A listener writes “I am showing my age a little here as I was based there for a short time in 1987 when I was 18 years old. My encounter is a little different as I am British and at the time, I was part of a British Army serving in the 1st Battalion the Worcester and Sherwood Foresters which at that time was an infantry battalion based at Oakington Barracks, near Cambridge in the UK. Our main role as a regiment at that time was home defence and we were used in various tasks both home and abroad.
I was a private soldier having only completed my basic training about 18 months beforehand before being sent to my regiment. The regiment was made up of 4 companies, A, B, C and HQ companies. Each company was made up of 3 platoons with 2 sections of men in each company.
“A” Company at the beginning of 1987 was chosen to be deployed on a joint exercise called exercise Trumpet Dance to Fort Lewis to work with the US Rangers, much to the envy of the rest of the regiment.
I remember the exact date we flew out from RAF Brize Norton on a RAF VC10, it was 1st February 1987 and it was my 18th birthday which I spent all day flying across to Seattle in the states. We refueled on the way at RAF Gander in Canada. What a way to spend your 18thbirthday stuck on a slow, boring aircraft.
Upon landing we were loaded onto Coaches and driven to our barracks for the duration of our stay at Fort Lewis. We had a couple of days to settle in which for us meant being ran around Fort Lewis by our Company commander; a Major who loved to have us out running daily. I think he was keen to make a good impression.
So, our primary role was to see how the Americans worked in the field and we were chosen to play the enemy. We were treated really well and being in the British Army we could not believe how much kit you Americans have. The number of resources was unbelievable to us, so many Choppers, vehicles and the standard of the accommodation was like a 5-star hotel compared to what we were used to back home.
During our 5 week stay the first couple of weeks consisted of being Choppered out to various RV points and we would split up into small section groups and we would cause havoc with supply lines ambushing the Ranger units with pyrotechnics whilst they were trying to move large equipment around. For us it was great fun as we had Helicopters on standby to pick us up whenever we wanted to fly us wherever we wanted. Obviously, the whole theatre was not live fire, and our weapons were only permitted to fire blank rounds and it was the same for the Rangers.
The second couple of weeks we did quite a few live fire exercises making full use of the many ranges situated around the Fort Lewis base. You have to see this from an 18-year-old, British Army Squaddie’s point of view. We were in Army heaven, we had unlimited resources available to us and nothing was off limits to us Brits! We were having a great time.
The last 2 weeks we found ourselves being deployed on a tactical exercise. My memory is a little rusty as we are talking 35 years ago now, but I remember we were bused out on a couple of Chinooks to a remote Forest area. I couldn’t tell you where it was, but it must have been somewhere within the vast area that Fort Lewis covers.
Our role at this point was to observe enemy movements with patrols in and out the forest area and report back what we saw. The primary objective was not to be seen and report back to HQ what we saw staying in complete incognito.
Throughout the exercise we were fully tactical which meant no fires and we lived off our ration packs which were awful to eat. We could not cook anything and everything was eaten cold. It was a pretty miserable few days.
The weather at this time was really cold; February in Washington state as we found out was freezing cold and any down time we had, we spent huddled in out sleeping bags trying to keep warm.
On the ground the company was in the forest in an equal side triangle formation which is a standard set-up for a British Army infantry company in a tactical scenario. 1 platoon which I was in was at the top of the triangle and platoons 2 and 3 covered the 4 and 8 O’clock points. I hope that makes sense.
As we knew we would be there for a few days we were paired up and we dug out fox holes and lived under what we called a “Basher”. A Basher was a waterproof sheet and acted like a tent attached to bungy cords which were then attached to the trees and branches. It was basic but it kept you dry.
Each platoon had a lookout point which we called the “stag” point. Each pair of soldiers took it in turns to stag on and just guard for any incoming enemy patrols. If we were compromised, we would open fire, and everyone knew where the emergency RV point was. In theory we would regroup and either make a tactical retreat or we stand and fight. Obviously for the point of this exercise we would not be ambushed but it was a tactical exercise, so we all played along as per standard procedures.
Our positions were marked by a command cord. A long line of para cord was run around all the positions and marked by pieces of cloth tied at various points to signify where people were. It seems very basic and crude but during the night you needed this to navigate around by feeling where you were and to get to the stag point in total darkness.
At that time of the year, it got dark really early so you knew what time you were going to be on stag so you literally got in your sleeping bag and tried to keep warm until it was your turn to stag on. I remember waking up after the first night absolutely shattered having been shivering most of the night. I unzipped my sleeping bag and put my head out from under the basher and saw a huge Moose about 20 feet away just staring at me. It casually just walked off and I remember thinking that was a bit bizarre.
We had been told there were Bears in the area, but most would be hibernating at that time of the year. We had been warned about big Cats but to be honest we did not take anything too serious as we knew we would let a few rounds off (albeit blanks) and they would run off. We had a Ranger officer with deployed with us and he had reassured us there was little or no danger so we took that one to the bank!
