1 50 2 https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/e209cd5a814dfd1a6a900dcb62260119.pdf 717a3959d8d75f9290520089849b1081 PDF Text Text Name: Branch: Years Served: Conflicts: Date of Interview: Doug Patton U.S. Army 2002-2006 Afghanistan October 15, 2012 Austin Getzelman: All right todays date is October 14th the time is 4:51 p.m. My name is Austin Getzelman with Appalachian State University and I am here with Doug Patton: Doug Patton Getzelman: And what is your birthdate Patton: December 19th 1980 Getzelman: All right, well I'm sitting here with Doug Patton and what made you want to join the military and how did you pick what branch you wanted to join? Patton: I ended up joining right after September 11th, I ended up doing all my paper work and submitting stuff because it takes, a lot of people don’t know, it takes a while to get in to the military. Once you say I want to go you see a recruiter and paperwork and all the hoops they make you jump through. It takes six months or so to get in but it was after September 11th and I finally got in, I went to basic training in 2002. So that's kinda the reason I joined and about the time that I joined so everything else kinda fell into place after that. Getzelman: Had you ever thought about joining before September 11th? Or was that kind of the big kick? Patton: Not really, I just kinda...it was motivational I guess at the time so I wanted to help out. Getzelman: Do you, when you first started up in training, do you remember any, a lot of guys who had just kinda really been hit by September 11th who were in there with you? Patton: Yeah, I would say just about all of them around that time were, and people its funny when you go to basic training you have just people from all walks of life ya know from foreign countries. I had a guy with me that was from Puerto Rico, people come in from everywhere and everybody was there kinda for the same reason. Getzelman: Do you have any particular like memorable experiences from basic training that you would want to share? Patton: There's all kinds of stuff but nothing really, you know, I guess story worthy. We went, my basic training was in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and you would think of Oklahoma as being kinda warm being the north part of Texas but we went in the winter and it got down 1 �to like two degrees I think when we did our field training so it was pretty cold. I just remember it being just unbearably cold sometimes. But ya know, it was fun, it was something you definitely when you get done you're proud of it and you enjoy looking back on it knowing you did it, went through it. Getzelman: Do you still have a lot of connection with the guys you were in basic training with? Patton: A few, not many, because everybody just kinda goes there own separate ways when they get out but I try and stay in touch with about four of them that I know Getzelman: Do you remember what were some more of the difficult parts of starting up basic training? Do you have any previous experience ya know doing some of the physical and what not? Patton: The physical was pretty hard but it ya know, you body kinda adapts, you don’t think it does but the more you do ya know its almost like it becomes less hard but your doing the same things you started out doing. Your body just kinda adapts and overcomes some of the injuries and the pain and stuff like that. Getzelman: And you said you were stationed out in Oklahoma? Patton: Yeah, for basic. Getzelman: Okay, where did they move you after that? Did you go straight overseas or anywhere after basic? Patton: No, I went to advanced individual training they call it AIT, and that was in Aberdeen Maryland so that was a pretty neat place, they did a lot of weapons testing out there. Shooting bombs and stuff all the time out there. So it was pretty great. Getzelman: Got any cool weapons stories from out there? Patton: Not from out there, all their stuff is pretty much classified; they do kinda like R&D (Research and Development) for new weapons and stuff. Stuff that they'll test out. They'll do it kinda behind closed doors, ya know they got their own secret test facility up there, but it's pretty cool. Getzelman: So from there, when did you actually get the word that you would be shipped out? Patton: From there I went to Fort Drum New York, and that was my duty station. I got assigned to Fort Drum Tenth Mountain Division, and first day I got there I found out I was getting deployed. They send you to a like a reception battalion when you check in and everybody goes there and then they find where they're going, which assignment and which company they're going to. By the end of the first day I had somebody sponsor, 2 �which is my platoon sergeant, he'd come up and say hey ya know you're going to 514 maintenance company and ya know they're already deployed. They were leaving at the time they left and I left a week after and met up with them over there. Getzelman: So pretty much the day you got there they let you know, you were going over. Patton: Yeah Getzelman: Now where exactly was it that you were sent out to? Patton: Our base was in Kuwait, we went, we actually stayed at three different bases. It was probably about ten miles south of the DMZ, ya know the line from Iraq. And we stayed at Camp Wolf, we stayed at Camp Arifjan, and we stayed at Camp Doha, and we'd run like wrecker missions stuff like that. We would pick up equipment and bring it back, damaged equipment, and we'd fix it and take it back out to ya know infantry