Photo By Terrance Bell | Ron Conrad, retired Lt. Col. George Chernesky and Mike Urbano converse at the Army...... read more read more
FORT LEE, Va. (Sept. 7, 2017) -- In 1976, the Vietnam War roster of required personnel was ramping up to peak numbers of more than 500,000. The Army in response began training its Soldiers under the premise they would see combat in Southeast Asia.
The cadre assigned to Foxtrot Company, Quartermaster Officer Candidate School Class 67-13, went about the mission of preparing its candidates for war at a much higher standard.
The result? A gauntlet-like training experience – 23 weeks of spit and polish, constant double-timing and cadre harassment worthy of removal in today’s Army – played out over the looming prospect of survival on a Vietnam battlefield.
Those experiences were recalled here Aug. 28-31 as 27 graduates from Class 67-13 (also known as F Troop) celebrated their third reunion. The event featured informational briefings, tours of various training facilities, including those operated by the Quartermaster and Ordnance schools, and a visit to the Army Quartermaster Museum.
Retired Col. Carey E. Cole, F Troop Reunion coordinator, was grateful for the accommodations.
“I think everything is fantastic,” he said Aug. 30 on behalf of the cadre and graduates, some of whom traveled with spouses. “... We’ve been impressed by everybody from the generals on down to the privates.”
Cole and 154 others were assigned to F Troop in the winter of 1967. Only 77 survived to graduate 23 weeks later. Many hold dear to their hearts the shared experience that marked their lives forever.
“We developed a bond that really can’t be compared to anything else, other than perhaps a unit that was in combat or something like that,” said Cole. “You develop a closeness. During OCS, almost all of us at one time or another thought about quitting, but your buddy would say, ‘Come on, Carey, stick with it. You can make it.’ Over half of them didn’t. They just dropped out. And they didn’t just drop out, they flunked out; they couldn’t take the pressure.”
Those who could not handle the pressure were consequential to the process of producing Soldiers who could best equip themselves on the battlefields of Southeast Asia, said Cole.
“In Vietnam, there were no frontlines,” he said. “You could be in a base camp and be overrun. You needed to learn to act accurately and quickly in order to save your life and the lives of your men.”
It was not, however, consistent with the attrition rates amongst the entire brigade.
“They were graduating 80, 90, 95-percent of their companies,” said former Capt. Steve Benkowitz, the F Troop company commander at the time. “I said I don’t know what our percentages are going to be, but everyone who graduates (in this company) we’re going to be proud to salute as an officer.”
Benkowitz focused on discipline, team unity and how to respond in stressful situations. First Lt. George Chernesky was one of three cadre – called training advisors and counseling officers – who relentlessly carried out Benkowitz’ intent.
“My job was to prepare them to go to war, to be successful at war, and to be a successful leader in war,” he said. “That was all part of it. It wasn’t to harass them or any other thing but to prepare them to be leaders, men, able to accomplish the mission and not have people killed under their watch.
“You have to be able to focus, think and do the right thing even when adversity is slapping you in the face.”
During the course, adversity was created with the force of painful jabs rather than slaps, said Cole. He remembered how the TACs made them run back to the barracks from a day at the range rather than ride the bus.
“It had been raining and the ditches were full of muddy water,” he said. “Every time we came to a ditch, we had to low-crawl through it, and at the end of the ditch we had to take off our helmet liners, dip it in the water and pour it over our head. We had to do that numerous times on the way back to the barracks.
“We arrived back to the barracks right near Retreat. All the other companies were lined up in their starched fatigues and here we come running in front of all the companies looking like a moving mud ball. We were singing, yelling in cadence and carrying on. The expressions on the faces of the other candidates was unlike anything we’d ever seen. They were like, ‘Holy cow, there goes F Troop.’”
Low-crawling through muddy ditches in today’s Army could result in someone getting relieved of duty. Jerry Wile, who eventually spent six months in Vietnam, said those type of tactics were dished out routinely.
“When we first got here, they just hazed the hell out of us,” he said, “and they hazed us hard. I mean, we didn’t get any sleep and we had to run, run, run everywhere. We’d go for inspection and they’d rip up our stuff. We’d go for inspection again, they’d rip up our stuff again. This would go on every single night.”
In the haze of course survival, anger was directed at the TACs, said several graduates. Phillip Corder is one of those who had a certain disdain for his TAC, 1st Lt. Tony Eastmond.
“At the time, I’d liked to have pinched his head off,” he recalled.
A similar sentiment was directed toward the career Soldier Chernesky, who, said several attendees, was a menacing terror. Attendee Frank Roman said he certainly had his differences with him during his time as a student. During the group’s visit to its old barracks Aug. 30, Roman said Chernesky’s ghostly presence still cast a measure of darkness about the hallways. He said he earlier told his former TAC he “enjoyed his job a little too much.”
Despite the TACs’s looming shadows, Wile said he and others finally figured out the cadre strategy and made the necessary mental adjustments to survive the training.
“Ultimately, we figured out it was a game for them and a game for us, and it was a question of who had the right perspective,” he said. “The ones who didn’t have the right perspective washed out.”
During the reunion, most of the attendees said they are now thankful for the resolve their trainers demonstrated. Corder, the student who wanted to “pinch” off the head of his TAC during his training, doesn’t feel the same way today.
“Now, I love him, Lordy mercy,” said the Army retiree of Eastmond. “We communicate at least three times a week, still. That’s been 50 years.”
Mike Urbano, who was trained by Chernesky, said purpose and objective is fleeting during training and emotions are raw, but it wasn’t until later during his career when his OCS teachings came into clear view.
“I think the TAC officers were instrumental in all of us,” he said. “… Every day I was in the service, every day I was an officer, I thank God I was able to go through that stuff and be able to control guys I was responsible for,” he said. “That was important to all of us, and I think we learned a good lesson here.”
Jay Wardell, who used the word “hell” to describe his OCS experience, said the training paid dividends in the theater of operations, specifically Quang Tri, Vietnam, where he served a one year tour with the 101st Airborne Division.
“I was glad I’d gone through the training I had,” said the Littleton, Colo., resident. “Things changed every minute when you were in that kind of situation. When you look back on it, you say ‘thank you.’”
As it turned out, 44 percent of the graduates found themselves in Vietnam after the training. All returned home. Some went on to spend careers in the Army and others served their hitch and returned to civilian life. Cole said the training experience was bigger than its stated purpose.
“I learned I could do a lot more, and I can take a lot more than I ever thought I could,” he said. “I think everybody came away with that same feeling. Almost everyone who graduated from F Troop has been very successful in their military and civilian careers. We have CEOs, doctors, managers, plant owners, etc.
“We just have a camaraderie you really can’t explain. You would have to experience something like we went through to understand it.”
| Date Taken: | 09.07.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.07.2017 09:30 |
| Story ID: | 247311 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 633 |
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