We have been so fortunate that Bruce Hines continues to mine his experience as one of Scientology’s top auditors in a series of pieces that he’s written for the Underground Bunker. His tales from the Sea Org not only capture the paramilitary group’s insanity, but Bruce is better than most at describing what he went through mentally in that “prison of belief.”
This week, we published a new narrative from him, describing his Orwellian (but mercifully brief) experience being busted down from the “Int Base” side of Gilman Springs road to the “Gold Base” side. We wanted to talk to him further about it, and not only did he help us get an even deeper understanding of life on the base, he also told us a bizarre anecdote about Shelly Miscavige that we hadn’t heard before.
Today, we’re releasing the fourth episode of our podcast to our paid subscribers at Substack. You should receive it presently at your email inbox if you’re on the list.
We hope you enjoy the hour we spent talking to Bruce about this latest story, and diving into his other eye-opening observations about Scientology, David Miscavige, and the Sea Org.
Not a paid subscriber? Well, we have something for you, too. Last week’s episode, with Jeffrey Augustine, had us reviewing Scientology’s latest moves in litigation. The week before, Claire Headley exposed Tom Cruise in some new ways that really blew us away. And our inaugural episode featured Claire’s husband Marc telling us some great stories about Scientology leader David Miscavige that we had never heard before.
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Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history
Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea
Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time
Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology
Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain
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I cleaned up the shiney pull along trailer for Marc Yager, who pulled it over to the swamp. He cleaned out the swamp. I was on the decks, when he was assigned to the swamp and live in the small pull along trailer. That trailer used to be used for ASI staff when ASI staff were busted to the decks at Int Base. So it was an okay trailer. The shipping containers we did berth in, at one time, and at other times they held the paperfiles, I lived in one once, and I searched all the paper files containers for the files when I did the research steps for the "routing forms" project.
When I and Russ Williams we got assigned to the RPF the same day, Bruce Hines was already on the RPF out at Happy Valley for a year approximately.
The fly overs by the German News helicopter, i've written about the exact trailers most of us RPFers were hiding in at the exact moment of that exact film sequence they took. Bruce was in session with Wiebke at that exact flyover moment I think Bruce said in a prior comment somewhere.
There is a massive amount of history and frameworking to tell to make it all string together sensibly.
Despite all the excellent vital ex member books, they don't tell the continuous history of the clique of manager setups and "leaders" who LRH surrounded himself, and the pecking order, year by year, decade by decade, and that's the framework an outsider as well informed as Tony, can then plug all the ex members speaking up, into.
It's a huge long outlay of changing management setups, all due to LRH's orders and writings to make the management setup changes, over the weeks, months, years, decades to the bitter end of his life.
All person's directly "on LRH's lines" and having significant facetime or significant direct written orders from LRH, and their administrative positions, are critical to understand the pecking order at any one point in the history of the movement.
It's multiple moving frameworks.
But, all said, those that had significant LRH facetime and orders, they will have forever, the most important history to still dig up, and place within the ever moving administrative frameworks and physical setups of the movement.
LRH involvement directly, is important to gather up.
Bruce could be asked what sets of LRH orders was he operating on when he got to Int Base.
The "Senior C/S Int" office direct ongoing and not yet completed "LRH orders" would be the hottest things Bruce could be asked about when he was there at Int.
I love a good insider expose, thank you Bruce Hines. Your prose and your speech are very illuminating.