October 6, 1970

Dear Mom and Dad,
Everything is going OK here.  Until about a week and a half ago it had been very hot, with almost every day reaching into the 90's, but finally there was a break in the heat and it is now a lot more pleasant.  In fact, in the mornings it is down right cold, but it does warm up during the day.  The leaves are beginning to turn and everything is looking very nice.

I'm really beginning to feel at home here - having a car has been a great help (I leased a Ford Maverick)  I really love to take off on a Sunday and just drive without being concerned as to where I am or where I am going.  This weekend I went to the Virginia State Fair in Richmond.  It really wasn't as good as the Oregon State Fair, but still it was interesting, and most of all I enjoyed seeing the great cross section of people who were there.

Last Friday I graduated from the basic QM course.  I'm enclosing a copy of the program from the Graduation.  The diploma that they gave us is more impressive looking than the one I got from college. Looking back I am slightly disappointed in the course.  There was much too much concentration on general military subjects, with no more than about two weeks devoted to actual Quartermaster functions.  this is especially bad because any commander I might be under in the future will expect me to know everything about all phases of logistics, just because I have the Key and Wheel on my coat.  the Supply and Service officers course, which I was going to go to, before I went V.I (Voluntary Indefinite) is where they get down to the real nitty gritty of supply.  Hopefully though, since I am going to the Open Mess management course, I will be put in a job where I just have to know about working in an Open Mess, but unfortunately they don't promise you that you will be working in your MOS.

Well the OMM course doesn't stat until Oct 18, so I am now on Interim duty which started yesterday.   I've got a fairly good job for the next two weeks.  I check Id's and OK checks for cashing in the commissary!  the best part about it is that I only have to work a half day, because there is another Lt. on the same job.  One of us works from 8:00 to 1:00 and the other from 1:00 to 6:00.  Also we can work out our own schedule so we are going to work it so one of us will work a full day on Thurs and Friday and the other will work a full day on Monday and Tuesday, so this way we can both have a 4 day weekend!  It's not bad at all for about $50 a day!!  It is also a good break from study and classes.  During the last week of the Basic course we had two days of on the job training which was one of the better things we did.  myself and 3 other Lieutenants were assigned to a company with 400 men in it, which was run by one 1st Lt. who had been in the Army for only about 8 months.  One of the days that we were with him happened to be pay day for the enlisted men, so we got to help him pay the troops.  The pay roll came to $39,000 in cash!  I've never seen so much money in my life.  We had two armed guards with us all the time, while we were counting it and paying.  This was a great experience, because it is one job that is almost always given to the Junior LT. in a company.

Well that's about all for now, Please write when you can.
Love
Marty