guys. So, I was a mechanic in the Army. Getzelman: So you were more on the mechanical side than anything with on front lines or anything like that? Patton: Yeah, yeah more or less. We would do missions and stuff but it more along the lines of picking up equipment from those guys and meeting up with them, trading stuff out and stuff like that. Getzelman: Cool, Cool. Now when you were serving overseas did you find it difficult to kinda keep in touch with your friends and family back home? Patton: Not really, I mean it's obviously its different it’s a little harder. But I had bought a phone, an international cell phone from over there and I was able to put minutes on it and call. So I had it on me pretty much all the time, it just got expensive. We also had the Internet cafe where you could send emails and stuff like that so it wasn't too bad. But its just more inconvenient than here but its not, ya know, its what you expect when you're that far away from home. Getzelman: Now while you were serving, did you get to travel anywhere else overseas besides Kuwait? Patton: Yeah, got to go to Germany, we stopped in Italy; I actually spent a couple days in Germany. But we stopped in Italy, we stopped in Ireland. Ya know, on the flight over to the Middle East, that was pretty neat, seeing all the countryside that was pretty cool. Got to hang out in Germany for a few days that was pretty cool, that's a pretty country as well. 3 �Getzelman: Now how would you say your overall military experience has influenced or changed your thinking about conflicts in general? I know you said when you joined it had a lot to do with the events of September 11th. Patton: Once you join you kinda see, what’s the best way to put it...you kinda see things on a bigger picture. Until you put yourself in that position, ya know, it’s easy to watch something on TV and say, why aren't they doing this? Why is this happening? Why are we doing this? But then when you see how many different things how many different jobs people have, like in the military for example ya know there's, ya know the way the reason we do things isn't as cut and dry as black and white as we think it would be and once you go over to another country you see how other people live and you kind of figure out the militaries role in all this. Your like well okay, I kinda see why we couldn't just do this or couldn't just do that, ya know there's more involved but it kinda opens your eyes, ya know to everything. Getzelman: Being over in Kuwait, how did people kinda respond to you guys being over there when you first arrived? Did you have a lot of interactions? Patton: Yeah, it’s weird. Cause you'll go down the road over there and you're obviously in a military vehicle with weapons and you'll pass a car load of kids and they'll give you thumbs up and they'll smile at ya and then the next car will be middle aged man or something and they just look at ya like they wanna shoot ya. You know so it's a little weird, it puts you on edge, especially with some of the stuff that went on in Kuwait, there's different cells of these groups that they fight a little bit of everywhere so it's weird, it's different. Getzelman: Does that change your perspective a lot seeing kinda how, here like you said it's on a much smaller scale how we see things. Ya know people in over countries they see it completely different. So you definitely get ya know, a view of both worlds. Did that kind of change your opinions seeing how they see things opposed to us? Patton: Well as far as that goes you see kinda where they're coming from in a sense of how they were raised how they live, all their ya know...but its still some of the things ya know, some of the things they do. I still don’t understand why they do that. You kinda see where they're coming from but it doesn't make it right or wrong. It's just a difference of opinion. Getzelman: Was it a bit of a culture shock to kinda see there, what they think as norms opposed to us? Patton: Yeah, oh yeah. And just the country itself with regards to just the layout and the geography of the country is totally different. When you fly in, you just see sand, that's all you see. There's no, there's not a lot of trees just palm trees, there's no color, there's really no blue sky’s. There's sun, no clouds...so its just bright and sand all the time there's no real contrast...So and ya know at least over here you have rainy days and a difference of environment changes. It doesn't over there it's just the same thing. 4 �Getzelman: Was that a pretty easy adjustment to make, going from being on all these bases over in the states, and then immediately once you get to New York its like, hey you're going over to Kuwait. Patton: Yeah, it kinda puts things in perspective because you kinda plan and you train to deal with it and you're like alright well when this time comes, you in the mindset of when it comes...But now you're like, now I'm going so you kinda scale back and you're like alright well now what I really need to do is kinda start planning Getzelman: How do you mentally, how do you prepare yourself from going base to base and then you finally get to kinda to home base and what not and then as soon as you get there they say alright you're going overseas? Patton: It's...traveling around here, it goes back to kinda you're on edge in that country. I think its worse before you leave because you don’t know what to expect the kinda fear of the unknown to me was worse than when you're over there. When you're over there you're in a tense situation