My military service began while I was at Davidson College.  I enrolled in ROTC in 1965 ( went to Fort Bragg for six weeks for training in the summer of 1968), and in 1969, when I graduated from college, I received my commission as a second Lieutenant.  After completing graduate school at Emory (1969 - 1971), I was promoted to First Lieutenant.  I was assigned to the Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Benning from July to October of that year.  I began my civilian career in November 1971.  In July 1972, I was assigned to assist a NC National Guard unit in training at Fort Hood.  That assignment was for two weeks. In 1973, I was promoted to Captain. In 1975, I was honorably discharged.

Immediately after graduating from college, I enrolled in Naval Officers Candidate School in Newport, R. I.  Upon receiving a commission as Ensign, I was assigned as a gunnery officer on a West Coast-based destroyer.  We deployed to Vietnam for nine months in early 1968.  We provided gunfire support for the Army and Marines during the Tet Offensive and patrolled off the coast of North Korea after the USS Pueblo was captured.  In late 1969, I was assigned to the Vietnamese coastal and river surveillance force as an operations officer.  We operated primarily with the Swift Boats out of various coastal bases and in the rivers of the Mekong Delta.  After finishing my tour in Vietnam, I returned home and served in the Naval Reserves for two years.

George Watt received an appointment as a Midshipman in the United States Navy in June 1969 and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in June 1973. As a newly minted Ensign, he first attended Damage Control School and then joined the wardroom of the USS ROARK DE 1053 as Damage Control Assistant while on a Western Pacific Deployment (WESTPAC) in August of that year. After two WESTPAC deployments and nearly a year in regular overhaul, LT(jg) Watt applied for and was accepted for training as a Naval Flight Officer at NAS Pensacola, Florida. After receiving his NFO Wings-of-Gold in June 1977, Lieutenant Watt joined the Mad Foxes of Patrol Squadron Five (VP5) stationed in NAS Jacksonville, FL. Watt eventually qualified as a Combat Air Crew Tactical Coordinator (TACCO) and Mission Commander. He resigned his regular Navy commission in December of 1980 and transferred to the Naval Air Reserve, where he joined Patrol Squadron 0516, also stationed in NAS JAX. He remained in the Naval Air Reserve, and after affiliating with Patrol Wing Eleven, he served two Reserve command tours and eventually retired with the rank of Captain in June of 1995.

I was an officer in the Navy for 11 years, from 2014-2025. I joined through the health professions scholarship program for dental school. I was initially stationed at Walter Reed, then at Okinawa, and then completed oral maxillofacial surgery training at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. I deployed on the USS Ronald Reagan, had a final duty station at Pearl Harbor, and taught residents at Tripler Army Medical Center.

I really miss the people, mentorship, and providing care to service members.

I don't miss moving my family, though!

MACV-SOG 1962-64 Army

I joined the Army in 1961 and was stationed at Ft Detrick Biological Warfare Center. The government needed volunteers with a solid science background to complete Airborne school, Jungle Warfare School, and Special Operations training. I volunteered. I was appointed to a MACV-SOG unit. MACV-SOG members were told that the United States would deny their activities if captured. Plausible deniability was key for the United States. This experience enhanced my desire to study science. Not much more to say. I was involved in 5 Operations.

I was commissioned as a 2LT in the Army, through ROTC, upon graduation from the

University of Texas at Austin on July 8, 1968. I entered active duty nine days. I served 5

½ years leaving the Army as a member of the Regular Army and a Captain on

December 17, 1973.

The Army, while I served, was a conscription Army, not the volunteer force of today.

Consequently, we met and served with men and women who were from all corners of

the United States and all walks of life. The recruiting poster said, “Join the Army and

See the World.” I was raised in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the town of La

Feria. At that time, La Feria had a population of 3,047, a blinking light, but no stoplight. I served in Georgia, Vietnam twice, Texas twice, and North Carolina. I served in some of the storied units of the Army: the 3rd Brigade, 82 nd Airborne Division; the 1st Infantry Division, the “Big Red One,”; and the XVIII Airborne Corps. And, one of the not-so-storied: the Americal (23rd Infantry) Division.

