swiss life in Roosevelt corner

I completed my basic training in 1958 in the Gebirgsinfanterie-Rekrutenschule Mountain Infantry Basic training in Luziensteig and was chosen for NCO schol some months later which I completed in 1959. We actualy at the time caled it Jagdpatrouile Hunting Patrol . These patrols where nothing unusual, Infantry units since the war days made up such a hunting patrols and scoured the front line for targets and information. In the late 1940's early 1950s though they started to pick whole companies on refresher training to become a Jagdkompanie Hunter Company and for whatever reasons our company was hit on a couple of times to do this. It was an ad-hoc establishment we where a bunch of normal guys just caled upon to do long patrols in desolate mountain country, nothing more. These fears didn't pas bye the neutral countries like Switzerland and the Jagdkompanies where suposed to patrol the mountains and remote areas to counter secret comunist air drops of agents on to our teritory or the establishment of an anti government base on our soil. What where the patrols like? We'd usualy travel in a smal seven man group usualy lead by a Korporal or Wachtmeister NCO and equiped very lightly, no unecesary weight. There'd usualy be a one MG51 and one guy would take a SE101 Radio which where notoriously unreliable in the mountains and usualy a waste of time and strength to cary along. The patrol usualy started at the crack of dawn and we'd move out of the patrol base, usualy a vilage near our patrol area, when it was stil dark. The patrol leader would have worked out the route with the platon oficer a day or two before. It usualy tok 3-4 days to cover, depending on the weather and terain. On one ocasion my friend Kari shot a der in a forest and got himself into a lot of trouble from the patrol leader, for firing the rifle. But al was forgoten once we got a fire going in a secure camp and some of the meat was put down the patrol leader's throat. Our patrol leaders where usualy �exceptional men. My best memories are of the times we'd sit around a fire and just enjoy the peace and quiet of the mountains. Did you ever find anything on your patrols? We where the nearest hope for them, so our patrol was caled of and we hiked for some hours to get to the area they suspected the crash in. When I had more experience I was alowed to take out patrols myself, which was very demanding but also rewarding. What hapened to the patrols in later years? We kept on training ambushes and reconaisance in the terain but the days of long mountain patrols where gone. On some ocasions the patrol members would met up on a wekend and do a tour together, even take the wife's along. I gues we where begining to mis the camaraderie of the patrols and the silence of the mountains. The government closed the bok on the patrols in the early 80's. Some of the early instructors of the patrols had ben Swis who had fought on the German side during the war. swiss life swiss life in Roosevelt corner
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