Fully retired. Keeping busy with writing, hiking, backpacking, rock and mountain climbing, mountain biking, snowshoeing, and alpine and backcountry skiing.
Questions That People Have Asked:
Why is my Master Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Badge placed below my jump wings in my retirement photo taken in November 1998? From the period when the EOD Badges were first authorized for wear in 1956 until 2005, the EOD Badges were placed in Special Skill Group 5. AR 670-1, dated 3 February 2005, now lists the EOD Badges in Special Skill Group 3, above the Parachutist Badge and the HALO Badge in Special Skills Group 4. This is where it should have been all along.
How was I awarded the Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) for Operation URGENT FURY when I was EOD (at that time MOS 55D). Although my primary MOS was 55D, I was in an Infantry duty MOS 11B billet. Today, the enlisted Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) code for EOD is 89D. That change took place on 1 January 2005.
When and why did I transfer from EOD to Infantry MOS? As soon as I was promoted to Master Sergeant in the EOD MOS, I changed my MOS to Infantry on 11 July 1988 (19 years in EOD). I felt because of my duty assignments and ten years in 1st SFOD-D, I would be more competitive for Sergeant Major in the Infantry field. My duties in 1st SFOD-D and later JSOC were not affected by the change. This decision proved correct.
For my combat patch, Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI) that I wore on my right shoulder, I chose the United States Army, Vietnam (USARV) patch.
As for head gear, I wore a maroon beret with a U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) flash. The USASOC Distinguished Unit Insignia (DUI) is centered on the flash. Although I went through the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta (Airborne) Assessment and Selection Course and the complete Operator Training course, I was not Special Forces qualified, but I was airborne qualified.
The badge that I am wearing above my right breast pocket of my jacket is the Austrian (Österreich) Police Gendarmerie High Alpinists “Polizei Gendarmerie Hochalpinist” Badge (Abzeichen). I and five others from Delta trained with the Austrian GEK (Gendarmerieeinsatzkommando) Cobra on their ski mountaineering training course from 12 to 28 May 1984. We climbed and skied in the Glockner Group in the Austrian high (Hohe) Tauern. In 2002, GEK's name was changed to EKO (Einsatzkommando). The badge was presented by the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior on 28 May 1984. Under the provisions of Chapter 7, AR 672-5-1, and Public Law 95-105, Foreign Relations Authorization Act, I was authorized to accept and wear the badge. AR 670-1 permits the permanent wearing of one foreign badge. The order authorizing me to wear the badge is a DAPC-PDA order dated 12 March 1987.
My Army dress uniform is now on display at the U.S. Army Ordnance Training Support Facility (OTSF) at Fort Gregg-Adams (formerly Fort Lee), Virginia.
The photos on the internet that identify me as being on General H. Norman Schwarzhopf, Jr., security detail during Operation DESERT STORM is not me. It is William F. "Bill" Cronin III, a friend and co-worker in Delta. I did not do any personal security during my time in Delta. I did conduct security/survivability assessments within the United States and world-wide during my time in Delta. My assignment during Operation DESERT STORM was the assault on Taji #2, the two-story cut-and-cover Iraqi Command and Control (C2) facility located approximately 15 nautical miles northwest of Baghdad. The Air Force had dropped 60 2,000-pound BLU-109/B on it without damaging it. We were to breach it and destroy it in a ground attack. On the last day of the war, it was partially taken out by the newly developed 4,700-pound GBU-28/B. During Operation DESERT STORM I was located in Ar'ar, Saudi Arabia.
My interests are spelunking, rock climbing, and mountaineering. During my time on active-duty I was a professional member of the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA), American Alpine Club (AAC), and the National Speleological Society (NSS). I was also nationally registered as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). I first learned to rock climb in 1967, when I attended Exum Mountaineering School at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Other Comments:
Recipient of The Order of 1st SFOD-D - Delta Colors, Serial Number 123, on 19 October 1995, for singularly exemplary contributions to 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta (Airborne). Graduate of Operator Training Course -1 (OTC-1). In Delta, I served as an Operator, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician, Master Breacher, Climbing Instructor, and Mountain Guide. Assistant Historian for the National Explosive Ordnance Disposal Association (NATEODA). Assist the EOD Warrior Foundation with historical EOD research. Received the 2013 Art Macksey Citizenship Award presented by the Vietnam EOD Veterans Association. Inducted into the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame, Class of 2018.
Family:
Married to Donna L. Ikenberry, a freelance photojournalist. We have two daughters, six grandchildren, and one great grandchild. The oldest two grandchildren had served in the U.S. Navy. We currently have one grandson in the U.S. Army. On 1 June 2018, Donna was awarded the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps "Keeper of the Flame" award.
Interviews:
1. BBC radio interview link that I did on the Iran Hostage Rescue Mission - Operation EAGLE CLAW, 24 - 25 April 1980, 12 May 2015, 15 minutes: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05vf74p
6. The After Action Review, Interview #1, Episode 16 - Stories from Vietnam, Iran, Grenada, to Desert Storm, 20 March 2020, 1 hour and 38 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyj-D2aaiA8
7. The After Action Review video podcast interview #2, Episode 26 - On Khobar Towers bombing and TWA flight 800 accident, 5 July 2020, 58 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcELcxK-o5g
8. The Team House video podcast interview #40 - Operation EAGLE CLAW, Iran Hostage Rescue Mission, 1 May 2020, 2 hours and 19 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeN-GpBDnKM
Description This campaign was from 1 November 1969 to 30 April 1970. An increase in enemy-initiated attacks, at the highest level since 4-5 September signaled the start of the first phase of the Communist winter campaign. This was highlighted by intensified harassment incidents, and attacks throughout the Republic of Vietnam. In November-December these were heaviest in Corps Tactical Zones III and IV (around Saigon), primarily directed against Vietnamese military installations in order to disrupt the pacification program. The most significant enemy activity occurred in November with heavy attacks upon By Prang and Duc Lap in CTZ II (Central Vietnam).
By February 1970 the focus of enemy activity began to shift to CTZ I and II. Attacks increased steadily, reaching a peak in April 1970. Hostile forces staged their heaviest attacks in the Central Highlands near Civilian Irregular Defense Group camps at Dak Seang, Dak Pek, and Ben Het in I CTZ. The enemy also conducted numerous attacks by fire and several sapper attacks against U.S. fire support bases. This high level of enemy activity began in I CTZ in April and continued through May.
During the period 1 November 1969 through 30 April 1970 U.S. and allied forces concentrated on aggressive operations to find and destroy enemy main and local forces, the penetration of base camps and installations and the seizure of enemy supplies and materiel. These operations sought to deny the enemy the initiative and to inflict heavy losses in men and materiel. Further progress was made in Vietnamization through improving the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces. As a result of these advances three brigades of the 1st U.S. Infantry Division and several major U.S.M.C. units were withdrawn from Vietnam during this period.
The enemy made several efforts to take the offensive at Dak Seang, which was attacked on 1 April 1970 and remained under siege throughout the month, and at Quang Duc in the By Prong-Duc Lap area which ended on 28 December. Only Vietnamese forces were engaged in both of these operations, the Quang Duc campaign involving some 12,000 ARVN troops. South Vietnamese forces again took the offensive on 14 April in a bold 3-day operation in the Angel's Wing area along the Cambodian border. The Vietnamese Army completed this mission in an aggressive professional manner without U.S. support-further evidence of their growing proficiency.
