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I found AIT (Advanced Individual Training) to be a pleasant
improvement over BCT (Basic Combat Training). Although we still had to
endure physical training from time to time, much of our time was spent
in the classroom, learning about 3 different radar systems. In addition,
Ft. Sill, Oklahoma had lots of magnificent trees and lawns, a huge improvement over
the dead, dry landscape of Ft. Bliss, Texas.
I soon found myself engrossed in the radar classes to a point
where I was earning high marks and the privilege of tutoring other students.
I guess that I had decided to make the best of the time I would be in the
military. One thing I did find rather odd was the fact that about ½ of
our class was composed of Marines. Not surprisingly, this created fierce rivalries
and occasional altercations. Generally though, the troops got along and
directed their competitive energy in legitimate directions such as track meets
and target rifle matches at the indoor rifle range down the street.
Of the three radars we trained on, two were artillery tracking
types and the other was for ground surveillance. The object of the artillery
tracking radars was to detect a projectile in flight and then extrapolate
the trajectory back to the source, thus locating the gun tube's position.
The ground surveillance radar was solely for detecting movement of any type
on the ground and giving the coordinates of the target. We were given a
fair amount of practice in the field with all three types. All of this was
crammed into about 10 weeks of training.
I made a couple of new friends during the radar training course and by
coincidence, all 3 of us ended up in the same outfit in Germany. Mark had a
keen sense of wit mixed with a generous amount of sarcasim and these traits
certainly helped all of us keep our sense of humor during the not-so-fun moments
of being in the Army. Rick was an Army brat and was street-wise enough to
teach us the finer points of dealing with local economy.
About two weeks before graduation I was asked if I would be interested in
going to the NCO Academy there at Ft. Sill. Basically, this is a 90 day
leadership course and the student is promoted to Sergeant E-5 upon
graduation. We called the graduates 90 day wonders. I thought about it for
several days and decided to decline the offer, much to the disappointment
of my instructors. Personally, I didn't feel I would make a very good
leader in such a short time period. I felt on-the-job training in the
real environment would be a better way to go. In the end, I did
eventually make Specialist E-5, but I did it through normal promotions
over the period of a couple of years.
Graduation brought satisfaction that training was pretty much
over but added the apprehension of just where our new duty assignments
would take us. At least now I have an official MOS (Military Occupational
Specialty), 17B20 Field Artillery Radar Operator. With Christmas
near everyone sure wanted to be home for the holidays. Within days I
had my orders for Germany and they allowed time for Christmas leave. I
breathed a sigh of relief. I began wondering what Europe would be like.
I did encounter a bit of a SNAFU that caused me some delay while processing
out. Apparently, the cadre were so convinced that I would accept the NCO
Academy that they jumped the gun and had all of my personel records moved to
the NCO Academy orderly room. It took a couple of days to figure out
where everything went, but once I retrieved my records I continued to
process out and then book a flight home, just in time for Christmas.
Copyright © 1995 David C. Stafford
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