The late Kate Wolfe, a traditional folk voice of the seventies, had a song that I dearly love about Pacheco, a pass I have been up and down a hundred or more times.  On the same album she sang a song about a Red-Tailed Hawk where she mentions the "Golden, rolling hills of California".  When I think about California nowdays, I don't see beaches or palm trees...I see those rolling hills of central California in the morning sun;  they are covered with wheat- colored gra...

Several years ago I had a discussion with the City Traffic Engineer about certain intersections and why the traffic at those intersectios was so screwed up, especially at rush hour.  In a nutshell, the intersections had dedicated right turn lanes next to a left turn/straight ahead lane.  Think about it;  that is bass ackwards.  I tried a dozen different ways to explain to him that if he switched to dedicated left turn and straight ahead/right turn lanes the traffic would...

  Sour moods have dominated the last month or so.  People I care about in our cyber-world are dropping off the grid for one reason or another.  I know that some have had really painful experiences on the net;  some have caused pain, others have received it.  I feel like the little kid hiding in the closet listening to the adults screaming at each other...or more like one of the most famous receivers of real world pain said, "Can't we all just get along?"  ...

  Fort Hood, Texas in 1971 was a dump...literally.  Soldiers returning from Vietnam who had more than six months left on their enlistment were sent somewhere to finish their time.  If they had less than six months left they were just given a "drop" (early discharge) and sent home.  Many posts in the States were full of soldiers who fit into the first category.  And many of them were bitter because sometimes it was only a matter of a few days that decided if they went ...

    When we came back from Germany in 1983, we were fortunate to move into the newest housing area on Fort Ord, Abrams Park.   The houses were still duplexes and the yards were still small and all the other things about living in government housing were still true, but for the first time in our family's history, we had a house big enough for our whole family to fit in it comfortably.  In fact, it was a pretty nice, two level, house.  Never mind the strange...

  Moving a family from Germany back to the States is no simple task, and the Army does very little to make the move any easier.  There are so many details that have to be taken care of:  arranging the "pack-out"...when they pack up all your household goods into boxes and then the boxes into shipping crates...is traumatic enough.  Then you have to clean up all the equipment you have been using for life in the woods, your rifle, and any other items you have had issued to you...

  It seems that nostalgia is the assignment this week for the Chico crowd...it is usually my topic every week and this week is no exception.  On the way home from Church today I was listening to the Sixties on Six on my "rock and roll from outerspace" and the Stones came on with that distinctive opening riff from "Satisfaction".  For just a quick moment I had a glimpse of where I was living when I first heard the song.  And it dredged up a Sunday morning scene from who kno...

  There have always been homosexuals in the military.    It seems that Alexander the Great was actually Alexander the Fabulous.  So the current hoopla over whether or not there should be gays in the military is not really an issue of "readiness" or "a reflection of societal evolution" so much as it is a political football that crops up every ten years or so.  "Don't ask, don't tell" was one of the most ridiculous policies the military ever adopted...or mo...

  When I arrived in Baumholder to be the new Support Platoon Sergeant for the 2nd Battalion of the 68th Armored Regiment, I inherited an operation that was barely managing to  perform its duties.  The Support Platoon was made up of two elements: the Fuel Section consisting of ten 2500-gallon fuel tankers, (8X8 trucks called HEMTTS - Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck) and a storage tank and small warehouse full of lubricants and petroleum products;  and the Cargo secti...

  We sat in the NCO Club in Mannheim, Germany having a steak dinner and awaiting the start of the floor show.  Our table was on a level about a foot lower than the tables "at the bar".  We were separated from the those tables by a one-foot step-up and an open railing.  The table behind and slightly above us was occupied by a group of the entertainers that would soon be part of the show.  They were discussing another of their group and going on about his "rhythm and ar...

  When I first arrived at Patch Barracks in the fall of 1977, I was a buck sergeant - a "retread", which means I was working my way back up the ranks after a three-year break in service.  I had gotten out of the Army as a Staff Sergeant in 1971, and then  I came back into the Army as an E-4 in 1974.  It took longer to get my rank back than I had anticipated but that is another story...maybe later.  In any case, money was tight, and MamaCharlie and the kids had to wait...

  Last night, after the editing wrangle and finally getting the last article posted,  MC and I were doing a little reminiscing about Patch Barracks and the atmosphere there.  She remembered the looks on the senior officers faces when they were out in public, a kind of deer-in-the-headlights combined with a what-the-hell-is-going-on look.  I mentioned how many generals were there, but there were literally dozens of Major/Lt Commander, Lt Colonel/Commander, and Colonel/Capta...

  Stuttgart, Germany used to be an unusual environment, militarily.  There were six or seven major Kasernes in the immediate area and as many in Ludwigsburg, just a few miles north of the city.  This in itself was not so unusual;  Frankfurt am Main for example was a bigger city with many more Army and Air Force bases around it, but Stuttgart was unique in that it was home to two major commands:  the U S Army VII Corps housed at Kelley Barracks..(.commanded by a three ...

  Jim was a "roach coach" driver.  Dozens of those trucks roamed around Fort Leonard Wood training areas, selling sodas and candy and hot dogs and burritos and a large variety of snacks to the trainees while they were on their breaks.  Jim was a regular at the training area designated TA-190 where we spent a lot of time teaching new Army drivers how to steer in rough terrain and shift gears and other things they needed to know about the Army's different vehicles.  I pe...

REFORGER was the code name for a program begun in 1967 and implemented throughout 1968.  The idea was that LBJ wanted to decrease the number of troops in Europe but assure our allies that we were still committed to the defense of NATO countries.  So  we withdrew a couple of divisions from Germany but left their equipment there in storage.  The idea being that it is quicker to fly the troops over and get the equipment out of storage and into the war (should something happen)...