Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire OK, vets, let's hear your enlistment story

Graduated HS June 65. Finished freshman semester of JUCO with a .033 GPA. they were drafting us at 19 Yrs. 2 Mos. Having always been fond of the Navy uniform, I went to the local recruiter and asked about being a Pharmacist Mate. Was informed that they were now known as Hospital Corpsmen. He guaranteed me Hospital Corps. school if I'd enlist. That summer, at Great Lakes Hospital Corps School, they fell us out in "dungarees" and we headed for the ravines. I asked a buddy, "What the hell are we doing out in the woods carrying medical bags"? He told me that we were practicing for when we went with the USMC into combat. At that very moment, my life changed forever. I had no idea that USN Corpsmen took care of Marines. Went with the grunts, did my tour, came back unventilated. Praise the Lord!

I finished my freshman year in college, was running out of money so decided to work for my grandfathers tool and die company for the summer then back to the fall semester. This was "67 the war was taking a toll on my fellow West Virginians so having lost two good friends in my HS
grad class in less than six months I felt the need to enlist choosing the USAF. Since I had a Ham radio license, built my own equipment I was fairly sure the AF would place me in the electronics career field..Close but not a home run .My neighbor at the time { Cross Lanes WV which BTW is a stones throw from where "Dave in WV" resides today } was an AF recruiter which made it more than easy to sign on the dotted.

So after testing high in electronics and mechanical off to Lackland for basic then grad orders to Lowry AFB Denver for the weapons career field..After 16 weeks in the "Black Shack" my first assignment was to Eglin AFB Ft.Walton Beach Florida In "AF Systems Command " which was right up my alley since we were R&D" ing new updated fire control hardware for the upcoming C-130 gunship program which was still in its infancy.

Having settled into my new job for only months orders came for the "4th SOS " and AC-47 aircrew gunnery so I volunteered figuring several of my squadron mates were going to SEA anyway....Then a few brief weeks of training on the gun ranges, off to SERE Spec Ops survival and then to the war,,Home base was PhuCat AFB from '69 & '70 where ET and I crossed paths one evening..The rest is history, another deployment later to Osan,Kunsan Korea then finished my enlistment here at Offutt AFB Omaha Ne.

Mine is simple. I was a few month's from HS graduation. My parents asked me what I was going to do after HS. I said I want to go to college. They said "how are you going to pay for if?" . My parents signed so I could join while I was still 17.

I graduated from high school in May of '66... My father was in the Navy in WWII and asked if I wanted to join.. Met the recruiter, signed up, and in Oct. of '66 I was at boot camp in San Diego.. Best thing I ever did.. Got everything requested; subs, torpedo rating, and duty on the west coast.. Only dumbass thing I did was get out when my time was up.. Should have stayed in...

draftee type here, july 1970 -may 1972. did get some gi bill bennies for the effort.

sworn in with all kinds of people in atlanta at the induction center.

basic on tank hill at fort jackson, columbia, south carolina.

time spent ojt, at the hood, in a medical battalion.

got out and never looked back.

no ng for me after that.

e-1 thru e-5 softstripe.

ga. has pretty women, and so does texas.

I was 1973 and I was working in a tire shop making $2.00 an hour. A buddy was meeting with a recruiter and wanted to know if I wanted to go along. I said yes. 10 days later I was at Ft. Leonard Wood. Then to MP school. I was stationed in Texas and Alaska. I did 3 years active duty. When I got out I joined the National Guard for 1 year. I was out for 8 years and rejoined the National Guard. This time I was a helicopter mechanic. It turned out to be 20 great years. I just wish I were 19 so I could do it again.

kwg

Graduated HS in 1971. Slim picking on jobs where I lived so went in the USAF in August. Did 21 years and retired when I was 39 in 1992. Turns out it was the smartest career move I ever made. A decent pension every month for the last 27 years and basically free medical until I die.

Thank all of you for your service!!!!

Graduated high school, working in a machine shop,, for a year,
Got a draft notice-- joined the Navy.

Pretty much the same story here. The mines and steel mills around here in west/central PA were toast by the early 80's. And I had no idea that there were grants and loans available to go to college, I can never remember one time they were mentioned while I was in high school. Military seemed like the logical choice when I graduated so I did a four year hitch, got out and put myself through college and stayed in the reserves till I finished school. Don't know if I'd change it if I could but I sure had some great times, met a ton of great people and saw many places around the world while enlisted.

