The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 35, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 6, 1975 Page: 4 of 20
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•Page Four-A
send it through is tr ib uti on
The sign said Killeen-21 miles. The rolling semi-arid
landscape of Central Texas was evident as I approached
the small military town on the outskirts of Ft. Hood.
Another eye catcher or rather eye sore which was evi-
dent as I approached the Ft. Hood area was the endless
roadside deaths of automobiles that were seemingly
placed alongside the highway as landmarks into Ft. Hood.
Within five miles of the post loomed the largest
cemetery I had ever seen not filled with white crosses
neatly arranged in rows but a conglomeration of
automobiles that never made it out of the city limits.
It seems that Ft. Hood soldiers lock their reasoning
powers in their wall lockers on paydays as GIs by the
thousands converge on area used car dealers to find the
cheapest buys for the largest loudest and fastest
machines on the lot.
Anything with a V-8 engine dual carburetor “souped-
up” engine extra wide tires mag wheels loud muffler
and an interior with enough fake fur to keep a polar bear
warm is ideal for the average soldier looking for a car.
It doesn’t matter that the car’s odometer reads 00002
and it happens to be 1961 vintage or that the car dealer
asks you to sign a “sight unseen” contract where the
signature is there but the engine isn’t.
You have an obligation to check carefully for possible
malfunctions that may occur after the purchase. Take a
certified mechanic along. Those few dollars spent may
save you hundreds in the long run.
Make sure you know what you’re signing before you hop
into that “once-in-a-lifetime” deal. Don’t fall for a car just
because a local radio station has labelled it the “buy of the
year” or the salesman makes you a “verbal” offer vou
can’t refuse. Get all claims down in writing.
As I entered the city limits I wondered over the fateful
death of each antique that sat smoldering on the side of the
road and I pondered who will be next.
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Fort Hood Sentinel
ub lished in thin terest of ilita ry and civilian personnel at rt Hood as ev ry rsd ay bv Bell ublishing
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O O ____
Standards:
not enough
or too much
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
I doubt that you will print my letter but it’s
my freedom of speech as I see it my version
of Brigade *75.
The name for this jive time training in
Germany is a waste of taxpayers’ money and
an undue hardship on the military wives which
never ceases. First I want to say congratula-
tions to all military wives of Brigade ’75. It
takes a special kind of woman to even be a GI’s
wife and in this Army today it takes more than
a special woman.
Let’s be truthful with each other now. How
many of you wives were having family pro-
blems before your man left? How many undone
things did he leave for you to do the best way
you could? How many can truly say they have
heard from their husband or even get a letter
once a week? This is by all means your only
means of communication and definitely is a
family obligation for each and every man that
is on this Brigade ’75 or for that matter any
place away from his family. This is a family ob-
ligation that a few forget when they do leave.
I have a friend that works around some of the
GIs that returned from their first TDY of
Brigade ’75. They sure miss Germany and their
so-called field training and hand-to-hand com-
oat with all the frauleins. No word is even men-
tioned of the hard training they were there for
in the first place. I bet out of the whole six
months TDY they did not have more than three
months field training. So why the six months
TDY? Maybe three months to have a vacation
from good old Ft. Hood and their family. No
wonder most of the GI’s morale is so high and
most of their wiyes morale is so low.
I know very few people here at Ft. Hood but
the biggest laugh of all is I don’t even know or
have met my husband’s first sergeant or CO. I
FT. HOOD SENTINEL FT. HOOD TEXAS
by
T. Gunner
“When Elizabeth comes marching home again hurrah hurrah When Elizabeth com-
es march...”
Hey Milton” I interrupted. “You’ve got the words to the song wrong. It’s
Johnny. When Johnny comes marching home not Elizabeth.
“That’s the old song” Milton Moveover shook his head. “I’m writing anew song to
catch up with the modern Army.
“Oh” I said. “You mean with the additional.
“. Women in the Army. That’s right” Milton nodded “It’s an unlimited horizon pal.
