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Veteran Spotlight - Tom Siple

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Tom Siple
February 23, 1967
Desert Storm Era: Iraq, Bosnia, Somalia, Germany
U.S. Army – 52nd Signal Battalion

Tom Siple wanted to join the military, but there was a problem -- he was an early high school graduate and was too young. Not wanting to waste time, Tom went to college until his 17th birthday. After talking to recruiters for all branches of the service, he enlisted in the Army for four years as a radio operator. He shipped out May 14, 1984 for basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. His AIT (Advanced Individual Training) radio signal school was at Fort Gordon, Georgia.

One of the requirements of his field was jump school. Tom qualified through a one-month training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and then was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division’s 325th PIR (Parachute Infantry Regiment) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. This became his permanent duty station. Tom learned he was a “radio teletype operator” instead of a radio operator. His typing skills left a lot to be desired – the required speed was 30 words per minute with three or fewer mistakes. His final test score of 29 wpm was adjusted to “30 with 1 mistake” so he passed.

In 1986 an opportunity opened for Tom to go to Vicenza, Italy with the 325th Airborne Battalion Combat Team. He ran the communications section for a while and then became a Company Operations Sergeant and then Resource Management Officer (in charge of budgets). Usually, this was a three-year assignment but Tom was fortunate to extend to six years. During that time his whole battalion was deployed to Iraq for six months. They went in through Turkey and pushed south, creating a security zone for the Kurds, a mountain people in northern Iraq and victims of genocide as Saddam Hussein “Arabized” Iraq.

In Iraq in 1991, Tom’s unit had the time to do training parachute jumps without ever doing actual combat jumps. He made his 65th jump and earned his Master Parachute Wings while in Iraq – an unusual happening.

In 1992, after his return to Italy, Tom rotated back to Fort Bragg and joined the 327th Signal Battalion, 35th Signal Brigade. A battalion is about 1,000 soldiers and a brigade is three battalions or about 3200 soldiers. Tom went back to school to learn the new communications equipment and transition to multi-channel systems operation. His duties included installing tactical communications networks.

During this time Tom’s company deployed for six months to Somalia with the 10th Mountain Infantry Division to provide tactical communications support. He remembers the smell of the squalid living conditions that hit him as he got off the plane. The situation was a mess – this was when the “Black Hawk Down” incident occurred. The Civil War in Somalia led to the huge migration of Somali refugees to the U.S. and other countries. As the deployment ended, the United Nations was taking over more control. The U.N. efforts were not successful and the situation is still a mess today.

Tom went back to Fort Bragg for another one and a half years. As it became time for him to extend, he requested to become a drill sergeant. He saw good guys lost in Iraq and Somalia due to stupid mistakes, and he thought he could help do better with the training. The Army decided for the next three years he should be a recruiter instead.

Recruiter school at Fort Ben Harris near Indianapolis, Indiana, lasted six weeks and then Tom was assigned to Huntsville, Texas. As home to a dozen prisons, the area was not considered a “recruit-rich environment.”

Tom visited high schools, colleges, set up at job fairs, made cold calls and networked. This was the hardest sales job in the world because he was selling a lifestyle and not just a job. The most frequent hurdle was dealing with mothers who didn’t want their sons to enlist.

Tom made his “mission quota” every month. The only one who didn’t follow through had a devastating family emergency and Tom advised him to stay with his family who needed him more than the military did. As the word spread about Tom’s humane approach to recruitment he had more volunteers than ever.

From 1998-2001, Tom was assigned to Stuttgart, Germany – the best assignment he ever had, and, besides, he really didn’t want to be sent to Korea. With C “Charlie” Company, first Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, Airborne, he served as the communications support guy with a forward deployed Green Beret company. These special forces could be sent to hot spots anywhere. Due to Balkan and African unrest, he was busy.

In 2002, Tom got another three-year assignment, also in Stuttgart, but at a different base with the 52nd Signal Battalion. Before, his duties had been tactical communications – in quick, out quick. Now, he worked with permanent communications, in for the long haul, for all of southern Europe. Stuttgart was the home of the U.S.-European Command and had a high ratio of officers. There were 10 generals, including two four-stars and their support staff. He learned how to deal with the “brass” and help them set realistic expectations; for example, they couldn’t have fiber optic quality communications on their airplanes.

Tom retired in 2005. His body was paying the price for lots of years with infantry units and paratroopers. He had decided when he wasn’t having “fun” anymore, it was somebody else’s turn to have fun.

Thank you for your service, Tom.

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