18th ABN Corps Recondo School Roll Call

**Brasso** · 02-22-2011, 02:04 AM

Well, IMO we got shafted, after writing a new POI and training up a hell of a team of Instructors who bought such a great variety of experience that we all were very strong on trying to develop not only the course but all of us as individuals who were self achievers who settled for nothing less than the best....in all that we did...and we ALL got along better than any other group of men I ever worked with...since we were there 24 X 7 ....My OL told me one day "Me and the kids are leaving in X amount of days"!I said "WHY"? She replied"Oh I still love you but you haven't been home in almost 2 years"
So I set them up in FL and we are still good friends and now my son is 43 and my daughter is 40 AND NEITHER ONE of them ever got MARRIED!!!!

Anyway just as we were peaking and me and another guy were developing a 3 week POI tailored off of MACV Recondo since I had all my notes plus I had been researching it for so long and we wanted a smaller class so we could have 1 Instructor for @ 5 students who would be with them from day one with 13 days of training and then a 4- 5 day LRP mission...with processing and grad it would be a 21 day course.

We knew CORPS had the power to do that if we could sell it to them...then in a matter of 2 weeks IT WAS ALL over...PLDC had started and the Academy was forming 2 Companies with 100 students in each Company for a 30 day class and anyone who wanted to make or had recently made SGT E-5 had to be PLDC qualified. Roreum and Edyburn went and briefed the CORP CG in an attempt to keep the course running...and the CG said well we can keep it running by SD NCO's from division to go out there, and you two will stay but all your instructors are already certified and they are going to PLDC....Only 5 of us went since 4 of them had orders or got them and were gone.

I wasn't in the PLDC course longer than 2 months and I put in for a special assignment and a couple months later I was notified about a special position that would be open in Turkey and I could get an all others 15 month tour (we stayed married on the books for the money) and it was in a Joint Allied Task Force...This was early 85 and the reporting date was Feb 1986, (with a leave starting after the Christmas Holidays) however, like most SA, once your accepted they cut orders on you in a matter of a few weeks...So I said hell yeah so I got my orders, kept my mouth shut and I had about 7 or 8 months to go.....

Then I got a call from a buddy of mine who worked at Corps HQ and said "Check this out the CSM wants SFC (P) Edyburn to be the 1SG for HHC Corps Hq and when he asked him "Do you know of anyone who you would recommend to take over your job out at the Recondo School"? Then the guy told me he did not hesitate at all and he said "SGM the man for the job is SSG (P) Welsh who use to work there and the CSM said OK I remember him, he's at PLDC....To be continued.........."SALSA' .

**Brasso** · 02-27-2011, 02:57 AM

Well, I was pissed off and proud at the same time, but IMO the CORPS screwed us and nothing could change my mind about that. Now it's summer 85 I HAVE MY orders, but very few people know and I would have loved to had taken that job and I feel since I had worked with Joe Roreum and we knew what made each other tick, it would have been a dam good team, however, I had been in Bragg going on 3 years and the job I had in Turkey was a High Speed LD position....BUT I was no fool ...If Corp wanted me that would be it they would have me. So I made up my mind that it would be best for me to get out of Doge if I could.

So the big Pow Wow was laid on with the NCOA COM D asst Com D, Corp CSM and Rorum and i went in and we did the old BS speil and then the COMMANDANT said that SFC Edyburn was being promoted and he had recommended you to take over his position, so what do you think of that???

I said No SGM I ...WHAT did you say??? NO.....I was cool and said in a pretty loud voice ( I despised that man) SGM LET me finish telling you the rest of the sentence boy it was tense...Then I Tactfully explained that under normal situation I would be honorered to take that position , however, I have worked my ass off since I got here and I now have orders for another asignment and I report in Feb 86, The CORP CSM, muttered we'll see about that...So I got bold and said ...How much longer is RECONDO going to last 6 months, a year, it has been around too long and people are tired of it...And If I do not take this asignment or you take it away from me we all loose, since Recondo has run it's course, it's done, but why make me loose a Joint Allied Task Force Asignment just to have me go out there till it dies...ALL of you are very WISE AND EXPERIENCED senior NCO's and therefore if I am a good hard working NCO that deserves that slot, why can't you look at my FUTURE and realize what will look better on my records 2 TOURS at Recondo or this JATF job??? All I ask is that my career should not be jeprodized by the wishes of someone else who wants this school to go on ......We said a few more things and they asked me who would I recommend and I really do not know if I had an answer and I left Bragg in Dec 85 headed to Turkey...dam good job ....."SALSA"

