West Siloam Springs man had role on reality TV survival show

Steve Place of West Siloam Springs, Okla., recently was on a reality TV show about survival skills and self-reliance.

Place is involved with Sigma III Survival School. It's located in Huntingon, Ark., on 400 acres south of Fort Smith.

The school and its owner, Robert Allen, were featured in the second episode of America Unplugged. It was on the Sportsman Channel and has been showing on Thursday nights. It's on channel 129 on Cox or channel 395 on Dish Network.

Place said he's an instructor and takes part in five-day courses at the school.

"There's a brotherhood that develops down there," he said.

"There's food growing everywhere," Place said. "A lot of times if it's not food, it's medicinal." One course shows participants how to make ointment, salves and tinctures using various grasses and plants growing in the wild.

In the TV show, Place is shown helping build a shelter out of brush and branches. Place can be heard telling a joke, but he said he was somewhat serious about it. He had asked if the shelters came in kit form.

When asked why he was on the TV show, he said who doesn't want to be on TV.

"My Facebook page has blown up," Place said. "My phone has blown up."

He explained that the survival skills and self-reliance that's shown on the show are similar to how a person's grandparents lived.

"To me it was a no-brainer," he said. "That's how I was raised."

When asked about becoming more self-reliant, Place said he is looking into solar power. He said he has generators, a fireplace and a garden. Place's 40 acres have plenty of opportunities for hunting and fishing. He's also looking into cattle.

Place been involved with Sigma III Survival School for about four years. He found out about it on Facebook.

Recently, he said that people from Naked and Afraid, another reality TV show, were taking courses at the school.

Filming for the show that Place was in took place over two days in December or January.

The episode first aired June 12.

Place mentioned something that wasn't on the show was where people hid things critical to survival, and they read maps showing where the things were hidden.

Along with the TV show, Place has been involved in a spy adventure where he played a terrorist. Place also said he has other possible TV shows in the works.