After Advanced Infantry Training (AIT), I was selected to attend the NCO Academy, a several-month training program in Fort Benning, Georgia. The idea was to train men to become leaders in infantry units. Upon graduation, we would be promoted to the rank of Sergeant E-5 and shipped to Vietnam. The training was done by black beret-wearing airborne Rangers stationed at Fort Benning. The training was focused on combat leadership and survival skills. Then my orders changed.
After graduating from the NCO Academy at Fort Benning, Georgia, I was assigned as an assistant drill sergeant at a Basic Training unit at Fort Lewis, WA, for one 8-week session. The Drill Instructor was Staff Sergeant Mayor, a Vietnam veteran. I was stationed at Fort Lewis, in April and May 1968 and then shipped to South Korea. I recall that one of the recruits was from Wapato High School, and his older brother was in my class. I do not recall his name.