PROUD VETERAN OF THE U.S. ARMY





MY SERVICE UNITS
- (Probably going to have to redo
this page as there are a lot of embedded features which make
it awkward to update.)
- Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Basic
Training. A prior service soldier died of a heart attack on
our first force march. He seemed "old" to me but was
probably in his early 30s.
- Ft. Devens, Ayer, MA, Advanced
Individual Training as an 05H20, U.S.
Army Security Agency. I was
first in my class, setting a record in completing the
training which resulted in some pretty high and unrealistic
expectations at my first duty station. There is no
substitute for operational experience which takes months or
years to build.
- Torii Station, Okinawa (ASA). My
uncle, my mother's brother, landed near the future location
of this station during WWII. The old bunkers were still on
the shoreline below the antenna field for this station when
I served here. While at Torii Station, I volunteered for two
deployments with an ASA Special Operations Detachment (SOD).
I also started training to acquire a couple of secondary ASA
MOSes.
- Ramasan Station, 7th RRFS, (ASA),
Bahn Non Soong, Thailand.
- Officially RRFS = "Radio Research
Field Station", AKA "Rock and Roll Freak Show".
Volunteered for the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) in addition
to other duties. Several Army Rangers were attached to
this unit and we worked with them daily.
- In memory of my good friend SP4
Keith Zollinhofer who died of a variety of complications
from Agent Orange exposure on 4 February 2003. I served
with him for most of my time in the ASA at two duty
stations, lastly at Ramasan Station.
- B Troop, 2/10th Air Cavalry (Buffalo
Soldiers!!), a Scout Helicopter Squadron attached to
the 7th Infantry Division. Promoted to Sergeant, E5, there.
Garry Owen! My DD214 says SP5 and I spotted that error when
processing out, but it would have required a few
minutes to get the clerk to correct it and I did not want to
wait. The 10th was being reconstituted and was short
staffed, so I actually had my own platoon as a mere Sgt for
a few months. My uncle, James Walton "Bud" Hostetter, served
in the 7th during WWII as a combat infantryman and was with
the 7th on Okinawa, landing not far from what was later the
ASA base.
- Illinois, 5035th USAR School,
Active Reserves. I was almost instantly promoted to SSG, E6,
there and it was suggested by S2 to down grade my clearance
from Top Secret to Secret but I never did and guess all my
paperwork still says Top Secret/Crypto. This was an officer
training unit and I wore many hats during my year there.
There was still an active ASA reserve unit in Seattle where
I relocated to after leaving the 5035th and I planned to
transfer to it and did meet with them, but did not complete
the transfer. Their mission was in Central America at that
time.
- Highest rank attained: Staff
Sergeant E-6. I was boarded for Warrant Officer at the
5035th.
- Were you exposed to Agent
Orange? Be sure to read the Pact
Act.
The Army Security Agency (ASA) is on
Wikipedia here.
The
quality and accuracy of the ASA narrative on Wikipedia has
varied over time. I joined the ASA at the
age of 17 with an GT score of 143 and no college. Scoring in the
top 10% on the military aptitude tests was a requirement for
membership in the ASA, which is how I was
recruited. The Army also tried to recruit me for the
United States Military Academy Preparatory School (USMAPS)
for West Point, while I was in basic training at Fort Leonard
Wood, based on my test scores (?), but I wanted to see the
elephant not spend more time at school. I knew a lot of
incredibly talented, highly intelligent folks who served in the
ASA during the period from 1965 to 1977. It was also the period
when the ASA became diverse, no longer exclusively for white
males. I, and everyone that I served with in the ASA, had at
minimum a Top Secret Crypto security clearance. It is true,
however, that a great many of these soldiers were inspired to
enlist by the draft. The ASA was directly subordinate to the
National Security Agency (NSA) during this period and it had a
lot of control over operations, probably one reason it was
deactivated in 1977. The ASA of my time was treated
exceptionally well and was considered an "elite" unit.
The NSA web site, once had a page
dedicated to the history of the ASA, but it appears to have been
removed. Instead, there
are many references to the ASA which may be found by searching
the NSA web site. Efforts to have a memorial to the ASA added to
Arlington National Cemetery also appear to be in limbo. After
surveying several of the sites devoted to the ASA, most appear
to be dormant which is probably attributable to the passing of
many of the veterans who once maintained these sites. Many of
these sites will show up in a search of the "Army Security
Agency" string using any popular search engine. It appears that
a surge in interest about this organization came a bit too
late since, by the time our work was declassified, most veterans
were beginning to succumb to age and illness and many have since
passed.
