Army Transportation OCS Vietnam Era 1966-1968

  Here's Chapter 4 of Chuck's Biography. It chronicles some of his Vietnam Experience. Enjoy the read... https://drive.google.com/file/d/13URVsNzOgrsi0cD7QDhmvL_fykTZr9ko/view?usp=sharing  

  It was summer  1967. I was in a foxhole guarding the "perimeter" when one of our TAC officers strolled up. I challenged him, and he said "You can't shoot me, I'm an artillery round," and tossed one of those artillery simulators into my hole.  It whistled and exploded, with the cardboard plug hitting me in the butt. It left a big bruise, and the TAC thought he was funny as hell.

  I remember Colonel Coffey for allowing me to remain in my class (15-67) after spending a week in the hospital. He told me I should be recycled to 16-67 however, if I kept up the academic and physical grades of 70% or higher I could continue. The last thing I wanted to be was an intermediate candidate subordinate to the senior class I should be in! After graduating I thanked him for the opportunity.

  I was in the 1st Platoon and our TAC Officer was 2nd Lt Davis. He was an excellent officer who made our experience more interesting and tolerable as we all acclimated to the harassment he and others dished out. He went through our living quarters every morning and circled spots on the mirrors in our bathroom and circled them with lipstick and the bold word (Sloopy). From that time on we all referred to him as Lt Sloopy and it somehow gave all of us in the 1st Platoon a rallying point that eased all the tensions we had to endure. I’m sure everyone in our platoon will have a big laugh over this, Somehow this was a pivotal moment tickled our motivation to take everything in stride.

  I was in TOCS class 20-67, Echo One. During the first 15 weeks or so, I had several assignments in the candidate chain of command but nothing that made me stand out or come under special scrutiny. On Sunday afternoon we had a new candidate chain of command installed, and I thought, oh man, I can “skate” because I had no assignment that coming week.   The following day, Monday, we were in formation after lunch about to march back to class. I heard a familiar voice, with a Georgia twang that I recognized as that of Captain Shelton Wood. He said, “Candidate Cousins, report!” He had never done that before, to anyone, so I thought I was being dropped from the program, where I would revert to being an Infantry PFC and shipped to Viet Nam.   I reported to CPT Wood, and the rest of the company marched off down the street toward the classroom. CPT Wood said, “Follow me candidate.” He led me into the day room and asked, “What do you see Candidate?” I was pretty nervous but po...

 Here is a link to Chucks experience with the 595th TC Company and 28th TC Battalion. Hope you enjoy the reading. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fsvNXYt7OeOSIQ9eLWvwgtnGX_zUiw8V/view?usp=sharing

  Hazing.   If I remember correctly we hadn't turned TC Red on our helmets but we were close. Colonel Coffee had just ordered all of his company commanders to have their TAC Officers stand down from hazing cadets during their meals. However, All candidate Belentoni had to do was smile and he'd get sent out of the mess hall to do a set of pushups. (They knew he could knock out 20, one handed, in a minute or so.) So that night in our regular latrine afterhours group meeting, we as a company agreed that the next time Belentoni got sent out of the mess hall, we would all shout and follow him out for pushups. Our TACs were furious that our entire company spilled out of the mess hall into the street and did pushups. We never knew of COL. Coffee found out about it, but we paid for our collective outburst, as we always did, by formation running.

  St Staying Awake.   It was difficult to stay awake in class because we all worked with limited sleep hours.  There were little tricks we used like Vicks inhalers or running to the rest room during breaks to wash your face with cold water.  You could see students beginning to fall asleep because their heads would bobble back and forth until they fell forward and hit the table.  We actually had an event on the Regimental parade field when a cadet fainted. Upon the command “March”, we marched around him and left him in the grass.  I actually fell asleep at parade rest during a drill and ceremonies talk at the field not far from where we parked our POVs.

  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.  

  Officer Candidate School   Class 16-67 (17 February – 2 August 1967)   by Charles A. Seland             The 80 officer candidates in Alpha Company gathered in the new, one-story, metal pre-fabricated H-shaped barracks which we now called home. Each two-person cubicle had two foot lockers, a set of bunk beds, two small tables and two chairs. Our wall lockers (two each) were in the hallway. Once our cubicles were assigned, we settled in quickly while assessing the environment and the other candidates. Following the evening meal at the nearby Dining Facility, we returned to our billets to assemble and adjust our belongings in the foot and wall lockers in accordance with the standards of the Officer Candidate School (OCS).  Then three lieutenants arrived,   called TAC Officers (Train, Advise, and Counsel).  They had recently graduated from other OCS’s.  They knew the standards and were hell-bent...

Life is about doing some things once, and the best things more often. August 26, 1967 collected many young men from all around America and assembled them at Transportation Officer Candidate School, Fort Eustis, Virginia. Some older and some younger, but all were brothers soon to become Bravo 2-68. 6 months of military scholastics, regimental formations, parades, pushups, running, spit shining, breaking starch, hospital corners on bunks…. and Cubicle displays in perfect harmony and geometry. TAC’s, CATO’s, snarling Seniors, no junior candidates, and a screeching Company Commander. Frigid FTX, gas chamber, entrenching tools, fox holes, and all the comforts of the great outdoors along the James River. Leadership Reaction Course (LRC) – unsolvable exercises but nevertheless attempted. USS Neversail, front gate to back Railroad, more running, and more spit shining. Pogey bait for sure, and suffering all the more for it. Eyeball Annie… "tighten up candidate". Pull ups before enter...