Think of the songs we can write. The books we can author. The movies that can be
made.”
“You mean something like‘The Girl I Left Behind’?”
“Sure. But instead of Van Heflin and Tab Hunter in the lead roles we put Della Reese
and Barbara Hale in my movie and call it ‘The Dude Who Stayed Home’.”
I laughed. “What about the ‘Sands of Iwo Jima with John Wayne?”
“Great. Now you’re getting the idea. Instead of John Wayne we’ll have Mary Tyler
Moore and call it ‘Pebbles Of Waikiki Beach’.”
“Wait a minute Milty” I said roughly. “I think you ’re serious. It would never work.”
“Why not?” Milton frowned. “It’s a cinch.”
“Yeah? Old W.W. II has had millions of word written about it and hundreds of movies
were made. It’s been done Milty. Anyway I know you. You’re not the type to carry it
off.”
“Maybe it’s been done” he retorted. “But not with women as the heroes ah
rather the heroines.”
“Movies are no good. Television is the medium for today’s woman.
“Hey! There you go” Milton grinned. “Let’s see what could we do with that. What
are some formats we could use?”
‘‘Sergeant Bpko I giggled.
“Yeah we could put Bea Arthur in the lead and call the show ‘SGT Maudie’.”
“The Lieutenant’. Remember that one? This guy was always up to his neck in al-
ligators? Everything went wrong for him.
“Great idea” Milton panted. “That’s the spirit. We could cast Angie Dickinson in the
lead for that one.”
“No Milty that wouldn’t work. She already has a show.
“Then we could get Karen Valentine or Sandy Duncan as the star. We wouldn’t even
have to rename the program.”
“I don’t know about your scheme Milton. It doesn’t seem to me like you are the one to
take on this kind..
“.. .What about‘Combat’?”
“What about it?”
BY JOHN E. GRABOWSKI
The “lack of standards” in the modern Army has been
target of those who decry the professionalism of the volun-
teer force. One wonders however whether an absence of
standards or a glut of standards is at fault.
Have we not standards today? Or have we so many at
so many different levels that it means the same thing?
It’s not a small distinction. Lack of a single standard on
one hand implies that either the leadership has failed to
set a standard or that it is impotent to enforce it. In the
other instance however an abundance of standards may
often mean that the leadership has failed to make up its
mind on a single point or that it is willing to leave the real
decision-making to commanders at lower levels.
One instance in the final category is a teletype message
dated March 21 1975 and which announced an interim
change to AR 600-50. The message added a subparagraph
which read:
COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY ALSO INCLUDES THE
RESPONSIBLITY THAT COMMANDERS KEEP FULLY
INFORMED OF THE OFF/DUTY EMPLOYMENT OF
MILITARY PERSONNEL WITHIN THE COMMAND.
WHEN A COMMANDER DETERMINES THAT AN IN-
DIVIDAL’S OFF-DUTY EMPLOYMENT WILL EITHER
IMPAIR THE UNIT’S ABILITY TO ACCOMPLISH ITS
MISSION ADVERSELY EFFECT THE INDIVIDUAL’S
PROFESSIONAL REPUTATION WITHIN THE UNIT
OR DISCREDIT THE OVERALL IMAGE OF THE ARMY
... THE INDIVIDUAL WILL TERMINATE SUCH
EMPLOYMENT.
On the surface the message appears innocent enough. It
reaffirms the commander’s traditional role in knowing
what his (or her) troops are doing off duty. Command is a
24-hour-a-day responsibility seven days a week. Comman-
ders are responsible for everything their personnel do or
fail to do. The adages are timeless and universal.
It’s what the message doesn’t say that bothers us
however. What kinds of jobs could “adversely affect the
individual’s professional reputation within the unit” or
“discredit the overall image of the Army?”
Would a dishwashing job in a restaurant affect an NCO’s
professional reputation in his unit? Or an NCO who works
SHOTS
don’t even know their names or their wives. I
think before each guy left for TDY they should
have had a family day for each company going
TDY so we all could get together once before
they left. This is one of my main complaints
too.
