Guest
03-08-2003, 04:28 PM
nighthawk
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 112
(7/18/01 4:55:43 pm)
| Del All After Nam
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Perhaps this should be in "Fire for Effect" but since it is concerning my action after I left Vietnam, I thought I would post it here. I guess it is all related
After leaving The Republic of South Vietnam, I got out of the Army. This was basically for a number of reasons. First, I realized at that time I was letting the Army give me a reason for drinking entirely too much. I needed time to dry out. Also, more importantly, I was very tired and discouraged by the political situation in the Army at that time. In my opinion, possibly due to many factors, the majority of the officer corps had deteriorated to the point where most of the officers appeared to have only one concern; their careers! I saw very few officers who expressed any concern what so ever for the troops, though there certainly were exceptions. Possibily more exceptions in the line units than in the command and staff. Unfortunately, in my experience, these exceptions were few and far between.
After a two year break from the Army, I decided to try again. I re-entered the Army, in 1971, as an E-6, Staff Sergeant. Suprising even myself, I volunteered to return to VN, but it was closing down then, so they sent me to Colo., then Korea. I went on to spend another fifteen years, finally retiring with twenty years active duty, in 1986. The changes I saw take place within the Army in those years is nothing short of amazing. It went from the dark days of the Vietnam aftermath, through the all volunteer Army when NCO’s were relegated to being surrogate babysitters, and, finally, back to being the highly professional fighting force it is today.
I can only hope it remains this way.
BTW, I do not mean in any manner to cast shadows on ANYONE's dedication to duty, or performance of that duty. Those that did their duty deserve only the highest praise.
I hope no one here takes this as an insult to them.
Stan H
Shadow
Member
Posts: 16
(7/18/01 11:02:40 pm)
| Del Re: After Nam
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sounds like you got to see VOLAR at its height at Carson. I arrived at Carson in Apr 72 and it was an amzing place!(Not in a good way) Best part was Gen Hamlet. He was a no nonsence kind of guy and expected more than he was being given by his Division. The Army was pushing the New Volunteer Army for all it was worth. Discipline sucked and as was posted by Nighthawk the NCO's were glorified babysitters. They had E6's and E7's sitting at the PX on what was called The Pride Squad. Always wondered what their troops were doing while they sat in the snack bar, occasionally walking outside to see if they could find some poor unfortunate soldier with a uniform violation. Lots of money and experience wasted.
On one occasion, I was walking thru the PX and caught the eye of a young E6, I grinned as I had just returned from combat and he had no EIB, CIB, CMB, or EFMB or Comabt Patch. He decided to try to harrass me. He wanted to know if I had a belt on with my fatigues as he looked over my uniform (My CMB and my Screaming Eagle!). Of course I did and he used this opportunity to use his position to attempt to anger me. He had the funniest look on his face when I just smiled, and said Yes Sergeant I have a belt on SEEEEEE! His face got red and he slumped as he just walked away.
nighthawk
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 114
(7/19/01 10:47:16 am)
| Del Re: After Nam
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shadow,,thanks for the reminder,,,I had forgotten all about the "Pride Squad",,in '71 I was assigned to HQ ARADCOM, at Ent AFB in Colorado Springs for a year before going to Korea, then back to Ft Carson in '73 for 5 years. When I was at Ent, we would go out to Ft Carson PX. Our CG had told the Ft Carson CG to not allow his "Pride Squad" to screw with ARADCOM troops. This did not go over well, so we had to be on our toes out here. If I remember correctly, the pride squad crap stopped shortly after I returned from Korea.
As to VOLAR, that really sucked!! A NCO could not disciplain his troops in any manner (at least it appeared that way. I was pretty fortunate, as most my troops had been in awhile and even had quite a few VN vets,,at least for a few years.
In data processing units, the average age was a little higher than in other type units. Never did figure that out, except that a lot of them had gone to at least some college before coming in.