but at least you kind of know how to prepare for it. You know what’s going on, once you're there and you see what you're working with for lack of better words. But I was probably more nervous here leaving just because you don't know what part of the country you're going to, they don't tell you anything. They just tell you you're going to this country, so with that being said, you're like wow...I could be downtown Baghdad, I could be in ya know, Afghanistan...you don’t know yet, the orders are so general when you leave you get another set, when you get on the plane so we actually got orders for another country and that's why it was kinda weird for me...I was like wow! We’re going here and then they redirected us, which were kinda weird, but we ended up in Kuwait, we got orders for Afghanistan. So.... which isn't much better. Getzelman: Did you know anything specific about what your orders were supposed to be for Afghanistan? Patton: No, like I said they're really vague because they try to keep it as secretive as they can before you get in country. And then they'll say alright you're here because this is your mission and they give you basically a job description of what you're supposed to do and my company was like a mechanics a maintenance company and that was our job, our job was to basically take care of three maybe four infantry battalions that would bring their equipment to us and it was our job our goal. Getzelman: Did you ever have anything where the infantry companies would be on the front line and you guys would have to go in and do any sort of maintenance while they're... Patton: Not during any fighting, we would have to go up there and trade stuff out and see a lot of times, what people don’t really realize I think is there’s, there really wasn't a whole bunch of fighting. It was more or less random firefights here and there. And that’s 5 �what a lot of those guys were dealing with, because you had no real army vs. army fighting it was just this group of ten people with rifles. Getzelman: So it was much more smaller conflicts than on a larger scale? Patton: Yeah, yeah...and like I said it just, you kinda get used to that after a while too...you can get into a situation and see things are about to happen. So you kinda prepare for it but like I said its totally different than being around here. Getzelman: How much has serving in the military affected your life since you've been out? What sort of positive things did you take away that maybe you could share with future generation who are looking to enlist? Patton: Positive things.... For me the positive would be, being able to say that you know you got the experience of being under pressure and having to make decisions that directly affect peoples lives, kinda like being here (Doug is a firefighter)...this is on a lot smaller scale, its kinda that scenario where I feel comfortable in a really rough situation know I can handle situations and my thought process sis pretty cleat...just the experience of having that and that and the discipline of things just being responsible for yourself just small stuff just taking acre of yourself just looking after your own finances your own everything. Your equipment your gear that kind of thing I see with other people ya know.... anybody that wasn’t in the military you can kinda pick up on little things like that...that and the physical end of it trying to stay in shape, stuff like that...there's a few positives a few negatives but I wouldn’t change it. That’s one of the things I kinda ask myself sometimes is would I change it if I could go back and ya know had the option to not go and I'd go because like I said there's so much you get from it ya know it ill make you a better person a stronger person Getzelman: Do you think if the events of September 11th had never happened do you think you still would have joined? Patton: I don’t know that’s hard to say, probably not there again that was a lot of the reason I joined. Some of the reason I joined was because I was 21 and I kinda wanted to get out get away for a little bit and I needed that, that kinda helped me...ya know everyone when they're younger they wanna get out wanna leave town, they don’t wanna be here but the more you see of the word the more you realize that wow, I had a really awesome deal there, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. Kinda going back to third world country stuff its once you see how other people live you really appreciate what you have and it makes the problems that you have really not that big of a deal things that you usually stress about and that’s one of the things that I kinda well enjoy I guess is the ability to say wow I appreciate small things now that’s a good thing that’s positive Getzelman: If you could take one phrase from your entire service how would you describe it to someone else in just a few words. What was the best thing you took out of it? 6 �Patton: I would just say it's a wild ride cause you do so much stuff in such a small amount of time and you know be here one day here another doing this and that, and you got to be able to roll with it ya know be flexible. That’s another positive thing I can pull out of it too. 7 � https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/c732483dd4af78ca58e8ba84a2cee9d4.mp3 35a9d983d7e335afdb2a7524c923805c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Appalachian State University American Military History Course Veterans Oral History Project Description An account of the resource Each semester, the students