The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 46, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 13, 1987 Page: 4 of 44
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A4
THE FT. HOOD SENTINEL Thursday August 13 1987
Viewpoint
Editorial
&
commentaries
By ARO COUCH
III Corps Public Affairs
Think about it.
What in your
opinion is the single
best benefit of being in
the Army?
Army bennies:
some old
some new
all valuable
Depending on what one wears to work in the morning
“Army benefits” either look good or are taken for granted.
BECAUSE I still have most of them courtesy of the little
blue card in my pocket that says ‘U.S. Army Retired’ the
only bennie that I personally miss is the 30 days of sham time
(leave) that I no longer get. Believe it or not that is a big
bennie when you no longer have it.
The actual list of Army bennies is both long and impress-
ive medical care housing quarters rations education
travel uniforms and pay.
Yep even pay. While the fresh-out-of-basic E-l may not
consider the pay particularly impressive it is nonetheless a
long shot better than the $64.50 Uncle Sam was dishing out
back in the days when Elvis Presley was still trying to make
his first record and had never heard of the 2nd Armored.
TRUE prices have gone up a lot since those days of big
cars and small paychecks the minimum wage back then
was a buck twenty-five an hour and $400 a month was a good
salary. And soldiers wore cargo-pocket fatigues worked 6.5
days a week every week and cursed bedchecks and
weekend passes or the lack of them. Guys overseas were
paid in scrip rather than greenbacks but that’s another
story. Most officers above the rank of captain and a few
senior NCOs owned cars and there was maybe one TV set
per barracks rather than one per room.
Serial numbers yes serial numbers not SSNs started
with either “US” for draftees or “RA” for volunteers and
even that in its own way was a status symbol. And bennies
bless ’em were something you found out about on your own
not something that folks handed you laundry lists of and
urged you to take advantage.
ALTHOUGH there are few “new” bennies on the old list
the existing ones have been fattened improved extended
and otherwise made better though a certain number have
faded away into history such as the $300 that every enlisted
soldier used to get at ETS perhaps as an apology for the
$64.50 a month which incidentally shot up to an astrono-
mical $78.00 in the early sixties and a guy named Eisenhower
went almost six years without approving a military pay
raise.
Dollars aside today’s Army still offers some significant
advantages over most civilian jobs though the price it ex-
acts in its own way hasn’t changed much and the stress of
being a soldier is no less at $800 a month than it was at $78. In
many ways those of us who wore cargo-pockets and worked
for guys fresh out of a place called Korea are I think a little
amazed maybe even jealous of the bennies the soldier of the
80’ is entitled to.
YOU GOT ’EM at least for now and some of you will still
have them years from now maybe for the rest of your life if
you hang around for the little card that says “US Army
Retired” but even if you don’t the bennies of wearing
BDU’s will be with you for the rest of your days in their own
way. Some of the biggest benefits of being a soldier were
never approved by Congress and there isn’t enough money
in the Treasury to pay for them ever.
Street Scene-
SFC Claude Stites HHC
3-67th Armor 2nd Armd Div:
“That’s not an easy question.
Job satisfaction for myself.”
published in the interest of military and civilian personnel at Ft. Hood Tex. every Thursday by Frank
Mayborn Enterprises Inc. Temple Tex. Policies and statements reflected in the news and editorial
columns represent views of the individual writers and under no circumstances are to be considered those
of the Department of the Army. Advertisements in this publication do not constitute an endorsement by
the Department of the Defense of the products or services advertised. All news matter for publication
should be sent to the Public Affairs Office Ft. Hood SENTINEL Ft. Hood Tex. 76544 Telephone
287-0108. This is not an official Army newspaper. However this publication receives Army News Service
material and papers are authorized to reprint noncopyright ARNEWS material without permission from
ARNEWS.
Advertising should be sent to: Business Office P.O. Box 6114 Temple Tex 76501 or Business Office
p.O- Box 271805 Florence Road Killeen Tex. 76540. Subscription off post $15.00 per year. Distribution
Q: Why hasn’t Fort Hood set
up a crew rest policy for the
enlisted people that is compa-
rable to what the officers on
flight status get? Th6 crew
chiefs and mechanics who
actually do the jobs on the air-
craft are subjected to long
hours. The fatigue and stress
of these jobs accumulate. The
people are working long hours
and they are not being com-
pensated with time off or any-
thing. The enlisted people who
work in aviation should get
the same break as the officers.
Pilots can’t fly without these
people and if a mechanic gets
sloppy then serious accidents
can occur.
f.
