Last draftee from Vietnam

[Texas Proud]

OK... I have not looked this up, but I hope someone finds more info on this guy...


I was watching the news and saw a clip about someone who I believe served 39 years in the military... and he was drafted into the Army... they said that they believe he is the last Vietnam draftee that was on active duty...


Anybody

 

[rescueme]

Anybody

Man believed to be last Vietnam-era draftee set to retire after 39 years – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

 

[Texas Proud]

Man believed to be last Vietnam-era draftee set to retire after 39 years – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

Thanks

 

[Nords]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2011-07-05-last-draftee-vietnam_n.htm

He was drafted when he was 19 years old so now he's ~58 years old.

His base pay is $7195.80/month, and as one of the last of the "Final Pay" dinosaurs his pension ratio is 2.5% of his final base pay for each year of service. To be conservative, let's call that 39.0 years.

His pension will be $7015/month, or just over $84K/year. Of course his Tricare premiums will be part of the latest price increase to $520/year, or just over $43/month.

I think he'll make it to Social Security.

But with over 3700 jumps and another couple dozen IEDs, I suspect that he's been underpaid.

 

[ls99]

Last Vietnam-era draftee retiring from Army - USATODAY.com


But with over 3700 jumps and another couple dozen IEDs, I suspect that he's been GROSSLY underpaid.

Fixed.

+1.

 

[clifp]

I don't know jumping out of airplanes is fun plenty of people pay for the privilege, as long as nobody is shooting at you, which I imagine is true for virtually all of his jumps.

On the other hand nothing fun about IED or burying your friends at Arlington.

 

[ls99]

I'm positive not all of his jumps are combat jumps. OTOH according to the [-]Geneva Convention [/-]Free Fire Zone, a paratrooper is considered a combatant AKA target from the moment of exit from aircraft.

 

[Texas Proud]

I'm positive not all of his jumps are combat jumps. OTOH according to the [-]Geneva Convention [/-]Free Fire Zone, a paratrooper is considered a combatant AKA target from the moment of exit from aircraft.

Wouldn't they be a target before they exited Just curious....

 

[rescueme]

Wouldn't they be a target before they exited Just curious....

They get combat pay, either way ...

Just a family story/history. DW's uncle (AF) was in rescue (Jolly Green) in Nam and one of the guys that rapelled down for recovery operations (no parachute ).

He did his 20+, I did not, (and both were AF) we both got combat pay. The difference? He has a Purple Heart (actually, awarded several).

While he enlisted (not draft), I enlisted when I turned 18. In those days, there was no lottery nor deferrment for being married (as was the case, a few years before I went in). Also, since college was not in my future, it was easy to look in my crystal ball to know my short term future, at my age.

 

[mickeyd]

My military career was prompted by the draft. Took ROTC (land grant requirement) for 2 years in college and hated it. After graduation, draft status changed immediately from "2S" to "1A". I volunteered for infantry OCS to avoid being drafted and becoming an infantry rifleman. That was 1966.

I eventually really liked what I did in the Army and they must have liked me too. After 4 years of AD, I stayed in the reserves for about 20 more years. 1994 I retired as a LTC. All because of the draft.

That CSM has my hightest regards.

 

[ls99]

Wouldn't they be a target before they exited Just curious....

No one would know there are paratroopers on board unless they have prior intel. The aircraft is of course a target.

Pilots ejecting and parachuting after the aircraft is disabled are considered combatants upon landing. That does not of course prevent anyone from using them for target practice on the way down.

The only country making any attempt at obeying and be hobbled by the GC is the USA. Most everyone ignores GC.

 

[REWahoo]

I stayed in the reserves for about 20 more years. 1994 I retired as a LTC.

Dang, you were a 'telephone colonel'!

 

[Nemo2]

The only country making any attempt at obeying and be hobbled by the GC is the USA.

Oh I dunno.....in Canada we're always having investigations because one or more of our troops allegedly pushed, or was otherwise 'mean', to a captured Taliban........and I'm pretty sure the Aussies are the same way.

 

[clifp]

Oh I dunno.....in Canada we're always having investigations because one or more of our troops allegedly pushed, or was otherwise 'mean', to a captured Taliban........and I'm pretty sure the Aussies are the same way.

Good to know, when we run an out of oil and have to invade the place. Still I know Canada has a bunch of hockey players who don't always play by the rules , not that US players are any better.

 

[samclem]

I don't know jumping out of airplanes is fun plenty of people pay for the privilege, as long as nobody is shooting at you, which I imagine is true for virtually all of his jumps.

The Army has a knack for squeezing the fun out of almost any "should be fun" experience. Like jumping out of airplanes. It's less fun with a 60 pound ruck and a mortar baseplate for extra "ballast." And sitting on Green Ramp at Pope AFB, NC for 5 hours in the heat waiting for the airplane (the airplane's right on time, don't ask my why the troops have to be there so early). Okay, everybody get aboard. Now we'll bounce around for two hours at 500 feet over the terrain in an 85 degF airplane amidst the smell of exhaust fumes and vomit while the crew gets their training--is there anybody aboard this airplane who hasn't puked yet? Stand up, multiple inspections. And again. Finally, green light and 30 seconds under the silk. Now, form up on the DZ. Then, let's have some PT . . . Finally, we can go home now--the last embers of fun have been extinguished!

