Mike Clark's Military Service - Revision history

Cyberherbalist: /* My Family's Military Tradition */

2026-06-10T18:08:27Z

‎My Family's Military Tradition

Cyberherbalist: /* Military Memories */

2026-03-16T19:37:39Z

‎Military Memories

Cyberherbalist: /* My Family's Military Tradition */

2025-03-29T14:02:26Z

‎My Family's Military Tradition

Cyberherbalist: /* My Family's Military Tradition */

2025-03-29T14:00:47Z

‎My Family's Military Tradition

Cyberherbalist: /* Decorations */

2024-02-10T15:41:17Z

‎Decorations

Cyberherbalist at 20:45, 9 January 2024

2024-01-09T20:45:49Z

Cyberherbalist: /* Assignments */

2024-01-09T20:24:48Z

‎Assignments

Cyberherbalist: /* Assignments */

2024-01-09T20:22:46Z

‎Assignments

Cyberherbalist: /* Assignments */

2024-01-09T20:17:47Z

‎Assignments

Cyberherbalist: /* Assignments */

2024-01-09T20:14:03Z

‎Assignments

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 * My great great grandfather, Christian Stoltzmann, served in the 8th Illinois Infantry Regiment during the Civil War (on the Union side). Unfortunately, there are no photographs of him in his uniform.
-As for my generation, my brother Mark served in the US Air Force for ten years until medically retired, and I spent eight years in the US Army.
+As for my generation, my older brother Donovan served in the US Army during Vietnam, my younger brother Mark served in the US Air Force for ten years until medically retired, and I spent eight years in the US Army. In my extended family we have retired Navy Master Chiefs, Marine Corps officers, and a number of former Army soldiers.
 A fuller explanation of my family's history in connection with military service can be found in an entry on my blog, titled '''[https://cyberherbalist.co/2017/07/04/the-flag-in-front-of-my-house/ The Flag in Front of My House]'''.

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 * [[Military Memories]]
 * [[Military Memories II]]
 Some of the details of my military service are found below.

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 * My father, Don Clark, was a US Marine and a reserve US Airman
 * His father, Canby Clark, was a US Navy sailor, who, among other assignments, served on the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Vestal USS Vestal]
-* His father, my great grandfather John Clark, was a soldier of the 8th California Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War.
+* His father, my great grandfather John Clark, was a soldier of the 8th California Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Spanish-American War.
-* My great great grandfather, Christian Stoltzmann, served in the 8th Illinois Infantry (on the Union side) during the Civil War. Unfortunately, there are no photographs of him in his uniform.
+* My great great grandfather, Christian Stoltzmann, served in the 8th Illinois Infantry Regiment during the Civil War (on the Union side). Unfortunately, there are no photographs of him in his uniform.
 As for my generation, my brother Mark served in the US Air Force for ten years until medically retired, and I spent eight years in the US Army.

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 * My father, Don Clark, was a US Marine and a reserve US Airman
 * His father, Canby Clark, was a US Navy sailor, who, among other assignments, served on the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Vestal USS Vestal]
-* His father, my great grandfather John Clark, was a soldier of the 6th California Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War.
+* His father, my great grandfather John Clark, was a soldier of the 8th California Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War.
 * My great great grandfather, Christian Stoltzmann, served in the 8th Illinois Infantry (on the Union side) during the Civil War. Unfortunately, there are no photographs of him in his uniform.

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 * '''Good Conduct Medal''' (2 Awards) - The Army Good Conduct Medal is awarded to enlisted soldiers completing three years active service, with subsequent three year "hitches" being indicated by "knots", also called "hitches," attached to the medal's ribbon, or the ribbon bar. Since I completed two three-year hitches, I was awarded the medal twice. It's called "Good Conduct" because it means the soldier was not formally disciplined for misconduct during the period for which it was awarded.
-* '''NCO Professional Development Ribbon''' with Numeral "1" - The NCO Professional Development Ribbon (established in 1981) is issued by the U.S. Army for completion of any prescribed non-commissioned officer development courses. The first award of the NCO Professional Development Ribbon, designated by the numeral "1," is issued for completion of the course now known as the Basic Leader Course. The course that I completed was known at the time as the "Primary NCO Course for Combat Arms," "PNCOC/CA," having the nickname "P-Knock".
+* '''NCO Professional Development Ribbon''' with Numeral "1" - The NCO Professional Development Ribbon (established in 1981) is issued by the U.S. Army for completion of any prescribed non-commissioned officer development courses. The first award of the NCO Professional Development Ribbon is issued for completion of the course now known as the Basic Leader Course.  The course that I completed was known at the time as the "Primary NCO Course for Combat Arms," "PNCOC/CA," having the nickname "P-Knock". When I was serving, the first course completion was designated by a numeral "1" device, but I understand that currently the ribbon itself is considered to be signification of completion of the course.
 * '''Army Service Ribbon''' - the Army Service Ribbon is awarded to all members of the Regular (Active) Army, and Army National Guard and United States Army Reserve in an active reserve status, for successful completion of initial-entry training (Basic Combat Training).
 * '''Overseas Service Ribbon''' - The Army Overseas Service Ribbon is presented to any member of the United States Army who completes a standard overseas tour of duty.

