Skiing How hard could it be?

Snow and more snow.  People ski down town, people seem to ski every where.  Close to the front gate was a small hill (little Fuji).  people used to check out a pair of skis from special Services and go play on the hill.  It was not very high so it was a good place to practice.  Some times the trick schedule made it hard to get off post so sking was a good thing to  do.  It was a lot of fun but damn hard work learning to climb back to the top after each run.  One part of the hill had some big bushes at the bottom.  There was a small gap in the bushes that you could try and get though. If you missed the gap and you hit the bushes and it hurt.  So the trick was to learn to shoot the "Banzai Gap"  Most of the trips and sight seeing trip were on the weekends. Most of the time trick workers could not go due to the work schedule.  I am sure the Lifers and Dependents liked it that way.   So we raised a lot of hell and they set up a over night skiing trip to Sapporo.  I know there was one full bus but they maybe have been two. 

So away we go the ski slopes.  Wow this is big time stuff.  There was a very nice lodge with a big fire place a lot of cool chairs to sit and rest in.  they had a full Bar and the prices were no too bad.  We stayed in a big room with a jillion little covered bunks stacked 3 or 4 high. .  They were a little big small and cramped but it was ok.  We all get our skis and run and jump on the chair lift.  the chair lift is not as easy as it looks but we made it with just a few minor mishaps.  Not knowing much about skiing and having a language barrier  proved to be  interesting.  There were many different ways to ski down but which ones?  Some employees of the resort pointed out what they thought was the best routes for a bunch of goofy Gaijins to use.  Yee Haw  I made it down.  Way cool.  Time to do some more.  For the rest of the day we rode the lifts and skiied on the Novice slopes.   Then It happened.  Some of us were standing at the top looking at the Grand Slalom.  This is really a bad boy. Very steep with lots of moguls(sp)  bumps thay you use to crave you way down.  It is like trying to weave the line on a highway.  Not too hard when you are going slow but the faster you go the harder it gets.  I am looking over the edge and some one pokes me in the back and pushes me over the edge with their ski pole.  OH damn this is not good.  There are other people on the run and you can really hurt someone if you run into them.  I make the first couple of cuts but I am way way over my head. I fall to stop my self.  But I still have to get down and it is very damn steep where I am.  There are flags that border the edges that mark the out of bounds of the course edges.   My plan was to get up and ski to the edge of the course and work my way down with out hurting anyone, my self included.   I make it to the edge ok and as luck would have the are very few people on this part of the run.  Too steep and hard. Duh.  I get to the edge and turn and start down , not too bad  pretty smooth snow is a little deeper. I think hell, I can make it, no one is in the way so it should  clear sailing .  The faster I went the more afraid I became and I crouched lower on the skis.  This made me go even faster.  Still no one was even close and I was still standing going very fast.  As I got to the bottom my path crossed another trail that was almost bare ice.  I fell.  I bounced, hit, rolled. spun, It was spectacular to say the least.  I guess it knocked me out for second or so,  when I retained my bearings, there were alot of Little japanese guys with Green Crosses on their vests, talking to me.  They were saying " Itai?  Itai?"  I guess they thought  I might know the meaning of that as it is a fairly simple word meaning  Ouch or That hurts.  I rode me down to the lodge on a sled.  I was was not hurt.  All the people in the lodge thought it was a good show and none seemed to be very mad.  Some guy bought a shot of whiskey(Suntory) so in a little while I was ok.  I took a break from skiing for the rest of the day.  That night we meet some Japanese  guys who want to hang with us.  It was ok with us.  Some what later that night we got into a discussion about if you could ski down the road that led up to the resort.  They said you could not do it.  I said I could.  So as the night wore on, we made a wager.  100 dollars(A lot of money) if I could do it.  They would call the Taxi at the bottom and have him bring me back up if I made it.  Looking back It was a pretty stupi thing to do.  I had a small back pack and loaded with a bottle of wine and took off down the road.  It was snowing pretty hard so the skiing was not too bad.  Problem was I could not make all the turns.  I just ran into the snow drifts to slow down.  By the time I made it too the bottom I looked like a huge snowman.  I walked into the Taxi station and scarred the hell out of them.  But they ran me back up the mountain and I collected the money.  True story.  Later on I went skiing closer to Chitose at a much smaller place.  I had been there a couple of times so I knew which trails to take. It was fun and I really enjoyed it.  The chair lift had 3 stops on it.  I always got off on the 2nd stop because like in Sapporo the 3rd stop was for very advanced skiers.  One day I am not paying attention and I miss the #2 stop.  Double damn.  The ski  chair lifts were balanced so they did not want you to ride them down.  There were a lot of trees on this part of the slope.  I decided to give it a try.  I was doing good and almost made it when I skied in to a stump.  Boom!! The ski shattered and leg hit the stump.  I was really hurt.  I took my one good ski and sat on it till I got down to where my friends could help me.  There was a Japanese Doctor there and he looked at my leg and thought it might be broken but he did not think so.  Someone had a car so we packed my leg in snow and they drove me back to town.  Mr friend had a car in town so they drove me back to the post.  The Medic took a xray and said it looked ok to him.  I still have a large bump from that stump even today.

Sapporo

Sapporo is a large city that is maybe 30 miles away from Chitose.  We used to ride the train to get there but I do remember taking the bus a couple of time.  You can not say 2 words about Sapporo with out saying something about the Ice festival and Sapporo beer.  I went to the Ice Festival two times while I was there.  I will have to admit it was pretty neat.   But I dont think it really lived up to the hype.  But what do I know about Ice Sculpture, I live in Florida.   Sapporo was a big town and you could get lost pretty easy.  Not many people spoke English and there were very few Tourist or Americans in the area.  All this was about to change in 1972.  In 1972 Sapporo hosted the winter Olympics.  The airport was at Chitose so they expanded the Chitose airport and vastly improved the road and rail systems going to Sapporo  Chitose is now a very large  international airport.  I would suspect the change would be very hard to comprehend.   Maybe like trying to explain what Orlando Florida was like before Disney.  Anyways we used to go Sapporo every now and then to just look around and drink a little beer.  Not a real good idea to get wasted when you cant speak or read any of the signs and such.  Back then  there was very little English on signs.  I knew a few basic words and could ask a few questions get around ok but it was hard to do.  I had the symbols for Chitose written in Katakana   so I could find the right bus or train if I really got lost.  There are 3 different type of writting in japan.  There is Kanj(hard complex Chinese style) then there is Hiragana(not as complex) and Katakana.  Katakana is the simplest of the 3 and you can actually learn to read some of it.  I always thought that the symbol for Chi looked like a double telephone pole sitting on a hill.  Some people picked up on it very fast and could write Katakana pretty good.  I never advanced that far.  People used to leave notes to each  written in Katakana quite a bit.  Guys got to doing  it in Ops but the lifers could not read it so they made everyone quit using it. Sometimes people would stop you and try out their English on you.  It never bothered me and it was neat that they were trying to learn.  They was a demand for people to teach English. 
Sometimes not formal stuff but conversational English.   My friend and his wife used to teach a class for a Swedish Steel company that had a office in Sapporo.   The Swedes did nor want to learn Japanese and the Japanese did not want to learn  the Swedish language so they used English.  I taught a couple of times when my friends could not make it.  It was weird see every thing in English and very few people could speak it.  They could read and write fairly well but speaking English was difficult for them.  They were very nice to me and it was always a very enjoyable time.  There was a very large market that sold everything.  There was a guy that sold snakes that were used a medicine  some dried, some pickled, some alive.  No I never tried any of them.    We used to go skiing when they had the Olympics.   I almost really hurt my self a couple of times but I survived.  I think I will make a separate chapter on skiing. In the winter tt was neat ridding the train  and seeing all the houses down in the valleys all covered in snow.  I meant they really got covered up with many of them only the chimney  and part of the roof would be showing.   Snow, snow and more snow always a lot of snow in the area.  I never went to the Sapporo brewery.  Like I said I did not hang out much in Sapporo, too big.