They've got my respect. Sometimes I think the only reason we do airborne ops is because it makes for fanatical killing machines. I've thought that putting even lackluster troops in that airplane and treating 'em as we do is like shaking up a bee in a beer can--when he gets out, somebody is gonna pay a big price!

 

[ls99]

Oh I dunno.....in Canada we're always having investigations because one or more of our troops allegedly pushed, or was otherwise 'mean', to a captured Taliban........and I'm pretty sure the Aussies are the same way.

Very Well, stand corrected. Rephrase to: USA one of the few abiding by GC.

 

[ls99]

The Army has a knack for squeezing the fun out of almost any "should be fun" experience. Like jumping out of airplanes. It's less fun with a 60 pound ruck and a mortar baseplate for extra "ballast." And sitting on Green Ramp at Pope AFB, NC for 5 hours in the heat waiting for the airplane (the airplane's right on time, don't ask my why the troops have to be there so early). Okay, everybody get aboard. Now we'll bounce around for two hours at 500 feet over the terrain in an 85 degF airplane amidst the smell of exhaust fumes and vomit while the crew gets their training--is there anybody aboard this airplane who hasn't puked yet? Stand up, multiple inspections. And again. Finally, green light and 30 seconds under the silk. Now, form up on the DZ. Then, let's have some PT . . . Finally, we can go home now--the last embers of fun have been extinguished!

They've got my respect. Sometimes I think the only reason we do airborne ops is because it makes for fanatical killing machines. I've thought that putting even lackluster troops in that airplane and treating 'em as we do is like shaking up a bee in a beer can--when he gets out, somebody is gonna pay a big price!

And remember the last guys on the stick are pushing with all their might on those ahead. Hence the term a$$hole to bellybutton.

They really do not want to practice their tree landing skills with equipment jump, especially when the green light comes on halfway through the DZ...

 

[Nords]

Wouldn't they be a target before they exited Just curious....

Yes, and when you're hanging under that canopy it suddenly occurs to you that you've just solved 90% of the other guy's targeting problem.

The Army has a knack for squeezing the fun out of almost any "should be fun" experience. Like jumping out of airplanes.

I think the walk out of a C-141-- even strolling down the ramp of a C-130-- was a lot less exciting than standing up on the landing skid of a Huey.

At our graduation ceremony from Airborne school, one of the cadets had his wings pinned on by his father. Instead of using the school's brand-new wings, Dad supplied the ones he'd worn in Vietnam. They were his "lucky" wings because they'd stopped a VC bullet. He'd had them soldered back together and worn them ever since. After the ceremony there was some discussion about whether they should've been lined with Kevlar.

I volunteered for the Airborne school to get a taste of the Marine Corps life. I finished the school (Fort Benning in June/July) the week before a midshipman submarine cruise from New London, CT to the Bahamas. The difference was stark. The decision was easy.

 

[Bimmerbill]

Oh man, Benning in July? I did Bragg in August. Brutal. At any given time 100 out of the 300 officer candiates I was with were belly up getting glucose bags or medevaced.

 

[braumeister]

Oh, please! Not another "I can top that" thread.

I might have to break out the story of the box lunch I once got on a 141 where they forgot to cut the crusts off the sandwich bread. [shudder]

 

[REWahoo]

Oh, please! Not another "I can top that" thread.

I might have to break out the story of the box lunch I once got on a 141 where they forgot to cut the crusts off the sandwich bread. [shudder]

Hey, I had a box lunch on a tanker made by a truly inept cook - I got a real finger sandwich...

 

[Nords]

Oh man, Benning in July? I did Bragg in August. Brutal. At any given time 100 out of the 300 officer candiates I was with were belly up getting glucose bags or medevaced.

The best parts were the 0230 reveille for the start of the training day, when it was only 80 degrees and "before it got hot". By 0800 they'd be running us through the outdoor shower nozzles. You'd think that would keep you cool, which it sorta did for 30 seconds, but it also added 20 pounds of water weight to your workout.

After a year at USNA it was a real eye-opener on "real" military life. To this day I have an aversion to group workouts supervised by a class leader.

Somehow I never got around to trying out the exotic sights & sounds of Athens or Phenix City.

One of my fellow students in this 1979 class was a captain in the Iranian Army.

Hey, I had a box lunch on a tanker made by a truly inept cook - I got a real finger sandwich...

Eh, sounds like the cook was just trying to keep their hand in...

 

[clifp]

The Army has a knack for squeezing the fun out of almost any "should be fun" experience. Like jumping out of airplanes. It's less fun with a 60 pound ruck and a mortar baseplate for extra "ballast." And sitting on Green Ramp at Pope AFB, NC for 5 hours in the heat waiting for the airplane (the airplane's right on time, don't ask my why the troops have to be there so early). ...

They've got my respect. Sometimes I think the only reason we do airborne ops is because it makes for fanatical killing machines. I've thought that putting even lackluster troops in that airplane and treating 'em as we do is like shaking up a bee in a beer can--when he gets out, somebody is gonna pay a big price!

I see your point SamClem. My two jumps (static line only) were quite a bit more fun. Yes we had to take a 1/2 day instruction on safety, but unlike most safety lectures I've suffered through, the importance of safety and following procedures is obvious when jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. I am sure that the situation you describe would actually suck most of the fun out it. Still I think the Golden Knights (the Army's parachute team a fixture at big airshows) would be fun job even if scary.

 

[Nords]

... when jumping out of perfectly good airplanes.

It's not the aircraft... it's the flight crew!