Dear Mom and Dad,
Well after making two phone calls to you from here, I better start writing again. I think I will tape some of this stationary on the phone in case I get the urge to use it again. Not that I don't enjoy taking to you, but it does tend to increase the phone bill. I can imagine what my phone bill will be like when I'm in Germany if I continue this practice. That was my clever way of telling you that I am going to Germany, even though you already know this, it's the first time I've put it in print. Yes I guess it's been about a week now since I made that decisive step. That is when two people from the Office of Personnel Operations in Washington DC came down and interviewed each of us. When it was my turn to talk to them, I first asked them about the chances of going to Belgium. He said that that area was mostly limited to Majors and above, and the chances of a Lieutenant going there was not too good. The same thing applied to Italy, but with over 60 bases in Germany they could almost guarantee a position there. Well anyway I decided to go ahead and do it, even though it means another year obligation. I hope you understand that I didn't extend because of any great love for the Army, but simply because of what I feel is a great chance to see Europe during a time of my life when it might be the most enjoyable. Along with the change in assignments I also got a change in what is called functional schooling. That is the school that I go to after the basic school, which was as you know, the Supply and Service Officer Course. The functional school is what gives you your MOS (Military Occupational specialty) and in theory is the type of job you will do when you leave here. The SSO course is probably one of the worst ones, mainly because it is so vague in nature. it usually means to your commanding officer that you should be able to do anything in the field of supply operations, which is not the case, because it is mainly a survey course touching on many areas of logistics, which is fantastically broad and complicated. Well anyway I got changed from the SSO course to the Open Mess management course. I will now try to explain briefly what this course entails. There are two main types of messes in the Army, an Open Mess and just a plain old Mess! ( I just read the above sentence and realized how funny that sounds) A mess officer is usually an extra duty given to some lieutenant who has some other main responsibility. As a mess officer you simply supervise the running of your units enlisted men's mess hall (eating place) this is just one of the many extra duties that are given to young officers and you wouldn't have to go to the OMM course to do it.
An Open Mess is really completely different. There are two types of Open messes: One type for NCO's and one type for Officers. Usually senior NCO's manage their own Open Mess and Officers manage theirs. An officers open mess is another name for an office's club. It could be be equated with a Country Club in civilian life. At Fort Lee for example the FLOOM (Ft. Lee Officers open mess) has one fine restaurant, three bars, a swimming pool, a ball room, lounge and several rooms for meetings, etc. Also it has a liquor store in it and a pizza parlor.
OK, now that you know what an Open mess is, the OMM course, in theory teaches you how to run one. So that is what I will be doing in Germany. I haven't got my new orders yet, so I don't know exactly where I will be, but I will let you know when I do.
Well I was going to buy a car here, and then drive home, but now I've decided not to, since I will be going to Germany. It will be a lot cheaper to buy one over there, and it would be a pain in the neck to have it shipped over there.
I graduate from this basic school I'm in now on Oct. 2 which is two weeks from now. on Oct 18 the OMM course starts here at Ft. lee, and it goes until Dec. 4. Between Oct. 2 and the 18th I will report for what is called "casual" duty. This is the Army's way of killing time for you, and it means just reporting in each day and doing whatever job has to be done, if anything. Really this will be a good break from studying. When I graduate from OMM I've applied for another week of casual duty, but I might not get it. If I do get it, I will be able to spend Christmas at home, if not I will have to fly back to Fort Dix, New Jersey just a few day's before Christmas. I have 15 days leave after OMM and I will depart for Europe from Ft. Dix. Unfortunately the Army will only pay my expenses form Ft. Lee to Ft. Dix, so when I fly home during my 15 days leave it will be at my own expense, but it will be worth it since it will be the last time I will be home for 2 or 3 years. A normal tour of duty in Europe is 3 years. Lately, though because of Vietnam, most people only stay two years, and spend their last year in Asia. But now it looks like that in 2 years, I won't be needed in Vietnam so there is a good chance I will spend all three years in Germany. My total time int the Army will really be 3 years and 3 months if I do stay in Germany because the 3 months here at Ft. Lee don't count.
Well as far as the Basic course, I just have two more weeks of it left. Last week we had a four hour test, which was really hard, but I think I passed it. My roommate who has a masters degree in history flunked the test before that one, and had been going to a mandatory study hall for 2 hours a night.
Really everything is going OK, I guess I better close now. Here is my new address: 615 Dakar drive, Apt. 3, Petersburg Virginia, 23803
Love
Marty
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