rated each trainee. To top it off, the Group-4 trainees were administered at least six psych tests. As a result of all this prying, 26% of the trainees in that group were deselected. 18 Trainees in subsequent groups soon learned to “play nice” and tell psychtesters what they wanted to hear, that they were safe bets. 19 Some trainees did not take the threat of deselection seriously until a member of their group was abruptly sent home. But that was just the beginning. When trainees got to breakfast in the morning, they would notice that one or more had disappeared overnight. The “axe men” had been at work. 20 “It was like Argentina,” one former Group-2 volunteer said. 21 There was no chance to say goodbye, and asking “Why?” was not acceptable to Peace Corps technocrats. Even worse, it was devastating to those deselected. Some trainees thought deselection was arbitrary and counter-productive. In fact, after one couple in Group 10 was sent home halfway through training because “they” had become pregnant, the training assessor of the group refused to deselect anyone, much to the chagrin of the Peace Corps administrators. 22 This unified group of trainees refused to take psych tests or have psychologists watch their every move. Furthermore, no one in Group 10 was deselected at the end of training, except by personal choice. The ones who did stay the course were a successful bunch of volunteers; they all finished their two-year assignments in Sarawak—not one of them left early. Eventually, the Peace Corps administrators realized that deselection during training was a mistake and did their weeding-out before people were accepted for the program, not afterwards. 23 Following three months in Hilo and six days of leave in Honolulu, Group 10 enplaned for Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur en masse. 24 Then on to Borneo: with 43 volunteers going to Sarawak and a few to Sabah. It was in Kuching that the Sarawak volunteers first learned a border war with Indonesia called Confrontation was in progress. After receiving two weeks of orientation in Kuching, including an introduction to the Iban language, volunteers were sent out to their work areas, many of them far from the city. 25 Liz Kennedy, a medical technician, and a few others remained in Kuching. Then the Group-10 Sarawak experience really began. It lasted for two years, 1965-1967, or even longer for those who extended their period of service. Other volunteers soon followed Group 10. By March, 1967 there were 161 volunteers in Sarawak. 26
18
Anonymous, 1964A, pp. 46-47. For Group 1, about 13% were deselected (M. Seymour, 25 August, 2010). For Group 4, 12 of 42 trainees were deselected (Anonymous, 1964A, p. 47). For group 12, fifteen did not make it to Malaysia (Quaid, 1983, p. 12). 19 Berlew, 1964. 20 A satirical song about deselection was sung by one trainer, to the tune of Clementine: Operation Deselection for perfection of the Corps. If you’re no good, then you’re dead wood, We can always get some more. 21 Group 2 people were given an envelope at the end of training that said you’re in or you’re out (K. Shuey, personal communication, 26 August, 2010). 22 Wallace, no date. Deselection led to some uneasiness in Peace Corps Washington, that it was favoring bland volunteers over innovative ones (Burns, 1966; Berlew, 1964). 23 Searles, 1997. 24 Group 4 spent only two months in Hilo before heading for Malaysia. 25 They were cautioned not to talk about religion, race, nationality, or politics. 26 Quaid, 1983.