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uspsmark · 02-22-2013, 20:32

Thank you for allowing me access to your site. I've spent a few hours over the past 72 reading through several postings and getting to know the rules for posting and the role of a visitor like myself.

I am 50 years old and served in the U.S. Army from 1983-1994. I actually started my military service after high school when I went to Georgia Military College and was a cadet in the two year commissioning program. I graduated with an AS Degree in Engineering (mostly math and science courses) and was commissioned a 2LT. I then went to Florida State University for a year until my funds ran out. While in school that year, I served as an Infantry Platoon Leader in the Florida Army National Guard in Tallahassee, FL. A close friend of mine's Father was an Army recruiter and I discussed my options of entering on active duty, We discussed several options and I elected to sign a contract which would put me through 91B school, then Airborne school and enrollment in the SFQC for 18D. I graduated from 300-F1 in January of 85 and went to Fort Bragg to start MedLab and continue with the Q course. In between the end of studies at Fort Sam and arrival back at Bragg, I got married to an active duty 91B that was stationed at Fort Hood, TX. Got to Bragg, waited several months for an available MedLab slot with the rest of my group of trainees. We spent the "down time" doing PT, taking EMT and Trauma and Triage classes, doing Land Nav out near Texas Pond (and the porta potty dump site!), etc. I finally got to Med Lab and enjoyed every minute of it. Doing a necropsy on a goat, killing and eating our own chicken for lunch in the compound, and the various other fun times was fantastic. But...I made a decision that would haunt me for the rest of my time in service. After discussions with my new wife on many occasions, I decided to voluntarily withdraw from the Q course just prior to finishing Med Lab. I took a joint domicile assignment at Fort Hood, TX and was put into a Mechanized Infantry unit. This was the time frame when they had split 91B into 91A and 91B. I was an E4 at the time of arrival and was kept a 91B since I had taken the Special Operation Medical NCO Course. I got promoted to E5 in the secondary zone and was the only E4 91B on the list. I re-enlisted for duty stabilization at my home base and a very good bonus. That lasted a year before I got orders to go to the Sinai with the Multinational Force and Observers Logistical Support Unit as a Flight Medic. Served as the NCOIC for the flight medical detachment for a 12 month tour. I requested to be returned to Bragg and got orders to a FAST Team (which was a fairly new concept at the time). My orders got rescinded and I got extended an additional two months and got new orders to report to the Army School of Aviation Medicine at Fort Rucker, AL as an instructor. I had been before the promotion board while in the Sinai and got promoted to E6 (once again in the secondary zone and there were only 3 on the list that time) shortly after arriving in Alabama. I worked as an instructor in Aviation Medicine, went to the Air Force School for Hypo/Hyperbaric technicians as well. I took the FAST screening test and got a slot in Flight School and graduated in 1990 as a UH-1 pilot. I went directly to a UH-60 transition and was supposed to be assigned to a unit that was in Kuwait. Orders got changed and I was sent to Germany to a unit supporting the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. Flew a bunch of missions from Cyprus to Beirut for two years then came back to Fort Hood, TX and worked in airfield operations until time for me to leave the service. I got out in 1994, worked in the computer field for a year then took a job with the U.S Postal Service where I could add my military time to my new Federal job benefits. I'm currently a Postmaster in a small rural community.

My medical training in Fort Sam and Fort Bragg made me a much better medic than many of my contemporaries. To this day, I still remember quite a bit of it. My doctor asked me if I was a veterinarian or a nurse the first time he met me since I was so well versed in Anatomy & Physiology and diagnostic skills.

Although I never made it into the ranks of our outstanding "Quiet Professionals", I still to this day feel a bond with all of you. I applaud your service and dedication to our country. It's an honor to come back and read up on all the new things that have happened in the past 25+ years and bear witness to the best soldiers in the world doing what they do. Congratulations on an outstanding site!

