"Each of us must find wisdom in his own way. Mine is one way, yours another. Perhaps we each need more of what the other knows."

. . . The Lonely Men

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Mike Shaffer Member since 10-20-05 2064 posts 08-07-20, 09:36 AM (Pacific Time)   "Military stuff"      Mostly it doesn’t appear to change much at the basic level. In Nam I was given a commendation medal...for doing my job. Which is weird to this day. Anyway...when it was time for a promotion in rank, however, there was no place to go. They changed our assignments from radio to teletype and In typical Army fashion we had no teletype equipment and no rank for radio operators, but despite three months late for time in grade they promoted me when they discovered that I worked teletype in my civilian job with the railroad. When I left Nam several months later we still had no equipment. Guess where they sent me? Yup...STRATCOM. Strategic Communications Command. About fifty miles from home. So, I arrive and explain I was a radio operator who had been promoted as a teletype operator despite the fact we had no teletype equipment. Hehehe. Guess what they did with a Viet Nam Vet with no known teletype experience...the put me in an office where my only job was to make out work assignments, which I left myself off of...and also meant I was not at morning formation, but in my office...alone, where I set spools of Classified wires and messages up to be burned and destroyed. A Nam vet and all by myself on a deserted floor at Ft Detrick. With three or four weeks left before discharge they discovered I should not have been left to my own devices and moved me into an office with three officers and an NCO...who were never there. My final week was spent checking myself out of the military. It was a bit enlightening to find out that we not only knew what and how many Russian troops were stationed where, we knew what they had for breakfast. Today the buildings at Detrick’s STRATCOM are gone, which seems a waste. The Commo wires, however, are still there...if you know where to look.   Printer-friendly page | Top

Military stuff [View All], Mike Shaffer, 09:36 AM, 08-07-20, (0)  RE: Military stuff, Tennessee Dave, 08-09-20, 09:32 PM, (1)  RE: Military stuff, Mike Shaffer, 08-17-20, 08:25 AM, (2)

Tennessee Dave Member since 1-2-11 2848 posts 08-09-20, 09:32 PM (Pacific Time)   1. "RE: Military stuff" In response to message #0      You had yourself a time boy'o lol Happiness depends upon ourselves. --- Aristotle   Printer-friendly page | Top

Mike Shaffer Member since 10-20-05 2064 posts 08-17-20, 08:25 AM (Pacific Time)   2. "RE: Military stuff" In response to message #1      The really weird part of all that was what happened before I was assigned to an outfit in Nam. Typical Army BS. After reporting sick, I was in line. The folks ahead of me were assigned to the hospital. We all had some sort of flu bug. When I got to the head of the line and after hearing the assignment for the six guys ahead of me I asked, “Do I go with them.” The idiot said, “Yes.” What I didn’t know until later was he hadn’t taken my name. I was on the list to go to teletype school in Georgia. And not on the hospital list. I was marked AWOL. A few days later an officer shows up and tells me I am AWOL. I said, “How can I be AWOL? I’m right here? So, when I was released, I was in an empty billet for about a month. Typical Army SNAFU. Every weekend I went home by train and returned every Monday. My one regret was not getting in a car when a WAC stopped and offered me a ride. And in lieu of being assigned to the next teletype school I was sent to Nam. CYOA. I wish to this day I had remembered the guys name. He and I would have been reintroduced.   Printer-friendly page | Top