You've received the Call up instruction.... been warned ... and now it's time .... grab your kit and here we go.......  

 

To 'Nam and Back.......

 

                       Operational Area and Southern Angola

Program / Schedule:

 Day 1:

  

                   Flossies at Grootfontein AFB (‘78)                                 SAFAIR C130/LH-100’s at Grootfontein AFB (‘78)                           SAFAIR Boeing 707 at Waterkloof AFB ('89)   

We’ll depart from Ysterplaat (33º 54’ 00.88" south, 018º 29’ 53.87" east) AFB to Grootfontein AFB (25º 1’ 0" south, 16º 45’ 0" east) in S.W.A…. please don’t be late for the weigh-in and briefing at Movements…. being GOF's (Grand Old F@rts) we'll skip the medical for obvious reasons...  hope you remembered your chronic medicine.... the SAAF/SAFAIR C130 Herc’s ("Flossies") will fly directly to "Groties", but the SAFAIR Boeing 707 will land at J.G. Strydom  Airport  just outside Windhoek and a connecting flight will take the passengers later on further north to Grootfontein…. quite a long flight from Cape Town with a hectic and short landing at Grootfontein, either a treetop landing or a corkscrew landing, with helicopter gunships providing topcover. Don’t panic when you see the emergency vehicles parked next to the runway…. it’s just part of the standard safety measures. After a sudden stop, you’ll feel the intense heat when the ramp opens.

    

          Hercules at Eros Airport (’79)                            Boarding Herc - Back to "The States" ('78)                            Collecting kit at Grootfontein AFB ('78)

Further down the runway will be rows and rows of transport aircraft, different types of fighter jets and helicopters…. welcome, to the Operational Area… gather your kit and board the "wit olifante" (Cattle Trucks)…. this will be your transport to the transit camp, "Southern Slums" (Camp Swampy), just outside town… sunburned troopers returning to the States will board your aircraft soon, some will wish you luck and others will show the "min dae" sign and laugh…. some might even show the finger sign, the bird, not out of disrespect, but only to show that they had seen the elephant’s ears (been in a contact situation with the enemy) and were on their way home… only to return in a few weeks time…. soon they’ll be in the air on their way back home, wherever it may be…. at the transit camp we’ll spend the first night and as you will notice this camp is everything but what you were taught during basics…. no mattresses, just the metal frames of typical military beds, torn tents (not neatly lined up or squared), ration packs, gravel floors, filthy, no electricity and no canteen… a dry first evening in S.W.A… for the duration of the tour we will follow SADF guidelines re liquor …only 2 beers per person per day… available will be Kronnenbrau 1308, Castle, Lion, Ohlson and Black Label… cold drinks on sale will include Groovy, Quindrink, Coke and Fanta... and no hardtack will be served to anybody below the rank of Sergeant..... not pleasant, but military rules and regulations.... but nobody stops you from "organizing" a bottle or two, but don't get caught..... 'n man kan mos dors raak.....

   

            "Wit Olifante" - Grootfontein (‘78)                         "Southern Slums" transit camp (‘78)                            Cold refreshing shower (‘77)

Remember; "You’re in the army now". And still people wonder why some refer to Grootfontein as Grossfountain? Arriving at the transit camp, we’ll have the first inspection of the tour at the "slab"… form up and the MP’s, Military Police, not Members of Parliament, will inspect the contents of your duffel bags ("Baalsak" that became "Balsak" in SADF lingo)…. booze and porno, e.g. the centre page of the Scope magazine, will be confiscated…. have always wondered what happens to these items later on… used later for personal entertainment by these gentlemen???... just asking…. the centre pages of magazines will have pictures of ladies with stars on strategic places… another reason why South African men are bottle babies from their birth till they pass away… we have no idea what is hidden behind these stars and what it should be used for. This will become part of your time in this area… all letters will be checked for possible problem areas … this will be deleted with a broad black marker pen… censorship is alive and well and big brother is reading your mail… if you use the phrase "Is dad still in Italy?",it will indicate that you are in Etali base … if you request that your present be delivered 5 days before granddad’s birthday, they’ll know that you expect to be back home 5 days before grandpa’s birthday.. .. please be original, as they, the people who censor your mail, know all the codes and phrases… so watch out what you tell the folks back home…. letters are censored in a specific way, so don’t invite them, the censors, to read your whole letter due to many hints, codes and phrases… another thing to remember is that you won’t be allowed to use cellphones, in actual fact most of the route will be out of reception range…

