Aside from a three-and-one-half year stint as Tactical Officer of C Co. and Field Music at Valley Forge Military Academy & College in Wayne, PA, I worked in the publishing industry after retiring from the Army in September 1991. I started out as Executive Editor of Presidio Press, a San Francisco Bay Area book publisher specializing in military history and military affairs. After leaving VFMA&C in the summer of 1998, I became my own boss--using contacts I'd made with Presidio to line up freelance copy-editing projects for several commercial and scholarly book publishers. I finally had to give up work entirely in 2004, however, when my body began letting me down. Fortunately, all of my disabling conditions are either directly or indirectly service-connected--making me eligible for a wide range of VA benefits--without which I'd be up the proverbial estuary without a manipulator!
Other Comments:
For 20 years I lived on Hawaii's Big Island with my wife, Carol, in a subdivision about a mile outside of Mountain View--almost exactly halfway between Hilo and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. However, I moved to Idaho in late July 2019 to settle in the Sagle area not far from the Pend Oreille River. Between the Blue State politics, earthquakes and eruptions, I decided it was time to bid Hawaii Aloha and head for cooler climes! It was a wise decision. I absolutely love it here in the northern Idaho panhandle!
Best Friends SP5 John R. Long, a 71R Broadcast Specialist. During our tenure with the 2d Armd. Div. PIO, he and I were sent on TDY to Fort Benning, GA, for six months to serve as narrators for infantry MOS lessons in what was then the new Unit Training Extension Course Program.
Best Moment During this period I was assigned to the 2AD Public Information Office as Command Information NCO..
Worst Moment The major, fearing a second pass-over for promotion to LTC, refused to allow me to transfer to SOLDIERS magazine, which wanted me to become a staff writer. The problem was that I was in a TO&E position in a combat unit and he could thus block me from leaving. I got pissed and volunteered to reclassify back to the infantry so the division CSM could get me out. That set up my next assignment and proved to be the best thing I did at Hood.â?
Chain of Command MAJ McIllvaine - 2AD PIO 1LT Rock Albers - 2AD Public Relations Officer
Other Memories The major, fearing a second pass-over for promotion to LTC, refused to allow me to transfer to SOLDIERS magazine, which wanted me to become a staff writer. The problem was that I was in a TO&E position in a combat unit and he could thus block me from leaving.
