The first seven times that I ever flew on a large airplane I only landed twice. The other five times I jumped out of the open door of the plane. Airborne School was three weeks of highly intensive, highly professional training. Nearly 2 weeks was spent perfecting our 'PLF' (parachute landing fall). The objective was to get out of the plane quickly and to land safely. The infantry's small, round pa...  Read More

At the end of basic training, they were assigning us to our duty stations. We did not get to choose where we went, but were allowed to have a general 'wish' list. I was hoping to go somewhere in the south (where I could get a good tan) or overseas. They walked down the rows of soldiers, saying, "North Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas.... and then they came to me. They said,...  Read More

212 men lined up single file in front of the chow hall at meal times. The drill sergeants let in 10 soldiers at a time, and the rest had to do 15 push-ups before the next 10 entered. This was done very rapidly, but those at the end of the line had to do over 600 push-ups (after 2 hours of sit-ups and push-ups) before they got their breakfast. We were then given two minutes to eat and were required...  Read More

And just like that, my Montana life was over. I went to Minnesota to spend Christmas with family, and then headed to Fort Benning, Georgia, for infantry basic training. In those days, there was no separation between basic training and Advanced Infantry Training (AIT), so we had 13 continuous weeks of torture. At 25 years old, I was one of the oldest in my company of 212 soldiers. Life consisted of...  Read More

It was late November and the final day of the deer season. I never had filled my buck tag. I borrowed my friends .222 and went into the foothills of the Snowy Mountains to try to call in a fox or coyote. It was −23° and snowing. That temperature was extremely cold for late November, and it was even more unusual that it was snowing at the time. I was wearing insulated coverals over a heavy hooded p...  Read More

Even an unskilled bowhunter (which I was) will get lucky if he wanders around in game-rich country long enough. Eventually, I made a lucky shot on an elk and was able to stalk and shoot an antelope. I was saving my buck deer tag. The year before I had to pass on a trophy mule deer because I had already filled my tag. I hired on with a local hunting guide who needed help retrieving 4 elk from deep ...  Read More

Fall began in Montana's Little Belt Mountains chasing elk. While I loved the hunting, I felt guilty that I wasn't working. My delayed entry into the army was still several months away. I rented an empty farm house from a rancher friend. I caught Brook trout and shot ducks, pheasants and deer on the creek behind the house and caught a five pound rainbow trout in the pond out front. The highlight of...  Read More

A friend that I grew up with moved into our trailer in the Spring and slept on the couch. Brad G. was all about Montana and still lives there to this day. Recruiters were always coming into the school and talking to students, and I had always regretted not serving in the military. Just like that, the two of us enlisted in the infantry on a 6 month 'delayed entry' program so that we would be able t...  Read More

As a Montana resident, I could finally hunt deer, antelope and elk. For me, the most exciting hunting was going after elk with my bow in the early season when the bulls were bugling. At 20 yards, I was an excellent shot with my bow and arrow. At 40 yards I was not. Why is that? Because I was not properly equipped. Not only did I shoot instinctively (without sights) but my arrows and broadheads wer...  Read More

Year two in Moore, Montana, was even busier than year one. I also taught a unit on evolution. I had been thoroughly indoctrinated and believed (as I was taught) that evolution was a proven scientific fact. In fact, I didn't know that there were ANY people who didn't believe that evolution was fact... until the parent of one of my students came with a simple request: "If you are going to teach abou...  Read More

Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! This was the sound of arrows hitting the side of my neighbor's garage. Oh, he had straw bales and a target, but from 20 yards, he regularly missed the bales. From the sound of things the bullseye was nothing more than a pipe dream. In his defense, learning to shoot 'instinctively' (without sights) is a far greater challenge- especially without someone to teach yo...  Read More

My second year in Montana was even better than the first. I moved out of my apartment in Lewistown and into a trailer that I shared with another teacher across the street from Moore's school. This cut my rent and utilities by more than half and I no longer had to buy gas to commute. What did I do with the money I saved? I traded in that humiliating Plymouth Horizon and bought a small, 4 wheel driv...  Read More