Richard L. Kaysen Staff Sgt. - U.S. Army - 1969-1971

In the late sixties, young men facing the draft had decisions to make. Many figured that about every third person drafted into military service was going to become a US Marine. That worked for some. Others wanted to guide their own futures. Richard L. Kaysen (Rick) had graduated from high school and by 1968, had a college degree as well. Once the education was completed, the Selective Service was still out there.

Rick surveyed the field and found his best choice was the US Army. Once he had passed the physical and battery of tests, he was soon bound for Fort Ord, California for basic training. Some firsts for him: this was his first airplane trip, the first time in a helicopter, and the first time he had seen anyone mow a yard in January.

In the early hours of his career, Rick met "Sugar Bear" his Drill Sergeant, a Sergeant First Class who was sweet as could be but there was a man hard-as-nails under that brown round hat. He was the Company Senior Drill Sergeant.

The Drill Sergeant who actually trained the men was a SGT Eubanks. He was just back from Viet Nam and Drill Sergeant School. The new SGT was a little rough, and for good reason. Rick, age 23 now, was senior to most of his peers by a few years. Assignments were given, the "here's the deal" speech was made, and you better have your "s**t together"!

Home was a barracks built for WWII trainees. He found out what a formation was, how to stand in the formation and how to march in the same. The young "trainees" were then marched to a Clothing Issue Point and were individually issued a full duffle bag of clothes, gear, and boots/shoes. (Mostly it fit) They were told then what to wear, when to wear it, how to wear it, and sometimes why to wear it... A meningitis case had been diagnosed so the trainees had white name tapes, meaning they were to be confined to their immediate area. Don't go from here or you'll get sick. They called themselves the "Maggot Pack".

Rick pulled his first Guard Duty by being a perimeter guard around an empty building. Rick requested permission to walk the reverse direction but still around the building? Nope. Second Guard Duty was walking guard on a highway that had a bridge as part of it. The NCO Club was nearby. As more senior soldiers walked back to their barracks, Rick's job was to keep them upright and moving forward.

Training went well. It was real in that on the horizon was a trip to Southeast Asia. The work was designed to get them ready to be soldiers.

On graduating Basic, Rick's orders kept him at the same installation for Infantry Advanced Individual Training (AIT), which began the next day. Part of the training involved getting familiar with several different weapons – machine guns, light anti-tank weapons, grenade launchers, etc. One piece of training was the Gas Chamber. It was a cinder block building that had been painted a hundred times. Rick's walk through here was not good. The gas mask they issued (M-17) was not working properly. He bolted from the room – to save himself. On checking, they found out he had a legitimate complaint! He got a different M-17 and went back through.

Contact with home was offered every Sunday night now. There was a bank of pay phones nearby so the guys could make collect calls.

AIT was not so difficult for Rick. The Army had already physically trained him and honed his skills. On graduation, he was an infantryman, or in one of the terms, an "eleven bravo".

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