Veterans, where did you serve?

[Josan]

Politicians not always take the right decisions about where to start a fight, but respect to all you guys and girls who did the dirty work.

........and they say airguns are for juniors? When i see the average age here, even i feel young (1962).   

[oldnamvet]

Politicians not always take the right decisions about where to start a fight, but respect to all you guys and girls who did the dirty work.

........and they say airguns are for juniors? When i see the average age here, even i feel young (1962).   

Yup, there are a bunch of us enjoying our second childhood -- for many the one we were not allowed to have.

[mentolio]

USAF (kinda like being in the military), served during Desert Storm/Desert Shield. Vet on paper, never saw combat. Was a Crash/Fire/Rescue man.

[grimeszee]

USAF (kinda like being in the military), served during Desert Storm/Desert Shield. Vet on paper, never saw combat. Was a Crash/Fire/Rescue man.

You raised your hand my brother and took the oath, never understate how you served this country. Not all of us were needed to take a bullet down range.

[WxRadarman]

New to GTA.
USAF 82 - 2003
304X4 Ground radio from 82-92
Basic -- Lackland - 82
Tech School - Keesler MS-82
5th Combat Comm Group - Robbins Ga - 82-83
GLCM Training - Keesler MS / Davis Monthan AZ - Nov 83 - Mar 84
RAF Greenham Common - 84-87
3410th TTC - Keesler MS - 87-89
Univ of Arizona -- Airman Education and Commissioning Program - 89-91
1W now 15WX -- Wx Officer -- 92-2003
OTS -- Lackland -- 92
JRTC -- Fort Polk LA -- 92-94
AFIT - FSU -- 94-96
46th Wx Group - Eglin FL - 96-99
6th Wx Flight -- Fort Rucker AL -- 99-2003

[ssbn617]

USS Alexander Hamilton SSBN 617 blue
A gang. Machinery 1 was my home away from home
1974 - 1980

[Juliet_Bravo]

JB When were you at Fort Dix, and was it for Air Base Ground Defense training?

grimeszee I missed this post...my apologies.  Yes, I was at Fort Dix for ABGD school, and it was in Jul-Aug 1988.

I didn't include in my original post that I retired in 2008, although that might have been obvious.  I continue to serve in a Civil Servant capacity these days.

[grimeszee]

I am a civil servant as well at Fort Jackson SC.

[MicErs]

I am a civil servant as well at Fort Jackson SC.

I attended BASIC there a long time ago.

[cast]

US Navy 1980-1984 CVN-69 AO, Marine Base Al Asad Civilian contractor Iraqi 2007-2010

[deerflyguy]

SSgt USAF Security Police (SP)

10/68 - 12/70 - 416th SPS, Griffiss AFB, Rome, NY, Strategic Air Command (SAC) - [Worst SP duty in the USAF!]
(Guarded alert aircraft & nuclear weapons, usually outdoors, during all seasons, under all weather conditions)

12/70 - 12/71 - 3rd SPS; 6251st SPS, Bien Hoa AFB, RVN, Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) - [The VC/NVA tried to kill me here!]
(Guarded entire base during wartime conditions - perimeter, filghtline, ammo dump, bunkers, APCQRT, SAT; was NCOIC 6251st SPS Armory 6/71 - 12/71)

12/71 - 10/72 - 57th SPS, Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, NV, Tactical Air Command (TAC) - [Best SP duty station in the USA!]
(Guarded flightline, weapons systems storage facility; TDY security at numerous Nevada/Utah remote radar sites; partied hard at every off duty occasion!)

[Ol'DeadEye]

SSgt USAF Security Police (SP)

10/68 - 12/70 - 416th SPS, Griffiss AFB, Rome, NY, Strategic Air Command (SAC) - [Worst SP duty in the USAF!]
(Guarded alert aircraft & nuclear weapons, usually outdoors, during all seasons, under all weather conditions)

I believe you had a B52 wing equipped with Hound Dog missiles there.
I applied for Griffiss AFB and McCoy AFB and was sent to Homestead AFB.
I was a Verification and Checkout Equipment Tech for the Hound Dogs.
Did get out on the flightline often and even into the alert area once with the squadron commander.
You guys were scary with your real guns and big dogs.

[deerflyguy]

Yes, Griffiss AFB is closed now, but when it was open, it was a B-52 SAC Wing, and a NORAD fighter base. They flew B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers and F-106 fighters. When I got there early in 1969, fresh out of tech school, we carried M1 carbines, M2 carbines and .38 cal. S & W Combat Masterpieces. Eventually, after supplying the Vietnam war theater with M-16's, they finally got around to replacing our M1's & M2's with the early versions (no bolt assist) of the M-16. We always carried 3 loaded mags (one in the rifle and two in pouches), but nothing in the chamber, and the revolvers were max loaded with six rounds. Ball ammo, of course, in every case. Would we shoot? "dang" right!

I wrote a poem back then, while walking my duty station one dark night. It basicly explains the job of a security policeman and how boring and desperate a man can get doing the tedious job that nobody wants to do.

Tell It Like It Is,  by A1C William C. Weber, Griffiss AFB, Rome, NY,  1969

Tell It Like It Is
Tell It Like It Is
When The Man Says "What's Your Problem?"
Tell It Like It Is

Last night I worked a mid shift
It was pouring rain!
I was posted as a close-in
Walking 'round a plane.