Secrecy and such.

Working in a Top Secret area is quite a experience.  First you had to have your badge.  I had heard that even the badge was rated Confidential..  I do know that you NEVER wanted to lose or let anything happen to your badge.   You had to find a secure area in your locker to keep it.  It could not be taken off post and it was not a good idea to wear it when you were not working, One time  I was on my way down town and realized that " Damn IT" I still have my badge on.  I got off the bus and took a cab back to post to put it up.  I can not ever remember anyone ever losing a badge,  I am sure it might have happened but I never heard of it.  Every book in ops had the pages numbered and you had to sign of almost every thing you used.  Some times they would check the working material to be sure there were no pages missing.   I never heard of any any security breaches. I did hear that a guy got drunk and talked to  a Bar maid down town about some indexing system we used.  She freaked out and turned him in.  He could have talked for a week and she would not have known anything as the process was complex.   Secrecy was like a fog, always  around, it really did not bother you very much but you were always aware of it.  Everything  worked of the Need to Know principle.   You might have a good friend that worked down the hall and you would not know what he did.  You might have a good idea but he would never tell you any details.   Sometimes you knew from all the buzz and the officers running around that something big had went down, but 99% of the time no one said and you did not ask.  Like I said before there were a lot of people on the post who had no idea what we did in operations.    I dont think it was the threat of what would happen to you if you leaked info, rather than it was your honor and your duty to keep quiet.  It is very hard to explain.  I remember one time when I had to take a lie detector test. It was a routine thing that came around every now and then.  It scared the hell out of me.  Not because of anything I had done, I knew I was OK, but just the guys that gave it.  You can read about what we did as it is all pretty common knowledge now.  One time my father, who was a very intelligent person, researched who were and what we did.  He sent me a letter with all the info in it.  He had gleaned it from his job as a Training  Supervisor for the Navy.  I had to burn the letter and told him dont do that any more.  He meant well but he did not understand the mind set of the ASA at that time.   I can see where that type of work can be very addicting.  My problem(among others) was that I am not really a office type person.  I enjoy outside work, construction, maintenance etc.  Something when we just talking someone would say "Man I hope I do not ever get captured  because I dont know anything,  I am sure they(the bad guys) will not believe that!!"    Funny story about the badges.  When people really got mad or upset they would sometimes say " One day I am just going to burn this damn badge and be done with it"  Remember we burned all trash, paper etc and the end of every shift.  The incinerator was a good sized one that was gas fired to help with the burning.  Burning papers is not a easy job.  It is very hard to burn a ream of paper or a stack of books.  They have to be pulled apart and crumpled up a bit for them to burn quickly.  As at Fort Devans the incinerator had to be swept clean after every firing and anything unusual noted in a log book or given to the Officer in charge.  Our badges had two metal eyelets and a chain. Story has it that one day they found a badge chain with 2 eyelets on it in the incinerator.  Panic time. Someone had did it!!! They had burned their badge.  Wow.   Everything  went to a super secure mode until ALL the badges could be accounted for.  They found it was a Hoax  as someone just put 2 eyelets on a chain and put it in a burn bag.   I do know that a guy put a picture of a monkey on his badge just for a joke.  He got his self in a BIG bind over it as well as the MP guard who let him in.  Stupid move as he got the MP in trouble who had nothing to do with it.  I mean you see the guy every day for a year or so , do you have to check his picture EVERY time?  The answer is yes.

Dependents or Beggers/Brats

When I first arrived at Kuma station there were very few dependents.  There was not much if any,  on post housing for them.  I was not married so I really dont know all the details.  This somewhat conjure on my part.  Before on post housing was opened up many of the NCOs and such had to live in barracks.  So they had a good Idea of how we lived.  This all changed when people started bringing their wifes and children over.  It did not take long for the American wifes to start bitching about every thing.  For example.  Our rooms did not have any shades or blinds or if they did no one used them.  The wifes said they could see naked people running around when they were going to the USO or EM club.  That was BS because everyone always wore at least a towel around them at all time.  We had muli person showers but people were more modest than you would think.  Believe me no one wanted to see another guys junk.  Then they want us to not be able to go the commissary for 3 days after payday.  Because we bought all the good stuff to take down town.  We had ration cards and really could not buy very much. .   I guess the biggest deal was when they wanted to work in the EM club.  We had Japanese ladys that waited tables and such.  They were pretty good at it.  I would guess they understood more than they let on but they never seem to let anything bother them.   When a few of the wifes tried working in the club  they all went crazy when some drunk went on a cussing spree or started telling what he was going to do to his girlfriend.  In this case the ability to understand English was not a asset.  Then of course people started bringing over the Children.  More BS.  I really resented the differences between the married and single soldiers.  If you were single you had to live in the barracks and put up with all that stuff.  Hell if you were married you just went home, kicked back, and the Army was just like a job.  Also if you were single you had a good chance you would be picked for some kind of BS duty.  It was just damn sure wrong.   It was not long before they had Begervile up to full speed.  I had very little inter action with the dependents or wifes.  I was a trick animal and lived in my own space.   In many ways we had very little in common with the rest of the post. We spent most of our time at operations with maybe 30 or 40 other guys. We worked rotating  shift so when many were sleeping, we were working and vise versa.  Shift or "trick" loyalty was immense.  We wore the badge of Trick Animal proudly because we were the reason that the post was there.   Dependents changed everything but I tried not to stay on post much so I really did not care.   I did have a couple of good friends who had brought their wifes over but they lived down town on the economy.   Maybe they will read this and if it is ok I will tell a few stories about them.  Clue Home of the Maytag Washers.  They were good people.   I think they tired to get in touch with me later on but I was on the road trying to get sane.

My job

  Here is couple of pictures of the Operations  building.  At one time I am sure they would have been classified. It may look small now, but it really seemed big back then.  Times change.   The Army Security Agency worked with the National Security Agency  but was supported by the US Army.  In some ways we were immune to some of the BS that the regular Army had to endure.  But not all of it.  Many of our Sargents had re upped into the Agency.   To say they were not very smart would not be nice. Let us say they were different.   Sometimes  they had to do the actions  that came with their jobs.  Some of their actions were just mean and stupid.     There was a big problem in ASA.  We worked for the most part National Security Agency.  When we were in the Operation building they told us what to do.  What reports to send and when to send them.  I am not going to talk much about what we did.  Working in Operations was not a game.  It was damn serious work and was very demanding.  No windows,  No real break room, no reading material other than official papers and books.   I was a Radio Traffic Analyst.  Usually there was only one of us on a shift.  If your  relief was sick or was running late you had to work till some one could relieve you.   I took my job very serious.  I was not a good solider but I was a damn good TA guy.  I worked with a room full of 058(Morse Code) guys.  They had to copy what was assigned to them.  It was hard work but they were very very serious about what they did.  This is a close as I am going to come to talk about Operations.  But sometimes you could see history being made.  Our unit has the ability to get a message to the white House in less than 15 mins.  Not a small feat 50 years ago.    When you spend day after day, hour after hour in a fairly  small room with 20 or so other people, you really get to know them very well.  Not only did we work together,  we all lived together.  After a year or so you really got to know each other.  It was a strange type of bonding for me.   You knew who you could trust and who you could not.  My fellow workers were the only reason I made it.  They helped me when I was sad, wrecked, drunk, Etc.  I am not a drama queen, we all had problems and helped each other.  Maybe I helped a few others, I dont know, but I hope so.  Here is where the real issues start.  After 10 to 12 hours in a high pressure environment you finally get off work.  I guess it was a mile or two from Ops to the Barracks.  We rode buses back forth to work.  Well surprise, surprise Someone thinks today is a good day for a room inspection.  Most lifers did not work shift work so 8 to 5 was a good time to jack with the troops. Remember you can not  say anything about what you have be doing all night.  I guess some of them thought we just sat around drinking coffee. It was mostly BS because the house boys took care of that stuff.  But you still got bitched at about pocket being unbuttoned, scuffed boots, hair too long any thing trivial.  Some of the trick Sargents would stand up for us.  But there only a few that did.  I worked with a lieutenant   He was a damn good guy.  He was tough guy but he was fair.  He also worked at Ops so he knew what we did.  One day when I was getting off work the Lt was just coming to work.  He was looking all over his desk looking for something.  He saw me and asked " You getting off work?"  Yes sir was my answer.   "let me borrow your belt I left mine in the BOQ"  Sure thing.  I was going to put my field jacket on so you could not see if I had a belt on or not. I gave him my belt and everything was cool.   Well Almost.  As the day shift crew came in, one E7 Sarge spotted me.  This guy really did not like me.  I stayed away from him the best I could. He was a real dumb ass and mean as a snake.   He noticed  I dont have on a belt as I have not put on my jacket because of a last minute issue.  He goes crazy.  He decides to make a major issue of it.  "Shift guys being out of uniform"   He is really showing his ass.  Red face, arm waving like I have craped on the floor.  The LT gets up and everything gets very quiet, they think he is going to join in on busting my ass.  He takes off my belt and hands it to me.  You have your name printed on the back so every knows if it is your belt or not.   He says " Sorry  I will go get mine, I guess it is a big deal"  The ass hole Sarge got me later but I dodged it that day.  LOL  Most of the time I got in trouble was at the end of the Mid night shift. Daylight came and you had a few days off, time to party.  Time to get a quick bite to eat, change clothes , go to the EM club get a few drinks and get ready to go down town.  If you got off at 7am it did not take much to get a good buzz on by noon.  Booze+ Enlisted Soldiers+Money+time off=Trouble.  Some guys just could not drink very well.  It was pretty funny to watch someone fall out of their  chairs or drop their food in the Mess hall.  Smart move was get your pass and get the hell off the post quick.  Sometimes easier said than done.  So there you have it.  It was a kind of them versus us.  To tell the truth I liked that way.

