Best Friends ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
While an 1803 Amphibian Tractor Officer, Major Frank Slovik, USMC (Retired) became my Commanding Officer while I was assigned to Delta Company, 3rd Amphibian Tractor Battalion, First Marine Brigade at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station, Hawaii. Major Slovik offered me affirmative support, excellent advice and professional opportunities while I was under his command. His positive support and example helped me when I assumed additional duties and opportunities during my career. Also, after I developed diabetes Major Slovik contacted several people to try and help me stay on active duty. Major Slovik retired in 1981 as a Lt. Colonel and died in January 2017.
FRIENDS:
Frank Slovik
Jim Hawkins
Bob Wiggs
Best Moment Following The Basic School (TBS) at Quantico, VA the Marine Corps was nice enough to provide me with orders to Delta Company, 3rd Amphibian Tractor Battalion, First Marine Brigade at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station (KMCAS) on Oahu, Hawaii. As a 2nd Lieutenant with a new 1803 MOS it was quite a surprise. Because of my enlisted background as a Combat Engineer - Heavy Equipment Operator (1345 MOS), I really anticipated being assigned as a Combat Engineer Officer (1302 MOS) or as an Engineer Equipment Officer (1310 MOS) even though the 13xx MOS was not one of my top two choices. However, I definitely wanted to be assigned to a track MOS, so I was hoping for either a Tank Officer (1802 MOS) or an Amphibian Tractor Officer (1803 MOS) assignment. And of course for my wife, Ann, the upcoming 3 year accompanied tour of duty in Hawaii was terrific with her. Our only issue was the distance and being far from family and friends.
On our way to Hawaii Ann and I stopped by San Francisco to visit the “City by the Bay”. When we first arrived in Hawaii, Delta Company, 3rd Amphibian Tractor Battalion along with the some of the Infantry Battalion had already deployed for an exercise on the island of Molokai so we had a few days to look for temporary housing. After we were settled we needed to find more permanent off-base housing because On-Base Housing List had a 12-15 month waiting period. But that was literally it just a few days getting settled and making sure Ann knew where things were. After I checked-in Lt. Jim Hawkins and his wife, Sue, who were our sponsors, helped get us moved into our temporary housing that was a garage apartment in Kailua. On Sunday we found Kailua Baptist Church that we called our church home during our time at KMCAS. On Monday, when I reported for duty to the Company Commander, Major Bahnmaier, I was soon on a helicopter heading to Molokai to meet my Platoon and my Platoon Sergeant - Sgt. Herron, plus "get my feet wet." The Company completed the exercise on Molokai and then performed a final landing at Bellows AFB with 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines to complete their week of training. After returning to KMCAS or K-Bay, Ann and I started looking at the housing market in Hawaii that was very, very active. We finally ended up buying our first home without even seeing it on the inside. It was a townhouse at Aikahi Gardens in Kailua. (In 2015 we saw that the Aikahi Gardens townhouses were still there but their medium price was $497K.). This townhouse complex was originally built in 1971 and was about 1.5 miles from the KMCAS Main Gate (by 2015 there was a "new" Main Gate at the end of H-2). But after a year on the waiting list for Base Housing, our name came to the top of the Base Housing List. We sold our townhouse and moved into Base Housing at 1770 Lawrence Road. We truly enjoyed living on Base at KMCAS very much, as well as we enjoyed our time living in Hawaii. Had we not had family back in Georgia, we would probably have had the Marine Corps move us back to Hawaii when I received my Medical Discharge in August 1977.
