From Korea I was assigned to Fort Campbell, KY (1990) and very shortly afterward we deployed to Saudi Arabia and King Fahd International Airport for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. As with many things in the Army, Desert Shield was a hurry up and wait situation. The US Army scrambled to get assets into Saudi Arabia and then we waited, and waited, and waited for our engagement with the enemy. One of the directives aviation units had was the conservation of “blade time” (Helicopters have limits on how long they can be flown before major maintenance is performed. In a normal situation, you have all the aircraft in a unit setup so that there is a planned timing of these services spaced out over the year so that only one or two will be out of service for maintenance at one time. We intentionally flew aircraft with the most available time the absolute minimum required and flew ones with little time left into their maintenance window so we could quickly finish the servicing and add that additional 200 hours to the amount of time we were “banking”.) This lead to a lot of downtime for the pilots as we were only flying the minimum needed to maintain our currency.
When you are not flying, you find other things to do and one of them was a friendly Friday night poker game. We didn’t have beer or bacon, but we had cards and we a table of sorts, a shelter half makes a nice table cover and we have plenty of players. During one of these games, I met the assistant S4 (Battalion Supply Officer) CW2 Bill Flynn. Aside from his regular job, scrounging for supplies, Bill was also the Battalion Automation Officer. Bill liked to play cards, and he liked to talk and he especially liked to talk about computers. There not being a large group of computer savvy types in the unit, I was often one to share computer conversations with Bill. I didn’t know a lot, but I wanted to learn and Bill had no problem talking about computers or himself, so we talked quite a bit when we could. Bill seemed to think I was pretty good for a novice and I guess I made an impression upon him about my interest in computing.
I didn’t think much more about our conversations when Desert Shield transitioned to Desert Storm and we got down to business with kicking Iraqi ass. Soon, the war was over, we recovered back to King Fahd and then back to the states April 6, 1991 and immediately went on a 30-day block leave. When we returned from block leave, I helped recover our aircraft from Jacksonville, FL and things slowly started to return to normal. As is usually the case, normality didn’t last very long. Sometime in May, 1991 I received a call at the flight line to come to see the Battalion Commander. This was unexpected to say the least, I tried my best to stay off the radar of everyone and just be a good soldier. What I learned was that CW2 Flynn had been assigned as the Brigade Automation Officer and he had nominated me as his replacement at the Battalion level. I met Bill at Battalion and he explained how I have been nominated and he assured me that anything I didn’t know, I could call him and he would walk me through the issue. At the time, I didn’t even own a computer, but I said I’d give it a try.
There were about 20 or so computers in the Battalion at the time, Mostly Zenith 286 desktops with 12 in monochrome green cathode ray tube (CRT) displays and Okidata dot matrix tractor feed printers. We also had some Xenith 8086 portables. We had one modern computer (a 386) and it was the only system running Windows 3.1, the rest were DOS 3.3. The next day I got three calls to fix computers, and with a few quick calls to Bill I managed to get all three systems working again. Thus, my legacy began.
Bill left the Army in 1992 and started a computer shop (Magic Brain Computers) and that next spring I was able to buy a 386sx from Bill with my tax return and get my first computer. I was becoming good at fixing systems and I was upgrading my personal system with parts left over from upgrading systems for other people. By October 1993 I had a 486DX/66 and I was accepted into the Degree Completion program to spend 18 months getting my Bachelor’s Degree. While on degree completion, I had a lot of downtime when classes were out and Bill’s computer business was thriving so well he needed help. I wanted to learn more and extra cash was always nice so I talked Bill into putting me to work as his bench tech. I did part time work for Bill the rest of my time in Degree completion and ended up with a pretty nice 486DX4/100 system by the time I was done with my degree.
Another thing I did with my spare time was to become a Volunteer Income Tax assistant. The JAG office at Fort Campbell was sponsoring a Tax Assistance office and all you have to do was attend a free IRS seminar on taxes to work there. I figured it was a good way to learn about doing taxes and I could electronically file my taxes for free as a bonus. I can still remember the in briefing for the Tax Office by the JAG Captain running the program. He made the fatal mistake of saying how the software they were using was idiot proof and I took him to the side later and told him that he greatly underestimated the creativity of idiots. Sure enough, on the first day 7 of the 8 computers they were using (Zenith 286s) went down for one reason or another and I was able to resurrect all but 1 that day, then other took some parts a day or two later and they were all back on line. I was getting better at this computer tech stuff.
