My Very First Briefing

Everyone probably remembers their very first in-country briefing.  On my first trip into Laos, I was called into an office in the Air America complex at Udorn and a uniformed officer was sitting at the table at the opposite end of the room.  I walked to his desk, stood at attention, and saluted him.  He told me to sit down and not do that again.  "We don't acknowledge rank here.  It can get you killed, " he said.

He then began to tell me what I had not even surmised all this time as I prepared for this strange business.  He said, "Naylor, from now on your code name will be "Navigator".  You will never use your real name for any reason whatsoever, especially in Laos.  You will use your code name when making any radio transmissions to pilots, ground forces, or the operations center in Vientiane. When not on the air, use a nick name or something else when talking to troops, indigenous people, CIA personnel, Vientiane operations or anyone else you might run in to.  Richard Naylor no longer exists once you enter Laos."  Later, not of my own volition, I ended up with the handle "Snakeman," or in the Thai language, "Nguu Chaai."

"Regardless of what you might think you know or may know, we are not in Laos.  There are no American personnel, either attached to the U.S. Government or free lancing in Laos.  Once you cross the border 50 kilometers north, you don't exist.  The airplanes and helicopters you fly in do not exist.  The pilots and aircrews of those machines don't exist.  Any U.S. Military personnel you may encounter don't exist.  Any CIA personnel you may run into don't exist. Any questions, Naylor?"  I shook my head and told him I didn't have any at that time.  He continued, "You will leave everything that could identify you as an American or U.S. Military operative  behind.  No dog tags.  No letters from home.  You will wear either civilian clothing or generic military clothing, preferably from another country.  No rank chevrons, no jump wings, no nothing on the uniform if you wear one.  All your money will be changed into the kip notes usable only in Laos. No identification of any kind.  You will not keep journals, carry a camera, submit to any photographs of yourself.  Any notes you make during briefings will be memorized and the notes burned.  We would prefer you just memorized it in the beginning, however, so that the notes never leave the briefing room.  Got that?" he asked.  I nodded that I did.   He continued, "You must not say anything about this place in letters home, phone calls, or other forms of communication.  You cannot tell your wife, girl friend, mother an any other person about his place...period.  That goes whether you are at Incirlik, here at Udorn, or in Laos.  You cannot talk to anyone especially at Incirlik about what you are doing.  We will fabricate some stories to cover you absences from that base."  Then he told me that I would be working primarily with U.S. Army Special Forces personnel who don't exist and some indigenous troops who do.  "Your main transport will be via Air America, CAT, or civilian transport.  Of course, according to the records, CAT and Air America are both civilian airlines."   He went on to say that for the most part, I would be relying on General Vang Pao's Hmoung forces for help in the field and my team would be made up mostly of Thais and Hmongs.  The Thais were members of an elite unite known as the  PARU.  The PARU, as I mentioned in a previous post, were really good soldiers.  Maybe the best of the best in Thailand.  I didn't know that at this time, but I was soon to find out the truth about these special soldiers.

He then pushed a piece of paper toward me and said I need to read it and sign it.  It was an official U.S. Military document called a Confidentiality Agreement.  As I read this document it stated such things as that I could not mention any of what I saw, heard, or was involved in for 30 years after I left the country or after the conflict ended, which ever was the latest.  It also stated that this could be amended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff or by presidential order.  All this would be voided if the information about this nice little war was ever declassified.  Of particular notice was the penalties for revealing this information.  First, you could be arrested, court-martial-ed, and imprisoned.  If out of the military, you could be arrested and charged with sharing confidential information necessary to the  security of the United States.  Second, you could lose any military benefits you might have coming, could not hold a government job, not receive any government aid of any kind and could be fined thousands of dollars.  To me, that was plenty of incentive to keep my mouth shut about this place. And in fact I never spoke of this stuff until the last few years.  I began to see information about people I worked with in Laos and Thailand being posted on the internet.  That spawned research as to what was still classified and what wasn't.  And there are some things that are still classified about Laos, believe it or not, fifty years later.

After I had signed the document and handed it to him, he made his final statements.  "Navigator, you will be operating in hostile territory.  You will be the only ground air link that some of these teams will have.  You are the only voice most pilots are going to hear in their earphones in Laos. You will be directing air strikes against enemy forces and directing aircraft in and out of combat zones.  If you are captured, you will be tortured and probably killed because they will not consider you to be regular military since there are none in Laos.  They consider all Americans working in Laos to be spies or saboteurs.  They know how to kill you a thousand ways and make it last a long time.  I am not an Indian Fighter, but I would save the last bullet for myself."  He then continued with these words:  "If you are captured try to escape as soon as possible because they will weaken your body and your spirit over just a few days.  It is very difficult to escape after you have been in their hands any time at all.  Assume all Laotians to be your enemy unless you know better from personal experience with them.  You will be confronted with Pathet Lao, North Vietnamese, and Khmer Rouge  communists.  For the most part, the Thais are really safe to work with as well as the Hmongs who hate the communists. If you are seriously wounded on an operation, you will probably die.  There will probably be no way to evacuate you to help.  If you are bitten by a poisonous snake, same outcome.  There are no real hospitals in Laos or Thailand.  If you find a way to get yourself killed, for a while you will just be listed as missing in action.  After a time, the military will declare you were killed in an aircraft accident or automobile crash.  You body will be sent back to the U.S. as non-viewable remains and because of where you were killed, you will not be eligible for burial in any National Cemetery.    Any questions?"  I stated that I had none but might have some later.  He then said this to me, "Ask now, you will never see me again.  This is our one and only meeting.  Never shall we meet again."    I certainly had some, but my mind was spinning as it was and couldn't think of anything.  He got up, shook my hand, wished me luck and left me alone in the room.  I left the room and indeed, I never saw the officer again.