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:45, 9 January 2024
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	I received an honorable discharge in 1983 at the rank of Sergeant (E-5).		I received an honorable discharge in 1983 at the rank of Sergeant (E-5).
	[[File:ArmySGT.png\|50px]]		[[File:ArmySGT.png\|50px]]
		+	--------------
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		+	'''''Back to [[About_Me#Military_Service\|About Me]]'''''

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 Notes:
 *With 1/11 FA, I was actually assigned to the Headquarters Battery, but was attached to B Battery for the entire period I was assigned there.
-*With AFCENT (later renamed to Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum), because of being part of both USAE AFCENT and CRSG, I had two chains of command, a national and an international. My national chain of command (which was solely administrative) was pretty cut-and-dried, but my international chain of command consisted of officers from different nations: British; German; Belgian; and US. The commander of AFCENT at the time was Bundeswehr '''General [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Maria_von_Senger_und_Etterlin Ferdinand Maria von Senger und Etterlin]'''. He was noteworthy for having served in World War II as a Wehrmacht officer, where he lost an arm in combat. His father was a fairly famous German officer in WW2, '''General [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridolin_von_Senger_und_Etterlin Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin]'''. I never met General Ferdinand von Senger, but he had a good reputation amongst the troops.
+*With AFCENT (later renamed to Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum), because of being part of both USAE AFCENT and CRSG, I had two chains of command, a national and an international. My national chain of command (which was solely administrative) was pretty cut-and-dried, but my international chain of command consisted of officers from different nations: British; German; Belgian; and US. The commander of AFCENT at the time was Bundeswehr '''General [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Maria_von_Senger_und_Etterlin Ferdinand Maria von Senger und Etterlin]'''. He was noteworthy for having served in World War II as a Wehrmacht officer, where he lost an arm in combat against the Soviets. His father was a fairly famous German officer in WW2, '''General [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridolin_von_Senger_und_Etterlin Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin]'''. I never met General Ferdinand von Senger, but he had a good reputation amongst the troops.
 ===Training and Schools===

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 ** 9th Infantry Division [[File:9thInfantryDivisionOctofoil.png|50px]]
 *** C & HQ Companies, 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment [[File:39inf.png|50px]]
-*** B Bty., 1st Battalion, 11th Field Artillery Regiment [[File:11FA.png|50px]] - I was actually assigned to the Headquarters Battery, but was attached to B Battery for the entire period I was assigned there.
+*** B Bty., 1st Battalion, 11th Field Artillery Regiment [[File:11FA.png|50px]]
-* Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) [[File:AFCENTInsignia.png|50px]] - Interestingly, because of being part of both USAE AFCENT and CRSG, I had two chains of command, a national and an international. My national chain of command (which was solely administrative) was pretty cut-and-dried, but my international chain of command consisted of officers from different nations: British; German; Belgian; and US. The commander of AFCENT at the time was Bundeswehr General [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Maria_von_Senger_und_Etterlin Ferdinand Maria von Senger und Etterlin]. He was noteworthy for having served in World War II as a Wehrmacht officer, where he lost an arm in combat. His father was a fairly famous German officer in WW2, General [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridolin_von_Senger_und_Etterlin Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin]. I never met Ferdinand von Senger, but he had a good reputation amongst the troops.
+* Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) [[File:AFCENTInsignia.png|50px]]
 ** US Army Element (USAE)
 ** Central Region Signal Group (CRSG)
 ===Training and Schools===