1957 - I was a Senior. An Air Force recruiter gave his presentation and since I had no immediate goal in life, nor money for college, I enlisted with a deferred enlistment until after graduation, a week after graduation I was in San Antonio at Lackland AFB "enjoying" the part the recruiter failed to mention.

Enlisting was the smartest thing I ever did - the skills I learned set me down the path to my life long career in the aerospace field, lots of travel, good pay, and good retirement, it gave me opportunities to experience places things I did not even dream of when I enlisted. Not a bad outcome for a kid who didn't know what he was going to do with his life.

drover

Born and raised in Texas; Tried to get my folks to sign for me in 1970 ( was a Jr in HS) figured I would get my GED later (if I lived over it). They refused. Graduated the following year, 1971, was 1A, of course. The Draft had been put on "Hold", no one knew how long. You couldn't get a job outside of Roughnecking in oilfields. Pretty dangerous themselves and dead end jobs at that. I went to Draft Board and asked, again, about volunteering for the Draft. They said I couldn't volunteer for the "Draft", as it was On Hold and no one knew how long it would be on hold, said it could be a year to 10! I had no money for college, you couldn't 'borrow" money for college, and you sure couldn't get in either the Guard or the Reserves, they were full up! I didn't 'really want" 3 yrs from an enlistment, asked if they had a 2 yr volunteer option. They said I could "just Volunteer for 2 years". I said " I thought that's what I just asked about"?...should have been my first clue about the Army! ha. So me and 2 of my buddies ( who had quit HS a year earlier, drop outs but we grew up together) we drove to Beaumont , spoke with Army Recruiter, went through Houston for physicals, etc and sworn in..

Flew on my first plane to Ft Leonard Wood ( Ft Polk was 90 miles away but I had grew up in same kind of terrain/mosquitos, no thanks) we had asked for MO. August in MO...hot dog. They split us up after boot camp. One was sent to Ft Sam Houston, SanTone to be a Medic. The other to Ft Benning, Helicopter Mechanic. Good training for good civilian Trades! Me? HS graduate? Artillery. Combat Arms Unit, ha. Ft. Sill, after Cannon Cocking School, (early Dec, 71) received Alert Orders for Nam. Sat around 10 days pulling doo-doo details...Nixon had just started pulling troops out of Nam, so was retrained there at Ft Sill for Field Artillery Mechanic ( hydraulic/electrics on the big 175s, M109 155s and 8 inch, all track vehicles) Sent to Germany.

Got there in Augsburg, an 8 inch Unit, and was informed that I was NOW going to be in Fire Direction Center ( I was never in a Company of more than 100 men. Very short handed then). Had 30 days with 8hr days of Classroom, 3 hrs a night homework/reading/study before going tot he field. Served 6 mos. with that then was asked to replace the Parts Clerk who had burned out on drugs, discharged. Finished my tour there. ( had some run ins with Terrorism via Baader-Meinhoff Gang blowing up GI clubs, Black September killed the Israeli Team at the '72 Olympics ( we had tickets as we were only 45 minutes away, but we got stuck on Guard Duty!) top it all off, we Whites/Chicanos were about 30% of the Battalion population, compared to Blacks/PRs (who wanted to BE Black) so we had reverse discrimination/race war) When I had a yr left there and asked to be transferred to Viet Nam. Was told that there was a 2 yr waiting list of whites/Chicanos who wanted to go to Nam just to leave Germany! Said only way he could send me to Nam was to take a burst of 3 yr re-enlistment and if I lived over the year in Nam, I would be sent right back to Germany, as we were under-strength! I waited, went home to Texas in '73. Served another 3 yrs in Texas Natl Guard and one year in Army Reserves.

I had 2 relatives killed in Nam earlier ('65 and '67), and over 100 friends and acquaintances killed or shot up in Nam, some years before me, some a little while before me and some during my little jaunt in Germany with -40 Below Winters and fighting New York/Chicago/San Juan Angry negros! The only thing I regret was not volunteering for Nam after AIT, by any means. At least I could have killed Commies in Nam, not just "tried to survive being killed" by my "Fellow Americans" in the 'so called safe" European Tour" ( they always had knives) and ran in groups of 10-15 at night. If you got caught by yourself, it was shame on you time! If you got in a fight during the day (all the Lifers except one NCO left at 5PM!) with a Black/PR "you" got the Article 15 by the "Very Accommodating Lifers". They ( Blacks/PRs) would not let you live in Peace, were always getting in your face, stealing your stuff, cutting in Chow line, etc. When you came in from the Field during training, there would be no hot water for showers because the "Blood" they left in charge of that was doing drugs and didn't care to light the boilers! It was a Nightmare Trip, I have to say that...

