Army Transportation OCS Vietnam Era 1966-1968

  It was about the 4th week of OCS. After supper in the Mess Hall, the TACs had us “fall in” on the company street. Uniform was fatigue trousers, white t-shirt, boots without laces or socks, web belt, steel pot without helmet liner, and poncho. We then double timed to the PT field and set up a perimeter defense. After about 30 minutes of various drills and pushups, we returned to the barracks to find it had been “nuked”; in other words, mattresses were toppled, wall lockers emptied, and books were dumped in a pile. Our cubicles were completely tossed. Our mission was to restore everything into “Strac” condition; which, we accomplished via extreme teamwork. We learned in week #1 that we had to “cooperate to graduate. The joy of the evening was retaliating by soaking the TACs during a “latrine party”.

  Class 20-67, E Company got our Red Tabs and a new Company Cdr who was not pleased with our overall performance. To make a point that a new Sheriff was in charge, we had our Red Tabs taken away and were busted down to Basic Candidates! I can’t recall how long this indignity lasted but I am willing to bet that we were the only OCS class to have been “busted” like that. “Twice As Far”…. As Basic Candidates in E-Company 20-67, we all cherished uninterrupted sleep which was not meant to be - 8 hours sleep was simply not in the program. Being that we were in a continuous case of exhaustion we all loved for ways to catch a short nap. When Sundays rolled around, we were "encouraged" to go to the religious services of our choice, which we did, believers and non believers alike. It was great opportunity to sit in the back the church and sleep! The 4th Platoon, E-Co 20-67, TAC Officer LT J. Singleton was nice guy when you caught him off duty but a hard nose TAC when on duty. He partic...

 The Pogey Bait Run as we knew it during TOCS was a highly organized clandestine operation that involved detail planning, precise timing, stealth, a knack for knowing when the Tactical Officers would be out of the barracks for a few minutes and when they were gone for the night, and of course luck. Luck can never be underestimated in the success of any military operation, and the Pogey Bait Run was no exception. Choosing the right night to have a “run” was perhaps the most important element of all. During the study period on a designated Pogey Bait Run night, appointed individuals in each platoon made the rounds of the cubicles and obtained orders from participating candidates as well as the money to pay for the “bait”. Order was by “kit”. A kit included one cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake. There was no flexibility since uniformity and simplicity were essential in minimizing our exposure to some snooping Tactical Officer. As far as Pogey Bait Runs were concerned there w...

As I recall, it was about week 2 of OCS when I learned about an important item to keep with me at all times; a Jeweler's cloth. A CATO had me at Attention and proceeded to find many "Gigs" in my appearance. One Gig was created by the CATO himself. He placed his thumb on my OCS collar pin, and said "Your OCS brass is smudged Candidate. What are you going to do about it?" Well, it turned out to be a training lesson, because he pulled a Jeweler's cloth from inside his helmet liner and commenced to rub the brass clean. He told me I should go to the PX, buy the cloth, and stow it in my helmet liner. Thereafter, it became my best friend.