    

                 SCF "Dankie Tannie Sakkie" (’78)                    SCF writing pad (’78)                                   SCF envelope (’78)

the same applies to telephones, only the higher ranking officers, including the Chaplain can determine if any request to use a phone, is justified and can give permission, but there is a way round this, but don’t get caught… use the "Bosmaatjie vir ‘n praatjie" excuse… the easiest way is to call Walvis Bay Radio on the radio and bum a line home…. the folks at home must just remember to say ‘over" everytime they complete a sentence, but watch out, if BRUSH traces you, you’re in big trouble… never said a word… I don’t know who told you about this… then it’s back to the tents for an uncomfortable first night….. tomorrow early we travel to Oshivello…. later on we’ll gather at the slab again, but this time the Southern Cross Fund will hand out a parcel to every one… the "Dankie Tannie Pakkies" …. included will be the usual, pen, writing pad (sponsored by the United Building Society), envelopes, Texan plain cigarettes, Lion matches, a metal mirror, sweets, postcards, a knife, razor and letters from the chairlady of the SCF, the Minister of Defence and the South African State President…. all thanking you and wishing you all of the best… actually no choice after having been called up… a pleasant night gents and enjoy your first ration pack of the tour…. ration packs, who ever designed them must have never been in the S.W.A. operational area… even after designing different content combinations , coded with different coloured stickers, the main problem has not been addressed…. water… most of the areas in the operational area have a critical water shortage and the ration packs need a fair amount of water to prepare the food … tins of braised steak, bully beef, chicken breyani, whole peeled potatoes, dog biscuits, Pronutro, instant coffee and tea, milk shake, powder cold drink, ovamboes (sausages in brine) , a cheesy, packet of super-C sweets, the vegetable salads and the one that nobody wants to swop .. the tarzanbar (energybar). Ongoing changes to the rat packs has concentrated on nutrition , not the reality , perhaps this changed later. Just remember that a ration pack often has to last for at least two days on patrol due to a shortage of rations. One can still see the faces of the new troops when actually trying to eat the fuel tablets , thinking it was sweets .. it sure wakes you up and leaves a bad taste in the mouth…. before we forget …. please remember that the water in the watertankers can only be used to shower and the water in the watertrailers can be used for drinking and cooking. Before drinking any water, use the purifying tablets provided and later add the other tablets, just to make it taste better…. the plastic pipes you see all over in this area are not ventilation pipes for underground bunkers or a new type of mortartube, but urinals, commonly known as p@slelies…. the go-karts and longdrops are at the furthest side of the base… it is advisable that it only be visited before sunrise and after sunset due to the amount of flies in that area…. overalls will be issued to everybody early tomorrow morning, but please take note…. when wearing an overall and nature calls, you might find yourself with quite a problem should you have to undress in a hurry when going to the ablution blocks…. ask anybody who has ever been in such a situation…

   

       Go-Karts at Grootfontein (’77)                         Southern Slums (’78)                                                      Going North (’83)

not pleasant, always too late and resulting in having to wash your overall more times than planned, mostly round the collar area….have you taken your malaria tablets, your Deraclors, and applied the Tabbart ?….the tablets will leave a bad taste in your mouths for the rest of the journey…. a friendly warning, the mosquitoes here are bigger than the SAAF helicopters and operate in massive squadrons…. use the mosquito-nets provided and apply sunblock before the sun rises tomorrow morning….. see you early tomorrow again ...  don't worry ... conversion from .303 to the R1 and R4 will be done at Oshivello later on....

      24 Hour ration pack ('78) 

Day 2 - to follow next week...... ( CLICK HERE )