When I was discharged, I was a staff Seargent in the US Army Reserve.

You good folks?

spec 5

Retired Lt Col, USAFR Every senior sergeant I ever worked with outranked me in actual responsibility.

MSgt, USAF, Retired

CW2

Sgt USMC Reserves. 0311

Thank you all. I have 3 regrets in my life. One is I never finished my Eagle rank in Boy Scouts, I never wore my country's uniform and there was those twins from Tulsa but that's for another day...

1SG MOS 19Z5M

D or K

E-6 (P)

CPL USMC served 1yr/10 mo/17 days.

Although I frequently gave Lyndon Johnson and Gen Westmoreland tips and advice, he, being either hard of hearing or just hard headed, did not heed, and so my military genius went unrewarded to this day.

Same here. Although I came outta ITS as an 0341

Up to E7, OCS then O3.

SP/4, though they tried numerous times to send me off to BNOC. I didn't want to go, and didn't. 11C1P. Long time ago, but not that far away.

Was BNOC a predecessor to PLDC??? BNCOC was for SGT (P). SPC (P) went to PLDC..

SMSGT 1A191

Military occupational specialty (MOS) 1776X — Space Shuttle Door Gunner

E-4 11B1V

E-5, 1969-1972.

No 1369’s???

E-4, Corporal, USMC; 0311, 0331, 0341

PRC(FPJ) USN
and...........a 43 echo red hat USA.

Chief Petty Officer USN retired. SMC(SW) force converted to QMC(SW) when the SM rate was disestablished. Added EXW pin to my chest after being converted. So retired as QMC(SW/EXW).

I think I remember my service number, "E R, 176 --- --4

1369 "Unlucky c*^ksucker"....I think all Marines have that MOS at one time or another, lol.

LTC(R),USA 12A5N, 1988-2020


Old70

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👍👍👍👍👍

Truth!!!!

I wasn't actually in the service BUTTTT!

I was COMMANDER and CHIEF of the Armed Forces!

Never served. Thank you all that did!

E7 - Submarine Qualified

E7 MSgt, USAF, Retired

ATR2, E-5 1965 to 1971. MTG

11B, E-3, then E-4, then E-3…

11B
Made 7 in 11.
Stayed one for 13 yrs.

Restricted fiche tab for a company grade ART 15 as a young E5 in germany for beating the fuuuuuck out of 2 Joe's.
Had a CO and 1sg that saved my azz from the Mormon upright citizen brigade BC we had and becoming a Pfc.
Railroaded me to jag the next day, told me they was gonna save my dumb azz from the BC and this is what your getting 14 and 14 and a fiche entry.
1sg told me on the side he was glad someone beat their azz,s.
Was kinda a legend in the company for it all.
Not in a bad way.

Basic schitbyrd soldiers is what they were.
In and out of trouble all the time on the Kaserne and outside the gate down in Boeblingen and Stuttgart.

Both got chaptered eventually....

Didnt do much for me to make E8.
Boards love looking at a restricted fiche tab cause very few have em.
Makes for interesting reading.....
LOL!!!

I would still beat the fuuuck outta them 2 schitbyrds again to this day.

👍👍👍🤣🤣🤣

Navy CDR, 28 years 5 months 14 days. you don't have to go home but you can't stay here. I stayed in till the last day allowed by law.

11B, E-5 '82-'88 ARMY

LCDR, USN, retired. July ‘72- June ‘93.

SFC E-7. My last MOS was 67N Aviation supervisor

kwg

1966-70 USN E-5

LOL!!!
Congressional mandated end strengths for paygrade.

That's what I did also.
Hung around the extra 4yrs hoping for that pity promotion to E8😄😄😄

Cashed in 76 days of leave.
Taxed at 26% under a Bonus pay stipulation somehow.
😠😠😠
Oh well.....

AT2 (E5)

MSGT E-7, out at 20.

SFC, made the 8 list at 19yrs but would have had to stay to 23yrs to pin. Nope.

