Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Fort Leonard Wood.

Fifty-four years ago I was a young man starting basic training there. Anyone else have the pleasure, of spending time there?

Sure did. Spent from July '73 to April '77 there in the 5th Engineer Battalion. That was the only non-training unit on post.

I did basic and AIT there in '70. I made a big mistake there. I was Nat Guard and I came home after AIT which gave me 4 months of active duty. I didn't know it at the time but in those days, you needed 6 months of continuous active duty to get veterans benefits. I had a chance to stay another 2 months for NCO school but I opted to come home and did it locally. So, I missed out on the vets benefits.

That was when they were drafting like crazy for Nam and they were running trainees through as fast as they could. The training was pretty poor. After AIT, they had special Vietnam training for those who were going - a whole 3 days of it. I can't imagine going into combat with the lousy training we had.

I was there in 1968, then to Fort Knox, Then to Fort Bliss, Then to 3/7 cav. in Schweinfurt, germany

went to Basic training there ,May- July 1983 ...B-3-3

My father was discharged from WWII service there and rode the troop train back to Ft. Dix, NJ.

Basic and AIT there - in 1973
62 F
Crane operator.

I will have to ask dad if he was ever there.


Probably.

He went through basic at Fort Ord.

Me too, A-5-2, October 1962. Called it the rock pile. The best thing I learned there was that the typing course I took as a "filler" in my Soph year in HS was going to pay off for my entire time in the service to my country. After basic, I went PP to Ft Bragg and they needed a company clerk. Spent the rest of time as CC in country and in Europe.

Yup. I completed Basic and AIT in the summer of 1991 there (12 Bravo).

It wasn't the most fun I ever had, but it paid for my college degree and was a valuable life-experience. I wish every high-school graduate had the same experience honestly, my own kids included.

Dave

Never got to Fort "Lost In the Woods", but a few of my compadres had the honor. Never heard anyone say anything good.
Basic at Ft Sill OK in July and August of '85. On to AIT at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in MD after that. (MOS 63w)
Duty station at Ft Lewis WA until I ETSd.
Lots of Field trips to Yakima Firing Center, Camp Hunter Ligget, and wonderful Ft Irwin CA.
Yakima was always cold in January, and hot in August. God, we came to hate that place. Snow in winter, dust in summer.
I've always said I wouldn't do it again for a million bucks, but I wouldn't trade the experience for 10 million either.
7mm

Boy isn't that the truth! One of the first questions when reporting in to a new unit was always "can you type?" I couldn't.

I agree totally Dave. Some form of national service should be mandatory.

I took AIT at Ft Leonard Wood in the fall of 1967. My MOS was 62E20 as a road grader operator. After AIT they stationed me at the Concrete Paving Equipment Operators Course and they did not even have a grader there for me to operate. I well remember one cold day in February 1968 we were chipping concrete off of steel forms when the SFC in charge came in and asked for 2 volunteers to try out for the Fort Leonard Wood rifle team. I jumped at the opportunity and ended up making the team. We shot the National Match Course twice a day Monday thru Friday and once on Saturday. I was also exempt from the duty roster.

We traveled to Fort Riley Kansas the summer of 68 and shot the 5th Army Matches there. I shot well enough to make the 5th Army team and shot with them for another couple of months until I was dropped from the team. I later learned that I needed glasses and have often wondered if I had glasses if I would have not been dropped from the team. Those were the best times I had in the Army.

Little Korea... was there winter 69-70 for AIT, 12B, first gig with demolitions, enjoyed the hell out of it!

Phil

It got down to -20F during the winter of 68. It got so cold if froze the propane lines to the furnace in our barracks. I never heard so much bitching in my life. All we had were 2 wool blankets and our wool long johns. The guys who had just come back from Vietnam wanted to return to where it was warm. They moved us to a barracks that still had a coal fired furnace until the freeze was over.

I worked with a guy that was in processing in Vietnam and put his hand up when asked if anyone could type. He too took high school typing. He only did that because he was in hot pursuit of a girl. He never got sent out to the boonies. He was too good a typist.

Oct 70 thru Feb 71. Basic C-4-3, AIT C-1-4, 62M Front end loader, Rough terrain fork lift operator. Damned cold.

G

I went to basic and AIT there starting in October 1969.

Basic training from June 1973 to August 1973. I have not been back since.

kwg