On the second night things got a bit weird. We had been out in the cold for quite a few days now and we were feeling it. One of the most debilitating factors of being tactical on exercise is the lack of sleep. In the daytime we were out on patrol, and we were burning a lot of calories and by the time we got back to our fox holes we were shattered. As I have mentioned it was freezing cold and your teeth were constantly chattering and getting to sleep was not easy.
Me and my mate had been chosen for we called the dawn stag. At about 4:50am we both received a sharp kick to let us know it was our turn for a couple of hours on watch duty. Once of the guys who was on stag at that point had walked over to let us know and we reluctantly got out of our sleeping bags and put on our jackets. That is the worst thing ever as the cold really hits you at that point.
We got into position having felt our way to the stag point. It had been set-up, so we were at the edge of the forest, and we had view of two converging tracks running down to where we were. In the daytime we had used the tracks ourselves to get back to our positions. Tactically it was a really good point to have but at 5 in the morning you could not see your hand in front of you it was that dark.
We heard the 2 lads making their way back to their foxholes and once the noise of them getting into their sleeping bags was done it was silent, really silent.
I remember the guy I was with was really suffering with a heavy cold and he was constantly coughing and sniffling which was not a great position to be in and I knew if any of the platoon higher command heard him, he would be in trouble. I suggested he try band get his head down for a bit and I would keep watch. Being a typical squaddie, he did not need a second invitation!
The stag point had been covered with we called a scrim net, one of the guys had took it off one of the vehicles we had been using and put it over the top of where we lay, and it was really well camouflaged where to the point if you did not know where it was you would easily walk into it without seeing it.
I had rested my rifle which in those days was a standard issue SLR rifle and we had a night scope which we swapped over on stag changes. The standard of night scopes in those days were rubbish and you could barely see 10-15ft in front of you even using the night scope we had. It weighed a ton on what was a really heavy personal weapon in those days. Nobody liked using them.
So, about an hour and a half later the first glimpses of daylight are staring to appear, not too much but it enabled me to see a few feet further along both tracks in front of me. My eyes by this time had adjusted to the night and I had had my full night vision.
To me left I heard some footsteps in the distance. At first, I thought I was imagining it, but I heard a thud, thud like someone was walking towards me. The track ran along the woods where we were all situated albeit the other guys were well tucked away. The footsteps stopped and I tried to see who was making them, but it was too dark still. My initial thought was someone had wandered out of the forest to take a leak and probably got lost and then made their way back in.
By this time though I was thinking maybe it is the Moose again that I had seen the day before. About a minute or two later the footsteps started again getting louder and louder until I saw what I thought was a bear. About 30 feet away to my left on the track was a massive bulk standing on 2 legs and it stopped again. I could see it was looking over into our side of the forest and it was just stood there it didn’t make sound. It was just stood there listening.
From our position we were elevated about 8-10 feet above the track and this thing was huge. I had absolutely no idea what it was other than my mind telling me it was a bear which it definitely was not. It then walked up right in front of me and stopped on the track. It was that close I could hear it breathing loud. At this point I am crapping myself and did not make a sound; I am not ashamed to say Wes I was really scared at this point. I thought do I shoot my rifle which meant having to cock the rifle and put a round in the chamber which by the time I had done so this thing would have got to our position and what good would a blank round do other than alert everyone.
I could see its face and it was looking at me but also looking side to side so my guess at that point it either had not seen me directly, but I knew it sensed we were there.
Its head was level with my eyeline, and I could see it was hairy with a big flat nose and white teeth. It was sniffing the air and it curled its top lip up almost like it was tasting the air it was breathing heavily. It kept on looking to its left and right scanning the woods we were all in. The one thing I remember was the breathing, it was very deep, and its head was like a triangle shaped like a cone. I couldn’t tell what colour it was as it still partially silhouetted to the trees behind it, but it was a huge animal.
At this point I must question my sanity as it literally disappeared on the spot as I was watching it; it vanished into thin air. I first I thought it has ducked down but it hadn’t, I adjusted myself to peer over to see the track floor, but it was not there, it literally disappeared on the spot. I thought I was seeing things, but I know what Is saw. I heard it move off in the woods opposite as I heard the footsteps in the forest walking away but to this day I could not work out and still don’t understand how I just vanished in front of me. My only rational explanation to myself was that I must have got distracted or shut my eyes for 5 seconds, but I know I didn’t. I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
Now after this incident I did not say a word to anyone as the fear of ridicule would have been horrendous. I did speak to the Ranger guy we had with us, and I asked him if any bears come out of hibernation early. He asked did I see one? I said I think I saw a Bear and he then said to me something strange. He said, you didn’t see a hairy man then? I just laughed but he knew from my face I had seen something scary, and he knew what I had seen but did not say anything else or push me on it.
Nobody ever spoke about any Sasquatch’s on the whole deployment and if you have asked me what a Sasquatch was way back then I would not have a clue what anyone was talking about. I have always questioned what I saw that night but listening to your podcast and listening to people’s experiences I am pretty sure what I saw was one, but even to this day I have never spoken to anyone about it not even close family.”