When I met the 2nd Platoon and my Platoon Sergeant, Sgt. Herron, things started to click from the beginning. Having been an enlisted Marine I knew both the power and the importance of being able to work with and trust your Platoon Sergeant. Sgt. Herron was very professional and kept me out of trouble on several occasions. One of my initial problems that he had to correct was my having been a Combat Engineer when I was enlisted, and keeping my combat engineering ideas in the background was a problem. The Ramp area where the LVTP-5 Amtracs were housed, maintained and washed was a very large concrete slab. However, it was nothing but dirt and mud immediately off of the concrete Ramp. When the Amtracs were washed, it became a muddy swamp area that you wanted to avoid. Our Platoon Office was in an abandoned fuel pump station next to the Ramp where our Platoon's Amtracs were staged. Because I was still learning about the LVTP-5, I stayed out of the way when we returned from the "field", and the vehicles were being cleaned and serviced. I let Sgt. Herron take charge. However, seeing all of the water drain from the ramp and the muddy area it created kicked my "combat engineering background" into high gear. It did not take long for me to analyze the situation and mentally develop a plan of action. I got 2 members of my Platoon, gave them shovels and directions on where to dig so we could drain the area next to the concrete slab. However, to make the digging go faster, I picked up a shovel and started slinging the mud too. The impact was immediate and the water started to flow away from the ramp area. However, when Sgt. Herron saw what I was doing, he came over and quickly got me "under control" and had me stop my manual labor. I explained what I wanted, and he assigned me a detail to do the work. He did not want "his Lieutenant" digging in the mud. In about two weeks we had much of the water flowing away from the Ramp and the area immediately next to the Ramp when we came in from the field and cleaned and serviced the Amtracs. Plus, we worked with CWO Bob Wiggs, the Maintenance Officer, and Gunnery Sgt. Funkhouser, the Maintenance Chief, who I believe saw that his Platoon would also benefit from our drainage efforts to continue to drain the ramp area. We explained our drainage plan, and the Maintenance Platoon then provided us with used 50 gallon barrels that were cut and modified so they could be used as a drainage ditch liner. Eventually, the ground dried enough that we built a volleyball court for Company noontime activity and Platoon get together at the end of the day.
When I first reported aboard at Delta Company we were still using the LVTP-5 Amphibian Tractors that had a steel hull and were gasoline powered. However, it was not long before the first LVTP-7s started to arrive. These are diesel powered and are constructed of an aluminum alloy which is capable of absorbing small arms fire. In addition, unlike the LVTP-5 that had its gas tanks under the cargo floor plates, the LVTP-7 had its diesel fuel tank built into the side of the vehicle. As personnel turnover progressed through the year more and more of the 1833 MOS Marines were trained in the operation and maintenance of the LVTP-7. In 1973 the Company’s new Commanding Officer, Major Slovik, had the ideas to hold an Open House for family and friends to show off the Company’s new LVTP-7s. Over 300 family and guests attended the Open House and “a good time was had by all.”
For the Company to train in amphibious assault maneuvers we had to go to Bellows (an old Army Air Force base) and “attack” the beach during both night and day. However, in order for the Amtracs to get to Bellows, we had to go into the surf at KMCAS and travel via water to Bellows. Of course in order to get to our KMCAS splash point we had to travel through an area that was the home of the “red-footed booby”. This is a bird that would eventually win (after we had left Hawaii) its battle with the Amtrac Company with the help of environmentalists. (As a side note: in 1985 the 1st Marine Brigade at the Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station was renamed the 1st Marine Amphibious Brigade. The Brigade was being reorganized as part of efforts to improve the Marines' rapid-deployment capability. In 1992 the Brigade was de-activated. Delta Company, 3rd Amphibian Assault Battalion is now stationed at 29 Palms, CA)
Worst Moment While living in Base Housing at KMCAS construction was started for new Base Housing behind our house in 1973. During a heavy down pour of winter rain the construction drainage ditch was blocked with debris. The result was a new "path of least resistance" for the water that channeled it through several (7) of the houses on Lawrence and Bancroft Roads. Early Saturday morning the muddy floodwater came in our back door, filled much of the floor area and went out the front door. Needless to say it was a mess, and it was not "minor damage" (a phrase which was used to classify our “major damage”) as reported in the Base newspaper. In spite of this disaster, Base Housing, USAA and many of our neighbors and friends were a fantastic help.
As you can imagine Amtrac personnel like the water better than they do the land, but not Major Bahnmaier my first Commanding Officer at Delta Company, 3rd Amtrac Bn. He was a very competitive individual especially with his counterparts in the 3rd Marines. One of the biggest "land" events Delta Company got involved with did not involve an amphibious landing. It was when the Infantry Regiment went on an endurance hike. And of course not to be out done, Major Bahnmaier bragged that anything the infantry could do his Amtrac Company could do better. So we trained and trained for a timed 25 miles endurance march. When the day came for the real thing, we were loaded onto buses at 2am and taken to the west side of Oahu. Once there we did our 25 miles endurance hike at the Lualualai Naval Ammunition Depot starting at 4am. It took our Company a total of 7 hours and 45 minutes to complete the 25-mile hike. To say the least we were ready to get back to our Amtracs and take them back into the water.