Army (82-90) E-5 (p) waited 0n points to drop for E-6 3.5 yrs and gave up

US Army 78-81 E-4 95B1P, AZARNG 82-90 E-6 13E3O

1SG 19Z5

Spec 5 62K20. My Lt took me aside one day and asked me what was wrong as they had been thinking about making me a buck sgt. I told him "sir I would rather be a spec 4 than a buck sgt." He informed that that could be arranged so I straightened out my act and did not loose any stripes. The most wonderful feeling in the world was being in that bus as it left the gate at Fort Lewis in March of 1970 and I was a civilian again. My service number was RA 189138XX.

I never served but, appreciate all of you that did. My father went in in 1960 and trained at Fort Knox, Ky. Then served in Berlin till 1964. He passed when I was little and not sure about his rank.

USMC E-6. 1991-2000

Col, 0-6, US Army, Inf, 1970-1996.

"non-participant"

I turned 18 my senior year of high school.
Got a free Greyhound ride to be poked and prodded by military physicians to complete my "pre-induction" physical.
Passed the physical, but was given a 1-HS deferment since I was still in school.
Graduated May, 1969. Got a new draft card almost immediately. Reclassified to 1-A.
Immediately enrolled in college and got a college deferment. IIRC that was a 1-C classification.
In October of 1969, the Gov't instituted the lottery.
Out of 366 birthdates, I was selected 324.
Selective Service System reclassified me back to "1-A subject to draft" and said they were going to draft through #275.
I wasn't happy in school, so I quit and went back to work.
A high school classmate was #274, so he went ahead and joined.
They stopped drafting at #264.

The 'Nam messed up a lot of my buddies, I don't regret missing that fiasco. As immature as I was at that time, I would probably have been a "statistic".
I do regret not having joined after 'Nam. I think it would have helped me mature.
If I had been drafted, the job I was working would have held my position. If I had voluntarily "joined", I would have lost my seniority and there was no guarantee they would even rehire me! Couldn't see throwing away 5 years seniority.
Probably one of my worst mistakes in life! LOL! At 72, it's a tad late to back up now! 😜

SSgt, USMC, 1976-1986 MOS 5811/09

US Army, E-6 SSG, 13M

USAF 1967-1971 E-5 SSGT C-130 CC

O-3, 1977 - 1984, Army Infantry

I made it to Webelos in the paramilitary youth ranks. Got chaptered out for being a smartass whiteboy.

Just a spec.







You must have been an MP.

Sgt USMC 2004-2009

US Army, PVT E1

O-3, USAR, Infantry

E-4, Army NG. Was a 91A medic with a air medical unit, we still flew Hueys 1988-94. My unit got called up for Desert Shield, I was sitting in slot as an E-3 as company commander’s driver. I was reassigned to new unit of Huey gunships as a crew chief/door gunner. Never had a chance to go as it was basically over before I finished 67N MOS training.

I checked out when the Blackhawks started replacing the Hueys and I was in 3 near miss incidents inside a year when the Vietnam era pilots I was used to flying with started retiring and they were being replaced with fresh pilots.

19D, SFC, Cavalry Scout . 15 years and the meter is still running

E-4 (P) USA 63S 85-89 3-69 and 2-70th

SP4 USARMY was in for not quite 6 years, and was asked if I wanted to go to the promotion board at least 3 times. I declined. When I first joined I quickly realized that I didnt care for all of the back stabbing and underhanded things that I observed by others that were trying to get promoted. As I grow older I often look back and realize that I should have had a more open mind and I probably would have made a career out of it.

I thank you all for your service!

CPL MOC 711 Medic, Canadian Armed Forces
Aug 1979-Apr 2006

US Army, E4, 68J10 X1
1986-1989

'72 - '78, NG - last of the draftees, but went NG.
6 yrs, 62F20 ( crane operator ), came out E-5 buck sgt.
Also certs in several other specialties, mostly mechanics, heavy equip operator, heavy truck driver.
Was an interesting time in my life.

I think Rocky was a Bird Colonel, no Generals?

Lol.No Generals could admit membership here in todays political climate.

Army Specialist 5th Class.

Fire Direction Chief in 105 Howitzer battery. VN 1/'67-2/'68.

Must the military abbreviate every damn thing? This might as well be written in hieroglyphics.

Sp4. 11B1P

Very enlightening thread thank you everyone..

