..........fightin' the Cold War.

I don't know if you're ever able to get all your personal stuff organized at home. You know, where are all those old pictures, etc.? Well, in an attempt to do just that, we recently came upon some old photos. Here's my graduation photo from the US Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, GA, August, 1984 (I was 25 yrs old here). Being Infantry Soldiers, we had our photos made in our Battle Dress Uniform; and, because our Drill Sergeant told us to do so! We trained to fight against those who fought based on the Soviet doctrine of warfare. That encompassed more of the world than one might think. I still remember the plastic pop-up targets we fired our M-16's at - they were green guys with furry hats and a red star right on the forehead! We called them "Pop Up Charlie". I was fortunate enough to be trained by many veterans of the Vietnam War. These guys knew what they were doing, and we definitely respected what they had to show us. Unlike many who served before and after me, I never was deployed to an actual conflict. Prior to the first Gulf War, my unit was sent to Desert Warfare School at Fort Erwin, CA for three weeks. Just before the ground war began in the Gulf, my unit was put on alert. We had the Army lawyers there to make out wills for those who didn't have them, we serviced and packed all our equipment, and we had all our paperwork for deployment ready to go. Being mechanized infantry, we were convinced that we certainly would be activated. The ground war went so well, that we got the message to "Stand Down" almost as quickly as we were alerted. My military service was all peacetime army. I have no doubt that many of the soldiers I trained at Fort Benning (when I was a Drill Sergeant), are combat veterans by now. The training I received in the military greatly shaped who I am today. It's interesting to see a photo that takes you back to such an interesting time in your life.