of the American Military History Course at Appalachian State University conduct interviews with military veterans and record their military experiences in order to create an archive of oral history interviews that are publicly accessible to researchers. The oral histories are permanently available in the Appalachian State University Special Collections. The project is supervised by Dr. Judkin Browning, Associate Professor of History at Appalachian State University and all interviews are transcribed by the student interviewers. Copyright Notice: Copyright for the Veterans Oral History Project’s audio and transcripts is held by Appalachian State University. These materials are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Veterans Oral History Project, University Archives and Records, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC). Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. File size 58.2 KB 41.4 MB Format, digital MP3 Military Branch military branch (U.S. Army, etc) U.S. Army Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Getzelman; Austin Patton; Doug Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview. Getzelman Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed. Patton, Doug Interview Date 10/15/2012 Number of pages 7 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 0:18:07 Date digitized 2/6/2015 Checksum alphanumeric code 1365302d69f6a0db2ee336b949752c1d 35a9d983d7e335afdb2a7524c923805c Scanned by Leah McManus Equipment Adobe Acrobat XI Pro Resolution 300 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright for the Veterans Oral History Project's audio and transcripts is held by Appalachian State University. These materials are available for free personal; non-commercial; and educational use; provided that proper citation is used. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived UA.5018. American Military History Course Records Recording rate A/V rate (48,000kzh x 16 bit) 48000kzh x 16 bit Format, original Electronic File Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 5018_Patton_Doug_20121015_transcript_M 5018_Patton_Doug_audio_A Title A name given to the resource Interview with Doug Patton [October 15, 2012 Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral History Language A language of the resource English English Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Getzelman, Austin Patton, Doug Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a title="UA.5018. American Military History Course Records" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/167" target="_blank">UA.5018. American Military History Course Records</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright for the Veterans Oral History Project's audio and transcripts is held by Appalachian State University. These materials are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used. Description An account of the resource Doug Patton joined the military after September 11th and entered basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. After basic, he went to Advanced Individual Training (AIT) and shortly after was deployed to Kuwait. He says there wasn't much fighting there, only "random firefights." Subject The topic of the resource Patton, Doug Veterans Iraq War, 2003-2011 Personal narratives, American United States Interviews Afghanistan AIT Fort Sill Oklahoma Kuwait September 11th https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/7b7ee1eed3e098039fbec481d0138bb7.pdf d62bbdc2efdd8e3d733aff7828b2fb7e PDF Text Text Military Oral History Interview Transcript Jeffrey A. Gordon, U.S. Army Veteran Sergeant First Class, retired Skype Interview - Boone, NC 16 October 2011 MG: Matthew Gordon JC: SPC Jeffrey A. Gordon, retired MG: It is Sunday, October 16th, 2011. I am at home in Boone, North Carolina conducting an interview via Skype with retired U.S. Army Veteran Sergeant First Class Jeffrey A. Gordon. I am Cadet Matthew Gordon of Appalachian State University, and I will begin the oral history now. Sergeant Gordon, where were you born and raised? JC: I was born and raised in Logansport, Indiana. MG: When was your birthday? JC: September 18, 1960. MG: What did you do just before you joined the armed forces? Where were you living at the time? JC: We were living in Logansport, Indiana and worked several different jobs. MG: When and why did you choose to join the military? JC: Because I wanted to get out of Logansport, Indiana. MG: Okay, at what age did you enlist? JC: I enlisted when I was 17 as a junior in high school, and was leaving for active duty after I graduated in 1979. MG: Was there a family history of military service that inspired you or were you one of the first in your family to join the military? JC: My Grandpa was in the army at one time, during World War Two, but other than that I was the first one from the direct family to join. MG: Did your parents approve of you wanting to serve? JC: My dad. My grandpa was in the Marine Corps as well. MG: Okay, okay. 1 �MG: Did your parents approve of you wanting to serve in the military? JC: Yes, because like I said he was in the Marine Corps and then actually my uncle was in the Marine Corps as well that probably helped inspire me. MG: Sure. MG: Why did you choose the enlistment route over the officer route? JC: Because I was ready to get out of Logansport and I figured I'd get my college in the Army, which I did. MG: What was your MOS (military occupational specialty) at the time? JC: My first MOS was 13 Bravo as a cannon crewman and