CDR, Navy. I got out in 2016 and still miss it every day.

Command Sergeant Major, field artillery. Active duty 1986-2017.

E4 3rd class PO USN. Flight deck LSE. 1982-1986
Missed E5 by .5 points on test. Promised E5 on re- up. Didn't take it because they wouldn't put it in writing.
Still proud to have served .

MSgt (E-7) USAF Ret.

Lieutenant Commander, USN on the O-5 list. Before the Navy gig, SSG, US Army 7 years. Had a good run, no Purple Hearts.

I’m similar, but they kicked me out of cub scouts for eating too many Brownies.

Army Specialist 4th Class.,,,,E-4

Thank you everyone who served. I signed up a couple times but couldn’t pass the physical - hearing. Coming from a storied Naval family and being a Navy brat, it’s always been a regret of mine.

No ranking, but drew my draft number and waited for my trip.

Thank God the Viet Nam stuff was over when I graduated in 1974.

Thanks to all that served.

USMC 1979-2004, Master Gunnery Sergeant (E9).

MOS 0861 Fire Support Man (Enlisted Forward Observer, Artillery and Naval Gunfire)
Secondary MOS 0341, Mortarman
Secondary MOS 8151, Marine Security Guard (Embassy Guard/Detachment Commander)


I was planning on staying for 30 years, but a serious back injury changed that plan.

Col (P).

Became too old for the final promotion.

1976 - 1986 E6 SSGT Electronic warfare specialist
1986 - 2018 up to Colonel, USAF, USAFR, ANG ending as a Colonel with a certificate of eligibility to Brig Gen as a Civil Engineer.

Mine was 4-F. I was drafted in 1968, but they didn't like what they saw on X-Rays.

When drafted I showed up ready to go, but I'm not sorry I wasn't Johnson's cannon fodder. I lost 1/2 of my friends to that malingering war and to the military-industrial complex's greed.

I salute all who served and admire you.

The two most important people to me in the world are an E7 and an O4.

Hopefully the E7 retires as an E8.

I was kind of in the Army I drove by a recruitment station about 16yrs back. I was no sir you guys aren’t sending me to Iraq and die! But if I would’ve joined I would been a command petty tech sergeant!

Someday you might become a buck private.

Sgt. E5 US Army, 11B, Jan. 1972 to Jan. 1975

After Basic and AIT my entire enlistment was spent in West Berlin watching Russians watch us. Had a good time overall, Berlin is or at least was a hell of a neat place.


Have posted this pic before but this is the changing of the guard at Spandau Prison sometime in 1973. Our platoon is taking over from the Soviets guarding Rudolph Hess.

To they guys who served in the last 40 years those uniforms and helmets must look about as archaic as a doughboy's uniform and rimmed helmet would have looked to us.

WI ANG 79 to 83 spec4....... joined real Army 11b E1 then out as E5 1989..... alot of you Vietnam vets wouldn't recognize me this one did but they dug him up due to DNA ...

MT3-SS (E-4)

What is the "Paul Harvey" rest of the story?

a Brigadier Corporal....

that was right after I got court martialed before that I was a General Nuisance...

Lieutenant, USNR.

Petty Officer First Class.

CDR USNR - 1986-2007 - Did 9 years active then 11 years flying the EA-6B (2400 hours, 502 carrier landings) in the Reserves with recalls to active duty for Kosovo and three Iraq deployments. When the NOE to retire showed up my wife handed me the pen and said you've done your part, sign it.

E-1 to O-5 over 24 years.
My wife is currently O-6 and has received recommendation for O-7. She just has to decide if she wants another 5 years of the crap when she planned to be done at the end of this year.

E-1 to CWO3

Failed the physical. Eyesight, hearing and weird feet.

Thanks to you all who did serve.

I know a woman who was in the same situation. She opted to retire as an O-6 and seems satisfied with her choice. That said, getting promoted to flag rank is a special achievement in any military organization and not one to be taken lightly.

O-3 in the Army. Did five years. 13A Seems like a long time ago and time really flies.

CTI3 - E4 Third Class Petty Officer, tho I picked up 2nd Class as I was getting out, just never got to put it on.