A few
comments on life in the ASA/NSA
Being associated with the ASA/NSA was generally
stressful due to the sensitivity and confidential nature
of the mission. For instance, I received several
commendations from the NSA but I have no idea what most of
them were for as that was classified! Guessing there is a
folder in some file cabinet in an NSA basement with my
name on it with stuff like that in it. We were not allowed
to talk about what we did outside of closely controlled
environments and were debriefed for 30 years when we were
discharged from the service, which means we could discuss
nothing about our work during that time. That is part of
the reason that information about what we did is
fragmentary and efforts were started in the early 2000s by
ex-ASAers to attempt to document the operational history
of our organization, especially in SE Asia.
We could not be put under anesthesia without another
soldier with a similar level clearance standing next to
our unconscious body to make certain we did not
inadvertently reveal any classified information. There
were several travel restrictions, countries we were not
allowed to visit even after discharge from service. We
were trained to closely monitor attempts to contact us or
form relationships with those outside of our small
intelligence community. Twice, members of my team were
abducted (both men survived and were recovered). I later
ran into one of those men on the factory floor of
Caterpillar Building X in East Peoria, IL! There was a bounty on our lives in more
than one war zone.
It was obvious that we each had one or more handlers
inside the NSA as our performance was closely monitored.
At least, that was my experience, based on how actively my
work was scrutinized and commented on.
It was not unusual for ASAers to "break" under the strain
in this environment and there were a few well known
indicators of such a progression that made their team
members start watching folks exhibiting these "symptoms"
out of the corner of their eyes as this infrequently led
to a violent episode. Some became addicted to drugs or
alcohol and were generally harmless until they became low
or non-functioning. Most of the problems occurred with men
and women who suddenly found religion, which apparently
did not resolve their stress issues, or did so only
briefly.
So, it was an environment which lent itself to stress and
a certain level of mistrust and paranoia. After I ETSed
from the Army, I was recruited by the CIA but only read
the application I was sent up to page nine of twenty five,
before I tossed it. I assume that attempt was because of
my security clearance and past association with the NSA.
Vetting someone for a Top Secret+ security clearance
is a lengthy, expensive process so it was a cost effective
and low risk recruiting approach. At any rate, it was not
a way life that I wanted to continue to live.
A few comments on the Vietnam-Era Twin
Registry
The Vietnam-Era
Twin Registry was started in the 1980s at Temple
University using about 7,000 pairs of twins, one of whom
served in SE Asia and one who did not. My twin joined the
Navy the same day that I joined the Army and spent his
entire four year commitment in the continental U.S.
(Illinois, Tennessee, Florida and Washington State). The
closest he came to seeing water was in his bathtub and the
closest he came to leaving the States was when he wore the
spare pair of my jungle boots that I gave to him. It
is/was still common for sailors to never serve on a ship
or to leave the United States. I might never have been
promoted above E-3 and also earned a bar to re-enlistment
under those circumstances. Serving at Ft. Ord after almost
3 years overseas was a completely different mission than I
was used to. Preparedness is important, just not very
exciting.
Weird coincidence, I served with a soldier who was a twin
(Terry and Jerry!) and when talking to him found out that
his brother had also joined the Navy and was serving on
the same base in Washington State as my brother and lived
in the barracks next to him. I met him when the Army paid
for my leave travel back to the States when I volunteered
to do a second tour in SE Asia. I think their last name
was Hart? Hard to remember after 50+ years.
Anyway, The Registry was using twins to track a variety of
health issues that SE Asia veterans were already
experiencing after service there. Agent Orange, PTSD,
etc., were big ones. I participated for about twenty years
before dropping out. One thing that soured me on the
experience was watching my friend Keith slowly die from
variety of symptoms that he swore were from Agent Orange
exposure and fight the VA system to get help.
Unfortunately, there was still a lot of denial about the
impact of Agent Orange on health in the late 1990s and
early 2000s. Keith was already disadvantaged by coming
from a very poor family, just him and his mother, in
Baltimore. They were too poor to buy milk for him as a
child so his health was always iffy.
Secondly, the Registry started "loaning us out" for
various studies (Lab Rats!) and part of that usually
included revisiting our military service in detail, over
and over again. We frequently received newsletters in the
mail that prominently noted our Vietnam connection which
was not particularly welcome as service there was under a
cloud for decades afterwards and, like other SE Asian
veterans (I assume), I had experienced harassment and
discrimination as a result. It was 30 years before someone
"thanked me for my service" and, while I am extremely
proud of joining the Army at a time when that was not a
popular thing to do, I find it somewhat annoying when that
happens today.
Return to Top of Page