When I graduated from High School in 1964 in Columbus MT I worked on the highway for the summer and then started business school in Denver CO. I basically drank beer and chased girls, and kind of attended school and worked until July 1966 when I received my 1A draft update. evidently the draft board heard that I no longer had a full-time draft deferment
I came home in July and went to Billings to see what was available in the military. I didn't care, but my mother didn't want me to get drafted. I listened to the recruiters and decided to join the Air Force. After several typical Air Force screw ups I signed up for real 6 months later. Then after my basic training and getting sent to several wrong schools, I finished C-130 Hercules school and got sent to South East Asia for the next 33 months straight. I kind of think they screwed up again, but, I got to see the world while I was there ----well anyway South Viet Nam almost every month and more exotic places like Thailand, South Korea. Japan. Okinawa Taiwan, Philippine Islands and---well that's it. I was told that I received the first consecutive overseas orders in PACAF . I made Ssgt under 4 years, and really wanted to go on to flight engineers school. I got sent to Dover Delaware for my last 6 months, and would have re-enlisted if they would have guaranteed me duty to go to Europe but the only thing they could guarantee was a nice cash -tax free, re-enlistment bonus and orders to Viet Nam again.
I decided to go home and have been there ever since..
I actually cherished my military service and would do it over again in a heart beat.
I thank each and every one of you guys for your service,
and apologize for boring you,
Ken

Mil family member history
Enlisted
76 Qt
121 gt
2 weeks later getting yelled at by a toliet bowl flush puerto Rican dud drill sgt at the reception center at Benning.
Learned about dumbass minorities those 1st couple days and way more about em the next 24 yrs.....

11x
OSUT
COHORT
Ft carson 1st duty station


Whatever..............
Different life ago july 12, 1983 to sept 01 2008
11 duty stations in 24 yrs
Fugg this planet.......
Now I'm nice and dont have ta enforce the last inch of u.s. foriegn policy anymore no matter who the commander in chief was that the dumbass citizens of this nation elected.
Bill Clinton..........

Got drafted in 1965, got me out of working in the oil fields in west Texas.
Spent 20 years in Army retired a W-3. Best thing that happened to me.

Had 4 years of college, and a degree.... but went enlisted....

so they gave me a bump, came in as an E 3 and made E 4 while in AIT. at Ft Sam.

side note, how many would do it all over again?

and how many who got out, would have stayed in longer if given the chance once again, with the hands of time turned back?

Myself, the only reason I didn't re enlist after my 6 year obligation, ( RIF had me rotated to the reserves) was I was sick of dealing with the imbeciles, that passed for Full Time Reservists, who ran our unit Monday thru Friday....people who couldn't hold a real job out in the real world....overweight fat asses also...always getting their physicals fudged and a profile for their annual physical fitness test...all were enlisted people....

last unit assigned to: 5501 General Hospital, Ft Snelling MN...

1972 last of the draftees. NO student deferment. Draft expired in 71 but they still held the draft, I was #38. In 72 Congress reinstated the draft but no student deferments. I enlisted 2 days prior to getting my draft notice while I was in college. There was a difference then, as draftees were called US and enlistees were RA. I had taken my pre induction physical in 71 and what I saw coming back in was scary. E5 had to have someone help him fill out his paperwork, as he could not do it himself. One knucklehead when they had us all face the wall and drop out underwear spread our cheeks apart had his fingers in his mouth spreading those cheeks and he was serious. All I could think about was these two would be walking behind me in Nam carrying a loaded M16. I went airborne and then Special Forces and spent 24 years.

Me and the Old Man did not see eye to eye on much of anything.I enlisted in the Navy with the promise that the day after High School graduation I would be in.I also wanted Submarines and that was in my contract.Spent 6 years on the old diesel sewer pipes and got out in time to go to a tech school where I had a different attitude and graduated with honors.Funny thing I was in the third year of my enlistment when I got a notice from the Draft board to report in.Never went.When I got out all my high school buddies who told me I was stupid for enlisting were now sweating the draft and going to Vietnam.

Graduated college in 1968 with a degree in Accounting, drafted 2 months later, did AIT at signal school, spent 13 months 6 days mostly in a com bunker in the central highlands, got an early out and never looked back.

We got our fire support from you. I left the Cha Rang valley June 28,1969.