"Soldiers of Today and Yesterday"
" Honor,Dignity & Hope "

It all began at a 50 watt radio station in Ubon, Thailand, during the Vietnam War where I played the hits to keep America free. I didn’t start my military career in radio, but after my superiors saw me shoot an M-16 (and couldn’t figure out whose side I was on), they decided I would be much more useful behind a 77DX than an M-16.

Seriously, I began my Air Force career as an aircraft electrician, but I soon discovered that I was called to a higher task when I saw an ad in the base newspaper for on-base auditions for Armed Forces Radio. I passed the audition and was sent to Defense Information School – the military version of broadcasting school – in Indianapolis. After six grueling weeks of training I was turned loose on the unsuspecting military population in Ubon.

You know Ubon, right? It’s that place located right at the point where Thailand, Cambodia and Laos come together. Well, I’d never heard of it either and it was quite an eye-opener for a 19-year-old from a little town in Western Pennsylvania. The radio station, however, was better equipped than many where I would work later and was a wonderful place for me to gain experience (and make my mistakes without getting fired…I mean, the joke was, "What can they do…..Send me to Vietnam?").

We had state-of-the-art equipment for 1969: Altec audio board, RCA 77DX mikes, Ampex reel-to-reel tape recorders, and Fidelipac carts. I was lucky enough to have other jocks on staff with commercial radio experience from back home who were kind enough to share their wealth of knowledge with me. I learned how to splice tape with a razor blade and little pieces of white tape, how to slip cue records, how not to pop my "P"s, and – most importantly – how to "hit the post" on all the songs…all things that would benefit me greatly when I got into stateside radio.

I wasn’t on the air all the time; each of us on the air staff got only 1-2 hours live on the air each day. The rest of the time was filled with pre-recorded shows sent to us by Armed Forces Radio & TV in Los Angeles. We carried shows from Wolfman Jack, Gary Owens, Joe Allison (Country), Jim Pewter (oldies)…..All very popular jocks in LA at that time (or so they told us). The shows all came on LP sized records.

The music we played was sent to us by AFRTS which means we only got to play what they felt was okay for soldiers’ delicate ears to hear. As I recall, Light My Fire was not on our list. Good Morning Starshine was okay, though. Our news was provided by our network headquarters located some 500 miles away in Korat, Thailand. Whether it was censored or not, I don’t really know.

Many people I worked with went on to have very successful careers in broadcasting. It was a great experience for me, although I wish it had been under different circumstances. At the time I had no idea what I was going to do when I grew up, and my time in Armed Forces Radio launched, what has turned into a life long career, not to mention the GI Bill paying for my education. I must say, though, it was nothing like "Good Morning Vietnam." If I had said the things Robin Williams said (or that I thought), I would still be in Leavenworth. I am, however, proud of the service I provided to the very brave people who were out in the trenches really keeping America free.

Reprinted from TRUE BLUE, Cumulus media’s newsletter for those who bleed blue, winter 2005 edition. With permission from John Moesch, station manager of Cumulus broadcasting in Midland-Odessa/TX.