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.
The Combined Arms Exercise (CAX) program at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC), Twenty-nine Palms, California, is the Marine Corps' most advanced live-fire unit-level combined arms training program for ground and air fire support with maneuver at the tactical level. The Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command at Twentynine Palms is the premier live-fire base in the Marine Corps. Each year roughly one-third of the Fleet Marine Force and Marine Reserve units -- some 50,000 Marines in all -- participate in the base's training exercise program. It draws military personnel from all over the world for Combined Arms Exercises. A CAX involves several hundred Marines playing a war game against a fictitious enemy in which ground troops, armor, artillery, and aircraft engage enemy movements simultaneously.
The Marine Corps' Combined Arms Exercise (CAX) Training Program, developed to enable commanders and Marines to practice combat essentials skills, began in 1975 and allows for both brigade and battalion sized live-fire and maneuver exercises. The operating procedures permit Marines training at the Combat Center to maneuver both on foot and mounted on vehicles through live-ordnance impact areas. It further permits most air and ground weapons commonly found in a Marine Air Ground Task Force to be employed closely, in accordance with current doctrine in a combined arms setting.
The procedures taught at CAX (Combined Arms Exercise) are applicable across all terrain, not just desert warfare. Similar training is not possible aboard other bases. There are too many constraints," Taylor said, adding that "internal friction" such as broken equipment and loss of communications adds to the realism of CAX training. Marines can't effectively train for this set of target skills with MILES (Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System) gear or force-on-force exercises. With new technology, services have become more inclined to depend heavily on non-live-fire target training. Combined arms skills are perishable and demand frequent sustainment.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1981
To Month/Year
December / 1981
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
People You Remember TOP KELLY, SSGT KENDALL, SSGT BERNNON, CWO STOZKO
Memories WORKING IN AN EXPERIMENTAL FIELD CHOW HALL MADE TO FEED 2,500, WE FED 5,000 INSTEAD. YES WE MADE IT HAPPEN... COLD BEER AND POKER AT NIGHT WAS A WAY TO PASS THE TIME.