then after four years of that I reenlisted as a 97 Echo which was an interrogator (Human Intelligence Collector). MG: Okay, do you recall your first days in service? What did it feel like? JC: My first day was traveling to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. It was scary and when I got there it was very cold and again scary because it was just crazy back the joining for basic training and everything. MG: How did you feel about leaving home? JC: It was different. I was ready to go, ready to leave Logansport. But I had to leave your now your mother; she was my girlfriend or fiancé…so that wasn't fun. But I was ready to go. MG: Describe your training? Where was it and how long was it? JC: We went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma was there for 12 weeks which included the first and then they started a new program called OSUT, which was One Station Unit Training. We stayed right there at Fort Sill and went right to the artillery phase of training after basic. It was a total of 12 weeks. MG: Sure, what are some of the things from your training that stand out in your memory? JC: The first thing was that I didn't realize I was going be actually a cannon crewman. I thought I was going be telling the artillery guns where to shoot and working on the computers, but that didn't work out. There was a little problem with my contract. But it was…it was fun, I mean it was a lot of hard work, lost weight, got muscle…and worked real hard. I mean I didn't really workout a whole lot before that. So it was, it was good training. MG: So, where all did you serve? 2 �JC: Well we started at Fort Sill then from there we, I went back to Logansport, Indiana as a hometown recruiter. I did that for three months, from there went to Fort Carson, Colorado. After Fort Carson, Colorado went to Babenhausen, Germany. I reenlisted in Babenhausen for interrogation school went to Fort Huachuca, Arizona and then to Monterey, California for defense training for Polish. After that went to Munich, Germany for three years and worked with the 1811 MI Battalion, debriefing Polish defectors, after that we came back to the United States to Fort Hood, Texas, and applied to work in the embassy after the wall came down. We applied to come work in the embassy in Warsaw. I got accepted for that, and then we came to Columbia, Missouri and worked with the ROTC Department and then I retired. MG: Okay, how hard was it being away from family, friends, and loved ones? JC: Well, our family was with us, so leaving Logansport, Indiana wasn't too hard (laughing) honestly. We were ready to go and travel and see the world. MG: Sure. JC: Even though our children thought that it was bad thing to do for...for 17 years, but we did it anyway MG: Sure (laughing). What kind of assignments were you assigned to throughout your career? JC: Well, like I said, four years in the artillery, as a cannon crewman, started out on eight inch artillery at Fort Carson and then when I went into Babenhausen was also on 8 inch Artillery and then we did a three month tour with the 105 cannons, which was air assault. After that interrogation school debriefing Polish defectors for three years in Munich and then went to Fort Hood. I was the operations sergeant and actually the platoon sergeant for a counter intelligence platoon to Warsaw, Poland. I was the Operations NCOIC (non-commissioned officer in charge) for the defense attaché office and before that we were in Washington, D.C. for training. When we came back to the United States and was the NCOIC of the Cadet ROTC Detachment. I was the personnel or NCOIC, then I retired. MG: Tell me about your most memorable experiments...experiences and highlights throughout your service? JC: Oh, that's a tough one. Probably the most fun with the unit, it was a pretty tight group. Training in Fort Huachuca for interrogation was real interesting and fun. I mean it was tough, but fun. And then spending three years working with Polish Defectors in Germany was good. It was a great experience being able to send people to the United States. After that the platoon sergeant time was because we got accepted to go to Warsaw. Then work in the embassy…that was real rewarding because again, we were sending Polish military cadets and student to the United 3 �States. We enjoyed that and Poland was probably the most fun and rewarding because we did so many different things. MG: Sure, so on your time on leave where all did you prefer to travel too or where did you travel? JC: Most of the time on leave we always came back home to Logansport because everybody wanted to see us. But we did get to travel overseas a lot. When we were in Germany we traveled all over Europe. When we were in Warsaw we got to see the border of Russia unofficially. But just being able to travel with the military is one of the best things. You do get to see a lot of stuff. On leave, we always came back home, it seemed like. Instead of taking vacations, which we probably should have done more. MG: Did you plan to retire from the Army or was that just something that came too thought as time passed? JC: No, I think after the first time I reenlisted I figured we'd stay the whole duration and then retire because of the benefits and the way everything was going the economy. You know the benefits are a great thing. Having the medical and having the check come every month, that's nice. MG: What did you do towards the end of your career? JC: Well, towards the end it was more administrative work with ROTC and trying not to lie