ocean will stop and drift till they sink or run aground. How will you live. Therefore, I am a Prepper and I am here to be a guide to Your Survival and that of Your Family.