________________________________________________________________________Richard S. Kem
friends there from the staff of the 82d, fellow majors in the 82d, plus just a whole bunch of
others. This was the first year of the doubling of the course from 600 to 1,200. This meant we
didn't get housing on the post and lived nearby in the town of Leavenworth. We experienced
again the bonding of people going through the same experience, and it was a super course.
There was a lot of interaction and a lot of socializing off post because we had so many
friends around. It was very professionally done.
Q:
Was a lot of material feeding back from Vietnam into the course at this time, a lot of
integration of that experience? This was two years, roughly, after the introduction of a lot of
the Army forces.
A:
Yes.
Q:
So, this is looking a little bit ahead, but do you think--you've been in Vietnam, but do you
think Leavenworth funneled some of the more current lessons back to you in an effective
way for what would come later when you were reassigned?
A:
Well, yes. They were still teaching the basic Leavenworth things. We were moving armored
divisions across Kansas and doing similar things. They did not depart from the overall
general nature of the course. By the same token, they focused certain things on Vietnam, and
with more people having been there by then, that was a continual topic of conversation. We
always kept up with the papers, and a lot of the speakers that came back would talk current
items from Vietnam. They had a very active speakers program. So, we were all very much in
tune with Vietnam and what was happening there.
Q:
Yes. There were more of your fellows who'd been there by the time you got to Leavenworth.
A:
I would say almost everybody had been there once and we were all contemplating our next
tour.
Q:
Well, why was it doubled from 600 to 1,200?
A:
We were increasing the size of the Army, and the thought was that more folks needed that
educational experience. Now, before that there had been two courses. There had been a long
course, full-year course, and there'd been two half-year courses. So, there existed a
distinguishing feature: who were the folks that got selected for the long one and who were
the ones that got selected for the two five-month courses? So, the thought was that we really
ought to have a single long course. So, to do that, the right size was determined to be about
1,200. Then they did away with the short courses.
Q:
Okay. Well, the next assignment was in Vietnam.
A:
We ought to talk about how I got assigned to Vietnam because there is an anecdote having to
do with that.
First of all, I volunteered to go to Vietnam. I wanted to make sure this time that I went back
to Vietnam because, obviously, that's where the action was and you've got to march to the
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