MILITARY SERIES – After spending 20 years in the military and retiring in 2000 as a First Sergeant from the Wisconsin Army Reserve National Guard, I decided to create this series and dedicate it to all of the men and women that served before me, with me, after me, serve today and those who will serve in future generations.
Each of the caches in this series is named after a unit, position, rank or other significant event during my military career.
While some of these may be an easy find, others may require some creative and critical thinking. Look at the rating for each cache as they will vary within the series.
HHC, 173nd Engineer Bn – Onalaska, Wisconsin: My final duty assignment was as the First Sergeant of HHC 173rd Engineer Battalion in Onalsaka, Wisconsin. Entering the military straight out of high school barely 18, never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would advance too First Sergeant as an E-8, to the ‘top’ of a unit. While running any military unit as a First Sergeant can have its challenges, running a HHC unit of a Battalion is an even bigger challenge. While at the First Sergeant, you work closely with the Company Commander, usually a Captain, in the structure of an HHC unit, you have all of the Battalion Staff which includes several officers who out rank the commander and of course the Sergeant Major (E-9) of the battalion. While I worked with and reported to the Company Commander on company level issues, I also had to report to the Sergeant Major on Battalion related issues. By the same token, the Sergeant Major, who out ranked me, had to listen to me on company level issues. Sometimes the military weaves a tangled web.
After two years, the trips across the state got old and I did not have any desire to pursue a Sergeant Major position and deal with the politics at that level. When I received my 20-year letter, I called it a career and retired in December 2000.
Congratulations to Lobsters9494 on the FTF on this Cache Ba$hless weekend!