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.