US Army
1977-1980 (active duty), Helicopter mechanic (67V), E4 (Specialist)
Nov 1977 - Jan 1979 1st Cav, Ft Hood, TX
Feb 1979 - July 1980 1st AD, Ansbach, Germany
Caution: total digression into philosophy, army history, mindless ramblings follows.....
1st Cav duty was interesting....Their division HQ was overrun in the Korean war and their "colors" were captured...they lost 100 years of history. ("colors" - what they call the wooden pole with all the campaign ribbons, otherwise known as the "guide on"). The Army doesn't reissue campaign ribbons, so they had to start over with a bare pole. Plus it was an embarrassment to the Army big time after their success in WWII, having the N Koreans kick their butt....kind of like having the neighborhood 12-year old punk, come to your house and kick your ass out of bed while you are sleeping in it, then take your spot, smoking all your best sticks, drinking your booze, eating your food, screwing your wife, etc. It's the kind of thing you don't just "get over" and the "army" as an institution has a long memory....anyway, 30 years later, the 1st Cav at Ft Hood is living in these 2 story wooden barracks, no A/C, built as temporary housing in the 30's and CONDEMMED in the 50's...open bay for sleeping, gang showers and toilets. I've actually been taking a crap and had a guy walk in, sit down across from me, start taking a crap and eating an orange at the same time. We had a nice talk about the benefits of citrus in your diet!
Did I mention no A/C? In Texas? How hot was it you ask? It was so hot, the army (that's right, the US Army!) actually let us not polish our boots in the summer because when we got up in the morning at 5:30 am, our Kiwi was still liquified because it had been melted the day before when it was 105 degrees outside, probably 110-115 in the building. That's how hot it was....
How bad was the building, really? Did I mention "open bay"? Over each bunk there was a bare light bulb, ceramic fixture, pull chain on/off....except for me....I had two exposed wires sticking out of the ceiling. I talked to the 1st Sgt, he put in a maint ticket, eventually the old, crusty, retired military, civilians maint guys show up. I meet them, they stand around for a while looking at my wires. Then one of them says something like "Well, we can't help you son."
"Why not?", I ask.
They all start laughing. "Hell, these barracks have been condemed for 20 years! We're not allowed to put any money in them!"
"But I live here!", I say.
It's funny now, but at the time, it sure wasn't. I bought a fixture out of my own pocket and fixed it myself.
I didn't know any of the history of the 1st Cav at the time, I just figured that's how the army was...then they sent me to Germany, which was great! I lived down south on an airfield....the weather was too bad to fly most of the winter...the beer was great, the people great as well. I ETS'd (got out of the service) in Germany, bought a 2 month train pass and spent the time backpacking around Europe....but that's another story!
You may have heard about the 1st Cav in Vietnam. The division was widely known for being very aggressive. Clearly, after the Korean War, they had something to prove. The irony of the situation is that very few soldiers are stationed anywhere longer than 3 years. All the people responsible for the problems of the Korean War were long gone by the early 60's, yet the institutional memory of the Army continued to punish the "division" for decades. It's likely that many soldiers, encouraged to be dangerously aggressive in the 70's, died and led many others to their deaths, trying to repair the good name of the Cav that had been damaged 20 years earlier, in a different war, by other soldiers. Is that some f**ked up **** or what? Not to mention, it's WAR! Stuff happens, soldiers die....
geez...I gotta get to work!
Cheers,
Joe
:thumbs: 
