Unfortunately, communication among the rebels was almost nonexistent. This was in contrast to the otherwise intense days of training, which included on-the-ground surveillance, infiltration techniques, radio operation and sabotaging and disrupting transportation.Ĭamp Hale was virtually self contained with the exception of a small airfield not far away that facilitated each trainees’ three mandatory parachute jumps ” an integral part of training.īy then, Lhasa was now under martial law and curfew and was completely suppressed by the Chinese army. On such holidays the men were usually granted a day off, which often involved kegs of beer and volleyball.
holidays were routinely celebrated at Camp Hale.
The next morning one of the CIA officers went to the mine and offered to pay for the “interruption” ” the bill was $25,000. Suddenly the faint lights that came from Climax molybdenum mine at the top of Fremont Pass went out. One evening a final “launch” veered off-target and disappeared over a distant hill.
Camp hale portable#
In one instance, the Tibetans were able to make a portable “rocket” out of a simple wooden trough, using homemade napalm, a small warhead and gunpowder. The Tibetans seemed to be drawn to anything dangerous and also possessed a great deal of curiosity as well as the ability to invent solutions to problems with the materials they had at hand. In addition, the CIA was amazed by how diligent the Tibetans were when it came to learning anything. Most were glad to not be involved in the chaos in Central America. The CIA operatives that were assigned to Camp Hale held only he highest regard for the Tibetans.
While the Americans stationed at Camp Hale called it simply “the Ranch,”, the Tibetans nicknamed it “Dumra,” which is Tibetan for flower garden. Upon arriving at Camp Hale, Tashi Chutter, a Tibetan translator, thought he was actually back in Tibet. To simplify public relations matters and to keep curiosity seekers away the CIA announced that the area was off-limits because of “atomic-related research.” The Army, however, was not informed as to the exact training and purpose of the new facilities and was told by the CIA only that a foreign national group would be on site. The Army supported the project and built the facilities that would be needed over the next few years. In 1958 Camp Hale was selected for the training site based on it’s topography, weather and remoteness.
Camp hale how to#
McCarthy proposed that trainees be provided with skills and equipment to conduct modern guerilla warfare as well as how to collect intelligence on the plans and intentions of Mao’s army for use by the U.S. McCarthy held the view that the CIA should either support the Tibetan resistance or let the Tibetans know that support was being withdrawn. Roger McCarthy was appointed to be the head of the Tibetan Task Force. Allen Dulles, director of the CIA at that time had to be shown the proper location of Tibet after he had pointed to a map of Europe and asked if the country that was actually Hungary was Tibet. had begun to increase its support of the Tibetans even though not everyone in the CIA was clear as to the whereabouts of Tibet.