First Earth Battalion
During the years following Vietnam, the army became convinced that the Chinese had thousands of children who were clairvoyant. Somewhat mystified, the CIA, NSA and DIA did their own research into mind-control, remote viewing, and other New Age concepts. Among the largest and most well funded of these was the First Earth Battalion which originated on the ideas and writings of one Jim Channon.
His philosophical impetus is as follows:
Chinese monks were often attacked by robbers. They developed a new fighting system based on using the force of the attacker against him. Likewise the soldiers of the First Earth will learn martial arts with the same ethical basis. No Earth soldier shall be denied the kingdom of heaven because he or she is used as an instrument of indiscriminate war. The conscience will be developed together with the ability to neutralize the opponent.
Skill sets he hoped to ingender in the armed forces included the following categories of warrior monks:
PEOPLE
All warrior monks, but an interdependence of New Age skills as well.
[The graphic shows the following skills, all emanating from a central Spirit Wizard]
* Spirit wizard
* Meditation leader
* Martial arts wizard
* Nutritionist herbalist
* Vexillographer (flags and banners)
* Cinematographer
* Old tapes
* Holographer
* Printer
* Minstrels
* Video technoid
* Satellite technoid
* Laser technoid
* General systems theorist
* Physicist
* Futurist
* Builder
* Conservationist
* Indian tracker [sic]
I would hope to be a spirit wizard (which sounds neat) mixed with a futurist/indian tracker (to help me find dinner at lunch time). I would settle for Vexillographer, but to be honest, I wouldn’t want to be Printer. That sounds boring.
It seems well and good, but the research Channon conducted went on to be used in part for “enhanced interrogation techniques” and methods used at the standoff at Waco, Texas. In short, his hippy powers were used for evil.
To learn more about the interesting goings-on and the writing of Channon, go here.