Thumpalumpacus
Major
Your post about your son in Basic Training got me to thinking back on my experiences years ago. I decided to write up my rather long story of how I wound up enlisting and what it was like. Maybe it will reassure some young man to do the same thing- we sure need good people in the military these days!
Enlisting In the United States Army 1960
Since I had made a mess of my college career, it was clear that I could not continue to live at home much longer. I needed to get a job of some sort and provide for myself like a grownup.
Earlier I had visited the local US Army recruiter in Buckhannon, WV and we had discussed options that I might consider. In those days- 1960- young men had two options concerning the military. They could voluntarily enlist for three years or they could wait to be drafted, a two year term. Some used another option and enlisted in the Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, or Air Force. None of these had a draft. When it came to the Army, there were definite advantages to enlisting- having some choice in what type of job you wanted. There was no guarantee but it was better than being assigned at random.
After a couple of weeks without any decision being made on my part, I received a call from the recruiter asking to see me to discuss what he thought might be a good opportunity. I saw him that afternoon in his office and he explained that the Army had just opened up a new field and was looking for qualified applicants for training in "Nuclear Weapons Ordnance Electronics". To make their offer more enticing, they offered a written guarantee that if I were to enlist, I would be sent to that school- providing that I could pass the required tests, of course.
This was an exciting opportunity; I had no doubt that it was something I could do, and do well. I had been involved in electronics since the seventh grade as a hobby and had had my amateur radio license since the start of high school. I discussed this new development with my Mother at home in the evening (my Dad was in Korea at that time) and we agreed that it sounded almost perfect for me. The next day, the 18th of August, 1960, I signed the necessary papers to enlist in the US Army. Since I would be required to have a security clearance, I had to provide additional paperwork showing everywhere I had ever lived, had a job, or visited a foreign country. Since I had grown up as an Army Brat, living all over the US and even Japan and Germany- plus traveling extensively in Europe, getting this information together was not easy! We reconstructed a timeline and we discovered that I had attended twelve different schools.
After submitting my documents I was told by the recruiting Sergeant to report to an Army Recruiting Main Station in Fairmont, WV, about 35 miles away in a few days. At home I prepared to leave home, saying goodbyes to my family and friends and wondering a bit apprehensively about what lay in the future for me. On the designated morning, I left home on a bus to Fairmont carrying a small sports bag with a change of cloths and a shaving kit.
The Army Recruiting Main Station was a one story yellow glazed-brick building with a small group of young men wandering around in front on the sidewalk. From my experience of being a Brat, I knew that the proper thing to do first was to report for duty. I went up the few steps into the front door, and announced to the Sergeant behind the front desk that I was "Neil Page Albaugh" and that I was reporting to the Station as ordered. He extended his hand and took the paperwork from me, looked at it briefly and said to wait. So I joined the small crowd milling around outside.
After a while that Sergeant came out and formed us into two lines and we stumbled along into the front door, down a hallway into a large auditorium. We were seated for a short time before an officer came into the room. The Sergeant shouted "Attention!" and we all shuffled to our feet uncertainly. The officer explained that we were about to enlist in the United States Army and with that came grave responsibilities, etc, etc. We all raised our right hands and repeated the oath to defend our country "So help us, God". Congratulations, you are now members of the United States Army. We all looked at each other, sensing that something had changed within us.
The next step was to take a written test- I assumed this was to access our level of education and basic learning ability. We would be taking many other tests later but this was the first one. An enlisted man passed out a test sheet, a pencil, and a sheet of blank paper to each of us. We were told to complete this test in a certain amount of time- I forget how many minutes we were allotted- to guess at the "best answer" if we did not know it, and to do any needed calculations or other work on the blank paper provided and both would be collected at the end of the test and graded for accuracy.
A timer was set and we were ordered to "Begin". The test involved English language usage, basic math, spacial relations - visualizing geometric shapes in different orientations- and questions with hypothetical situations designed to test our judgment and ability to reason. Other questions related to basic electricity and mechanics. The test was pretty easy and I finished early. After going back over my answers to check for dumb mistakes, I sat waiting for the test period to be over. Sitting in my chair was boring so, to amuse myself and help pass the time, I used the blank sheet of paper to sketch a few drawings and explore a couple of cartoon ideas.
Finally the test time expired and we were instructed to write our names at the top of our test sheets and our blank pages, "last name first and first name last". We would get used to this way of writing our names for the next few years. Our tests and papers were collected and the enlisted man disappeared down the hallway. We talked about the test among ourselves and was a little surprised that some of the guys had struggled to complete it. We were left alone for a short time and then the door burst open. "I'd like to see the test score of the man who had time to do this!" he announced to us all and he held up a piece of paper to show the offending work-- it was my blank page with my drawings! I wisely kept quiet and he stormed out, back down the hallway.
After siting in the auditorium for a long time, the door opened and the Sergeant read off my name from a paper he was holding in his hand. A rose from my seat, wondering why I was being singled out, and followed the Sergeant down the hall and into an office with "Captain Gerard B Overman, Commanding" written on the door. Whatever was about to happen was something important so I stood at attention in front of his desk and waited. Captain Overman introduced himself as the Commanding Officer of the US Army Recruiting Main Station,Fairmont, held up my test and scratch paper and asked me if it was mine. I swallowed hard and answered "Yes, Sir".
"Albaugh," he said, "In my whole career in this job I have never seen anyone achieve a perfect score in this test." Maybe the relief showed on my face; even the Sergeant smiled.
Next month my Dad in Korea received a letter from this Captain reaffirming what he had told me and he also mentioned my later test scores and he offered his congratulations. He confirmed that The Ordnance Electronics Course that I had signed up for would commence on October 21st. It was a very considerate thing to do.
All of us collected our bags and were placed on a Greyhound bus to Fort Knox for Basic Training, a 10 week training period for young civilians to learn how to become soldiers.
Yet another great retelling of an important event in your life. I repeat my urge that you take up writing, but in the meantime, appreciate you sharing this bit of stressfulness I'm experiencing.
I'll share my own enlistment story one day. It involves waivers, a sudden death in the family, and a recruiter who just could not have been better.
