In the fall of 1966 I returned to the Office of the Chief of
Communications and Electronics (OCC-E) as a staff officer overseeing all
projects in South East Asia. The Chief of OCC-E was Major General Walter
Lotts (later Lieutenant General) who had been the J-6, JUSMAG, in Saigon
during my tour. He was promoted to Major General in the same ceremony
that Col Bob Terry, Commander 1st Signal Brigade (later Major General),
was promoted to Brigadier General.
For those that have not been a staff officer at the Department of the
Army, it requires the creation of action items or position papers and
getting dozens of senior officers to approve them. The paper may be
re-written many times before you get all approvals. Most of the time you
have to interface with the other service representatives, the Joint Staff
and the Defense Communications Agency (DCA) when getting approval for
position papers. Our office was in an office building near the Arlington
Courthouse while most of those we had to interface with were in the
Pentagon. This required many and many bus trips between these locations.
For me the job was very interesting, many times challenging and I believe
very productive. It was also fun in many ways since I was working on
projects that I had been involved with for several years. Prior to my
retirement I was awarded a Bronze Star for my Army Commendation Metal.
I retired in the summer of 1968. I loved the Army and believe that I
could continue to be productive. I did not want to leave. I had to make a
choice, my career or my family. I had two teenage boys that needed a father
during this critical period of their lives. In retrospect, as I see the
success our boys have made of their lives, I know that I made the correct
choice.