Definitely. When she was asked by the 2 star she works for if she was interested in a star, she said no. I told her to go in there and rescind that no and think about it. I know she is ready to be done, but I don't want her to regret the choice. There's a big jump from 0-5 where I finished to O-6 where she is now, and an even bigger jump to O-7, so I really want her to be OK with the choice either way. My ego can survive being married to a General.

I should think so! That's a hell of a "Pink" ID car to have. Good on her.

Maybe she will reconsider that. It's a pretty big deal.

CW3

Sgt. E-5.....U.S. Army July 1967-June 1970.

USAF 1956-1960. E-3. There were few promotions in the AF at the time, but our Army and Navy counterparts made good rank. We provided OJT training to Navy CTs (like Teal) who got out of tech school with more rank that we experienced airmen had. I did an E-5 job as an E-3. You could tell the supervisors by their faded stripes. Best friend from HS was in an Army company (ASA) next door to us, and he was a four stripe sgt. before the end of his three year hitch.

It didn't sit well with veteran airmen when some Army or Navy NCO tried to pull rank. Saw a couple of fights in the NCO club over that.

Luck of the draw, the times. Later there was a heck of a deal with an early out and reenlistment that would have quickly resulted in two promotions and proficiency pay, but my separation date was three days too early to make the cutoff, so I did the full four years to the day, and got out with my faded two stripes and a Good Conduct medal. Missed the Korean GI Bill by six months too. Can't complain too much. Picked up the Vietnam era GI Bill in 1966, and got an Expeditionary medal a few years later when they recognized that I had served in a hot zone. Also, 20 years later got a couple of medals from the Republic of China, presented by an ambassador at a big Chinese dinner event in Chicago for their national holiday. Nice of them.

Thank you all that served.

ROTC and a high draft lottery was as close as I got. I still have my draft cards from College, you were supposed to have them on your person at all times. When I was In college the draft designation changed for a little deferment for being in school...

When I was in (02-06) - the services picked up rank pretty even, except for AF. They were stuck at E3 longer than we were in the Navy but by the end of 4, we were all E4s at a minimum. Differences being sea services have E4 as NCOs and the others don't. Most Navy were looking at E5 tho right at that 4 year mark and my AF friends had to go a while longer - it seems.

When I finally finished college and started grad school in 1970, I ran into a guy in the hall who had been an E-2 supply clerk in my last squadron. Going to college under an AF education and commissioning program. Later I saw in an alumni newsletter that he was a Captain. I'd have given my right nut for a deal like that. Like I said, the times. Missed Vietnam, nobody shooting at me, although the ChiComs threatened us constantly.

Side note. Our base security was provided by Nationalist troops, who were mostly Chinese Communist POWs from Korea who chose to go to Taiwan and serve in the Nationalist army rather than be repatriated to the mainland. Not a warm fuzzy feeling.

TM-3 (SS) in the Navy..

My bunkmate in basic was a TM - they merged with GM in 07.

1 year 11 months 27 days reg.active Army. Discharged as Spec.5 Swaped 1 year active for 1 year National Guard.
1 year US Army National Guard--- Spec. 5

Basic NCO Course.

BNOC is what all the army types in my shop called it when I was there.

They were E4 and hated the Army - get picked up for Bnoc and E5 - came back as devout followers off all things green.

For me it was PLDC, BNOC1, BNOC2, ANOC1 and ANOC2 in that order just to get to E-7 Plus I threw in a Blackhawk school for 7 weeks July and August 2001. My basic and AIT was in 1973. I was out for 8 years and went back in in 1985.
kwg

Could be these guys were just using slang and calling it all BNOC? Don't know. I was Navy. You get a Petty Officer's Indoc class when you pick up e4 and then learn the rest OTJ it seems.

Corporal, Combat Engineers. Vietnam.

My dad was in during the same time and got out as an E-4. He said he lost some friends because he made rank so “quick”. Lol. He said it was basically impossible to make rank. They wanted to send him to Chinese language school and we’re trying to entice him to stay in.

Made Sgt/E5 in under 2 1/2 years.
SGT(p) at ets, after 4 years active duty.

