I'M NOW RETIRED SINCE THE CANCER. I RETIRED FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN IN A DEFERRED PAYMENT STATUS. THIS MEANS I'LL START TO COLLECT MY RETIREMENT PAY AT AGE 60. THE STATE IS REDUCING STAFF ALL THE TIME AND I WAS CAUGHT UP IN THAT BECAUSE OF ONLY 15 YEARS WITH THE STATE. SO, I MADE MY OWN MOVE FOLLOWING THE 5 P'S. SECOND CAREER I WAS A FOOD SERVICE DIRECTOR FOR A PRISON WITH THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS IN JACKSON,MI. I WAS HIRED IN THE MDOC SIX MONTHS AFTER I RETIRED. I PROMOTED INTO MANAGEMENT WITHIN 16 MONTHS. MY FACILITY HAS A POPULATION OF 1752 PRISONER. I DO NOT GET THE SAME REWARDING FEELING RUNNING A OPERATION FOR PRISONERS, BUT THE PAY IS GREAT AND SOMEONE HAS TO DO THE JOB. IN RECENT MONTHS I BECAME RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MDOC BOOT CAMP. MY WARDEN IS A FORMER MARINE AND HE SPEAR HEADED THE BOOT CAMP FOR MICHIGAN. THE POPULATION MANY GET AS HIGH AS 450 BECAUSE OF A CHANGE IN THE LAWS. PRISONERS WHO GO THRU THE PROGRAM USUALLY DO NOT RE-COMMIT AND THAT'S THE WHOLE IDEA. ITS NOT THE 1970'S BOOT CAMP, BUT FAIRLY CLOSE IN MANY RESPECTS. THE CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO BECOME DI'S ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST, PROFESSIONALS ALL IN ASPECTS. WORKING AT THIS FACILITY ALMOST BRING BACK FLASH BACKS OF BOOT CAMP.
Other Comments:
TODAY I'M A GRANDFATHER OF THREE BOYS AND ONE GIRL. I STILL ENJOY SHOOTING FIREARMS AND HAVE AN ENOUGH PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS I BOUGHT A LARGE SAFE. I HOPE TO BEGIN RELOADING SOON WITH MY BLUE PRESS. I COMPETE IN NRA MATCHES 2700'S AND KEEP PRACTICING WITH MY CARRY GUNS. KIMBERS, GLOCK, SMITH & WESSON ARE MOST LIKELY CANCEL CARRY HANDGUNS. MY INTEREST IN FIREARMS BECAME MORE INTENTS WHEN I BECAME A MARKSMANSHIP INSTRUCTOR. TRAINING BOOT'S AT EDSON RANGE ON THE SAME RANGE I SHOT ON IN BOOT CAMP. REQUAL SHOOTERS AT CAMP SCHWAB AND AS A SGT. I RAN THE COACHES AND PMI SCHOOL AT DIV MTU FROM JULY 1977 TO JULY 1978.
''Gallant Eagle '86,'' a 10-day exercise testing U.S. forces under desert warfare conditions, wound down Saturday with a live-ammunition drill in the Mojave Desert, a spokesman said.
''There's a live-fire exercise going on right now in Twentynine Palms, and with the end of that, the exercise will stand down,'' said Air Force Maj. John Meyer, spokesman for the joint-service command post at March Air Force Base.
Although it would take several days to analyze the performance of thousands of Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force units, ''everyone generally feels happy and satisfied,'' Meyer said.
An Ohio Army private was killed and several others were injured, including a Georgia soldier whose right hand was nearly severed, during the exercise, but the total number of injuries during the exercise had not been tallied, he said.
Three men were killed in a helicopter crash July 10 during pre-exercise preparations, Meyer said.
The exercise, centered at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center here, 130 miles east of Los Angeles, was to test military personnel in a desert environment should they be called to action in the Middle East.
It was also a test to find out whether the services can be coordinated in one effort, said Marine Col. Bill Wydo.
During the maneuvers across hundreds of miles of California wasteland, troops fired live ammunition, coped with searing desert heat and learned how to fight by day and night.
The Air Force flew hundreds of missions from bases nationwide, and the Navy used container ships similar to those used by the British during the Falkland Islands war to support the massive exercise.
One of the Gallant Eagle highlights was Friday's successful night airborne assault by 742 Army paratroopers.
Safety has been stressed since the 1982 Gallant Eagle maneuver, when six paratroopers were killed and 150 were injured during a tactical drop in high winds.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1986
To Month/Year
December / 1986
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
People You Remember GENERALS, COOK, SMITH, HODSON, COOPER AND Mc MONOGALE. TOP KELLY GOT ME OUT OF CLEANING RIFLES TO WORK FOR HIM FOR A RECEPTION/CHANGE OF COMMAND.
Memories OPERATED A COMMANDING GENERALS MESS, CHINA, STEMWARE AND STERLING SILVERWARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESSERT.
