On 23 Apr 2004 21:57:13 GMT, (BUFDRVR) wrote:

I think if you review your psych books you'll find that traumatic
experiences (near-death events) can either result in partial
amnesia--blanking of the unpleasantness; or at the opposite extreme,
near photographic recollection.

However, according to numerous psychologists (highlighted recently), chances
are much greater that you will not accurately recall information that occured
under stress. This has been highlighted recently in light of eyewitnesses to
crimes who have been used to put the wrong person in jail. I'm not a big psyche
guy, but I do watch Dateline

And, I stayed last night in a Holiday Inn Express. Seriously, the
eyewitnesses to crimes comparison isn't relevant with regard to the
recollection of details by an experienced combat operator. Certainly
on the first trip or so there might be some elements of "buck fever"
but the level of efficiency goes up and the tendency for tunnel
vision goes down over multiple exposures.

If you go to the woods on day one, there's a good chance you won't see
a lot of the deer that are there. By day four of the hunt, you spot
the flick of an ear, the tip of an antler and suddenly realize they've
got you surrounded.

Part of what makes a survivor in aerial combat is much the same as
what air traffic controllers have---situational awareness or the "big
picture" view. Your mind integrates the plan, the clock, the view, the
radio calls, etc. into a three dimensional structure. You know your
position and the relationship of your flight to the others relative to
the ground and the mission timeline. You integrate MiG calls from
Disco or Teaball with location, direction and even intention. You know
from the RWR which radar is looking at who and when missiles are in
flight you know whether they are a threat or not.

To this day I can recall voices,
phrases, images of my F-105 tour

And I can close my eyes and see and hear my first strike against Belgrade, but
according to some shrinks, what I remember may be far less accurate then what
really happened.

What you remember, if your "big picture" was as well developed as
mine, is probably a whole lot more accurate than what some ACSC
plastic-shoed slick-pocketed staff puke gleans from reading the Op-Rep
4s and the frag order.

Let's say I'm a witness to a murder. I'm the
only one. I report my facts during the trial. While I may not be
supported, the accuracy of my observations is not diminished.

If you were watching from the safety of your bed room window into an alley,
according to shrinks, you're right. However if the murder you witnessed was of
the guy right next to you, odds are your description of the assailant and the
circumstances and details will be inaccurate.

If you'd logged a dozen or so witnessings, your ability to recall the
details will be pretty darn good.

'Bout damn time! Your book report will be due in ten days.

How many pages?

Pages? My gawd, I've been working with community college students for
so long, my expectations are down to words not pages.

Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8