In 1992
I joined the Army, ostensibly to earn money for college. I still haven't gone,
although I've been to a few college parties. Not really knowing what I was
getting into I ended up as a linguist. The Army didn't tell me what language I
would be learning until after I had completed Basic Training and was signed in
at the Defense Language Institute. They told me I would be learning Korean. I
remember my response was something along the lines of "What language do they
speak in Korea?" Yeah, I had a long way to go. I will never forget my time spent
in Monterey, it was certainly a formative time of my life. While I was there I
met a great many of the people in my life that I still consider friends. I will
probably share some stories of my time there at some point in the future, right
now I want to get a brief history down before I forget it, again.
After 47 weeks of intense language studies, the Army felt I
had learned all they could teach me and sent me to Advanced Individual Training
at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas. If you've never been to San
Angelo, and you get the chance, don't go. You aren't missing anything. There are
goat farms and restaurants. That's it. Seriously. I didn't make it through the
training on my first try, fell into some academic difficulty, but I did make it
on my second try. I'm actually quite happy about this as I was able to be a part
of two different classes. I knew a good many of the students in the second class
from DLI, but not nearly as well as I did after studying with them. I am still
closer to many of these guys than most of the people from my own class.
Once I graduated from AIT I was assigned to Korea. I was
excited! I would be flying over with a good friend of mine, Shaggy, and we both
had orders to the same place a place well south of the DMZ. Everyone from those
two classes had orders to the same place. Alas, at reception I was diverted to a
place very close to the DMZ. Just me, no one I knew went with me. It sucked. At
the time I was very upset about this development, but I will say honestly that
it was one of the most interesting and entertaining assignments of my time in
the military. I actually extended my tour by six months! This was unheard of;
the orderly room didn't even know how to do the paperwork. They kept assuring me
that I didn't want to extend there; didn't I mean transfer to a unit in the
south? I stayed up there longer so I could get married for the first time. I
think we set a record for how short the actual marriage was. It took just over a
year for the divorce to finalize, I think we spent more time doing all the
paperwork to get married and the legal crap to get divorced than we spent
actually married. I recommend everyone try this at least once. It helps you know
what you are NOT looking for the next time around.
So, after 18 months in Korea it was time to go back to The
States. I ended up at Fort Campbell. According to regulations after a short tour
(1 year) overseas you should not be relocated for at least two years. I spent
eleven months at Ft. Campbell before shipping out to Korea again. I was truly
grateful, that place was passing strange.
I came back to Korea on 7 Jan 97. I had been divorced for all
of 3 months and was ecstatic to be back in the land of milk and honeys. I have a
weakness for Asian women. I thought I had the perfect deal with my first wife.
She was Korean by birth and blood, but was adopted and raised by an American
family. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS TRICK!
More on this and other mindless babble later...