to them. Tell them how great the military was at that time (laughing) back in '95. But yes, I mean ROTC was time go, it was time to retire once I got to that assignment because the military was drawing down so much. It was time to go, time to move onto something different. MG: Do you recall the day your service ended? Where were you? JC: We were in Columbia, Missouri trying to figure out what we were going to do next. We had two kids and that scared us. We actually all went to Disney World for a week and then came back and started our own business and worked with training people. So it was different. MG: How long were you in the service? JC: About 17 and a-half years. At that time they were allowing people to retire early. So I did get to retire instead of getting bought out, like they were doing to a lot people. But I did retire with benefits and medical. MG: What influential experiences did you draw from the military in general? How has it affected your life today? JC: Well, that's a tough one. I think overall, it affects every part of your life. As my wife says, I'm bossier now (laughing) and in charge, want to be in charge all the time. But, it's just the overall experience you can’t beat it. I think every 18-year-old kid should go in the military just to 4 �get that, whether its two years experience or what. They ought to some type of service because it just makes you a better person. And you get to see a lot in the world if you go out there. But if you stay in your hometown all the time, you don't get to. MG: True. So would you do it all over again if you had the chance? JC: Oh definitely, we’d go back to Poland now if there was a chance (laughing). Even as a retired person. MG: Why would you want to do it all over again? JC: Oh, I you just, the travel and the people…you get to learn everything and your spending time in foreign countries and you get to see a lot, a lot when you are in the military if you choose to go out into the world and go to different places overseas you can't beat it. I just think, don’t think you can beat it with anything else. MG: Just to kind of bounce back to another question…what was the transition between field artillery to interrogation? JC: Oh, that was huge. That was a totally different concept of combat arms…it was an eye opener. Combat arms versus a military intelligence unit are different styles of leadership, different attitudes towards the military. Honestly, dealing with the artillery it was all male, and then in military intelligence you had to deal with the female aspects of everything as a leader. And all the different issues that come up. So that was a huge transition and then after, then three years of that in military intelligence was being in civilian clothes and not really being associated with the military. So that was fun, but it was also a big transition. MG: What persuaded you…or what skills or mindset did you have towards switching from field artillery to interrogation? JC: I looked at the senior NCOs in artillery and most of them were deaf, or had hearing aids. I figured after 20 years of shooting artillery I'd be deaf you know in both ears. I already lost hearing in one ear in four years. So I figured it was time to get out of that. Because you just don't get to wear your hearing protection when you are trying to hear commands and that type of thing. Back then, now it's all computerized, so it 's a lot different. MG: So tell me a little more about this transition, what was training like as far as interrogation goes? JC: Well, eight weeks at Fort Huachuca (Arizona) of role playing and actually interrogating you know learning how to question techniques and dealing with belligerent people. Because prisoners aren’t always going to tell you what they want. So you got to figure ways to get it out of them. But stick to the Geneva Convention and not do anything wrong. Eight weeks of that, and then basically it was one year of learning Polish language, which was a very, very hard year. A lot of personality problems with the Polish instructors and our son was born the night before the biggest phase test…and I needed to pass it. So he picked a good time to come into the world 5 �(laughing). But it was all worth it. And then I spent another eight weeks learning strategic debriefing and different techniques like report writing and that type of thing. It was a lot of fun. MG: Did you see any kind of combat situations? What kind of training were you involved in? JC: No combat. I guess we are considered Cold War Veterans. When Saddam went into Kuwait, we were on our way to Washington, D.C. for training. We continued on to Washington and did not go back to Fort Hood. When the wall came down a lot of the Eastern European languages, jobs were done away with because they didn't need them anymore. So, no...never saw any combat. We had our own situations in Poland. But we did get to shoot a lot of weapons in training. MG: How hard was it learning the languages? What kind of languages did you have to learn for interrogation purposes? JC: Polish. It was a pain in the butt. Four years of college level classes were crammed into one year, eight hours a day of classroom instruction. Probably two hours of memorizing, two to four hours a night memorizing statements and phrases and vocabulary and then you go back in the next day. It was just a constant. It was one year with I think a two week break every three months or something. It wasn't fun. So a lot of stress, a lot of drinking, a lot of partying on Friday nights, Saturday