Close call in Chitose

I had a very small apartment and one night after we had been drinking all day we went to my place.  It was winter and the place was really cold.  Maybe -5 inside when we got there.  I had a  stove that used granulated coal but it took awhile to get it going.  I also had a kerosene heater that worked pretty good so we fired it up.  I was pretty drunk, as was everyone else.  There were 4 of us.  I told the other guys " Dont leave the heater on if you go to sleep ".  I  had a single 75 watt light bulb for light.  I went to sleep and when I woke up  I could barely see the light.  WTH?  The heater had exploded and was pumping out black, oily smoke.  We were all sleeping on the floor and that is the only thing that saved us.  I crawled over and opened the door to the outside  to let some of the smoke out.  I was able to awake on of my friends and we drug the other 2 outside. I really thought they might be dead.  We all were black and looked like coal miners.  It really messed up the but the others chipped in and helped clean it up. Had to replace all the tatami mats, and I hired some people to finish cleaning it up.  We had to go back to the post and it was a week day.  We worked shift work so we had the day off.  We went to the buss stop to catch the buss and it was full of sargent and officers coming from chitose 1.  They asked"  What happened to you guys?"  I told them that   We had a part time time job working in a  coal mine.  I thought it was pretty funny until a day or so later I had to explain it to the First Sargent.  The dumb asses turned us in for working for the japanense with out a permit .  LOL

Down Town Chitose

The town of Chitose in 1965 was a very unusual place.  Most of the US Military was station in Southern Japan.   Chitose is on the island of Hokkaido, the most Northern island in the Japanese chain.  Most of the Japanese that I met in southern Japan looked  down on the people of Hokkaido.   The climate is very cold and has some of the largest snowfalls of any place. In 1965 WW2 had only been over for 20 years.  Lots of Japanese had lost family members in the conflict.  It was very interesting to listen to their stories of the war.  Chitose was a small city or town.  Other than the Agency there was not much other Military on the island.  There were some Air Force up north but i never had much dealings with them.  The Japanese Self Defense force was near the Airport  but I dont think they went to town  much.  I heard their pay was was something like 12 dollars a month .  So,  you have a small town in a very remote Northern   area of Japan with small group of American Service men living near by.  Most of the citizens were tolerant of us.  We were crude but we tried not to be rude.  The called us "barbarians' and many times rightfully so.   I would say that 99 per cent of us tried not to be offensive  and  treat them  with respect.   Chitose for the most part was a city of bars.  Not big night club places like here in the states but small coffee shop type bars.  Many bars could only hold 10 or 12 people.  People went to certain bars and that was it.  Most were very simple establishments.  Just a bar/stools, a record player and some type of heater.  Most of the heaters burned coal.  Many of the bars were owned by women who could speak a little English or had a bar maid that did.   Most of the bars did not have "Hostess" or girls who sat with you.  A very few places did but I never went to them very much.  In Southren Japan it seems to be much more more prevalent than in Chitose.    There was very little prostitution.  Hard to believe but true.   For  a Japanese girl to go with a American like a White girl going with a back guy in the 1950s in Mississippi.  Sometimes the bar owner had a boy friend and sometimes they did not.  I think some of them may have got set up in the bar business by former boy friends.  Not all women wanted to marry a soldier and come to the United States.  It was a very difficult physiological issue that some people had to address.  People went down town and started drinking in their favorite bar.  No age restrictions, 7 days a week, Some places had to close at 2 am or so but others did not.  Guys brought their favorite albums, they cost 2 dollars at the PX, and sat around and listened.  Bird of feather flock together so do Army guys.  One shift or "Trick" would only go to certain bars.  The bars took pretty good care of every one.  You could run a bar tab most of them never tried to cheat you.  If you got hungry they could order stuff from the many different food shops.  There was a young lady that  had a small food shop close to the Bar "Ronnie".  She cooked something  we called a "Chow Hound"   Most likely a gross mispronunciation of the real item. It was kink of a fried rice dish.  She also cooked "OM rice" It was fried rice with a omelet wrapped over it with Ketchup.  I think she could cook more but that is all she understood.  There were women who had what looked like Hot dog carts.  But they had different items in them.  Some sold  corn on the cob and others sold steamed sweet potatoes.  They would stand outside and it would some times be -20 below and sell their wares.  Most of the time we tried to buy something from them if we could.  They would put the little sweet potatoes in a rolled up piece of newspaper.  You would break them open and they would just steam all over they place.  We called the lady that sold the corn "Bar Corn"  ie Lets go eat at the Bar Corn.  A very hard way to live.   Back to the bars we would just sit and BS then go to another bar and repeat the process.  After a few months I had chance to take over a small apartment from a guy who was leaving.  It was  not very expensive.  I got to know the man who ran the little store and he liked me .  I bought a LOT of Beer and Wine from him.  One day I went in the store and they had a student that spoke pretty good English.  He said that since I was such a good customer and was always polite that they would offer me credit.  WOW  Very neat.  In Japan people used to carry a little rubber stamp, looked like a tube of lipstick, that you put on bills and such instead of your name. They had it in a nice little box.  I was very very proud of that stamp.  When I left I gave it back to them. ...................................................................................................................... Quote More than just rubber stamps, hanko--horn, wood or stone seals imprinted with the bearer's name, like a signature to a Westerner--are indispensable tools for Japanese adults in authorizing a myriad of transactions, from automobile registration, to bank activities to setting up house utilities. Nearly any occasion that would call for a Westerner's signature would call for an impression of a hanko in Japan.

Hanko were formally introduced to Japan in 701 AD, but were available only to those in positions of high authority. During the early to mid-seventeenth century, hanko were adopted by the general populace. Interestingly, the common people of Japan were not allowed to have family names until the late nineteenth century, so there must have been much confusion with hanko prior to this time with so many people having the same name.........................................           I always paid on time and never abused it.  I used the apartment to just get away from everything and read and just think.  Times were hard and I really did not like the Army but I had to do it.

