Many moons
ago, 1977 to be exact, I joined the Green Berets, thus
adding fuel to the speculation I was a little weird.
Hey, at least I did it in peace time! I did my Basic
Training at Ft. Lost in the Woods, Misery (Ft. Leonard
Wood, MO), AIT at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX,
Jump School at Ft. Benning Georgia. That Summer I began
the Special Forces Q (qualification) School. I was at Phase One when
Elvis died. (I envied him at the time!). Of the 500 guys
who applied, 50 completed Phase One. Later that year I
began Phase Two back at Ft. Sam, and OJT at Ft. Sill.
That next year (1978) I completed "goat lab"
and the third and final phase of training (Robin Sage) back near Ft.
Bragg. On May 23rd I earned my Green Beret! That summer I
trained new SF recruits.
Talk about pay back! That Fall
I completed UWO course (SCUBA school) deemed by many to
be the most physically demanding school the Armed Forces
offer. It might be considering 20 of the 30 Green Berets
that began the class with me failed. I pulled duty for
the next 18 months on Operational Detachment A-Team
552. When Rashelle was born I realized I
did not want to make a career so I ETS. Many years back
I joined the Special Forces Association, Chapter L, a community of
ex-sneaky petes in Tulsa. While I miss the camaraderie and the
excitement, I'm content to reminisce and have my war stories be in the
past.
