I  finished the SF Medic Q Course in mid March, 1967. Of the original 53 14 of us completed the course. 15 graduated, one being a holdover from the previous class who had been injured just before completing the course. Of the group of 15 I was the only one assigned to the 6th SFG. The 6th was a rather obscure group housed in old WWII barracks just off Gruber Rd., Ft. Bragg. One barrack was used for commo and administration the other for housing. On those brief occasions that I lived in the barrack there were no more than a handful of other guys at any one time staying there. One of my favorite things about the location was that there was a small restaurant catering to SF in a cul de sac at the end of the road. My favorite combo was a steak sandwich, onion rings and a Coke. 
Man, we can handle junk food when we're young !

A few days after setting up in the 6th I was assigned to a partial A Team, never had more than 10 guys on it. Initially I was only one of two American born guys on the team. Being a Spc 4 I was the low man on the totem pole. Within a week of joining the team I was told that I was one of a handful of 6th Grp guys going to the Mountain Ranger School in Georgia. As it turned out I was chosen for 2 reasons. First they needed bodies and 2nd because I had scored very high in the use of topo maps and lensatic compasses during Training Grp.. I was told to turn my shirts in for alterations. When I got them back they had E 6 stripes and master parachutist wings. I was told by team sergeant, MSgt Peter Astalos, that rank is respected. E 4 not so much as an E 6. "Am I wrong to assume that I will be receiving E 6 salary ?" "Yes you are" was MSgt Astalos' response. We got along great and he was my mentor while I was on that team.

While we were at the Mountain Ranger School we graded the students for the week they spent in the field. The other SF guys were, at least, legitimate E 6s. As a medic/observer I could keep on eye out for problems as the platoon size group was being tested and graded. It rained every day, not  cold or heavy, just a constant drizzle. Some of the students were experiencing problems with their wet feet. Impossible to dry socks not being worn, On the whole I had an excellent group of highly motivated West Pointers. No complainers or critics. 

Our partial team returned to Ft. Bragg about 10 days later. Guess what? After we returned I wasn't asked to turn in my E 6 shirts. Instead I was given a couple of new shirts with the right designations. A few days later I was asked if I would be interested in taking the HALO Course, a slot was open. Unusual for a wet behind the ears first enlistment when more experienced guys might have been available. At the time the HALO Course classroom was near the 6th Grp facilities. About a week into the course I was told to get ready to go out with my 6th team.

During my time with the 6th, at Bragg, I met only one other medic. We were a rare commodity and the traveling teams needed us.

In late  April 67 our team left Bragg in a C 130, out of adjacent Pope AFB. After a fuel layover in the Azores we had a long flight to northern Ethiopia (3wks), then Israel (8-10 hrs), Lebanon (3 wks), Iran (3 wks), Indian Authority Kashmir, via Jammu (3 wks). As I recall half of the team was former FFL Paras, the CO, Capt  Gerhard Frick was former German military, XO Lt. Brian MacArthur, was former Brit Royal  Marine, team Sgt. Astalos FFL Para. Other former  FFL guys were E 7s: Von Schotten, Schroeder (German name, actually French citizen), Erdmann, other guys names escape me at this time. I, on the other hand, was a lowly American pretend E 6.  Anyway, I had several months of challenging growth experiences.

Back at Ft. Bragg, July 67, I worked in a dispensary during the mornings and spent time cross training with demo guys. My final 2 years in college I was in the USMCR as a combat engineer. I was already familiar with some of what the demo guys were doing, but, still had a lot to learn. Around the end of July I went off with a handful of different 6th guys to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. We observed Army Reservists from Chicago and St. Louis training. Lake Geneva, a major recreation area, in Wisconsin for Chicagoans, was celebrating the grand openings of major resorts. There were a number of events scheduled including our team jumping and repelling from a National Guard C 47 and a Huey. I don't recall a  single incidence of rude behavior towards us. Quite the opposite, actually.

After about a week in Wisconsin we flew to Helena, Montana, via Billings. Western Montana is beautiful and proved challenging for the exercise we were to undertake. We joined about 20 other 6th Grp guys that were already there. None from my original team and mostly Americans. Only one of them that I knew previously. Before we started our planned exercise the group was contacted by the USAF in Grand Forks to see if we would add to their planned events. We did. Again jumping, repelling, displaying equipment and answering questions. August in Montana means great weather to spend outside.

Our planned exercise was an E & E from S of the lakes near Kalispell back to Helena, close to 100 mi cross country. We were to be searched for by state and local law enforcement, National Guard units from Portland, Oregon, Seattle and Eastern Washington. Three 4 man sticks jumped from an old WWII vintage C 47 at about 0200 hrs. On my jump we had several injuries because the National Guard aircrew missed the IP on approach and we hit on a hillside W of the planned LZ. Our chutes had just deployed and we getting ready to drop our gear on tethers when we hit the ground. We expected a few more seconds of air time and couldn't see well enough to tell how high above the ground we were.

One guy, Phil, I just met suffered a serious back injury. My left arm was caught on a wire fence and my shoulder was dislocated. We all sustained bruises. Help came up the hill from the LZ several hundred meters to our E. Phil was evaced from the LZ and my shoulder was reset. Damn that hurt ! After a while, when things were settled, I was asked if I wanted to be evaced. I had already secured my left arm and told them I was good to go. That was a very miserable 5 days of rapid E & E. I suppose it could have been considered character building.

 MSgt " Preacher" Elmore led the way. He was a very good marathon runner, tall and lanky. Grueling pace that the chasers couldn't keep up with us. We had to give our locations several times a day to keep them in the game. Sort of like the mechanical rabbits being chased by greyhounds. With my left arm immobilized at times it was hard to breath right and keep my balance. Occasionally I needed a little help. Except for my shoulder I was in pretty good shape after the exercise. A lot of nasty fly bites in areas with deer and livestock, itchy for days.

Back at Ft. Bragg I received orders to report to Ft. Lewis, Washington for deployment to Vietnam on October 9th, 1967. I and several other SF guys arrived at Cam Ranh Bay late morning,  October 67. Transportation from SFHQ Nha Trang wasn't to arrive until late afternoon. The staff at the reception center started looking for things for us to do while we waited.

Dumb stuff. We few Sf guys were E 4s. I had a couple of my 6th Grp shirts in my duffel bag. Put on my E 6 shirt and walked into the reception center and told the staff I needed to take charge of my men. No problem. We went to the mess hall ate and then went to a small inlet behind some nearby quanset (sp?) huts to hang out. We, from there, could see when the Bus from SFHQ arrived at the reception center. My left shoulder still ached a little, but, was much improved. That's the last 6th Grp related experience. I never met anyone else who spent time with the obscure 6th Grp once I arrived in RVN, or since.

 Sgt R.B. MacPhee A-103  Gia Vuc (Nov 67- April 68)