Enlisted Mens Club

The EM club on a Army base is or was a pretty good place.  The EM club at Chitose  was nothing special.  It was just a Quonset hut with a Juke Box a Bar and some slot machines.  Slot Machine?  Yep They were pretty common in the Far East Army bases.  Even though we used MPC for paper money we still used U. S coins.  They paid off a little bit, nothing special,  I would drop a couple of coins in every now and then.    I heard they took them out later of after I left.  Somebody's Moma got mad because her son lost his pay on the machines.  Pretty funny, you can go get shot but dont piss your money away.  There were worse things you could spend your money on.  It was better to drink in your room(highly against the rules)  but if you stayed quiet they did not say much and if you tipped the house boy, he would make sure all the cans and stuff were cleaned up.  No aluminum can back them  Good old steel cans w/no pull tops.  You had to have a Can opener to get the bad boys open.   The opener was referred to as a Church key.  No twist off bottle tops either.  There were all kinds if ingenious ways of getting bottles open but can were almost impossible to open unless you had a opner or a good knife. Not a good idea to be opening beer can with a knife after you have drank as case or so.  Drinking in Chitose was legendary  The entire post really went though some beer and whiskey.   Work was very stressful  so I guess it may have been away to cope.  But I really dont know.  I really enjoyed drinking.  I was damn good at it.

Chits and MPC

If you ran low on money during the month you could buy "Chits" at the EM clund  If you were a PFC  you could buy unto 30 dollars in Chits.  They looked like the old food stamps.  A small booklet with tickets you tore off and cashed. They only came in 5 dollar books.  Cigarettes were 90 cents a carton for Camels, Lucky Strikes,  Filters and Pall Malls were 1.00 a carton.  I think the Em club charged 15 cents a pack.  You could buy whiskey and mixed drinks for 25 cents a drink.  Happy hour drinks were 10 cents.  Once a month they nickle night where every thing was 5 cents.  Drinking and smoking was not taboo.  You could not go to work drunk but if you had been drinking it was no big deal.  We smoked at work.  I did not smoke so I may not be up to speed on all the smoking rules.  But I can not think of any other than No smoking in bed and that was a very serious offense.   MPC  stands for Military pay certificate.   You could not have "Green Backs" or "Real Money.  We were paid and  used something that looked a lot like Monopoly Money.  It was changed every year or so as to help curb blacking marketing.  So when you went off base you had to change your money into Yen.  It was 360 yen to a dollar.  That was pretty good and it made you money go a little further.  A Large Beer was 100 yen when I first arrived when I left 2 years later they were 300 yen.  Ramin was 100 yen a bowl. It was the  real deal and it was very very good.  Each of us had our favorite place to go.  To sum up the money thing, On post was MPC and down town was Yen.  There was no bank, at least I never found it, and most money matter could be handled at the EM club or the Office.  You could not buy a bottle of whiskey unless you were E5 or above.  Of course a soon as you got off post you could buy all you want for 2 or 3 dollars a jug. 

Chitose(My new Home)

The old prop plane lands a little rough and taxis to a small Quonset hut with a small white sign saying" Chitose".  Not a whole lot to see just a few people standing around a 3/4 ton Army truck. No dancing girls, No band, No nothing.  IJust the way we were sitting I was the first off the plane.  I will explain how this will prove to be inportant later on.  I can remember much but I dont think there was any other Army guys on the plane .  The Chitose airport was not where we were going.  We were going to Kuma(Bear) station, the 508th, and it was a few miles away.  Carts, bicycles, mud and a light haze was all I remembered on the ride to post.  Everyone was pretty nice as we checked in.  Some hazing but nothing like at other places I had been.  I went down the to office to sign in.  I handed my orders and such to the company clerk and he started to process me in.  The he looks up and says" Hey How did you get here?, we need a 059s and a 058s not a damn 980. "  OH no.  This is the moment of truth.  "Oh Well He says " Damn Army is always messing something up. Welcome to Chitose"  I DID IT. YES.  From the Silver Dollar in Temple Texas to Chitose Japan.   I was home free.  Only one slight problem, I was here for 2 years  I think at this time I had about 32 to 34 months left in the Army.  I was assigned to a 4 man room.  BY Army standers it was very good.  A big Bonus was that we had Japanese Nationals that were employed by us.  They took so much out of your pay each month  to pay fro their services.  It was not too much around 20 dollars or so, I never really thought much about it.  I just paid it. There were used as" House Boys" and to work in the Kitchen and on the post to do general labor.  Being "House Boy" was not  a demeaning term or a bad job.  Basically  Each house boy had 2 room or so and their job was to keep our rooms clean, take care of our Uniforms, shoes shined and keep our locker ready for inspection.  They were good guys and we used to buy them things from the PX to help them out.  They knew everything.  Their friends worked over at the Officers Quarters so they knew when any type of surprise inspections or Bull s,it was coming down. Very very neat not having to fool with you uniform and such.  Get up in the AM or when ever you had to go to work and there was all your gear laid out and ready to go.  Very Very Good.  A word on how how the pay thing worked.  Back in the 60s you had Pay call.  Everyone fell out in the street and lined up by squads.  The XO and the First Sargent was the pay masters.  I guess the XO was paymaster and the First the Sarge was his helper .  Pay day was usually in the day room.   As the Sarge called your name, you came to attention walked in front of the XO and saluted.  " PFC McGoo reporting for pay, Sir!"  You signed  your pay voucher and the XO counted out your money.  In Cash!!  yep  No checks no bank drafts, good old cash.  After you were paid you had to pass some card tables set up.  House boy table  Laundry table.  EM club table. If you had bought chits from them.  Looking back I guess it was some kind of racket going on but no one cared.  Hell not having KP and having someone to clean your room , shine your shoe, etc was a very good deal.  I never saw anything out of order but I never looked either.  Different story when I went to Korea.  More on that later.

