Aug. 3: I enlist in the Army. I was broke and camping in a tree house I made in Berkeley's Strawberry Canyon. I had reduced my options to two: be rescued by my parents; get my military obligation out of the way.
A Navy brat, I joined the Army because it was 3 yrs, not 4. Ends up being a profoundly positive experience. Because I had two yrs of college, my recruiter put me in the Army Security Agency. After Basic, I was sent across the bay to the Monterey Army Language School. I studied Russian for 52 weeks! I graduated in the top 10% of my class, a Russian linguist.
I received a high security clearance and was sent to Germany. I joined a small mobile company of linguists, one of only three without a Masters degree in the humanities. We kept tabs on Soviet military activity in East Germany.
Two years later I returned to civilian life more interested in the humanities than the sciences. Profoundly changed.
A Navy brat, I joined the Army because it was 3 yrs, not 4. Ends up being a profoundly positive experience. Because I had two yrs of college, my recruiter put me in the Army Security Agency. After Basic, I was sent across the bay to the Monterey Army Language School. I studied Russian for 52 weeks! I graduated in the top 10% of my class, a Russian linguist.
I received a high security clearance and was sent to Germany. I joined a small mobile company of linguists, one of only three without a Masters degree in the humanities. We kept tabs on Soviet military activity in East Germany.
Two years later I returned to civilian life more interested in the humanities than the sciences. Profoundly changed.
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