While getting ready for my next assignment, I sent a letter to my sponsor (CW3 Roy Murdock) in Germany at my next assignment (A/5/159 AVN, Big Windy) and I included my email address on the letterhead (Email was still kinda new and trendy) and on his reply, he let me know that since I was computer savvy enough to have email I would be the automation officer when I arrived (Yay! I was thrilled, NOT!).
In my 18-month hiatus during degree completion, computing had exploded in the army and especially in army aviation. My new unit had 20+ computers at company level and most every major function was computerized in one manner or another. I was now managing army email accounts and working on Windows based systems along with a few Xenith 286 DOS relics that were still some use. I also continued working as an IRS Tax assistant in Germany and I was actually much busier with taxes as there were a lot more issues to work through being assigned overseas and soldiers were much less likely to file their own taxes there.
Next came my back injury and grounding. I was pretty much useless to my unit except as automation officer and that didn’t keep me that busy as I’d been pretty proactive in keeping the systems up to date and maintained. Our Battalion S2 was the automation officer and he was swamped with work so I asked my commander if I could go work a casual assignment with the battalion while waiting for my medical retirement to go though. He agreed and soon I was a busy beaver getting the rest of the battalion’s computers in shape. I was also working as Battalion Tax assistant (I’d done it the year before at Leighton Barracks) and I apparently impressed the Battalion Executive Officer (XO) when I did his taxes and the next thing I know, I’m working as the Assistant Personnel Officer reviewing Officer Evaluation Reports (OERs) for the XO. I worked all these positions until my release in August of 1995 when we returned to the states and Clarksville, TN.
After we found a place to live in Clarksville, it was time to return to the civilian workforce. The wife sent me out in search for work the first Monday after we moved into our rental. I went out to the Miracle Mile of HWY 41A in the north end of Clarksville and started checking out the computer shops for work. I think it was the fourth place I stopped in with my resume that I seemed to get a bite. The manager of the store said they needed people by the owner was at the main store in Hopkinsville, KY (15 miles north) and he called the owner up. I was schedule for an interview at 1 PM, and by 2 PM I was hired, starting in the Hopkinsville Store the next morning. One interesting note, my new employer was blind.
This was my first civilian employment since I’d entered active duty in 1984 and it was pretty daunting to me. My starting pay was $6.00 / hour base pay but I also got a 50% commission on non-warranty computer repairs. That and my temporary disability retirement list (TDRL) pay was enough for us to do fairly well. The TDRL pay and more especially the medical benefits made this job workable and I needed a place to start in my new career in computer repair. During the next two months, we continued through some very rapid changes including the purchase of our first home October 30, 1997. During our early marriage before the Army and while on active duty, buying a house had never been a practical idea. Before the military, I just didn’t have the money and spent several years renting a house from my grandmother at a below market rate in lieu of me helping her out.
Things were looking pretty decent in my new life. Our kids were excelling in school, we were homeowners and I was doing well in my new career having gotten my CompTIA A+ certification (The first certified tech at the store) brought with it a $2.00 / hour raise. I had also become the manager of the shops second store in Oak Grove, KY across the gate from Fort Campbell through a bizarre series of events where I’d been sent to the other store to train under the manager there only to have him abruptly quit a week later leaving me holding the bag so to speak. I worked as the defacto store manager for several weeks before the owner finally decided I was indeed the manager and with my new title also came another $1.00 per hour raise. Then I got my notice from the Army that they had re-evaluated my disability and determined that I qualified for a reduction in my disability rating from 30% to 20% and I would be receiving a disability discharge and lose my TDRL retirement and benefits. While the discharge did come with severance pay losing our medical benefits was quite a blow. I did travel to Fort Sam Houston and I appealed to decision of the Medical Review board, but to no avail. I turned to the Veteran’s Administration (VA) for a disability evaluation and I was lucky to get an initial 30% rating (Later raised to 70%) and this resolved some of our issues, mostly income, and at least medical coverage for myself.