nights you party. Sunday night you start studying for class on Monday. Several weddings, lots of kids born (laughing). It was different. MG: On that note, what are some of the craziest things you and your buddies did while you were in the service? JC: Oh, I don't know what's really crazy outside. I mean we did a lot of crazy fun stuff in the military. I mean I think one of the funniest things we did or was we had a big pizza party for the Marine Corps security detachment in Warsaw. I knew the flight crew that was bringing in an empty plane and we brought in twenty large pizzas from Pizza Hut out of Frankfurt, Germany (laughing) strapped down in the middle of this 141. We had a pizza party at the Marine Corps bar that night. Thanks to the Air Force! (laughing) That was probably one of the funniest. MG: Well (more laughing) is there anything you would like to add that we have not covered in this interview, or like a closing thought? JC: A closing thought would be that…to reiterate I think every 18 or 19 year old kid should go...male or female…should do some type of service in the military or federal government or something. And get out and see the world…and then maybe come back and go to college. Then if they decide to join the military, they can go enlisted or officer route. It’s really up to them. It was a fun time, we did get to see a lot, our kids got to be in foreign countries and travel on airplanes a lot. No regrets at all in the military. I mean…things change, it's a lot different now than when I retired in'95, but it's all good. MG: What kind of changes would you say that have occurred or that you've seen occur since your time in service? 6 �JC: Technology's probably the biggest thing. Another crazy thing we probably did was in 1989 but we had White House communications technology and we set up a little satellite dish on the runway in Warsaw and I got to call my dad back in Indiana. Back then we had to use a satellite dish. Now today you can just pick up a phone. So technology is just advanced so much that you never really kept up with everything in the artillery. There's probably so many computers that control everything...I mean we did everything by verbal commands. And the uniforms are different; they are so much better than what it was. That's been 20 something years ago. MG: Well, I thank you very much for your time and patience throughout the interview. And just wanted to thank you again. JC: No problem, thank you JC: Don't work too hard now! MG: All right, we'll see you later now. JC: All right. MG: Bye. 7 � https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/2200d1209d06673630bab91b8fee4e81.mp3 b451c065bd4196a79fecbb1149588e10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Appalachian State University American Military History Course Veterans Oral History Project Description An account of the resource Each semester, the students of the American Military History Course at Appalachian State University conduct interviews with military veterans and record their military experiences in order to create an archive of oral history interviews that are publicly accessible to researchers. The oral histories are permanently available in the Appalachian State University Special Collections. The project is supervised by Dr. Judkin Browning, Associate Professor of History at Appalachian State University and all interviews are transcribed by the student interviewers. Copyright Notice: Copyright for the Veterans Oral History Project’s audio and transcripts is held by Appalachian State University. These materials are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Veterans Oral History Project, University Archives and Records, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC). Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed. Gordon, Jeff Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview. Gordon, Matthew Interview Date 10/16/11 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 22:46 min Copyright Copyright for the Veterans Oral History Project's audio and transcripts is held by Appalachian State University. These materials are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used. Tag Army, NCO, Logansport, Indiana, cannon crewman, human intelligence collector, interrogator, Fort Sill, Fort Carson, Germany, Fort Hood, ROTC, Fort Huachuca, University of Missouri, Poland, enlisted man Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with Jeff Gordon, 16 October 2011 Subject The topic of the resource Cold War Gordon, Jeff, 1960- United States Veterans Military Intelligence Interviews Army Officers Description An account of the resource Jeff Gordon, born September 18, 1960, served 17 and a half years in the U.S. Army (enlisting in 1979), retiring as a Veteran Sergeant First Class. He served as a cannon crewman and interrogator (Human Intelligence Collector). In the interview he talks about his career (including service in seven states, Germany, and Poland) plus the benefits for U.S. youth to see the world through military service. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gordon, Jeff Gordon, Matthew Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a title="UA.5018. American Military History Course Records" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/167" target="_blank">UA.5018. American Military History Course Records</a> Extent The size or duration of the resource. 7 pages Language A language of the resource English cannon crewman Fort Sill Oklahoma Germany interrogation Logansport Marine Corps ROTC