| Military Service - U.S. Army |
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| Quartermaster Corp, US Army |
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During my college years I was a member of an Army Reserve unit. I had joined a Quartermaster Company of the 5th Army out of Chicago where I was given the rank of Pfc and position title of Company Clerk. Our Company was responsible for the repair and replacement of all canvas products for the entire 5th Army. We had dozens of different types of sewing machines, punching machines, grommet installation equipment. My purpose in joining the reserve was to gain insight and experience with the Army paperwork system, which I got plenty of in this particular unit.
Little did I know that one day I was to use this experience long after my military days when I invested as the owner of a sewing factory in Seattle, WA that manufactured sporting goods. I had 50 women working for me on all kinds of sewing machines. Most of them I was familiar with from my Army Reserve days.
I stayed in this unit for 3 1/2 years until I graduated from Wheaton. I finished my time as a sergeant wearing three stripes. I had a great time and learned a lot!
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| ROTC Graduation June 11, 1956 |
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| Newly Commissioned 2nd Lt Richard L. Holt in his dress blues right after graduation |
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| Army Officer's Hat Insignia |
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This was a proud day for me, June 11, 1956. This day was both graduation day from Wheaton College where I had majored in Physics, and also the day of commissioning all the ROTC graduates into the US Army. I had worked hard for both of these events, and at graduation I received my Army Reserve Commission, the normal offering to ROTC graduates, and was also offered and accepted a Regular Army Commission. Most of the other ROTC students received Reserve Commissions. This put me on the same status as graduates of the US Military Academy at West Point, but one day later in date-of-rank.
In my senior year in Wheaton's ROTC, I was the Brigade Commander, a Cadet Colonel, in charge of the 600 man ROTC Brigade at Wheaton. The other Seniors graduated in caps and gowns, the traditional garb for graduation. We of the ROTC that were being commissioned graduated in the summer dress uniform with all our insignias on them and we received, in addition to our diplomas, a set of Second Lieutenant's bars which we immediately pinned on our shoulders. And of course, the First Sergeant of the ROTC staff was standing there and ready to salute each of us in return for a dollar bill for the first salute as is the Army custom between Officers and Enlisted personnel.
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| Officer's Lapel Insignia, Signal Corp, US Army |
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Active duty started for me in the Signal Corp rather than the Air Defense Artillery Guided Missile duty I had chosen as my field for my Regular Commission. Since I had been born and raised in Panama, and had traveled quite a bit with my family, my security clearance required for the Regular Commission took longer than anticipated, so I was asked to go on active duty in my Reserve Commission assignment. My active duty started right after graduation, and with orders in hand, I reported to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, the home of the Signal Corps. This proved to be a stroke of good luck. I received the best of technical training on every piece of electronic equipment and communications gear in the Army.
I was also sent to Ft. Dix, New Jersey to undergo basic Infantry training, learning to crawl through mud, under barbed wire, with live machine gun fire overhead. I also got to experience all the obstacle courses set up for the new recruits into the Army that took their training at Ft. Dix. Lots of fun, and not as hard as training for football.
During the course, I received my Regular Commission and changed the crossed flags on my uniform lapel to the crossed cannons and guided missile of the Air Defense Artillery. I graduated 5th out of 27 in this class, a class made up of all Regular Officers, mostly out of West Point. |
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| Aif Defense Artillery Lapel Insignia |
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| Air Defense Command Shoulder Patch |
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My next assignment was to attend the Basic Guided Missile Officer Course at Ft. Bliss, Texas. Here we were instructed in all the mechanics and electronics of the Nike Surface to Air Missile System, including its radars, missiles and fire control equipment. We also received instruction on the soon-to-be-phased-out 120 mm air defense guns that had been in use since WWII. Since I had already been through one of the new officer basic courses, I was assigned as a Tactical Officer for my class at Ft. Bliss, putting me in charge of their daily duties and assignments. I ended up graduating 3rd out of 57 in this course.
While at Bliss, I received orders to report to the 865th AAA Missile Bn in Los Angeles, California. I was assigned to a Battery right on the beach at Playa del Rey which is now not in existance since LAX airport put it off the map. In those days there were no jets. I was assigned as the Fire Control Officer for Battery B, 865 AAA Missile Battalion.
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I spent a lot of time alone while off duty at the missile school at Fort Bliss. I needed a companion, so I went to a German Shepherd breeder in El Paso who had a wonderful group of pups for sale. I bought Rusty from him. Rusty was to be my companion for many years. He was a wonderful dog, sensitive, smart, but always into things.
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| My young pup Rusty. A real friend. |
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During this time at Bliss, I began running daily, sometimes for 10-15 miles at a time. Rusty kept up with me. There were lots of places out on the desert around El Paso where we could be by ourselves and so he ran free, chasing rabbits, coyotes, and birds. We usually ran very early in the morning or just before dark when all the animals were out eating. He loved it and so did I. It sure broke up the monotony of running by myself.
I also spent a lot of time climbing in the Franklin Mountains with other classmates. These mountains were located just north of El Paso and easily accessed from Fort Bliss. My starting weight for the training period was right close to 230 pounds. I had just played football that Christmas at the Senior Bowl I was invited to, and for that I had tried to put on some weight since I would be playing against guys from the major universities in the U.S. My goal was to get down to 200 pounds by the end of the course. At the end of 30 days I had lost the weight, and was in great shape.
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| Nike missile in the foreground and a 120mm antiaircraft gun in the background |
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The next section of this web site, Active Duty - US Army, has a little more information and photos of my job in the Air Defense establishment of the Army. Soon after I reported for duty with the 865th, we were informed that we were to train California National Guard personnel to take over our four batteries of the 865th. Almost every officer and most of the senior enlisted personnel were Regular Army in this unit, so we were not too happy to be assigned this task.
We turned over our site at Playa del Rey to the California Army National Guard about a year later, and I was transferred to another site on the north side of LA as the Battery Commander. This site, designated Magic Mountain Site 98, had the radars on top of a mountain where we got a lot of wind and snow in the winter and had the missile launch sites and the battery complex located in the desert climate of Soledad Canyon where we got, at the same time as the snow mentioned above, sand storms, dust, and very hot weather even in the middle of the winter. More on this in the next part. |
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