Army rack laid out for a field gear inspection

Yee Haw Off to japan

When you hear of  Japan what do you think of?  I thought I knew, but my global geography knowledge was about to expand.    In 1965 the War had only been over for 20 years.  I know that sounds like a long time .  But if you had 2 Atomic bombs on your ass you might develop enhanced memory. Any ways I have not even left Pensacola yet.  Remember the headquarter clerk that sent me a large envelope with a lot of papers in it?  Now was the time to open it.  Well along with another copy of my orders was  a note.  It said" Hi  Hope you are doing well.  I am getting a hardship discharge so I will gone very soon.  The enclosed orders are ok, sort of.  Do not let anyone see them until you are called for your flight.  Here is all you will need."  Hmmmm  WTF?  I can do it.  Just have to be cool.  My father got me a miltary flight to San Francisco, Travis AFB.  So far so good.  I get off the plane and there are a few more military guys going overseas.  So I wander in to see what is happening.  I find my flight number.  It was posed on a big plastic type board in grease pencil.  Damn It has been rescheduled  for a later date, 2  days  hence.  I did not want to hang out there so I jumped a bus and went into San Fransisco.   I got a room at the YMCA and went to see the town.  First Back in 65 YMCAs were not like they are today.  Many guys used them for a cheap place to stay.  I am not going to explain that anymore.  So for the next couple of days I wandered all over San Fransisco.  I had very little money so I just walked and walked and looked.  I did not have any civilian clothes so I wore my class A uniform.  People would cut you some slack if you wore your uniform.  Everyone knew how little money you made.I saw fishermans wharf, china town, rode the cable cars and had a pretty good time.  Little bit scary, San Fran is big damn place.  Time came and I caught a bus back to Travis.  My plane was going take off around 4pm or so.  I played it cool and showed my orders to the proper guys and they told me to line up.  Loading was going to be soon.  I was pretty excited.   So we all start walking out on the the tarmac headed right for a big jet, maybe a 727.  Oh Yea  Jet to Japan. Sweet.  But wait.  Damn it, we go right under the tail of the jet to a old 4 engine prop plane.  Oh well at least I am on my way.  We load up.  It is just  a cargo plane with seats bolted into it.  The are a couple of woman and children dependents on board also.  They tell us it will take 27 hours flying time to get to Japan.  Wow Long ways I guess.  Off we go,  this is one noisy SOB.  rattling, jumping this is going to be a long ride.  I really felt bad for the little kids.  It was hard on them  Only  1 other Army guy on board and he was a E6 Sargent.  He was drunk!!!  When we got to Japan the MPs nabbed his ass.  No more Sarge.  He was bouncing all over the plane when he got up.  They gave us a box lunch to eat after a couple of hours. I think it was a couple sandwichs and stuff.  At last we make to Hawaii.  It is morning and we get off for a few hours  maybe 4 hours or so.  I walked around some But I was tired and really did not have time to do anything. Load up!! Lets go.  Next stop?  Wake island.  More rattling, bouncing,  baby crying, people bitching  9 hours of flying.  We land at Wake island and it is still morning.  Wake island is a little place.  Not much there so we look around real quick and get back on the plane.  The plane runs down the runway and and and slams on the  brakes  and stops just before the end.  WTH?  Pilot says " No big deal  Just a oil leak"  So we Taxi back to the hanger area and a guy with a tall ladder comes out.  Looks about like me.   He has on some coveralls.  He opens up the engine cover and climbs back down.  He comes back in a little bit with a oil line.  He climbs up and puts it on.  He gives a thumbs up to the pilot and the engine fires up, he looks then closes the hatch.  I start to worry a bit.  9 more hours over the ocean, hope that damn thing does not leak. At Last we land in Japan.
We land at Tachikawa.    I went up the ADAC, which  stands for something,but I forgot, and showed him orders to go to Chitose.  "Oh Hell Chitose  that is way up north. We only go up there once a week, we just went yesterday".  Well Damn  I have a week to kill on a Air Force Base.  I was to stay in the transit quarters.  Not bad Much better than anything the Army had.  But I was dead broke and there was not much to do.  The next day I met another ASAer headed to Chitose . His name was Malseckee. He was a very good guy and we wasted the next week watching bowling, shooting pool and reading. The week went by very slowly but the day came when the plane to Chitose was ready.  Hokkaido  is the long way from Tokyo.  i would guess close to 400 miles. Very rural and not very populated.   Nothing like southern Japan.  Not even close.

Leaving da Hood(fort)

Almost everyone with any time left want to get away from fort Hood.  It was not all bad but it was not very good either.  To get a transfer you had to use a form for change of duty station.  They were almost never  approved.  If they did approve it, you had to have been at your present duty station for over a year.  Again my duty as the training clerk came into play.  I was able to compile all the necessary forms and get them processed with the minimum of hassle.  "Here Sarge sign these forms for me.  It will not do any good but I can try" was my usual spiel.  First one.  Rejected!!  Second one.. Same  Rejected.  Well time to get tough with the bugs.  Being a clerk you might accidentally hit the wrong keys when you are doing paper work.  Not too much more to say about that..Side story but it affects my departure from Fort Hood.  Killeen  Texas back then was dry.  No beer no nothing.  You had to run to the county line that was about 20 miles away to buy beer and such.  The closest beer joints were in Temple Texas.    The ASA had a special bar.  The Silver Dollar!!  What a place.  It was just a ragged old bar with a Juke box and pool table.   They liked us and told all the red necks to leave us alone.  Back then people really did not like to rag on soldiers  unless we really got out of hand.   One day I was hanging out just killing time when a old friend from Fort Devens came in.  Damn  Great to see a old friend.  He also failed/kicked out of his school and he was at Fort Walters.  He was the company clerk for headquarters 303rd ASA.  I told him how jammed I was and really had to get out of Fort Hood.  I can help you , he said.  Really  How?   Just dont ask but it can be done.  The price is 50 dollars.  Not for me but I have to lube some wheels with  it,  he said.  OK good  deal. .  See you here the first Weekend after Payday.  Oh,  He said, put in another Change of duty forum.  Do it when you get back to post.  They will have to accept it.  I will see your forum  when it comes across my desk.  Soon you will receive a large envelope, do what it says, everything will be in it.  Good luck  See you soon for the 50 dollars.  WTF?  So  met him in a week or so and give him the money. Everything is set, package coming soon.  In about 2 weeks we have our morning formation and the CO is there.  He says I have some news  "PFC Gillette is being transferred to Japan."  The formation broke up and every mobbed me.  It was sur real.  People shaking my hand, the Carolina guys doing some kind of mountain yelling..  It was Great I was was going to JAPAN  OH  YES  Sliding doors and Slant Eyed W,.ores .  Color me perfect.   Time to talk about ladies of the evening or business ladys as they are sometimes called.     For many different reasons I never indulged in their services.  One was the fear of STD that could leave you unable to have children and I wanted to have a family one day.  Besides I was always too broke so take your choice.   I really had a close call with all that one time in Temple.  When I went back to pay the guy the 50 dollars I met some guys from the company that .we shared the building with.   1/2 of Temple was off limits to Army people.  I think it was anything west of 8th street, maybe 4th st.  Of course that is were these guys wanted to go.  Oh yea I forgot to say that they were all Black guys.  So we go down to this big bar and get a table and order some whiskey.  While we are drinking this Pimp comes up and says "Hey white boy You looking for a little action?"  Ahhhh  No thank you I am just drinking with my friends. "Oh you just too damn good to mess with us Black folks" he says Very loud.  Damn I am really on the spot.  So I say " No man that aint it I am just tired been drinking all day"  Not good enough.  One of the guys I am with jumps up and hits the guy in the head with , I guess, a small black jack.  The damn guy goes down.   Now all hell breaks lose, one of the guys  grabs me by the arm and yells  Run Run The S OB Has got a gun.  Pow, Pow, the shots ring out.  We run out the door down the street and into my  friends car.  We take off ,tires a squealing when BOOM the back glass explodes from a gun shot.   Nobody chased us and soon we were on the right side of town.  They let me off at the Silver Dollar and I got my car and went back to Fort Hood.  Lesson learned?  Sometimes there is a damn good reason why a area is off limits.  Now back to leaving fort Hood.  Everyone was really glad for me.  I have went home and bought a 57 chevy.  I did not have a spare tire and most everyone knew it.  It took me a couple of days to clear post.  Then they had a evening formation.  My last one at Fort hood.  We did all the nickle and dime stuff then the CO Came up  to talk.  He said " PFC Gillette has been quite a character here but he is a hard worker and has help all of us at one time or another.  Step Up PFC G. I was shocked. Everything went into a blur. I was touched beyond belief.  "Here is a going away present for you". and he rolled out a Brand damn new spare time mounted on a matching rim.  Then they gave me a box of food and stuff for my trip back to Florida.  Then they all yelled GOOD LUCK!!!  I said good bye and drove away as my car was already packed.  Those of you who know me know that I very seldom cry, That day was the exception.

Jumpin in da Hood.

