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Thread: ROTC Basic Camp - Fort Knox 1978

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    ROTC Basic Camp - Fort Knox 1978

    This picture is from July 1978 at Army ROTC Basic Camp. I was 18 years old and fresh out of high school. I am seated looking at the camera. I have a watch on my right wrist. I was issued a Colt M16A1 and the serial number was 2035582. It was two-tone with a lighter color on the upper receiver. I was with a group of 1000 Army ROTC cadets, most were in the summer after their sophomore year of college. I was enlisted in the Army Reserve under the Early Commissioning Program, first opened to 4 year Universities that year. The second photo is from a road march of 5 companies of the 13th Battalion, and an M60 tank rolling by.

    ROTC Basic Course was 6 weeks long. The month following these photos I did 3 weeks of Jump School at Fort Benning, then started as a Freshman at the University of Arizona. That summer when I was at Fort Knox, there were 5 companies of cadets. We were housed in the Hammer Head Barracks on Eisenhower Road across from what is now Human Resources Command at Knox. Hope you like the pics. I may scan more. The cadet standing behind me also went Army Aviation. I commissioned two years later in May 1980:


    Last edited by OH58D; 03-07-20 at 15:20.
    Maj. USAR (Ret) 160th SOAR, 2/17 CAV
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    Cool pictures, thanks for sharing.
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    At the same rime, I was at Parris Island going through Marine Corps Recruit Training. I was 17 years old (turned 18 that Dec.). My first issued weapon was a M16A1 (s/n: 4871943). After Boot Camp, I reported to my Force Recon unit. In May 1979, I was at Ft. Benning, GA for Jump School and after graduating, a week later, I was at the School of Infantry at Camp Geiger (a satellite facility of Camp Lejeune) in North Carolina. I was the only Marine at SOI with jump wings.

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    Quote Originally Posted by OH58D View Post
    This picture is from July 1978 at Army ROTC Basic Camp. I was 18 years old and fresh out of high school. I am seated looking at the camera. I have a watch on my right wrist. I was issued a Colt M16A1 and the serial number was 2035582. It was two-tone with a lighter color on the upper receiver. I was with a group of 1000 Army ROTC cadets, most were in the summer after their sophomore year of college. I was enlisted in the Army Reserve under the Early Commissioning Program, first opened to 4 year Universities that year. The second photo is from a road march of 5 companies of the 13th Battalion, and an M60 tank rolling by.

    ROTC Basic Course was 6 weeks long. The month following these photos I did 3 weeks of Jump School at Fort Benning, then started as a Freshman at the University of Arizona. That summer when I was at Fort Knox, there were 5 companies of cadets. We were housed in the Hammer Head Barracks on Eisenhower Road across from what is now Human Resources Command at Knox. Hope you like the pics. I may scan more. The cadet standing behind me also went Army Aviation. I commissioned two years later in May 1980:
    Did you meet Agony, Misery and Heartbreak?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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    Quote Originally Posted by just a scout View Post
    Did you meet Agony, Misery and Heartbreak?
    Nobody does Knox without encountering that trio. Regarding my M16A1, that was the first time I ever fired a modern military weapon. Back in those days, to call your folks, friends or girlfriends, we had to line up at a bank of payphones on Eisenhower Road. I called my dad here in New Mexico and I was excited to describe what it was like shooting it. I loved that weapon, and it was like an old friend - toting everywhere, sleeping in the rain and mud with it.

    Not all of the cadets during that basic phase were contracted with the Army yet. Some were under full scholarship, and some like myself, were in an accelerated program which had normally been done thru Military Junior Colleges (MJC's). Because of the manpower shortage at the end of the Vietnam War due to a reduction in force, the Pentagon realized they had kicked out too many commissioned officers. In 1978, they expanded the accelerated Early Commissioning Program to 4 Year Universities, and I was in the first group from the University of Arizona. As a Freshman in 1978, I was taking Junior Level ROTC classes in college.

    Below are pictures of the Hammer Head barracks - Mine was Alpha Company. I was on the top floor and that floor had a temporary barrier setup to divide the female cadets and us young studs. Across Eisenhower Road were the old WW2 Barracks seen in the movie, Stripes, shot a few years later. They're all gone now. I have been back to Knox many times since 1978, flying in to Godman AAF on rotor flights from Fort Campbell. One former Colonel of the Night Stalkers is now the commanding general at Knox - Major General John Evans.

    Cadets lining up for chow in the mess hall at the end of our company building. They would let 5 in at a time. We had 204 cadets in that building, with a full armory in the basement where we retrieved and turned in our M16's with a weapons card:


    Third Platoon male cadets in the barracks:
    Maj. USAR (Ret) 160th SOAR, 2/17 CAV
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    Popped up on YouTube and made me think of you and wondered if any of it was the same when you entered, or different, or just PR stuff.


