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Thursday, April 30, 20:37:33 [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, [4], 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ]

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Date Posted: Tue, Jul 24 2018, 23:28:26 PDT
Author: Newell swartz
Author Host/IP: 97.sub-174-238-24.myvzw.com / 174.238.24.97
Subject: Re: TAC SAC MAC
In reply to: Steven 's message, "TAC SAC MAC" on Mon, Jul 16 2018, 16:58:59 PDT

I was born into SAC. From basic, I went to Forbes AFB in 1956 for about 15 months, than Zaragoza AB, Spain humping B-47s with nukes in alert area for 3.5 years, then Pease AFB, NH for two years then to Offutt AFB for a two year tour on the SAC Elite Guard. At SAC Hq, after two years, I could walk into the assignments office and ask for any SAC base in the world, back to Spain or to England, etc. Instead, John Alchepohl and I both went up there and asked for Vietnam. Coming back from Vietnam, I was sent to MacDill AFB, Fl. Thought I had died and gone to heaven at first because discipline was so lax. No planes to guard. Worked base patrol as squad Sgt. Problem was discipline was too slack. In SAC show up five minutes late for guardmount and you worked one of your next days off. On the other hand, show up smelling like booze at Forbes and you were assigned to walk from checkpoint one out to the taxi strip down to checkpoint 10. Call in, then walk back out to the taxi strip back to checkpoint one and call in again. Sounds easy enough but not when you are carrying your M-1 rifle, wearing a Parker, flight pants etc. when the Sgt figured you were sober enough he put you on post. Humping B-47s in Spain might mean 8-10-or 12 hours on your feet without a break if they went into SAC alert status. I was 17 and long hours on my feet didn't bother me but we had almost a third of the guys on our squad in the late fifties who were transfers from the Army into the USAF and they were in their 30s. Some retiring as E-3s, E-4s. In the fifties and early 60s, a squadron of 200 men might promote 4 E-3, once in awhile one or two E-4s but no E-5s or above. That's why MATS, TAC, ADC etc were much preferred choices. in 1968, I took an inter-service transfer into the Army CID. Pay doubled overnight, much better job. Even at MacDill, impossibly difficult family condition occurred. In early 1968, when North Korea captured the Pueblo, 40 men were given 8 hours to go home, pack their bags and get back to the base and left for Korea. A week later, 40 more men get two days notice and left for Korea. Talking about weeping,,wailing etc. There were men with small children whose wives didn't drive, men who were working part time jobs to make ends meet or guys who had to babysit the kids while the wife worked. They were told they would be brought back in a month or so after other men had time to get their affairs in order. Never happened.

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