To all military wives of Brigade ’75 I say
good luck on your hardship tour of duty at Ft.
Hood Tex.
J. Smith
Dear J. Smith
We in the military want to thank you for re-
cognizing that military wives area very special
group. Career men in the military are well
aware of this and have been since the early
days of our country’s history when their wives
packed up and went off to war with their
spouse doing his cooking washing his clothes
and taking care of his wounds. We know that
this is not expected of the military wife today
but she still has the major task of running the
home and raising the children in her husband’s
absences for combat or training tours. The
banker doesn’t leave the combination to the
vault with someone that he doesn’t trust so you
girls can take it as a compliment that your
husband trusts you with raising the family and
taking care of things in his absence.
Perhaps some of us have been remiss in tell-
ing our wives that we realize that they have as-
sumed additional responsibilities as the wife of
a military man but we think that most families
are well aware of these harships and the ma-
jority of men appreciate and trust their wives
to do a good job of taking care of things while
they are away.
One of your comments was that some of the
families were having trouble before departure
&
Letters to the editor
on Brigade *75 and some of the men did not take
care of things that could be done before de-
parture for Germany. This is and must be a
personal problem between a man and his fami-
ly. If the serviceman is mature (and not just in
age) he will arrange family affairs to the best
of his ability to help make the separation as
easy on his family as possible.
Every effort was made to assist the families
of soldiers going on Brigade *75. Units had
Organizational Days where the family includ-
ing the children could come see where their
husbands worked and meet the people he
worked with including their wives. Sorry you
didn’t make it. A special booth was set up at the
Community Center that operates 24 hours a day
to serve as a central point to assist wives re-
maining in the Ft. Hood area.
The Brigade wives formed a Chain of Con-
cern formed along the lines of the chain of com-
mand. This includes wives from the battalion
commander’s wife right down to the wife of the
most junior man in the unit. The theory here
was the wives wanted to help one another with
any problems they might encounter. The wives
of senior personnel naturally had more ex-
perience in dealing with the problems peculiar
to the military and could give advice on solving
the problem or refer the wife to the proper
agency at Ft. Hood that could give the needed
assistance.
You mentioned the training and the hand-to-
hand combat with the Frauleins. The training
was long and hard. Most soldiers who have
participated in Brigade ’75 indicated that they
thought the training was superior. There are
many reasons that this is so: the unit was at full
strength and the entire six month period field
conditions for training in Europe were good
and more time was devoted to training and less
Thursday November 6 1975
at a supermarket as a stock clerk and bag boy? Or the
soldier who tends bar at a club frequented by his Army
superiors? Or a WAC who works as a go-go dancer in the
post clubs after hours?
Some might argue this should make no difference as
long as the individual can be on time to work in condition
and in a frame of mind that allows maximum effort on du-
ty. Everything else is of a personal nature. The Army
shouldn’t mess with a soldiers’ private life they say.
Others though may justifiably feel invited to think dif-
ferently. What if that NCO supermarket clerk is carrying
out bags for a subordinate who knows him? What if the GI
bartender is serving a pie-eyed superior? What if that
WAC go-go dancer’s commander is in the audience and he
sees her more as a sex symbol than as an off-duty soldier?
In the extreme couldn’t we argue that any off-duty
employment could “discredit the overall image of the
Army” because it implies we don’t pay soldiers enough or
don’t keep them busy enough soldiering?
There are two points to be made. First in cases like this
where standards are being set there needs to be enough
specific guidance to invite a uniformity of opinion. Vague-
ness in contrast could result in a widely disparate and
unfair set of criteria. A prohibited job in “A” Go. might be
permitted in “B” Co. because each commander has the
latitude to decide for himself.
In a society which depends so heavily on discipline
the adherence to established standards individual value
judgments by low-level commanders could create a
damaging atmosphere of inconsistency.
