Dear Gang,
What I’m about to share with you could result in my being arrested or banished from the Military, but I feel that it must be brought out. The U.S. Navy endorses water torture, and has been practicing it for many years. All this is fully funded by the United States Congress with oversight permissions granted by the Senate. It goes way past both parties, and happens every day of the week in our very own country! This water torture isn’t practiced outside of our borders, but right on at least three major installations across the United States. If word of this ever got out to the ACLU there would be all sorts of hell to pay.
Here is how it works. The Navy subjects a person to extreme pressure changes in a large hyperbaric chamber. They take the “prisoner” up around twenty-five thousand feet of altitude without oxygen, which causes him to be light-headed, followed by possible gray-outs, and a euphoric feeling that is enhanced by tingling in their fingertips. The worst part is being overcome by their bodily odiferous odors. See as the pressure increases, the oxygen in the body expands and there are only two ways out, burping it up or out the other end. As the cabin pressure rises, so does the amount of gas that escapes from the body. To put it mildly, if they were to light a match in there, it would cause a giant explosion. Same would happen if your jet airliner were to lose a window and you experienced a rapid decompression, just hope you didn’t eat Mexican the night before!
After they do this to the “prisoners,” they take them over to a large pool complex where they employ various controlled drowning techniques. They tie vast amounts of equipment to their body. This guarantees they will sink in the deep end of this giant pool. Navy personnel are located all around the pool area, watching as they drag the “prisoners” through the water attached to some ropes overhead. If a “prisoner” were to drown in the water, they can retrieve him in a heartbeat, administer CPR and chuck him/her back into the pool.
They have varied ways to drown the “prisoner” in the large pool. While treading water, they spray them in the face with powerful water cannons, causing loss of vision, disorientation and choking on copious amounts of chlorinated water in the mouth. This may last about two hours. The “prisoner” is broken down, very tired and almost out of hope. When this point arrives, they strap the “prisoner” to a seat inside a large barrel shaped device with the other “prisoners” who are suspended about four feet in the air, and then drop them into the deep end of the pool. The device they are strapped into then snap rolls 180°, causing the “prisoner” to be upside down, blindfolded with blackout goggles on, and almost three feet under the surface.
This is what the “prisoner” experience as his/her heart beats faster, anticipating the sound of the release mechanism. A loud “zing” as the cables slide, followed by the plunge into the water, causing a water injector to the brain as the pool water rushes up the nose, where it lodges in the sinus cavities. They are then expected to release themselves to reach the surface of the pool, while being weighted down with 20 pounds of equipment. The second time around being dunked into the pool, the “prisoner” is resigned to the fact that the next round may be his last trip, and will readily admit to killing President Kennedy although they weren’t even born yet.
The Navy is authorized to do this procedure up to six times to achieve the desired and maximum effects. If they deem, they can call this person back to do it again and again. Where is the press on this? Why aren’t the folks clamoring around a bonfire, telling the Government to put an end to this torture? I’ll tell you why. Because the “prisoners” volunteer for this assignment every four years of their careers as Aircrews in the US Military forces. What I have just described is the Water Survival Course that we, as Pilots, Crew Chiefs and Navigators, must undergo in order to keep our ratings. Now, I’m here to tell you that sitting in a cell, while your captors play loud rock music is nothing compared to this, and if I was in charge of the “Al Killya” scumbags down in Cuba, I’d have them strapped to a helo dunker and dropped into a pool everyday until they admitted their wrongs.
While the training I described sounds harsh, (it is) there are many men and women alive today because of the excellent instruction given by the Navy divers. So hats off to them for teaching us how to survive a crash in the ocean and make it back home to our families! This was the best training I’ve ever had. To think--all you guys thought I was just goofing around in Pensacola, Florida, drinking beer and chasing fish--shame on you.
Semper Fi,
Taco 
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