First SEALs by Patrick K. O'Donnell Read Free Book Online Page B

commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1941. Although his experience with demolitions made him extremely qualified as an explosives instructor, Kauffman allegedly wasn’t particularly fond of the water. Many years later, OSS swimmer John Spence reportedly said, “I remember showing him the fins and face plate. This ‘Father of the Navy SEALs’ looked me square in the eye and said, ‘Swimming is not one of my favorite things!’”
    Duncan and his OSS swimmers introduced Kauffman to their latest equipment, which was far ahead of anything he and his men possessed. They demonstrated the Lambertsen unit and “exchanged ideas with Commander Kauffman as regards to the use of underwater equipment.” Duncan also trotted out the innovative surfboard the OSS developed. The groundbreaking OSS technology initially awed the Navy and Kauffman. “Every man [present] was enthusiastic about its potential use,” recalled Duncan. At the time the Navy was using only face masks and no fins (they often swam in sneakers) and had nothing remotely comparable to the Lambertsen rebreather. The LARU signaled a new era in underwater diving technology that would render Kauffman’s practices obsolete and potentially threaten his command authority.
    The next couple of days started out cordially. On September 12, Duncan’s group, along with Lieutenant Commander Kauffman and other Navy representatives, anchored off North Island and once again demonstrated their unique surfboard and the Lambertsen rebreathers. Even Kauffman tested the equipment underwater. The devices performed superbly, and afterward, the OSS men and Navy demolition trainees conducted a highly successful joint underwater exercise, with both groups using the rebreathers.
    Buoyed by the powerful potential of an OSS collaboration with Kauffman’s program, Lieutenant Duncan inadvertently ignited a political firestorm by foolishly engaging in “a discussion with Lieutenant Commander Kauffman regarding the possibility of using men who were trained by the demolition unit,” without first consulting OSS leadership. Duncan pointed out to Kauffman that “the training of these men is closely parallel to that proposed for our [Maritime] Unit, and to open up another training camp seemed to be at the time duplicating effort.” Duncan believed the Underwater Demolition Team’s (UDT) training would qualify Kauffman’s men for recruitment into the OSS’s underwater swimming groups.
    As Duncan and the MU swimmers were leaving Fort Pierce, one of Kauffman’s officers relayed to them just exactly what the Navy really thought of the OSS. “I received one of the most severe criticisms expressed in the vernacular, all because the lieutenant in charge, Lieutenant Kirby, had allowed us to proceed to the [UDT training school] on what the commanding officer considered useless orders,” said Duncan. Kauffman’s sound rejection of Duncan’s emboldened overture and the OSS’s rebreather doomed the UDT to lesser technology for years. It would be long after World War II before the Navy would finally utilize the groundbreaking LARU device.
    Stunned by the tongue lashing, Duncan and his men proceeded toSilver Springs, Florida, where they holed up in a group of cottages. There they conducted additional tests with one of Stanley Lovell’s Research and Development (R&D) scientists, Lieutenant Alexander. Seemingly in an attempt to keep the overly ambitiouslieutenant in line, OSS headquarters had dispatched a hulking, taciturn, combat-hardened Marine captain by the name of Alfred Lichtman to supervise the team and keep the top-secret equipment secure. A Jewish company commander from the 1 st Marine Division, Lichtman had earned a Silver Star repelling a Japanese tank attack on Guadalcanal’s Matanikau River. In a letter to Lichtman, OSS leadership emphasized the importance of this mission: “As I have discussed