The PX and a small EM club was about a mile away from the barracks.  I had not been  home for awhile so I did not have a car.  Therefore we walked down the PX quite a bit.   My friend and I noticed there was  The fort Hood Parachute club on the way.   One day we dropped in just see what was happening.  Everyone was pretty cool and offered to let us join.  It was very cheap even for a Pfc.  We agreed and for the next week or so they instructed  us  about PLF(parachute Landing Falls), packing chutes, and good general knowledge.  The club President was a one(1) star general and he was a old airborne guy and really liked to jump.  Most of the time he wore civilian cloths and looked like most anybody.  So I had new place to hang out.  What was even better was that they had a beer cooler full of real beer(not the px 3.2 junk).  One day we were sitting around and the General drives up and says I think I would like to jump today.  Someone said that would be great but the plane is still in out at the jump zone .  The Jump zone was about 20 miles away .  Hell with that  Let me call a chopper.  So he makes the calls and in about 30 minutes Whoop whoop whoop, here come a chopper.  It could only hold a couple of people maybe 3 or 4.  The general and his crew  get in, they go straight up and they all bail out.  They land right on the small practice field in back of the club.  The chopper goes on and every one goes inside to repack their chutes.  Way cool. You had to make 5 static line jumps before you could do a 5 second delay. We used old army T-10(I think)chutes that had been modified.  People cut out panels to make them move maneuverable.  Common modification were  a straight I, or a T, or a U.  The more you cut out the move maneuverable they were.  the problem was that it also increased the rate of descent.   I bought a chute from a guy, well really my friend and I went 1/2s on it,  for 45 dollars.  It has a small double T so it was a pretty fast descender.  We pack and repack the the chute.  the first couple of times the older members watched us, then we were on our own.  Packing a chute is not very  hard and after a few times you are sure it is right(you hope)  so we play with chute and wait to go jump.  The weather in Parachute jumping can raise hell with your plans.  So we lost a couple of weeks waiting for weather to be ok when we had time off. One Saturday everything lined up.  JUMP DAY  Oh yea let me at it I aint scared of nothing!!!!  We all go out to the jump area and load up in little 4 place Cessna.  3 people can  jump, the jump master gets in first and into the seat behind the pilot. next dummy #2  then dummy#1   Yes I am dummy #1.  Of course the door is off and you seem to be half way falling out of the plane and you are still on the ground.  Once you get to this state and the plane takes off there is no turning back.. Because if you do not jump then the other 2 behind you can not get to the door to get out.  New jumpers are a real pain in the ass and I am sure I was no exception.  So the engine fires up and away we go.  I think my first jump was at 3500 not positive but I think I am close.   Damn the wind is really whipping in the plane.  I notice the altimeter says 5 Looks pretty high too me.  OH no the thing has to go around 3 more times then to the 5.  This is really going to be high.  A Cessna with 4 people and a missing door does not climb very fast so you have some time to think how stupid this is and all the stuff that can go wrong.   Soon the pilot cuts back the throttle a bit and the Jump Master taps me on he shoulder and motions me too get out on the step.  Jumping from a small plane is not like the stuff you see in the Movies where every one lines up and just jumps out the open door.  Nope.  Much more that that.  Remember the plane is still going 70 or 80 mph I would guess, seemed like 300.  Ever stick you hand out the car window doing 70 MPH? Then try sticking you foot out and placing it one a small pad on top of the aircrafts wheel.  Not quite as easy as it was back at the club in the little mock up practice area.  So you get your foot on the pad then you have to bend way out and grab the wing strut to pull you self out of the plane.  This a dangerous spot for every one.  Your body is causing a large drag on the plane so you have to get off quick.  There have been stories up people freezing on the strut and causing the plane to crash.   I get out  on the strut and glance back at the plane and everyone is waving like hell,  JUMP JUMP Get the hell off the wing.   I did ok I got off pretty quick.  Later no one was mad so I took that as a good sign.  You are supposed to jump back, spread your arms and legs , count to 5 the glace and see if you chute is opening.  Easier said than done.  I cleared the plane and I saw it moving away.. My count was  like 1 ....5......Oops a little too early to look.  If you look too early you makes you head go down and when the chute opens it really snatches  you hard.  I looked, head went down as the chute opened and popped me upright.  All right this is it.  It was really neat.  everything was really quiet and I was just hanging there 2500 feet or so high.  It was so high that you did not have any fear like you do when you are on a ladder or on the edge of a roof.  Hard to explain but it is different,way different.   But the game is not over yet.  Remember the deal of the chute modifications?   Double Ts drop pretty quick as I am now finding out.  There seems to be a 1,000 things they tell you not to do during a jump.  A big one is NEVER try to turn the chute in last couple of hundred feet as you will spill air from the canopy and increase your rate of fall.  But they also stress  ALWAYS land into the wind.  Say your chute falls at maybe 5 mph if you land into a 6  wind then your a just  have +1 forward mph.  Land the other way  and you are landing at 11 mph.  Too fast a landing speed and you increase your chances of getting hurt.   My jump area did not have wind sock or anything so I just had to guess.  Spitting seemed like a good idea to find the wind direction,  but it was not.    Gravity and the double T makes the choice for you pretty quickly.  Luckily I was close and I landed a little hard but I was ok.   I DID IT  I jumped 5 more times and did one fee fall before I quit.  Why did I quit?.  Dont know.  I might have lost my nerve and got scared.  I made a lot of excuses not to jump any more, sold my chute and went to work trying to figure how to get the hell out of Fort Hood.

Fort Hood.

