Memoirs Part 12

The best scenario in the military was for new recruits to attend basic training, tech school and then be assigned to a stateside base to get some on-the-job experience. There was a great need for people in my field of work in Vietnam, so many of us were sent there directly from technical school. One of the first things we needed was an Air Force driver’s license.They would put us in/on a vehicle, and we would basically drive in a circle and we qualified. I had three driver’s licenses stapled together with all the vehicles I was authorized to drive. Basically, if you knew how to go, stop and use a clutch, you were able to drive a vehicle. Working 12 hours a day gave us a lot of experience quickly. I still remember when Monte L. Mose, a.k.a.“Moose,” was teaching me to drive a tractor-trailer, he would say that the tractor was “part of you.” Just by listening to the engine sound, I was able to change gears without using the clutch and not grinding the gears.

Actual training in Viet Nam was minimal at best. Almost everything was OJT (on the job training). A good example was getting a military driver’s license. We were put into a 5-ton tractor and were told to connect to a 25 or 40-foot trailer. We would drive in a circle and then had to back into a space between two 55-gallon steel drums. The drums were about 30 feet apart, so a blind drunk would be able to do it. Driving our first load of bombs on the trailer was a little scary, but after several trips between the bomb dump and the flight line, it was easy.