E-4 mafia, USAF 462 Weapons.

Ha. I was a Chinese linguist and they declared us surplus after our overseas duty and assigned us to meaningless make-work jobs for the rest of our enlistments. Meanwhile, they recruited guys like your dad to go to language school. What a waste! I didn't know anybody in my group who made E-4 in four years, although some might have made it in their later assignments.

Man, some of y'all made rank real quickly. A lot quicker than me.

1LT, US Army. I got an early out to finish college 3 months before I was scheduled to make Captain.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier- this was the guy from Vietnam, he was laid there. I'm the 5th one in on the left......... this is about 9:30 at night when they lowered him in . Years latter DNA came along they figured out who he was so >they dug him up and pulled him out !......There will be no more unknown soldiers.

E4 in Nat. Guard. I enlisted right after the 1st draft lottery in '70 when I drew a very low number. I reached Spec4 in record time but there I sat for almost 5 more years. All the guard units were top heavy with guys returning from Nam and there were no slots to get promoted into. I went through NCO school and was near the top of the list for promotion but in 3 years no slots opened up that weren't immediately filled by guys who already had the rank. There were lots of sergeants pushing brooms waiting for slots to open.
It wasn't just here. That was the case all over the country.

I recall it first being called "Sgt's School". It was 3 days long in 1975. I went back into the Guard in 1985 and we had a battalion school called BTMS that was 2 days long before we could go to PLDC. As I understand it BNOC was the first school you had to attend before you could go to ANOC. But, around 1980 the Army added PLDC before BNOC. Then they started adding phases to BNOC and ANOC after 1985.

PLDC = Platoon Leadership Development Course
BNOC = Basic NCO Course At least 2 phases depending on what your MOS was
ANOC = Advanced NCO Course. At least 2 phases depending on what your MOS was.

If you were Army Guard or Reserve each course was a jamb packed 2 weeks. If you were active duty it was 4 weeks. There was a PT test the first day you had to pass plus PT every day. At the end of 2 weeks everything hurt but you were in some good physical shape and your brain was full of "Army stuff".

I just wish I were young enough to go back through it.
kwg

During war time (Vietnam here) opportunities for advancement regularly arose because of the need to fill newly vacated positions. I made E-5 in just 13 months total service because I was next in line (and already trained) when the Fire Direction Chief completed his service. That position required an E-5.

You had PNCOC (Primary Non-Commissioned Officer's Course), which was changed to PLDC (Primary Leadership Development Course) in the '80s. Then you went on to BNCOC (Basic Non-Commissioned Officers Course). Then for E7^ was ANCOC (Advanced Non-Commissioned Officers Course). I was an instructor for all three. Army 11B4H back then. Got my "H" designation to push basic trainees and after that they "used" my Hotel designation to their favor.
Got out for a few years. Went back AF (they knocked my rank down a bit) for another 19 1/2 years until they kicked me out as a Flight Chief in aircraft maintenance in a fighter unit. Was "fired" the day before my 60th B-day as I had reached max age. Completed 34 years, 11 months, 17 days... but who was counting, lol.

E6, Staff Sergeant.

CW5 1969-2011

E 5 in 19 month's....then I got a case of the want to get out and stay in Ak...oh well all turned out fine...

There’s a few us submariners here.

When I dream, I'm still a (Buck) Sergeant on the flightline at RAF Alconbury working on F4Cs and sometimes F5Es. I can still hear the sounds and smell JP-4 from the exhaust, and feel the ever present light rain of East Anglia near Huntington, Cambridgeshire, England in the spring and summer.

That was the best job ever.

SOCS, E-7, 25 years. It was a long stretch but I wouldn't change anything.

My FIL put in 30 years and retired as an AF Chief Master Sgt, E9. He was a civil engineer and spend many years overseas building air fields and the like. My wife lived in Spain, Puerto Rico, Japan, and numerous other places while growing up. The family stayed stateside during his 2 tours in Nam.

USMC 1990-94 0351 LCPL 2nd award.

Here I am at the evacuation. The good folks in the Army let me bring my dog with me, which was a great comfort. Just in from a long deployment, which is why I had a beard. No chance to shave.