I arrived in the Fort Hood area in a small commuter type plane.  Where we landed only had a small operations type building on it. Nothing else, Just a runway and a little building.  Nice Very nice, Only 3 and 1/2 more years to go.  Even though it was a hot, sunny day, the future really looked dark.  I spent the next couple of hours trying to find the 303rd ASA.  Fort Hood is a Big damn place.  Carrying your duffel bag wearing your class "A"s did not help to make a very enjoyable experience.   At last I found where I was going.  The 303rd  ASA shared a building with a transportation  headquarters unit.  There were only about 60 of us assigned there.   I checked in and met the First shirt and the C.O   The COs name was Bratton, Balls Bratton was his nick name.  I think it was the lack of, that got him the nick name but he was a OK guy.  We also shared the mess hall with other company,  We had to supply a couple of KPs every day to do our part.  The problem was that was not many of us under E5 so the damn KP came around ever 6 or 7 days.  Damn.  Living quarters were the big room with all double bunks style.  Another Damn, this is getting worse day by day.  We spent most of the days in the motor pool.  Most of the time we were  just washing trucks and such and hiding from the lifers.  There were some North Carolina  Draftees there also, and  they kept things pretty jacked up.  They did not want to be in the  Army  and there was not much the Army could do about it.   They just did not give a damn and everyone knew it.  They worked  and were smart enough not to go the stockade but they sure knew how to push the limits.  It was great fun to watch them in action..  One time a Sargent Major form the "Real" army came down to visit the next door transportation guys.  So as he is walking by Horrel an draftee, Yelled,  Damn Look at that guy, That son of Bitch has got some stripes !!!  The whole place just froze.  This was a real bad ass he had just yelled at.  The Sargent Major stopped and looked Horrel dead in the eyes "What did you say?" he screamed.  Horrel  Snapped to attention and said " I said you have got some stripes"  I thought the Sarge was going to hit him but he did not.  He just got red in face and spun around and walked off.  ...After a couple of weeks I was made the training clerk.  Not a bad job.  Made the training schedules, and best of all went to the film library and checked out training films for our classes.  They would let you review them so I watched a lot of WW2 combat films.  I used the job to get a bus drivers license.  I could sign off on most endorsements and training so in short order I was qualified to do most anything.   We used to go the field a lot.  I liked that  because I was the training clerk I had a lot of time to look at maps and see where every thing was..  Sometimes I would bring things to guys out in the field but most of the time I was there with them.  Fort Hood  Is a big big place.  160,00 acres or close to it.  I know its 25 to 30 miles to Jack Mountain where we used to go when we went to the field.  Most of the time there were just 5 or 6 of us maybe a few more sometimes.  Our Mission was to monitor communications and sometime cause them problems.  We were allowed to add noise and such to interfere with communications.  That was the fun part.  We had a radio that transmit all kinds of junk ,noise, Morse code, different  tones and voice.  We tried to catch them not authenticating call signs and other infractions.  Some ops were very very good and would know what was happening very quickly.  I always left the good ops alone.  But some would get mad and go to pieces.  I am not going to tell much more because someone might read this and come kick my ass.  But then maybe not, he would most likely have to use a cane to get here.   Anyways  One day we were  copying some voice and we pick up Wicket Basket 1 .  A quick check shows that call sign is assigned to a field grade officer.  His driver and Jeeps call sign  was Wicker Basket 6.   WB1 Calls his control  and tells them he will be in a meeting out in the field for couple of hours and his driver will wait on him. Ooops he did not authenticate headquarters  call sign.  So we lock in his freq on another radio.  About 2 hours later, BINGO, his driver is trying to get in touch with him.  "Wicker Basket 1 This is wicker Basket 6"  #6 repeats this a couple of times.  I can not resist.  I dial up a little off freq so maybe he will not notice I am not control.  " Wicket Basket 1 this headquarters what can I do for you?'  Note I did not give a call sign nor did he ask me for call sign authentication  code.   I had him now .  WB6 says" Well I am hungry and I dont have any water and #1 is still in the meeting.  What should I do?"  The perfect storm, a text book case.  I tell him "  #1 said that you could go back to post and get something to eat at the PX.  and to bring him a few soft drinks. And Please move your "push"( Operating frequency)  to  123.56    WB6" Wow thanks that is great"  Remember it is 30 miles back to the PX and I have him off frequency so he can not hear them and he can not transmit on the right freq to contact control  .   Now we wait.  In about 30mins   #1 Calls for his driver.  Wicket Basket 6 this is Wicker basket 1.  Where are you.  he repeats a few times and is getting pretty mad.    No one answers him  of course because #6 is headed back into town.  So I have to help him out.  #1 This is control what is your problem.? "Where is my damn driver have you heard from him?  Ooops no call sign check, no nothing, too bad, just doing my job.  "Sir I heard your driver is going back to town to get something to eat"   He went nuts.  I be God da.m I did not tell that SOB to do that.  This is Colonel Jackson and I want my Jeep right damn now!!!!!  BIG ooops  Never ever Expose your real name and rank over the radio.  As soon as he said he name he figured it out.  One more Big DAMN IT and he was gone.    All on tape also.  It was game over.  About a hour later our officer came up and said to shut it down,   That is happened most of the time.  We worked for a couple of hours till some big guy got pissed then told us to quit.  I will have to admit, it was fun as hell, messing with everyone.  Sprinkling Static was also fun.   One reason it worked that the real control may have been on the edge of not being able to hear them.  They should have called my bluff when I first made contact with the driver.  If any of them would have asked me to authenticate, it would have been game over and they would have received a nice report on their net security.    Yes Sir  Making the Big time Secret agent man.  Only 3 years and 3 months to go. Damn it.  The best move I ever saw in the field was when we had a mock war.   Some units were bad guys and others were the good guys  I think the bad guys the  Aggressors) had green triangles on their equipment.  They had a massive meeting for all units.  We were set up so we could listen.. From what I understood  This was going to be just like the real thing.  No holds barred.  It was really neat to watch the tanks fight at night.. They had big xenon lights mounted on the tubes(barrels) of their tracks.  They would sneak around in the dark and ambush each other.    Every thing would be pitch black then  BOOM  they would turn on the lights and the victims should be caught in the beams .  So everyone was ready for the big fight. We were neutral so we went ahead and got set up on top of Jack Mountain.  Here is were the trouble started.  Any type of large field maneuvers required road guards and such to direct the flow of traffic to the proper staging area.    Remember we are talking about a couple of hundred, maybe much more, of  tanks, APCs, and other big time stuff.  We could tell something was up because units were in the wrong place, and some were running low on fuel.  Things were getting worse and it was getting late.  The "Bad" guys, the aggressors, and  had captured the road guards and had scattered the  good guys units all over place.  What a mess.  They called it off about 4:00pm but it was a very long time getting everyone back together.

Begining of the end of school

I  did not understand the class and was bored to tears. I was screwed.  3 and 1/2 years of this?  No  Not no but hell no.  I was a piss poor student and my grades showed it.  To add to the mess most of us got orders to go to Vietnam.  I did not care because in 1964 i did not know  jack  s... about it.. So I went and got all my teeth fixed up(bad news they did a 1/2 ass job) and a jillion shots .  The night before the final test we went down town and had a big going away party.  I really got drunk.  I was wrecked when I went to take the test. Needless to say I Failed the final test.  Oh Hell Everyone frequed out.  They thought I did it because I did not want to go to Vietnam.  To late.  I was jammed.  I got new orders to go FORT HOOD TEXAS  Damn and double Damn.

Fort Devans (School and stuff)

Fort Devans  was a hell of a ride.  The more I think about it I realize it was really a unique place.   A little background first.  Almost all ASA guys had already either been to college or had worked.  So we were not  atypical of new soldiers.   I was already 21 as were most of the people in  my section.  So many people could see BS when it was presented.  Also, I had the pleasure of working and being with some truly brilliant people.  They changed the way that I looked at the world.  Some people are intellectual  gifted.  They say that this factor helped lead to the ASA being disbanded.   On to fort Devans.  When you checked in you were assigned to C company.  The largest "company" in the Army so they said.  Charlie was a Causal Company. Just a transition place where you awaited, your clearance, next school,  or what ever.  I would guess there were 300 or 400 people, maybe more, maybe less just depended. The Almighty Clearance with out a Clearance you were nothing. EVERYTHING depended on getting your Top Secret Clearance.  All BS aside they took the granting of a TS Crypto clearance very serious.  They sent FBI guys to visit some of your old teachers and employers to check you out.   I had never gotten in real trouble but still you worried.  Most people thought I have got into in some of big time trouble and the Feds were looking for me.  So while you were waiting you stayed in C company.  They had a big formation every morning and then they dispatched every one to do make busy work all over the post.  They had so many people there was not much to do so just staying busy was a challenge. During this time I lucked out and got selected to go Army Driving school and got mu Jeep. 3/4 and deuce and 1/2 License.  These would be a great benefit later on.  So every day you made formation, did you little job and just hung out. You also checked the big bulletin board for your school results.  When you saw your name in the school listing you were pretty sure your clearance was very close to being approved.  Every one was sweating bullets because if your clearance was not approved you had to go into the regular army.  Something no one wanted to do.  Going to Driving school was really fun.  They had a big area with mud bogs and steep hill and such and we would go out an practice driving.  Sometime we would get stuck but they were ok with it.    I think it was about a week to 10 days long.  One day in the afternoon formation they asked if any one had a Army Driving license.   I raised my hand and they sent me to go see a officer at the school.  It was for a permanent duty(until your clearance came though) to work on the burn detail.  Security was Tight, tight, tight and we burned everything the school threw away.  It was a 7 days a week job but it was pretty easy and you did not have to do anything else.  About 7 every night i went to the Motor pool and checked out a deuce and 1/2(Army guys love to say  Deuce and 1/2 rather than a 2 and 1/2 ton truck.) went to the school.  There a officer would help or just watch me load the truck with all the trash from the ops. center and the school.  The officers  always had a side arm and a M-14 for me with them.  We then went to the incinerator and burned all the stuff,  i always tried ti read the stuff I was burning but I never got much of a chance and what I did see was not very interesting.   After all the stuff was burnd we went down below and I had to open the grates and sweep all the unburned stuff out.  It was pretty hot but I could do it pretty quick so the officers liked that.  I guess it was some sort of duty they had to do.  Most of them were very nice and after they got to know me, they would bring me a sandwich or coffee.  I did that until......YES!!!!!! My Clearance Came though!!!!  School time.  Time to get it on.  I moved to the hill where all the wood barracks were.  Mine was 1651.  My bunk was upstairs near the end.  Big change from basic and the Casual company.  single bunks with the lockers set so there was just a hint of privacy.  Plus  you could have a small night stand and a radio. Life was good.  My first school was only 6 weeks long.  980.0  I am not going to go into much detail about the school because as silly as it sounds, I gave a oath not to disclose the subject matter.  I still honor that today.  One day at the PX they had a couple of Bicycles for sale.  Seems like to me they were about 34 dollars. I bought one and later on two of my friends bought theirs.  We used to ride all over New England on them.  All 3 of us were from the south .Me from Florida, My friend  from Texas and another friend. from Alabama.  We would stop at little cafes and beer joints to eat and rest.  When we ordered they would always say "You guys aint from around here are you?"   No,  We are soldiers from Devans.   Many times they would not take any money or someone would buy us a beer or a hamburger.  I still remember with gratitude their kindness to a group of southern soldiers.   Soon the six week school was over and I went casual again to await my next school.  But this time I stay in 1651 and worked in the company area.  The first Sarge used to be the bookie for the numbers game..  you picked 3 or 4 numbers and then tried to match them with the last number on the New York Stock exchange closing numbers.   The pay off guy was the Coca-Cola route man. I guess really the First sarge worked for him.  Speaking of Money, you could sell or buy Kp.  Guard duty also but you were in BIG trouble if you got caught failing to pull guard duty.  KP still trouble but not so mych.  I used to buy KP. I lived so far away that I never had a chance to go home on 3 day breaks and such.  So I would just stay and work.  Hard work, long hours but remember my basic KP duty taught me how it worked.  I used to get 40 to 45 for a full day or 30 for 1/2 day.  Good money when you only made  around 70 a month. I was a  E-2 by now so make a little more.  76 I think.  If you got to work with the right bunch of guys and a good cook it was not too bad.  Every one wanted to be the DRO(dinning room Orderly)  but I liked Outside man pretty good.  Cups and bowels were not too bad.  Pots and Pans were to avoided at all cost.  Drunk or Mad cook(s) and it would be a long long day.  You checked in for KP at 4am and got off around 7 or 8pm.  The ASA fed us pretty good. I never had many complaints about the food.  It was different from what the regular army had(so they said).  We used to play cars a lot.  Nickle-dime poker with different limits.  very friendly games and no one lost a great amount.  One guy loved to play.  His name was Mangus from out west some where I think he used to play in dessert a lot.  He had some pictures of him on his motorcycle.   He was the worlds worse poker player.  He would up losing more than he had.  So he started a Laundry.  You had to keep sharp starched creases in your uniform at all times.   a real pain in the ass and billfold.  Looking back someone probably had a deal with the Ayer Laundry and someone was getting a kick back.  Anyways Mangus was a mad of his word so he would take uniforms and go wash them at the Laundromat.  They  heated the barracks with steam  so there was boiling hot water to be had.  After he washed them He would get trash cans and mix Argo starch and the boiling water.  Then he would dip the uniforms and hang them out to dry.  Then he would Iron them out.  His work was 2 or 3 times as good as the pros.  His business took off.  People would help him iron and Wash for beer money.  He paid in Mangus Money.  It was legal currency in our area.  He was a damn good guy.  I sure hope he made out ok.  Soon School started again and I was off to study to be a Radio Traffic Analyst. 982  Holy Hell What a mistake!!  The most boring and unrealistic thing I have every encountered  .
 

