I had spent time as asst plt sgt as well as acting platoon sgt and it def was not my bag.. The command part did not come natural to me and I never grew into it.. Even back as a Sp5 (and subsequent Sgt) I did not enjoy delegating a rough duty or bad gig.. Instead, I would be right there doing it with them and bitching right along with them in the dirt, mud, dust, sleet, snow, ice, and rain as I had done since my earliest days with that unit.. On my last EER as a "Command NCO" I was gigged for not delegating enough tasks. Proud of it.
Sp7's disappeared in the late-70's when I was in Missouri, and by 1983 I was a Sp5 with a son and marital issues.. There were no Sp6's in the Tank Bn unless you were a medic.. Although the BnHq nurse fit into her OG107's quite nicely, the sight of her in BDU's did not entice me to become a Sp6 medic
.. Besides, she was the Battalion Cmdr's (unmarried) daughter, and an officer.. Double-Trouble !!
Thus I was pushed to obtain "hard" stripes.. "Division-86" brought changes and increased hardships.. We were expected to sacrifice even more family/personal/occupational time in order to fulfill the additional training days allocated to "meet the threat." The Brigade's armor and artillery units had been aggressive in the field since 1980 or '81 if not before, but their extremely-aggressive push was 1986 into 1989, raising hell with employers and marriages.. We did 3-day and 4-day weekends, and for those who could, there were month-long active commitments for certain things at Fort Irwin and in West Germany, and there were extended AT's and "advanced parties" for all who volunteered or be pressured into them.... This also included a few joint Canadian armor field exercises in New Brunswick, summer and winter.. These extras were a huge issue with my employer and my growing side business.. Eventually I asked my next-in-line if he wanted the slot since I was unable to give more extras than I already was... He didn't want it either but reluctantly took it... I side-stepped to become training NCO (Light-to-Heavy wheeled vehicles) and did driver testing/licensing for the Bn.,.. The timing was good because the former guy doing it transferred elsewhere.. It got me away from most of the extra stuff but came with it's own issues (unpaid hours).. Much of the paperwork and class prep had to be done on your own time at home because duty hours were already packed full of paperwork, statewide travel, and giving/receiving training..
There was a CWO2 in the Bn's S3 Section I developed a very good rapport with during this time.. He talked me into taking both the OCS and WOCS written tests, which I did very well on.. The most-important question was not on the tests.. Why would I want to start at the bottom of another ladder (officer) and not do the work I enjoy? As far as becoming a WO, they only had full-time positions.. I had a growing business, being full-time military again was not an option for me.
During regular field ops I would conduct sessions where Trans could practice unusual moves, safe ammo/fuel-handling refreshers, blind-side alley docking, self-recovery, winter driving, etc when they had slow periods.. Also conducted OJT hands-on for newbies coming into the BnHq Trans Section from another MOS.. Those later years, my AT's were spent at NCO school or pushing paper while the guys were at Fort Hood, or Irwin, or Shelby, or Drum.. I was no longer "right there" with them, but I also had no desire to become familiar with the M939-series, HEMTT's, and CHET's when they started rolling in..
A combat engineer at heart loving "vintage" equipment and trucks, I was unhappy, bored, and stressed working around the entire Battalion and HHC... Trained my replacement and went "inactive ready reserve" for a year or two and met wife #2.. Received a discharge short of retirement. Went to re-enlist days after 9-11 but Brigade doc found a problem that my doc would not write off.. Most of the Brigade activated soon thereafter for security duties, and later my old Bn and other elements of the Brigade were sent to Kuwait and Iraq under the 3rd Army.. After that, many from my old Bn were sent to Afghanistan.. I accepted a senior NCO slot in the State Guard where I eventually earned my final rank... Surprisingly, they did not make me have a physical exam.. Once a month we trained out of my former Tank Bn's OMS shop/motor pool, maintaining the Readiness position to fulfill State missions while the guys were overseas.. The excessive rainfall from Hurricane Irene hit the state very hard.. Massive road/bridge/property damage as well as flooding.. We had a hand in the relief efforts and a number of other statewide activities over the years.
At my first time attending the annual VSG statewide muster, 160+ men from line companies located all over the state reported in formation at one central armory location.. 95% of them I had never seen before, and there were vets from the 1960's on up to current years.. I was surprised and happy to see several "old timers" I had previously served with in the Armor Bn .. This included one of my former 1st-Shirts and one of my former platoon sgt's.. There was also a former 64-charlie I worked with who got out when we were Sp5's... In the VSG we both were assigned our own platoons customized to our liking, nobody else in them !!!
The two of us knew how to get it done ourselves and run in pairs if we had to, just like the old days.. Last but not least was the same CWO2 I had worked with decades ago.. It was good to be part of something with them once again, as well as work with new acquaintances with a wide variety of professional and military experiences ..
Of course, all of this new-found activity and time away from home (and buying my first 5-ton) led to wife #2 trouble/ divorce.. That was 2 strikes.. I am not gonna take a swing with current potential wife #3 , gonna bunt instead.. Although I live in NY on the VT border, I was born/raised in Vt thus allowed to enlist in the VSG and take the Oath.. Now that all the state's ARNG units are back from overseas, the VSG units are a back-burner operation on simmer.. I am currently "inactive" in that military organization but apparently still on the roster, I have not received a discharge.. I suppose if New Hampshire attacks Vermont, I will get a phone call.