Anyway, thanks for the reminder.
Stan H
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 112
(7/18/01 4:55:43 pm)
| Del All After Nam
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps this should be in "Fire for Effect" but since it is concerning my action after I left Vietnam, I thought I would post it here. I guess it is all related
After leaving The Republic of South Vietnam, I got out of the Army. This was basically for a number of reasons. First, I realized at that time I was letting the Army give me a reason for drinking entirely too much. I needed time to dry out. Also, more importantly, I was very tired and discouraged by the political situation in the Army at that time. In my opinion, possibly due to many factors, the majority of the officer corps had deteriorated to the point where most of the officers appeared to have only one concern; their careers! I saw very few officers who expressed any concern what so ever for the troops, though there certainly were exceptions. Possibily more exceptions in the line units than in the command and staff. Unfortunately, in my experience, these exceptions were few and far between.
After a two year break from the Army, I decided to try again. I re-entered the Army, in 1971, as an E-6, Staff Sergeant. Suprising even myself, I volunteered to return to VN, but it was closing down then, so they sent me to Colo., then Korea. I went on to spend another fifteen years, finally retiring with twenty years active duty, in 1986. The changes I saw take place within the Army in those years is nothing short of amazing. It went from the dark days of the Vietnam aftermath, through the all volunteer Army when NCO’s were relegated to being surrogate babysitters, and, finally, back to being the highly professional fighting force it is today.
I can only hope it remains this way.
BTW, I do not mean in any manner to cast shadows on ANYONE's dedication to duty, or performance of that duty. Those that did their duty deserve only the highest praise.
I hope no one here takes this as an insult to them.
Stan H
Shadow
Member
Posts: 16
(7/18/01 11:02:40 pm)
| Del Re: After Nam
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sounds like you got to see VOLAR at its height at Carson. I arrived at Carson in Apr 72 and it was an amzing place!(Not in a good way) Best part was Gen Hamlet. He was a no nonsence kind of guy and expected more than he was being given by his Division. The Army was pushing the New Volunteer Army for all it was worth. Discipline sucked and as was posted by Nighthawk the NCO's were glorified babysitters. They had E6's and E7's sitting at the PX on what was called The Pride Squad. Always wondered what their troops were doing while they sat in the snack bar, occasionally walking outside to see if they could find some poor unfortunate soldier with a uniform violation. Lots of money and experience wasted.
On one occasion, I was walking thru the PX and caught the eye of a young E6, I grinned as I had just returned from combat and he had no EIB, CIB, CMB, or EFMB or Comabt Patch. He decided to try to harrass me. He wanted to know if I had a belt on with my fatigues as he looked over my uniform (My CMB and my Screaming Eagle!). Of course I did and he used this opportunity to use his position to attempt to anger me. He had the funniest look on his face when I just smiled, and said Yes Sergeant I have a belt on SEEEEEE! His face got red and he slumped as he just walked away.
nighthawk
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 114
(7/19/01 10:47:16 am)
| Del Re: After Nam
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shadow,,thanks for the reminder,,,I had forgotten all about the "Pride Squad",,in '71 I was assigned to HQ ARADCOM, at Ent AFB in Colorado Springs for a year before going to Korea, then back to Ft Carson in '73 for 5 years. When I was at Ent, we would go out to Ft Carson PX. Our CG had told the Ft Carson CG to not allow his "Pride Squad" to screw with ARADCOM troops. This did not go over well, so we had to be on our toes out here. If I remember correctly, the pride squad crap stopped shortly after I returned from Korea.
As to VOLAR, that really sucked!! A NCO could not disciplain his troops in any manner (at least it appeared that way. I was pretty fortunate, as most my troops had been in awhile and even had quite a few VN vets,,at least for a few years.
In data processing units, the average age was a little higher than in other type units. Never did figure that out, except that a lot of them had gone to at least some college before coming in.
Anyway, thanks for the reminder.
Stan H