I was commissioned in Armor as a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Virginia Military Institute's Class of 1978. At VMI I served as Cadet Platoon Leader of the Tankers Platoon, an extra-curricular group of cadets who maintained -- and conducted special training on -- the Institute's five M48A1 tanks. These gas-burners were older than us, having been assembled in 1954! Just prior to graduating, we had the unique experience of road marching five new replacement tanks from the railhead at Buena Vista, Virginia to the training area near Lexington, Virginia. We created quite an "uproar" in Buena Vista ... the local elementary school children were actually let out of class to watch the parade pass by.
After graduating from the Armor Officers Basic Course, at Fort Knox, Kentucky in March, 1979, I received orders for overseas duty with the 3d Armored Division in the Federal Republic of Germany. Between April, 1979 and March, 1982 I served successively as Platoon Leader, 3d Platoon, B Company, 3d Battalion, 33d Armor Regiment, as that battalion's heavy mortar Platoon Leader, and Executive Officer for the Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company. Colonel Gordon R. Sullivan, future Army Chief of Staff, was the Brigade Commander during my tour as HHC Executive Officer.
In March, 1982 I returned to the U.S. for the next phase in my professional schooling. I attended the Armor Officers Advanced Course and the Junior Officer's Maintenance Course and was ordered to Fort Hood, Texas. But, before I could get back to tanks, I had to "do my time" as an Operations Officer at a place called TCATA (Training and Doctrine Command's Combined Arms Testing Activity). I was there two years and, aside from the year I would later spend on the 3d Armored Division Staff, it was the biggest waste of time and energy in my military career. The officers in III Corps, on main post, called it the "Retirement Home," and that's exactly what it was. I got out of there just in time. The one positive thing I can say about my time at TCATA is that, while there, I fell in love with quartermaster officer Deborah Mitchell, who became my wife on July 14, 1984. At Fort Knox they told us, "If you want to be a successful Tanker, you have to get in bed with the logisticians." I took them at their word!
I commanded Company C, 3d Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas from February 1985 through August 1986. At the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California in March, 1986, "Charlie" Company, organized as a combined arms tank-mechanized infantry team, killed more of the enemy with fewer rounds than any previous unit, setting a new record for direct fire efficiency. Commanding "Charlie" Company was absolutely the best professional experience of my life.
From the period of my service with the 3-66 Armor, I have been affiliated with the 66th Armor Regiment. Until it was disbanded in the aftermath of Desert Storm, the 66th had a proud heritage. I had the honor of sharing several wonderfully motivational conversations with the honorary Regimental Commander, the late Colonel Herbert Long, while I commanded "Charlie Company." As a Major, he had commanded the 1st Battalion during the Normandy Campaign in July-August, 1944. During the same period (mid-'80s), the U.S. Armor Association developed a new award for service that was designed to recognize particularly outstanding service. Between frequent contacts with the "old veterans" of our regiment and the pride being shown in the heritage of mounted warfare, it was a good time to be a soldier. The proudest moment of my military career came at the conclusion of my command, when the I was awarded the Bronze Medalion of the Order of Saint George (the patron saint of mounted warriors) for "long and honorable service to armor and cavalry."
I returned to Germany and the 3d Armored Division in January, 1987 as Assistant S3 in charge of training for the 2d Brigade. My principle duty there, in addition to designing and coordinating the annual training program for the brigade's two tank battalions and the mechanized infantry battalion, was to serve as Officer-in-Charge of the Tactical Command Post. I served in that capacity for two years before being "bumped up" to Division Headquarters because of my expertise in designing tank gunnery training programs. I was assigned to a special staff section overseeing the Division's team for the international Canadian Army Trophy tank gunnery competition. Unfortunately, the senior officer who personally intervened -- against the strenuous opposition of my superiors -- to have me transfered to Division HQ did not support our recommendations. In the end I was little more than the highest paid sign painter and eye-wash gopher in the U.S. Army. The 3AD's 1989 CAT team was a shameful embarassment; it was the worst, most wasted year of my life.
As a new Major, I was selected to serve on the Army Staff in Washington, D.C., assigned to the Office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence as the Foreign Armor Science and Technology Officer. My job was to coordinate the efforts of several intelligence analysts who kept track of developments in potential threat countries. Our biggest challenge during my time on the Army Staff was to keep up with developments in the disintegrating Soviet Union. I think my biggest contribution came during Desert Shield, when I wrote the information paper that lead to speeding up the fielding of new M1A1 tanks to units earmarked for deployment to Saudi Arabia.
The Army Staff was designated an Army Superior Unit for its service during Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm and I was proud to be able to wear that ribbon for the remainder of my career.
After four years in the Pentagon, which gave me time to complete a Master of Science degree in Information Management and to discover the hobby of railfanning, I volunteered for South Korea. From August, 1993 through July, 1994 I was the S3 of the Division Support Command at Camp Casey. From there, I moved to Seoul and took a position as Information Management Officer in the United Nations Command headquarters. Both of these assignments were great experiences. But neither was considered prestigious enough to merit my promotion.
So, the Army personnel command sent me to the place they send all officers who aren't good enough to get promoted: ROTC, where we train, mentor, and select the best officer candidates to lead our soldiers. Make sense? I didn't think so, either. But, hey, as another non-promotable Major once told me when I was a young captain,
As a Major of Armor having failed of promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, U. S. Army Cadet Command assigned me to command the ROTC company at Frostburg State University in the mountains of western Maryland. Although attached to the West Virginia University battalion, I was a full Professor of Military Science and chair of an academic department.
After eighteen months at Frostburg State I bowed to the inevitable and entered the civilian world. William Clinton, the first President of the United States since Franklin Delano Roosevelt who never served his country in uniform, was no longer my Commander-in-Chief. For 18 years, I went where the Army sent me and did my best to take care of my soldiers and accomplish my mission. In all that time, I never played politics or went out of my way to advertise myself or my unit. The units under my command consistently outperformed their sister organizations in every phase of combat readiness save one: standing inspections. And that, dear friends, is the secret of my failure. If I had it to do over again, I'd do only one thing different: I would never prioritize combat readiness over looking good in inspections.
Nah! How would that look in a letter to a soldiers' widow? "Your son is dead, but his commander's supply room passed the AGI. Hooah."
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