Intense Air Force Survival Program Paid Off For Downed Pilot In Bosnia

Scott O'Grady knows how to eat a bug.

In training to be an F-16 pilot, the Air Force captain attended an intense survival program taught in the mountains of Eastern Washington.

The program, mandatory for anyone who rides in a plane on an Air Force mission, teaches students how to find food and shelter, administer first aid, send emergency signals and avoid the enemy.

But practice can go only so far.

"The key to the whole thing is one's mentality, one's will to survive, one's will to evade," said Chief Master Sgt. Charles Lovelady, operations manager and senior instructor at the U.S. Air Force Combat Survival Program at Fairchild Air Force Base, near Spokane.

According to the accounts of military supervisors and family, O'Grady had that will.

Downed by rebel Serbs six days ago, O'Grady survived on his own, relying on the skills he'd learned at Fairchild.

He ate insects and drank rainwater to keep nourished. He moved only at night to keep from being detected. And he signaled his location to rescuers on a survival radio.

The fact that he did it all successfully is no accident.

O'Grady was dedicated to his training and always took time to know the techniques he'd need in an emergency, his mother said. During one family visit, he showed off his pilot's equipment, including a survival vest, complete with first-aid gear, radio and refresher tips on how to find water and food.

"They are well equipped and they know their equipment," said Mary Lou Scardapane, O'Grady's mother.

As part of his preparation for active duty, O'Grady attended the 17-day Eastern Washington survival course in February 1991. Like other students, he spent several days taking classes and doing lab work, learning the academic aspect of survival - how the radios work, how to signal location, how to administer first aid.

Then he and other students were sent into the mountains of the Kaniksu and Colville national forests, about 50 miles north of Spokane. There, instructors taught how to skin a rabbit, find edible plants and insects and move without leaving a trace.

More than 2,800 pilots each year funnel through Fairchild and into the mountains, picking up skills they hope they'll never have to use.

"It makes us proud that one of our graduates has been successful," Lovelady said. "That's really our graduate evaluation program."

Material from Reuters is included in this report.