A Visit to My Alma Mater at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri

Another post from my father, Gary Schwertley:

Recently, I was able to make a trip to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where I had been stationed in the Army before I went to Vietnam. I was assigned there from October 1969 to June 1970. The Army sent me there fresh out of basic Army administration school. When I arrived on post, I had no assignment and reported in to the replacement company. From there, personnel sent me to the 4th AIT Brigade. The brigade personnel sergeant then sent me to the 3rd Battalion of the brigade, and the personnel sergeant there sent me on down to B Company. So, I wound up in what was called B-3-4. My assignment was as assistant clerk, but very soon after I arrived, the company clerk decided he wanted to be in another company and disappeared. Overnight, I was made company clerk with no assistant. I was still only a Private E-2 (“mosquito wings”). I quickly found out that my predecessor had been a lazy screw-up, and I set about putting things right, getting the Morning Report (and other administrative matters) up to speed and finding out where all of our people were on paper. Actually, we had three Morning Reports: One for permanent party cadre; one for reservist trainees; and one for active army trainees. The Morning Report (DA Form 1) at that time was the pre-computer method of keeping track of where all of our personnel were (coming, going, sick, AWOL, leave, etc). The numbers were all supposed to balance out against a personnel card for each individual assigned to the company. Also, the Morning Report was used to keep a record of personnel assignments and losses. When everything is working right with the Morning Report, the company has a good clerk and a happy first sergeant. B-3-4 was an advanced individual training unit that trained soldiers in how to repair engineer-specific equipment, such as dozers, rough terrain cranes, graders, and so on. At any one time, we had six cycles of trainee classes in progress. That meant that a majority of weekends, we had a class completing their training and leaving, and a new class arriving and getting started. This was a very hectic schedule for a company clerk with the heavy turn-over of people coming and going. In addition to that, in a training establishment there is always a lot of drama going on, what with lots of people new to the Army getting adjusted to their new lives (or not). One of my additional duties was company mail clerk, so every evening I had mail call outside the orderly room for each of our six cycles of trainees, in turn. My father had lent me the use of one of his old cars while I was at Fort Leonard Wood, so as time permitted, I would takes passes and drive all around the Missouri countryside. I also made trips up to Iowa and down to Arkansas and Tennessee. When I visited Fort Leonard Wood recently, I knew beforehand (from Google Earth) that my old company area had been demolished and leveled. The old 3rd Battalion, 4th AIT Brigade area was located east of the “new” hospital, bounded by First Avenue on the north; Third Avenue on the south; Illinois Avenue on the west; and Nebraska Avenue on the east. Headquarters Avenue kind of bisected this area from east to west, and my company area was located just off of this road. In recent times, Nebraska Avenue was straightened out and a cut made in the hill where my company area was formerly located. As near as I can tell, this new road goes just about over our old mess hall and my barracks site. Like a modern day archeologist looking for clues, I walked around over this grassy and partially wooded site, not finding much evidence of the military activity that had once taken place there. What I did find in the Missouri grass was that the ticks had found me, and over the course of the next few days I had to expel three from my car. The buildings that B-3-4 was housed in were “temporary” structures that had been built circa 1940-41 for use in WW2. When I was there during the Vietnam war, of the five training brigades (TDA units), three were housed in WW2 buildings and two were housed in newer, permanent structures. Also, the 5th Engineer Battalion (TOE unit) was domiciled in WW2 buildings. With the draw-down and contraction of the Army following Vietnam, the WW2 buildings were vacated. At Fort Leonard Wood, the Army has preserved one small corner of the post in its WW2 context. Several barracks, administrative buildings, and a chapel have been preserved and are well maintained with interior historical displays.

Originally posted at: http://yesterdaysweapons.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5503