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Graduation day

Well after 8 weeks of great Army training we were almost ready to unleashed on the world.  Basic training changes you.  Not in the way that many expect.  You learn that some people you can trust, others you can not.  The one guy that loaned you some shoe polish when he was running low was someone that was hard to say good bye to.  But the Son of a Bitch that pimped you out over having a package of crackers, good byes can not come quick enough.   Hard times bring out the best and worse in people.  You never forget the little things people did to help you make it.  Maybe it is a flaw of my character but I dont forget the others either.    Basic training graduation was not a big deal like it is now.  We had a formation and every got their orders.  Some stayed on the same post for AIT (Advanced Individual training)  I was the only Agency guy so I might have went home for a couple days before going to fort Devans but I can not remember.  I liked that part of the ASA in that I always traveled alone.  But I did not even have my clearance yet.  that I found out could be a real deal breaker.

On the road

It was COLD  damn cold and all I had on was a pair of dress slacks , a tee shirt with a dress shirt and a sports jacket.  I did not think things would move as fast as they did.  New Flash!  It snowed in Atalanta Ga on New years eve.  The bus had to return to the station where I spent  new years eve.   Morning came and I guess the sun came out and the bus was able to proceed.   It was night when I got to fort Jackson.  They  took me and a few others in a room while they waited for more people to show up.  Around day light we all fell out into the street to begin processing.  Getting into the Army is not a easy task.  It can, at least it did back then, take days to get squared away.  More tests, physicals, classes and of course large long waits between doing anything constructive.  Did I say it was Cold?  I think it was about the 3rd day when we were marched over to supply to be assigned all our gear.  Two of these, one of theses, hurry up,  Not your size?  close enough, hurry up.  What a sad sight!!  Big ass pants, floppy shirts, boots makes from reinforced cement, almost made me forget that I was way to be a High Level Intelligence  agent.  Next we had to wait a couple of days until our basic training started.  Some things you never forget.  I was in Echo co.  Prudent people would have known that January and February in North Carolina is less than desirable for out door activity.   Did I say it was COLD?  March, run, clean, polish, freeze,  until you get a mite tired.  No passes, no nothing, After 4 weeks we got a Sunday after noon pass.  Could not leave the post but you could go to the PX and EM club.  Wow  It was great to take a break.  Besides it was pay day!!!   E-1 in  1964  made 68 dollars a Month.  Yes you read that right , a Month.  I bought some candy bars and some  more stuff for my food locker inspection display.  Then we went to another PX and drank some beer.  Bad Bad tasting stuff, almost like near beer, not much kick, just enough to make you sick. About this time I messed up and got a weeks worth of KP (Kitchen Patrol).  The first day I was there while I was buffing the floor, I noticed the sarge was having a hell of time typing out the Menu and some paper work.  I asked if I might could help him.  He asked Can you type?  Oh Hell yes and I can make copies, file,  write reports,  I really could as I was a Teachers helper in college.   So we made a deal,  while everyone was in the field, I would do all the paper work but when they got back he would be on my case, nothing personal.  It was a great deal, the cooks brought me cake and pie and special stuff they cooked for their self.  But when all the officers were around they would bitch and run my ass around.  Just a game, It was funny then and is funny now.  My fellow basic training people included a group of Draftees from North Carolina.  The Army had not been integrated very long so dealing with  back people was a new experience. I had never went to school or even worked with black people before.  There was no problem,we got along pretty good.  We were all in the same jam.  I remember one time someone said You know we never have eaten dinner with a black guys before.  The Black guy said " Same for us we have never had much to do with white people"  Point was well taken.  Most of them very very good people, just like us.

Montgomery Ala. was the where the induction process started. They had a very large warehouse(s) that all the processing took place in. I would guess that it was at either at Maxwell or Gunter AFB. I remember a very large room with a stage and a many many old couches and chairs scattered around. You took you seat and waited till they called your name and told you want to do. They also had a big room with bunks in it. The sign said the sleeping capacity was 409. But all the bunk were doubles so how could have a odd number? Not the first of many unsolved mystery's that were about to unfold. I had already taken alot of the tests and such so I did not need to do much more. They called my name and sent me to a little room and asked(?)if i would take a few more tests. Sure thing I replied as visions of the infantry swirled in my head. For the rest of the day I took tests and waited. The next morning my name was called again. They sent me down to another room where a Sargent of some kind was. This room is pretty neat, coffee pot, donuts, the guy is pretty friendly. he says I see you have scored very high on some of your tests. I have a deal for you(ever heard that before?) I am going to offer you a chance to join a group of very talented people. I cant not tell you much about it but I can say this "We only accept people from the top 10% of the Army and the work is Top Secret" Damn! You talking me to me? A secret agent, James Bond?, sweet Gee-us, I have been saved. Oh yea Only one other little thing. You have to join for another year. Make that a 4 years not 3 years. 4 years? No big deal. An to think my High school teachers said I was dumb and gullible. Ha Ha Where do I sign. Let me in..............Fade to black.....New Years eve going to Fort Jackson South Carolina in a 100,000 dollar vehicle. A Greyhound bus.