By Carole Robinson • Senior Staff Writer
In 1959 he was 18-years old, just out of high school with no clear idea what he wanted to do, so with a friend, Bill Brown joined the National Guard.
The two young men signed up for airborne school and were sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
“At that point, my intention was to make the military a career,” he said.
Airborne candidates undergo specialized training, meaning while other barracks were standing for inspection, airborne candidates were being put through exercises that included a nine and half pound - unloaded - M1 rifle.
“When we were outside, the only place we could go was from the barracks to the mess hall. To be able to go in and eat, we had to do chin ups.” Brown said.
It was a part of the Army’s Advanced Infantry Training (AIT), a hands-on field-training program to develop soldiers who are experts in specific fields.
Brown and his friend were on the path to becoming members of the Army’s special forces’ unit — the Green Berets.
From Fort Jackson, the friends headed to Fort Benning, Georgia for jump school then to Fort Bragg where they were finally spilt up to begin training with teams.
According to Brown, he was teamed up “with a bunch of really quality people.”
One had a masters degree in vertebrae zoology — the study of animals with a spine, another had an advanced math degree.
“That was the sort of people I trained with. We started with 52 guys and graduated 19.”
Brown was assigned to the 5th Special Operations Squadron headquartered at Fort Campbell.
“We operated in teams that included two enlisted men, two officers, medic, weapons, demolition, communications and intelligence specialists," he said. “We were quite a cross-section."
Each member had three different specialty job skills. Brown’s primary skill was medic - his training included 36 weeks of intensive medical training.
Although Brown went through rigorous training to earn his Green Beret, he believes the Special Forces units today, “have a much, much harder job than when I was in.”
After serving six-years, Brown separated from the Army in 1965.
“I was young, dumb and bullet-proof and just about ready to reenlist when I decided to get out,” he said.
Entering the military “was one of the two best decisions I made in my life. It helped me grow from an adolescent to an adult.”
Although some parts of military life were “unpleasant,” Brown said the men he served with were pretty incredible.
“It was an experience I have carried with me all my life. It taught me self-discipline.”
Part of the training of an Army Special Forces unit is attempting to push you to quit, Brown said.
“I found out I could persevere —there’s very little I can’t persevere through.”
That helped when he started his own sales and marketing business in 1975.
“There is no way it could have happened without [Linda] my wife,” he said. “She kept the house together in those early years when I was gone Monday through Friday, working in the office on Saturday and leaving again on Sunday [in an old van]. All through that, it never occurred to me we wouldn’t make it.”
http://www.williamsonherald.com/features/special_sections/article_0b984a...