Like others who served at this time, I grew from a boy to a man leading a platoon and commanding a company in a combat zone. During my Vietnam service, I was awarded six Bronze Star Medals – one for heroism and five for meritorious service. As you may know from a previous issue of Stroll, I have Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a hereditary, neuromuscular disease, which caused me to resign my commission. Had I not had that, I would have, in all likelihood, stayed in the Army for a career. The Army gave me the GI Bill, which enabled me to go back to UT, earn an MBA, and have a great business career. I will always be grateful for the opportunity to serve my country and the gift of growing into a man.

I enlisted in the USAF in 1968 during the Vietnam War when the military draft was mandated, and college graduate deferments ended. I received a direct commission but was allowed to remain in college and complete the last year of my MS degree.  Sheila and I were married just before I was commissioned, so she served my 20 military career right by my side, as well as the 38+ years afterwards.  What started to be a 5-year military service commitment ended up being a 20-year career.   Summarizing those 20 years in a short paragraph is impossible.  However, I do want to say that if it wasn’t for the USAF, I never would have received my PhD and discovered my professional career field, which was a perfect fit for me. After retiring from the AF, I worked another 31 years in community and university hospitals. Sheila and I have been so very blessed and have experienced so many things together that we never would have ever imagined, including living in I’On since 1999. We have indeed been blessed.

A month after graduating from college in May 1970, I reported to San Antonio, Texas, for Air Force Officers Candidate School. After four months of training, I was assigned to Valdosta, Georgia, to attend flight school. After flight school, I was assigned to Airborne Electronic Surveillance and Weapon System Control School for further training. My next assignment was to the 728 th.Tactical Control Squadron in Sumter, South Carolina. Our squadron was tasked with evaluating and testing, before deployment, the latest Air Force mobile and airborne weapons control and surveillance system to be used in the Air Force AWACS program, a military airborne command-and-control system. After a year in Sumter, I was assigned to a 5th Air Force Base, near Osan, South Korea, for a one-year unaccompanied tour of duty. The unit I was assigned to was created due to the seizure of the naval intelligence ship, the USS Pueblo, by the North Koreans in December 1968. Our mission was to track and protect military intelligence missions in East Asia. After my year in Korea and with the Vietnam War winding down, I requested and received permission to be placed on inactive reserve upon my return to the US and to start my civilian 30-year career with Duke Energy in the design and engineering of high-voltage systems worldwide. By 2002, I had retired, and Diane and I had decided to move to the Charleston area. We bought a lot in I'On in 2002 and moved into our home in 2005, and have been here ever since. The picture is of me with my wife, Diane, and our two sons and their families on a special anniversary a few years ago. I’m the old man in the center, looking very happy and proud!

Brad was born on Okinawa, Japan, but grew up on 40 acres in rural Texas.  Graduating from the University of Texas, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry.  Brad served for more than 21 years, retiring as a Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel.  During that time, he held numerous Infantry and Special Forces positions, including eight years in 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta, where he commanded multiple troops and a squadron.  His final assignment was as the Assistant Professor of Military Science at The Citadel in Charleston, SC.  He holds a Master of Science in Defense Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School, with a concentration in Irregular Warfare.

In 2011, Brad published his debut novel, One Rough Man, which was an immediate success and launched the Pike Logan series. Now with 20 installments and more than 4 million copies sold, the series has consistently hit the New York Times bestseller list. When not writing, he serves as a security consultant on asymmetric threats for various agencies. He lives in Charleston, SC, with his wife.

I enlisted in the US Army Security Agency in January 1965. Following Basic Training, I

attended the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA, for Russian. I served most of my

time in uniform overseas, in Japan, the Republic of Vietnam, the Republic of South Korea, and the German

Federal Republic. Discharged following ten years of active duty, I worked in various capacities

for the Defense Department, first as a contractor and subsequently as a government employee.

After nearly 40 years of dedicated service, I retired as a civilian US Air Force senior executive in

May 2003.