Working in a small computer shop with less than 20 employees was big change form over a decade in the Army. In many ways, it was nice, almost like family, but on the other side of the coin, family can also be quite a burden. I began to realize this when my pay began to be an issue with the owner’s wife, the majority stockholder and bookkeeper. It seemed that every time I started to make about $500 a week, the way my pay was computed changed. At first, it was the elimination of commission and working as an hourly employee only. This turned out to be a minor thing as I was working 50+ hours a week and since most of it was commission work, I never exceed a 40-hour week hourly and thus no overtime. Moving to a straight hourly pay, I started getting 10 plus hours overtime every week and that made up for most of my commission loss. A few months later, after more personnel changes and remodeling of the main store, I was put on a no overtime restriction. This too wasn’t so bad as I was making $11.50 an hour now and still getting a decent paycheck. That along with my VA pay was workable.
I was able to do some interesting things while managing the second store, one was hire a reliable assistant manager whom I’d worked with in the military. Leo had been a technical inspector in one of my units and he had retired from the army and was like me looking for a place he could hone his computer skills. It didn’t take long for us to work out a schedule and I ran the days and he ran the evenings. The I ended up with an interesting offer the spring of 1999. A tech temp labor company whom I’d interviewed with a couple times was looking for some techs for a six-week stint with a major corporation, fifteen dollars an hour forty hours a week. I worked out with Leo to cover my days and I closed the store and made some nice extra cash while I was at it. The temp job went so well, I was offered another two weeks in Dallas doing the same work. So, I took a long overdue vacation and was given a nice hotel and rental car in Dallas for two weeks along with two of the other techs who had done the Nashville portion with me. Leo like me had been registered with the tech temp company and not long after my trip he was offered a job in Nashville and he went on to his IT career. Not much later, a decision was made to close the Oak Grove store and I moved back to the main store. Then came the final straw that made me look for a new employer.
We had two other techs at the company (Jeremy and Kevin) that were salary, single and both pretty good guys. I was told that my hours were being cut to 32 a week by my boss. These guys, both knowing I had a wife and three kids, went to the boss and told him, hay put us back hourly and give Don his 40 hours. The boss took their suggestions put them on the clock again, then hired two, part time techs instead. At this point I could see that I needed to find another source of work. Fate seemed to favor me at this point as I saw on the news where a major corporation was hiring and how to apply via their website. I was almost an hour late for work that day as I feverishly worked to write a resume and file may application on-line. To my great surprise, I got an interview and then to my great dismay I noted that so had about 500 other techs in the Nashville area. Managers from the main office of this company had come in to town for a weekend frenzy of interviews 7 AM to 7 PM Friday Saturday and Sunday. The pre-interview testing had occurred a couple weeks prior and now I was facing the dreaded interview. While working with the Tech Temp company, I’d interviewed for a few positions, and I kept blowing the interviews. Either too bold, or not enough experience one thing after another. It seemed like a moving target that I couldn’t zero in upon. I’m finally in the room with the interviewer and we start going through the process. The first four questions are pretty easy to handle. Talking about how I would deal with this situation or that and I had examples from my current job where I could relate what I would/had done. The final question caught me a bit off guard; “Why do you like to work with the public?” I replied; “I don’t.” and the interviewer nearly fell out of his chair. I then alluded that while I didn’t enjoy interacting with the public, I was willing to do it for the job and that I was pretty good at doing it. I even was bold enough to ask after the interview was over, if I had done well, as I hadn’t been to lucky with interviews lately. He said I did fine.
Just after the fourth of July, I received a call with a job offer starting August second. Full pay and benefits from day one, medical, 401k retirement, life insurance and even stock options. That week at work was fun. We’d had Monday off for the 4th of July holiday and Tuesday I gave three weeks’ notice that I was leaving. Wednesday, the only person with more seniority gave two weeks’ notice and Thursday, the guy hired the same day I started Jeremy, gave a weeks’ notice. The top three techs all were leaving before August first, it was an awesome scene. I even had the pleasure of letting the majority owner know that while her husband didn’t think I could get any better pay somewhere else, I was getting a two dollar an hour raise, four weeks training and full benefits.
Life with a large corporation hasn’t been all bells and whistles, but it has done me well for over seventeen years now. We managed to graduate three sons from the same high school (I told them that after I left the military, they’d be able to stay at the same school through graduation.) That was a promise we kept. They also all graduated from the University of Tennessee and are all gainfully employed. Recently, I relocated to Texas for job opportunities in the corporation and those are looking pretty positive too. Thus, ends the tale of how I became a tech.
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