**Commando58** · 03-16-2011, 04:34 PM

I graduated from RECONDO, Class 86-1, in October, 1985. How I got there is a funny story now, but it was not when I was going through it. I say that because I was a cherry PFC, not long in the Army - I came in the Army as a Combat Engineer and went to 12B OSUT & Jump School, graduating in August, 1985. I went on a few ARTEP's with the 27th EN BN [20th EN (C) (A)] and was trying to learn to Soldier. One day, having just returned from Camp Gruber, OK, the platoon sergeant called for me. I double-timed over to the orderly room, and stood at parade rest. SFC Charles P. Rio asked me if I wanted to go to RECONDO School. I replied in the affirmative. He handed me a packing list and told me to take the rest of the day to go get my stuff, because I would take the RECONDO PT test the next day, in boots, near Main Post. I took it and passed, though I was out of shape from being in the woods. The day after that, I was on my way to RECONDO School with bag and baggage. I remember running to the camp in the red clay and sand with all my stuff. I was a ost ball in the tall weeds. Being a 12B1P, I was not familiar with a lot of what they taught, but I refused to quit. It made Airborne School look like a cakewalk! I think I had to have 700 points to graduate, and I think I graduated with something like 705. Up to that point in the Army, I had merely responded to whatever an NCO told me to do, and I found myself have to write OPORD's, read a map, etc. It was great training! A year later, luck smiled on me again, and I found myself in Sapper Leader Course in FT Leonard Wood, after a SP4 dropped out two days before we left FT Bragg. Hard for me to believe that has been over 25 years ago!

Yes, I remember SGT Merchant. I also remember SSG Smart - "The Savage Twist! Do it!!!" SFC William Franklin later came to the 27th EN and was my PSG.

**rayschork** · 04-03-2011, 09:54 PM

I was an instructor at this school from 85-86 when Joe Rorem was the 1SG. I have started a Facebook page for the school and have posted lots of photos. If anyone has photos or would like to join the page I would appreciate it.

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=lf#!/pag...74430522588397

**Ops NCO** · 04-04-2011, 04:25 AM

Originally Posted by rayschork

I was an instructor at this school from 85-86 when Joe Rorem was the 1SG. I have started a Facebook page for the school and have posted lots of photos. If anyone has photos or would like to join the page I would appreciate it.

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=lf#!/pag...74430522588397

Ray, welcome to the site. That being said, your first post should have been in a new thread you created over in the introduction area. It's our SOP. Thanks.

**Brasso** · 04-05-2011, 09:25 PM

Originally Posted by Ops NCO

Ray, welcome to the site. That being said, your first post should have been in a new thread you created over in the introduction area. It's our SOP. Thanks.

I was going to introduce myself and check out his Face Book page. I have 1 photo of Recondo left. In 1998 when I was in Okinawa all my stuff was in a big storage ware house in F ville and the sprinkler system went off...but there was no fire. I was given $XXX amount of dollars to cover the damage but almost all of my photos (at least 98 % of them) were destroyed. So all my videos I made were from pictures I got from our unit web site or from some of the members who gave me some.....All my pics from pre-Vietnam to 1998 were gone...man I was pissed, that was something the $$$ could never replace.....I have not seen more than 1 (one) post on his profile....so it looks like he has left??? "SALSA"

**Rock** · 06-20-2012, 06:48 PM

I graduated in October of 1984. I've chatted with Brasso about Eddyburns (rifle pt, wow!) and Rorem and that dog we loved to follow around.

Rock

**airborneknives** · 07-06-2012, 07:23 PM

i was killed by Eddyburn....he was a rifle twisting m'er f'er....his favorite quote (as i remember) he would say " the rifle twist, starting position move! Ah, the M-16, 6.5 pounds of pure pleasure and indeed a fine infantry weapon! i never beat him once on a run.