Page 13 - Ft. Irwin High Desert Warrior, Oct. 6 2017

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The National Training Center By Ken Drylie
History
High Desert Warrior October 6, 2017
13
Editor’s Note: This is part four in a series chronicling the history of Fort Irwin and the creation of the National Training Center.
After the withdrawal of U.S. Forces in Vietnam in 1974, the U.S. Army found itself in disrepair. For years most Soldiers had been drafted for service, forced to spend two years in one of the military branches or face jail time. To avoid service some Americans fled the country, roughly 150,000 slipping across the northern border into Canada.
Not only was morale low, but the American public’s trust in the Army was at an all-time low. Years of protest against the U.S. involvement in Vietnam and open conflict with the military and police, often on live TV, had turned public opinion against not just the organization, but against men and women in uniform. Soldiers in uniform in public were sometimes openly despised, called names and even spit on by people who had opposed the war.
As the U.S. began withdrawing troops from Vietnam, President Richard Nixon ordered the end of the draft by 1973. The Army began a program to make military life somewhat more comfortable, in order to entice Americans to serve in an all-volunteer force.
Open bay barracks were divided into sleeping rooms with a com- mon area, known as a a “day room.” For Soldiers to relax in their off-duty hours. Some grooming standards were relaxed, and troops enjoyed more free time.
Volunteer Soldiers would enlist for four or five years, allowing
See NTC , page 11
US Army Photo
OPFOR tanks prepare to take on the rotational training unit during a training rotation in the early 1980’s.
Soldiers from the rotational unit, move their personal gear in the Rotational Unit Bivouac Area or RUBA. The lack of sides on the covers and the prevailing winds caused near constant dust storms in the RUBA. Today it is still known as the “Dust Bowl.”
For more information go to www.irwin.army.mil
US Army Photo