The second point involves the individual’s basic right to
decide how to use his or her off-duty time. Rather than the
one-sided command-heavy approach taken in the
mesage this columnist would have preferred a document
which considered as legitimate employment all jobs which
involve honest labor pose no threat to the unit’s
performance or the individual’s ability to perform his as-
signed mission and which do not inherently involve a con-
flict of professional interests.
That puts the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of
the individual soldier where it belongs.
“We could cast Elizabeth Taylor in Vic Morrow’s role as the squad leader Sergeant..
“No Milton. You couldn’t do that. W.W.II remember?”
“If we can’t do that then what can we do? I can’t think of any other shows.”
“M*A*S*H\” I ventured. “Who would you cast as Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper
John?”
“Todie Fields and Joan Rivers.”
I eyed Milton Moveover with skepticism. ‘F Troop’?” I prodded taking a backward
step toward the door and safety should he come completely unglued.
“Lieutenant Parmenter Valerie Harper SGT O’Rourke Eartha Kitt CPL Agarn
Sally Struthers.”
‘I Dream Of Jeanne’
“Tony Orlando as Jamie and Dawn as Majors Heely and Nelson.
“TwelveO’Clock High’
‘Who was the lead in that Milton asked.
“Savage. Brigadier General Savage.”
“Oh year now I remember. Let’s see how about Doris Day as BG Sweet?” he nodded
emphatically. “And we could call the show Six In The Evening’.
I shook my head slowly. ‘Gomer Pyle U. S. M. C.’?”
Milton shrugged. “Nobody could do more for the true image of the real marines than
Gomer Pyle. That’ll take some thought but I know one woman who maybe could possibly
pull it off he acknowledged.
“Who?”
“Barbara Walters.
“Now I know you’ve flipped Milton” I said. “I’ve got to be going. This is getting out
of hand.”
“Wait. Wait” he pleaded. “You’ve got to help me. this idea is going to make me rich.”
Tears rolled down his cheeks.
“Your matching of characters to the shows doesn’t even make sense Milton” I said.
“But that’s the beauty of the whole project” he sobbed. “You’ve got to break away
from the norm. Experiment. Take risks in this business. Believe me I know how to suc-
ceed. I know the feeling of America. I know where it’s at man. I know the women want
to be heard! They a want an equal share! He sniffled and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
“Please give me just one more idea.”
“Alright Milton. One more. Who would you cast in the role of COL Steve Austin ‘The
Six Million Dollar Man’
“A woman to replace ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’?” Milton gasped. “Bite your
tongue. I don’t know any woman who is worth six million dollars!
“And that my dear friend Milton” I explained sadly “is exactly why your ideas
won’t work!”
to garrison activities while in Europe.
The soldiers worked long and hard while on
Brigade ’75. Most prefer to talk about the more
interesting places and faces they saw in
Germany than talk about field training. Some
of this is because most people who are not
military wouldn’t understand what they were
talking about or if military they have been
through similar training themselves.
As for only three months training in the six
month period that’s a lot of field time when you
think of all the work that has to be done before
they go to the field and all that must be done
when they return. You may not be aware that
each unit also had an education cycle of eight
weeks night training gunnery or live fire field
training and all the rest.
No Brigade *75 was not along holiday for the
soldiers and we know that family separations
area real hardship on both the soldier and the
family but both the husband and the wife
should consider that some separation is pro-
bably going to be necessary during a career in
the military. The wife should make it a point to
find out about services available to them when
the husband is gone find out about the wives’
groups that are in your area and get involved.
Most of these girls stay busy. So if you have a
friend whose husband is going on an inaccom-
panied tour tell her that the Army does care
but we have to know who wants or needs that
help before we can do anything.
We hope that you and future Brigade *75
wives are convinced that we do care about the
wives left behind the hope that by being better
informed your tour at Ft. Hood won’t be such a
hardship after all we also hope that your man’s
next overseas tour will be where he can be ac-
companied by you and the family to some ex-
otic place you have always dreamed about.
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The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 35, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 6, 1975, newspaper, November 6, 1975; Temple, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth309220/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Casey Memorial Library.