I was super p----d off
Wet as I could be.
With rain spots on my glasses
I could hardly see!

I hadn't had a skate, man,
In almost seven days.
I thought I saw my flight chief
Coming through the haze.

He had a rider with him.
The duty officer was out.
This had to be "The Man"
Without a doubt!

He pulled up right beside me
Cracked his window and he said,
"Is it raining out there airman?"
And then my face got red.

I must have lost my temper
'Cause I grabbed him by his shirt.
I pulled him out the window
And I laid him in the dirt!

I called him a dirty b-----d
And a rotten S.O.B.
And I hit him in the face
Before the flight chief got to me!

He relieved me of all duty,
Took my weapon on the spot.
He must have thought me crazy
'Cause I told him "Thanks a lot!"

I saw my commanding officer
The very first thing today.
He said "Airman, what's your problem?"
And I had this to say:

I said, "Sir, you don't know what it's like
To walk around a plane,
While the sky is spreading misery
In the form of cold, wet rain!

A hundred thoughts go through your mind
Of things you'd like to do,
And then some guy comes on your post
And makes his fun of you!

I did it, sir, I hit him,
I'm as guilty as can be,
And I'd do the same to any man
Who'd make a joke of me!

It's not a laughing matter, sir,
To stand out in the weather
When everyone else in the Air Force
Has a job you know is better!"

I looked at him - he looked at me
And nothing more was said.
I started to speak, but he cut me off,
It was he who spoke instead.

In a voice that left no doubt
That he was truly in command,
He handed down my judgement
And this is how he began:

He said, "Son, I know you've got it hard
But don't cry on my shoulder!
You'll realize the job you've done
When you're a few years older!

For it takes guts to guard an airplane
Every single day,
But to strike from anger takes no guts at all
And for this, you'll have to pay!

And just so you'll remember
This lesson that you've seen,
I'll give you the carbon copy
Of your Article 15!

Just take this pen and write your name
You don't have to be neat!"
I meekly signed my name
Upon that paper of defeat!

Tonight I'll walk the line again
Just like all the rest,
But this time it'll be different
'Cause I'm wearing one stripe less!

[MicErs]

You guys were scary with your real guns and big dogs.

You just reminded me of what SPs are like.


In 1981 I was stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo Texas as an instructor at the Joint Service Intelligence Center and School. This was a SCIF.  Instructors had to pull a duty called "vault monitor" so that students could access their study materials on weekends.  I was supposed to call the Provost Marshals office before I entered the compound. 


Well, guess what?!  I forgot.  I was just about half way down the hall toward the vault when I heard, "HALT!  Turn around and place your hands behind your head!" or something to that effect.  It was the sound of that M16 slide being racked that really got my attention.   


Never made that mistake again.


Thanks for your service.

[deerflyguy]

You're welcome, Mike! Ditto!

Just one personal experiance that comes to mind, and which was the closest that I ever came to discharging my weapon while on duty:

On one occasion, while at GAFB, as a member of a security alert team (SAT) a three man patrol that was dispatched to an entry control point where the sgt  at that post had apprehended a perpetrator, we were to take him back to security control for questioning. Being a SAC base, on alert, during the cold war, we had no way to know what his intentions were, so we put him in the bed of the pickup truck we were using as a patrol vehicle that night, and I was elected to ride with him back there and keep him under control. The first thing I did was to have him kneel down and face the cab, then put his hands on the roof of the cab. He started giving me lip, and I told him in my most convincing voice to shut up. I jacked a live round into the chamber of my M-16, and put the muzzle of the rifle up against the back of his head. I told him that if he made one bad move I would blow his  head off! I meant it! We then proceeded to drive about a mile back to security control, him on his knees all the way, my thumb on the safety/fire selector switch and my index finger on the trigger, and he never moved or said another word during the entire trip!

You're correct. There is no mistaking the sound of an M-16 being racked, and you really don't want to hear the next sound that an M-16 makes after it has been racked!
 be careful with your language sir.  David

[MicErs]

Yep, we chewed some of the same dirt.  Do you know an officer named Billy Simmons?

[deerflyguy]

No. If he was in the 416th SPS squadron, he was either before me, or after me. Our officers were Capt. Holly Clevenger, Lt. "Fuzzy" Schmick, and Lt. Albino Goncalves.
I think they finally rifted Clevenger?

[MicErs]

No. If he was in the 416th SPS squadron, he was either before me, or after me. Our officers were Capt. Holly Clevenger, Lt. "Fuzzy" Schmick, and Lt. Albino Goncalves.
I think they finally rifted Clevenger?

Cpt. Simmons was provost marshal in 1983.  I think he arrived there in 1982.  He was a good man.  Actually from what I dealt with, you were all good men and women.  So.. again thanks.

[oldnamvet]

Mention of Goodfellow brought back some memories.  I was there with the Army (ASA) contingent for training in the fall of 1969.  Remember that  Bell street seemed to flood every time it rained and I had to drive all over the place to get across the river and to the base.

[MicErs]

Mention of Goodfellow brought back some memories.  I was there with the Army (ASA) contingent for training in the fall of 1969.  Remember that  Bell street seemed to flood every time it rained and I had to drive all over the place to get across the river and to the base.

ASA for the win.  98G4LKP.