Captain John Mack is a retired U.S. Navy Captain with a distinguished 26- year career spanning active duty and the Naval Reserve. His naval journey began at Aviation Officer Candidate School, where he earned his commission and subsequently his wings following flight training in Pensacola. Assigned to Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron, VAW-116, in San Diego. Captain Mack completed two and a half combat deployments to Vietnam aboard the USS Coral Sea, serving as a Combat Information Center Officer in the E-2. Following six years of active duty, he transitioned to the active reserves with VAW-307/88, where he served for 14 years. His later military career focused on high-level strategy, including leadership roles at the Tactical Training Group Pacific-119 and CINCPACFLT-719 supporting naval wargaming and strategic planning. In his civilian life, Captain Mack was a leader in the technology sector, retiring after a successful career at HP and two internet startups. He holds an MBA from San Diego State University and an MS in Mathematics from Clemson.

I attended the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated in 1970. After training assignments at Mare Island Naval Shipyard and the Charleston Navy Yard, I began my first at-sea tour on USS Conquest (MSO 488) as the Engineer Officer. Conquest was homeported in Long Beach, CA, which is where I met my wife, Susan.

My next assignment was Damage Control Assistant on USS Jouett (DLG 29/CG 29 out of San Diego. I deployed to WESTPAC/Southeast Asia twice, where we were responsible for all USAF and USN air traffic in and out of North Vietnam. I was honored to be on the ship when she air-controlled the first POWs out of North Vietnam…certainly the most important event in my short Naval career. My last duty assignment was an ashore billet in San Diego, where I was the Officer-in- Charge of an engineering-based group of sailors who did shipboard repairs and restoration. I resigned my commission and left active duty in November,1975. In 1985, I started working for the Navy as a contractor in the Washington DC area. I did this for the next 32 years, retiring in 2017.

 

Captain LeGrand “Pyle” Elebash, USMC 1990-1999

After graduating from Yale University in 1989, I was seeking a first career out of college that would allow me to have the physical challenge and camaraderie I had experienced as a member of the Yale crew team. The Marine Corps provided the perfect fit, and in the fall of 1990, I headed to Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, VA, having secured a coveted flight school contract. I completed the Navy’s Basic Flight Training in Pensacola, FL, and after being selected for jet training, transferred to Naval Air Station (NAS) Meridian, MS, for the basic jet syllabus in the T-2 Buckeye and the advanced jet syllabus in the A-4 Skyhawk, both of which involved aircraft carrier landings. The best part of my time in Meridian was meeting my wife-to-be, Allison Barron!  We moved together to Jacksonville, FL, when I was selected to fly the F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet. F/A-18 training included learning the art of operating aircraft radar and weapons systems, air-to-air fighter tactics, ground attack tactics, aerial refueling, and both day and night carrier landings. In 1995, we moved to Beaufort, SC, for me to join the VMFA-122 "Crusaders" as their newest pilot just before their upcoming deployment. During my 4 years with VMFA-122, I completed two WESTPAC deployments to Japan and numerous training exercises in Puerto Rico, Alaska, the deserts of Arizona and California, and Norway. I earned the qualification of Air Combat Tactics Instructor and helped train many new pilots before completing my tour. In 1999, I completed my tour, and we moved to Boston so I could enter the MBA program at Harvard Business School. We have been I'On residents since 2001 and raised our children, Hudson and Chloe, in our beloved neighborhood. I am now a high-producing real estate agent at William Means, and Allison is an accomplished interior designer. (ps - If you'd like to know how I earned the callsign "Pyle", just give me a call and he'll tell you the story!)

Stephen Brock 

Stephen enlisted in the Army in 1968 and was commissioned in Military Intelligence, serving as a special agent.  Following service in Vietnam as a Phoenix advisor, he continued his career in the Army Reserve until retiring in 1989 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. 

I am a 1989 graduate of West Point and served seven years as an infantry officer in the Army, and am a veteran of Operation Desert Storm. I served first in the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany and then the 82d Airborne Division. My last assignment was as a Parachute Rifle Company commander.

I served 6 years in the South Carolina State Guard. Rank when I left was LTC ( Lieutenant Colonel), and I loved it. I served under General Leon Lott. I also served under COLONEL Muse, a retired U.S. Marine Colonel who served 25 years in the Marine Corps. I am the daughter of a World War 2 Veteran (Army), the widow of a retired Army Veteran, and the mother of a U.S. Marine, proud to serve and love my country!