Chain of Command
Chief of Staff - Colonel Robert Shuford, USMC (1803) - His son was in Corporal in our Company Company CO - Major William Bahnmaier, USMC (1972) and
Major Frank Slovik, USMC (1972-1975) He retired in 1981 as a Lt. Colonel after 27 years in the Marines:
7 years were in Amtracs and 7 years were in Tanks.Frank died on 31 January 2017.
Company XO - Captain Platt, USMC 1st Platoon - Lt. Jim Hawkins, USMC 2nd Platoon - Lt. Phil Williams, USMC (1972-1974) and Lt. Puetz (1974-?) 3rd Platoon - Lt. Labowski, USMC 4th Platoon - Lt. Richard Puetz, USMC Headquarters Platoon - CWO Bob Wiggs, USMC Supply Officer - Lt. Laraque, USMC (1972-1974) and Lt. Phil Williams, USMC (1974-1975)
Current D Company, 3rd Amphibian Assault Battalion website: http://www.1stmardiv.marines.mil/Units/3D-AA-BN/Company/Delta-Company/
Other Memories Later in the year after I had reported aboard, we had a Change-of-Command ceremony where Major Bahnmaier was re-placed by Major Slovik. Having Major Slovik as the Company Commanding Officer was quite a contrast to having Major Bahnmaier onboard. Of course I got to know Major Slovik much better, and observed how he worked with the Platoon Commanders and how he truly seemed to be interested in our opinions. I was only a Platoon Commander for less than 2 years under Major Slovik, but in watching him operate gave me some positive lessons for when I moved out to Okinawa as an Amtrac Company Executive Officer. Also, I greatly appreciated Major Slovik keeping me in the Company when a new 2nd Lt. reported aboard, and I had to give up my Amtrac Platoon. At the same time our Supply Officer rotated out. When Major Slovik assigned me as the Delta Company Supply Officer it was a real surprise, but for me it served two positive career enhancing objectives: 1) it allowed me to stay with an Amtrac Company as opposed to being farmed out some place for a staff position at KMCAS, and 2) it gave me experience in budgeting and priority management that I would later be able to use on Okinawa when I was the Company XO for Bravo Company, 1st Amtrac Battalion, and later when I was the Headquarters Commandant for a III MAF Tactical Exercise Control Group (TECG).
When I reported aboard, Delta Company was still using the old LVTP-5 Amtracs. This is the model that I saw destroyed in Vietnam by a mine. The LVTP-5 contained 12 bladders of gasoline under the cargo area deck plates. This was truly a Molotov Cocktail on tracks. The LVTP-5 is also the model of Amtrac that Gunnery Sgt. Avery (one of my Junior Drill Instructors when I was at Parris Island in 1965) was in charge of when he was killed by a mine that destroyed his Amtrac in Vietnam 1968.
On 23 October 1973 the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East was raging after Egypt and Syria attacked Israel. Because the United States was fearful of Russian military involvement the American military forces were put on a DEFCON 3 war footing. Everyone had to report in at Company Headquarters. The Sixth Fleet did not downgrade until 17 November. And the First Marine Brigade was ready for action if called upon.
Once a year the First Marine Brigade would participate in a multi-national naval and amphibious landing exercise called RIMPAC (RIM of the PACific) – United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Over 14,000 Marines and Sailors participated in this war game exercise. Generally, we would do amphibious landings at the Barking Sands beach area on Kauai with Marines from BLT 2/3. One of the ships that I was assigned to was the USS Racine (LST-1191) and on another occasion I was on the USS Monticello (LSD-35). It was an exciting time for me when I could see all of our training play out. In addition, it is always rewarding to see your Marines do the job they were being trained to do. We also did multiple landing exercises with and without the infantry on a beach at Bellows Beach (an old Air Force Base) on Oahu close to KMCAS and on the beaches on the island of Molokai.