IIP
A: Crew endurance guide-
lines are established by both
AR 95-1 and FH Reg 95-1. These
guidelines apply to aircrew
members. It is critical that the
individuals who have their
hands on the flight controls
maintain a clear ind and
quick reactions. Many Fort
Hood units include their air-
craft mechanics in the crew en-
durance guidelines. It is impor-
tant for the mechanics to also
have a clear ind but the
mechanics have both super-
visors and technical inspectors
who check all work. You must
understand that these are only
guidelines policy setting and
Sp4 Eric Barney HHC 2nd
Armd Div: “I’d have to say the
college benefits would be the
best.”
Flight crew rest
post free.
Unless otherwise credited all pictures are United States Army photographs. Unless otherwise noted
the publication of these is not restricted except in cases involving republication for advertising purposes
at which time permission of the Department of the Army must be obtained.
lo kid skills training is a valuable Army efit../
28S-MART
enforcement is the responsibil-
ity of the unit commander. The
policy that is established is de-
pendent upon unit missions
training requirements (both
unit and individual) and sup-
port missions.
Q: The Commissary planned
a tent sale to get rid of excess
supplies. It was very poorly
advertised and it was held
during a post-wide major ex-
ercise. After the tent sale they
disposed of what was left at
the Fort Hood dumping facil-
ity instead of providing it to
food closets for needy soldiers
this was a waste. It showed
poor management on the Com-
missary’s part. The Commis-
sary should better plan for fu-
ture situations like this.
A: The idea for the tent sale
was to provide our customers
with valuable savings on their
household spending budget.
The items offered for sale were
shipped in from another source
and were not inventory exces
Pfc. James Chapman Co E
17th Engr Bn 2nd Armd Div:
“Thirty days leave.”
Fort Hood Sentinel
Everything advertised in this publication must be made available for purchase use or patronage
without regard to the race creed color national origin or sex of the purchaser user or patron. A
confirmed violation or reflection of this policy of equal opportunity by an advertiser will result in the
refusal to print advertising from that source.
Deadlines for editorial matter are noon Fridays for the following week's issue. SENTINEL editors
reserve the right to edit all copy to conform with SENTINEL journalistic standards. The current
circulation of the SENTINEL is 22000.
-j
ses at the Fort Hood Commis-
sary. For unforeseen reasons
that shipment was diverted
from another intended location
to the local commissary giving
limited time to plan a cam-
paign. Additionally the com-
missary is not permitted to
advertise its products. There-
fore facilities for notification
are limited. We did however
have it published in the Sen-
tinel and local bulletins. We had
notification put on the lighted
sign near the main road in front
of the commissary we placed a
sign at the front entrance and
we announced it over our “in
store” personal address sys-
tem. We asked that it be on the
Post Radio/TV program but it
was too late to have it sche-
duled which was understand-
able. The products sold were
sold quickly as they repre-
sented a 50 percent savings.
Unfortunately a problem de-
veloped in the storage of the
products which required that
the remaining items be des
Capt. Edward Smith HHC
13th SUPCOM: “Security.”
bob Math is 778-4444........
Walter M. Tilley 634-6666
John Alvey 634-6666 ........
Homefront........................
Off ty ............................
S rts................................
IstCav Div PAO...............
2nd Armd Div PA O ..........
3rd Sig Bde PAO...............
hCavBdePAO.............
13th SUPCOM PAO..........
troyed. Commissary manage-
ent remains very vigilant
over the needs and desires of^
the local community and will"'
continue their best efforts in
“serving the most deserving.”
Q: Civilians are being issued
ID cards. I understand that
there is no procedure for turn-
ing in these ID cards when
these people leave civil ser-
vice at Fort Hood. I am won-
dering if this won’t create a
problem later on when these
ID cards are still retained by
people who no longer work for.
Fort Hood. Someone needs to
control ID cards issued to civi-
lians. Is there a procedure for?
clearing CPO and turning
these ID cards in when a per-
son changes status?
A: You are correct in stating
that civilian employees are"
being issued ID cards. At the
time the civil service employee
separates from Fort Hood the
employee clears through the
Civilian Personnel Office at
which tim the ID card is
turned in.
Q: I work in bldg. 4630.1 put
in a work order to have a tele-
phone moved an inside move.
They came in and moved it
(See Smarts pg. A5)
Pfc. David Siegel 29th I
TAMC 2nd Armd Div: “Prol*-
ably the health benefits.”
Advertising manager
Sales Representative
Sales Representative
...................... 287-0108
....................... 287-2436
....................... 287-0108
......................... 287-6162
........................ 287-0113
........................ 287-4009
........................ 287-4494
......................... 287-5812
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The Fort Hood Sentinel (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 46, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 13, 1987, newspaper, August 13, 1987; Temple, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth309796/m1/4/: accessed July 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Casey Memorial Library.