02-22-2013, 20:32	#919
uspsmark BANNED USER Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 151	Hello from Southwest Virginia... Thank you for allowing me access to your site. I've spent a few hours over the past 72 reading through several postings and getting to know the rules for posting and the role of a visitor like myself. I am 50 years old and served in the U.S. Army from 1983-1994. I actually started my military service after high school when I went to Georgia Military College and was a cadet in the two year commissioning program. I graduated with an AS Degree in Engineering (mostly math and science courses) and was commissioned a 2LT. I then went to Florida State University for a year until my funds ran out. While in school that year, I served as an Infantry Platoon Leader in the Florida Army National Guard in Tallahassee, FL. A close friend of mine's Father was an Army recruiter and I discussed my options of entering on active duty, We discussed several options and I elected to sign a contract which would put me through 91B school, then Airborne school and enrollment in the SFQC for 18D. I graduated from 300-F1 in January of 85 and went to Fort Bragg to start MedLab and continue with the Q course. In between the end of studies at Fort Sam and arrival back at Bragg, I got married to an active duty 91B that was stationed at Fort Hood, TX. Got to Bragg, waited several months for an available MedLab slot with the rest of my group of trainees. We spent the "down time" doing PT, taking EMT and Trauma and Triage classes, doing Land Nav out near Texas Pond (and the porta potty dump site!), etc. I finally got to Med Lab and enjoyed every minute of it. Doing a necropsy on a goat, killing and eating our own chicken for lunch in the compound, and the various other fun times was fantastic. But...I made a decision that would haunt me for the rest of my time in service. After discussions with my new wife on many occasions, I decided to voluntarily withdraw from the Q course just prior to finishing Med Lab. I took a joint domicile assignment at Fort Hood, TX and was put into a Mechanized Infantry unit. This was the time frame when they had split 91B into 91A and 91B. I was an E4 at the time of arrival and was kept a 91B since I had taken the Special Operation Medical NCO Course. I got promoted to E5 in the secondary zone and was the only E4 91B on the list. I re-enlisted for duty stabilization at my home base and a very good bonus. That lasted a year before I got orders to go to the Sinai with the Multinational Force and Observers Logistical Support Unit as a Flight Medic. Served as the NCOIC for the flight medical detachment for a 12 month tour. I requested to be returned to Bragg and got orders to a FAST Team (which was a fairly new concept at the time). My orders got rescinded and I got extended an additional two months and got new orders to report to the Army School of Aviation Medicine at Fort Rucker, AL as an instructor. I had been before the promotion board while in the Sinai and got promoted to E6 (once again in the secondary zone and there were only 3 on the list that time) shortly after arriving in Alabama. I worked as an instructor in Aviation Medicine, went to the Air Force School for Hypo/Hyperbaric technicians as well. I took the FAST screening test and got a slot in Flight School and graduated in 1990 as a UH-1 pilot. I went directly to a UH-60 transition and was supposed to be assigned to a unit that was in Kuwait. Orders got changed and I was sent to Germany to a unit supporting the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. Flew a bunch of missions from Cyprus to Beirut for two years then came back to Fort Hood, TX and worked in airfield operations until time for me to leave the service. I got out in 1994, worked in the computer field for a year then took a job with the U.S Postal Service where I could add my military time to my new Federal job benefits. I'm currently a Postmaster in a small rural community. My medical training in Fort Sam and Fort Bragg made me a much better medic than many of my contemporaries. To this day, I still remember quite a bit of it. My doctor asked me if I was a veterinarian or a nurse the first time he met me since I was so well versed in Anatomy & Physiology and diagnostic skills. Although I never made it into the ranks of our outstanding "Quiet Professionals", I still to this day feel a bond with all of you. I applaud your service and dedication to our country. It's an honor to come back and read up on all the new things that have happened in the past 25+ years and bear witness to the best soldiers in the world doing what they do. Congratulations on an outstanding site!
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