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    I went through ROTC Basic Camp in 1981, 17 years old, a week out of high school. I went to one of those MJC's, Marion Military Institute, in Marion, Alabama. I was in E-19-4, in some WW2 barracks just south of the Central Issuing Facility (CIF). We were across the road from the area "Stripes" was filmed in. I was in 2nd Cycle (6 Cycles total during the ROTC summer training; 2nd and 5th were in WW2 barracks, all other were in concrete barracks). I don't remember the S/N of the M16A1 I was issued, but it had a GM Hydramatic lower assembly. I well remember Agony and Misery.

    My younger son went to Ft Knox for ROTC Summer Camp in 2017; my wife and I went to see him graduate. We rode around the fort, but most of the buildings I remember are now gone. I was able to find the street that ran alongside the eastern edge of our company area, but as someone else said, that whole area is PERSCOM territory now. Just a little east, Agony and Misery were closed off to POV's, but we did walk down one a little, so I could show my wife what it was like.

    I was sorry to see that the Armor Museum had moved, but we did see the Patton Museum.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jsbhike View Post
    Popped up on YouTube and made me think of you and wondered if any of it was the same when you entered, or different, or just PR stuff.
    That video pre-dates my first time at Fort Rucker. I arrived in the middle of 1982. Now you also have other schools at Rucker for Warrant Officers, including those in AG.

    Quote Originally Posted by Glynn863 View Post
    I went through ROTC Basic Camp in 1981, 17 years old, a week out of high school. I went to one of those MJC's, Marion Military Institute, in Marion, Alabama. I was in E-19-4, in some WW2 barracks just south of the Central Issuing Facility (CIF). We were across the road from the area "Stripes" was filmed in. I was in 2nd Cycle (6 Cycles total during the ROTC summer training; 2nd and 5th were in WW2 barracks, all other were in concrete barracks). I don't remember the S/N of the M16A1 I was issued, but it had a GM Hydramatic lower assembly. I well remember Agony and Misery.

    My younger son went to Ft Knox for ROTC Summer Camp in 2017; my wife and I went to see him graduate. We rode around the fort, but most of the buildings I remember are now gone. I was able to find the street that ran alongside the eastern edge of our company area, but as someone else said, that whole area is PERSCOM territory now. Just a little east, Agony and Misery were closed off to POV's, but we did walk down one a little, so I could show my wife what it was like.

    I was sorry to see that the Armor Museum had moved, but we did see the Patton Museum.
    Outstanding - another family of ROTC cadets. Did you continue onto advanced camp the following Summer? That would have taken you to Fort Lewis, which I did in 1979. So you got to stay in the old barracks south of Eisenhower where Human Resources is now. Since you have been back, the old CIF buildings still exist and they are next the Copple Center for Army ROTC. I have a bunch of photos from 1978 I haven't scanned yet, but maybe I should include some here. Cadet Command wants to use a lot of my pics. I have more to include below.

    So your son was at Knox in 2017? A friend of the family had a daughter there in 2017, and she was with the 5th Regiment that Summer. I was there for her graduation. They have a family day event at the Waybur Theater, around the corner from the Officer's Club. That theater was where I saw the movie Grease that summer. The 5th Regiment Graduation had to be held indoors because of rain the next day.

    My youngest son at West Point went to Fort Knox in 2018 to serve as Cadre for the 9th Regiment that Summer. Is your son an MJC student or four year school? If MJC, just like you he is Early Commissioning Program. From 1966 to 1978, ECP was MJC only. Then in 1978 it was four year colleges until 1991, when it went back to Military Junior Colleges.
    Last edited by OH58D; 03-08-20 at 17:24.
    Maj. USAR (Ret) 160th SOAR, 2/17 CAV
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    Since this is a Vintage section, I wanted to show some of the weapons from 1978, especially the scopes they issued us for Field Training Exercises. We were out for a week at a time, and we were issued numbers to place on our helmets. The scopes on the M16A1 allowed us to call in a kill on the ANPRC-77 if we could read the numbers. I cheated and stuck wildflowers and other grass on my helmet. Maybe someone here could give more insight into the carry handle optics:


    Maj. USAR (Ret) 160th SOAR, 2/17 CAV
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    Black Mesa Ranch. Raising Fine Cattle and Horses in San Miguel County since 1879

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    Glynn863, here is something that might bring back memories of your barracks area. This is looking south across Eisenhower Ave. to the old WW2 barracks - I took this picture during my time there in 1978:


    This picture was from the command office of the 13th Battalion, 4th Training Brigade on Bacher Street, just south of my Alpha company Barracks. There's a sign next to the door which used a very common Army phrase at the time: "Stamp Out the Silent Salute". In other words, say good morning or good afternoon:
    Maj. USAR (Ret) 160th SOAR, 2/17 CAV
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    Black Mesa Ranch. Raising Fine Cattle and Horses in San Miguel County since 1879

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