 that job may be to answer a Latin American nation's request for help in restoring order or across the world in the Middle East to help a free nation build a strength on which its freedom depends or amid the tensions of Europe to operate the complex technological tools which make it possible to respond instantly to the supply and necessities of a vast defensive force or in Southeast Asia to probe the steaming rice paddies in search of an elusive aggressor wherever the challenge and whatever its nature the man of the United States Army must be ready with a global answer preparedness there's a little question that the effectiveness of the United States Army or of any army depends in the final analysis on the training and experience level of its individual soldiers it takes time to build up these essentials especially that second item experience but without them an army no matter how large it might be in numbers would be an uncoordinated rabble the men who provide the United States Army's high level of training and experience year in and year out are the regulars the pros the careermen express it as you will they are the backbone of that global readiness which is a prime deterrent to potential aggressors today since they live and work in a world of such special demands and skills we may sometimes tend to think of them as something apart but these people don't live in a vacuum their individual human problems are the same ones which face all of us the questions for which they must find answers are the same our best to provide for a family how to plan wisely for the future how to build a fruitful career the answering of these questions for any of us is no simple matter and the career soldier is no exception in the next few minutes you'll see how one of the men of the United States Army just beginning his career meets evaluates and faces his problem this is specialist fourth-class thomas riley a man with a problem come off it will you riley you're talking about another hitch are you kidding get out of make a buck make a million okay okay laugh you guys so riley stays in what's in it for him free medical free dental no rent free child harassment you got to take on this post it's the same in any deal in the army or on the outside yeah but outside he could maybe be a boss himself he could be a major general if he'd get off his duff okay so he re-enlists tell me something the army's going to give him and I mean something worth another hitch if you'll button your lip I'll tell you okay what's the army going to give a gi on another hitch something to build on that one stopped me what was I building I knew I had to find that something to build on sir a message yes sir when you get back like talk to you again about reenlistment think about it yes sir be sure you're making up your own mind yes sir I will thank you I went home to see what I could build on there the old hometown was going along about as usual things look pretty good first off I saw Ray Parker his old man owns the lumberyard so naturally he's in there with his dad one day he'll take over when his dad retires his luck when he was born he was going to own that company Pete Luz is working for them now Pete and Ray and me were on the relay team in high school Pete's a helper on the truck with Charlie Hoskins hey Pete let's get back to work well yeah Charlie Hoskins been working 20 years for Ray's dad and maybe he'll be working 20 more before he's done I knew I didn't want what Pete had or Charlie and one thing for sure my dad wasn't handed me any lumberyard on any silver platter so I was daydreaming down on main street by the citizen's bank when I got this hot flash how about going in and asking Mr. Olin J. Kelsey Mr. Kelsey how about lending me 100,000 bucks to build a drive-in movie theater I didn't have to ask I knew the answer sorry sorry sorry then I saw Mike Pearson our class president he was our most likely to succeed natural born winner in any league Mike was selling cars doing pretty good too like you'd know he would oh he's nuts about cars always has been he could tear an engine down when he was only 10 years old here it is 300 cubic inch four barrel carburetor it's a beauty it sure is oh Pearson excuse me I'll be back in just a moment on top of that people really like him right off he's got away with people it's a gift a talent his future was built in he'd found his spot but I hadn't I didn't have some natural talent or some built-up skill like he had then I dropped in on Billy Wells our champion debater bank in school it's really great to see you how's the army great have a seat how's your job what a job here is real great he was still a good persuader this time about this corporation that he worked for how big it was with its pension plan fringe benefits job and wage protections Billy was hoping for promotion and he needed it what would two kids already payments on his home and car dental bills doctor bills two other men were bucking for the same promotion one was a college graduate one was going to night school Billy knew he needed training to catch up with these other guys I had a feeling that Billy was going to make it the hard way how did I fit in the hometown was prosperous the job market good still and all I couldn't envy Billy and his battle with the cost of living until he started in at night school he'd be standing still and he knew it same as Mike because he had something special and ability a talent that I didn't have I couldn't MVP that work would get him nowhere some of my friends didn't have enough to build on some were doing okay like Parker he owned a lumberyard I didn't and as for old Charlie he gave it to me straight get that trading kid without it you're just a guy up a creek without a paddle like he said how was I gonna make it there were jobs plenty of jobs but what jobs big companies they offered big fat salaries technicians wanted skill mechanics wanted electronic specialists missile component men IBM operators helicopter repair men the jobs were there but I couldn't qualify for one of them what I really had was nothing to offer but what I really had in the army was plenty to offer I had a spot to fill my spot I was trained for it it's like they tell you the army's job is to train our land forces and keep them up to full strength a rough job the army has to think of everything but no matter how hard they try there are still plenty of things you can argue about and did we argue a man in the army should not be married here yet I don't know you get the married allotment you live off post the army don't want you married they'd rather have you married than not at all the army wanted you to have a wife they'd have issued you one besides you can have a baby in a post hospital for nine bucks when I get married I'm getting out of this man's army for what you should see the guys back home what they have to go through listen to him they should have never given them that leave you guys will see the army gives a family something to build on like what like security I wouldn't want to have a wife and kids and lose my job in the army you've got it made the family is going to be okay and how about that housing not bad even though you need a little seniority to get it you don't have to stretch up the rent every month either the first couple of years can be plenty rough plenty little kids are always getting sick it can break you doctors bills hospitals all that's on the army and believe