This picture is from 1969.
I remember it well.
Almost surreal to think about it now.
Your fate was determined by some suit picking a numbered
ping pong ball out of a gold-fish bowl.
Posted on 03/29/2007 3:05:36 PM PDT by Rodney King
One of 10 draftees still in Army retires by By The Associated Press Print Story Email Story FORT BLISS, Texas -- Robert Rangel was a college student trying to "fly below the radar" when his draft number came up in 1967.
"I got caught," he said with a wide smile.
Caught, as it turns out, for 40 years.
Chief Warrant Officer Rangel was one of just 10 draftees still in the Army when he retired Wednesday, according to Fort Bliss officials. It was unclear whether the other draftees have served as long as Rangel; the draft ended in 1973.
Rangel, of El Paso, said the prospect of being drafted was terrifying after watching numerous friends "coming home in coffins."
But he opted to stay well beyond the required two-year hitch because "I started enjoying my job and the people I worked with."
He's been deployed to nine combat zones, from Vietnam to the Persian Gulf. Maj. Gen. Robert Lennox, the Fort Bliss commanding general, described Rangel as the "foremost expert" on air defense systems at the West Texas post, the current home of the Air Defense Artillery Center.
Michael Zaborowski, a retired lieutenant colonel who has known Rangel for more than a decade, said he has long been impressed by his dedication. "I did 20 years and I thought that was a lot," he said.
Rangel retired a few months before his 62nd birthday, when he would have been forced to do so under Army regulations.
His mother, who attended his retirement ceremony, was relieved the day had finally come. "That was a long time that I worried," Adelina Rangel said softly.
Rangel's years in the Army included more than 200 parachute jumps with a special forces unit in Vietnam and Cambodia, time in battle zones, a firsthand view of the crumbling of the Berlin Wall and a tour in the first Gulf War.
Now his priority is to take care of his mom and tackle some projects.
Tops on the list is restoring a 1964 Plymouth Sport Fury. He parked it in his mom's barn when he went off to basic training.
He was a Chief Warrant Officer.
El Paso Bump.
Makes me scratch my head and wonder how he got the way he is.
Is that above an NCO?
My nephew once complained warrants are basically enlisted guys with officer perks. He was oversimplifying more than a little of course.
Yep
Ask any CWO5 and he will tell you it is above a general. Most generals will agree.
Chief Warrant, is not a buck private! Some men just stand a little tailer than other equals and here is one of them.
OK, I apologize and confess my ignorance.
You ask any SMA, CWO-5,or O-10 and you will get three answers, they all think they are god.
This fella had the best of both worlds,,,A Chief Warrant,,He was Top Dog....In '71 only 3 people in our Company were draftees,,The Draft was winding down,
Surely you jest.
Really? When I was a kid I always wanted to be a helicopter pilot. I figured I had to go to West Point or Annapolis and my mother wouldn't let me (really). Damn, I would have just enlisted if I could have been a helicopter pilot.
Valid question from your perspective, but he did well. And, I bet, he carried more weight than much higher ranks where ever he was. Many a Sgt has carried a Lt or Cpt.
He is CWO. Not too shabby, imho.
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