me I wouldn't mind being raised on an army post if I was a kid they've got it all the playgrounds the schools it's kid country like a park it beats growing up on a city sidewalk like I did an army wife has it all right too she's got the px the different army deals the commissary the nursery the whole works the way they want it she's got the pta and all that get-together club stuff that women go for and revelry to taps the army takes care of its own 24 hours a day should things go wrong you're not facing it alone he goes as far as it can to help and helps with the army chaplains and through the army relief fund and red cross well I could see that was okay for the guys who are married but what if I didn't get married and I wasn't just about to or at least not until someone came along who made me change my mind was that what if I did want to get married someday in the future how would I build for for one thing I could leave the army go home and get a job so fine what kind of job I knew the answer already with no training I could start at the bottom with no training I could pump gas wear different uniform snap to when I was told because some bosses just can't be satisfied I get fired fire to get a decent job I need a technical training but training cost money in civilian life most of what I earned I'd have to pay out to go to night school school that was something we talked a lot about after duty hours we needed job training we all agreed on that without a specialty a man is nobody these days I mean nobody he's a ghost you can't even get a job running an elevator without a down certificate who runs elevators they got push buttons automation well still when I got out of the army I'm heading straight for night school they're in a trailer getting to some kind of racket a lot of guys try it and they they give up they just give up if I was to re-enlist know what I'd do what I'd take that option for aviation maintenance school why not you get paid it's on the army's time you still got your off duty hours for yourself I've been thinking of that course in electronics and all that it sounds like a great field we all knew army training gave a man a chance to get into top paying jobs you can't beat the army service schools they're the best now each one of you place the switch in the calibrate position the training aids are the most modern in the world take radio electronics if you'll turn the preset switch to channel two you will see the transmitter tune us off automatically to this new frequency our selective four speed gear transmission located here you can learn automotive mechanics when they get through with you you know just about everything there is to know about almost any kind of equipment I'd like you to place it in fourth gear notice gentlemen now that all the component parts back to your rear differential something to build on and I could have it as my option with just one more hitch why not what was holding me back well for one thing this idea I could have some fun if I got out these dreams hot shot civilians see behind the wheel of a big convertible a cigar in your mouth loaded up for man country a blonde there beside you a one long as we're dreaming make it two uh why not it be a redhead this club may not be dream stuff but it's no strain on the budget here they come and the scenery is not bad at all like it's used to the easy social life there's almost always something doing part of army life the army does give you the time to enjoy yourself in lots of ways between us my own bunch we had seen the whole usa all on army vacations 30 days a whole month or on three-day passes or traveling on army duty you should see when I was stationed out at four-door we went up to san francisco every weekend what a sound one time we got a three-day pass four of us we shared the gas and we went to cla and hollywood and then we made it across the border mexico on a three-day pass we did it I tell you we barely made it back by reveling me and these two guys we went all the way from fort lewis washington to yosemite that's scenery boy how'd you get there flew half price special rate good deal give me paris any time I took a leave and came in from frankfurt I met a girl in the why the boy I met a girl in the champs or champs champs so we see you idiot where have you been you should see a couple of us guys went over to london it's really great if I went to washington dc as an american soldier known but to god to serve as others have in the long roll call down through us army history to serve is to be proud and pride too is something to build on pride stays with you when you're back with your outfit doing your part in a field problem day it was the great gravy train to hear him talk you think the streets were paid with gold you can make a million in civilian life I know a guy that opened up a laundromat and he's cleaning up no sweat at all guy gets into anything these days and he's made made what you can hit the jackpot a million jerks start their little businesses the only thing they hid is the family for some coins figure the percentages one out of ten thousands going to be a millionaire you got a better chance of making fast our general I mean you just made spec four fully it was eating all of us a big gold rush I could see it now in or out of the army you have to work for anything you get the same guys who couldn't make it in the army wouldn't make it in civilian life in or out of the army the same rules apply leadership you have to earn it if it's army or if it's civilian reliability you got to be there on the job whether it's standing revelry formation or checking out against the timesheet training you need it in the army you need it outside attention to detail it's exactly the same respect for authority you can't get ahead without it hard work you can't dodge it it's no gravy train for civilians and it's the same in the army the army is a team belonging together when you're with us it's your offered something more a chance to get that training that education leadership a chance to make my plans with guaranteed security while I build from my future in the army or out some men the army will not reenlist I wanted to reenlist and the army wanted me had all the facts to help me choose a service option at least for now I signed up for one more hitch in the united states this hitch would give me a running start in life something to grow on something to build on and this time something for me and I do solemnly swear and I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the constitution of the united states that I will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic against all enemies upon men like these so much depends they are the citizen soldiers who since our beginnings as a nation have stood guard over our liberty their average men but they're important people times change but the need for able men to meet the demands of those changing times remains the challenges to freedom are never ending and worldwide our readiness can be no less if freedom is to survive the long heritage of service which has been built by the men of the united states army needs no comment from me you know it well carrying forward that continuity of service to meet the challenges of the 20th century are the regulars of today's army and they do so with the satisfying knowledge that through their service they're giving themselves and their families and their nation something to build on