Camp Hovey

Lifers and Slackers

The days after arrival at Camp Hovey I'd spent settling in trying to get a handle on things at my new home for the months ahead. I'd been attempting to make positive impressions on my superiors. Quickly, I discovered that Army life in Korea wasn't much different than what it had been stateside, but probably a lot better than getting shot at in Vietnam. The only difference was the smell. The food seemed a little bit better, but nothing like what mom fixed. Like it or not I was in Korea until next year

Since my arrival I'd met a bunch of new people, made some new acquaintances and it seemed a new best buddy in the process. However, in the days since my arrival a search for my airborne buddy Danny Dickman who'd been assigned to Cougar Company when we arrived had been futile.

I always seemed to miss making contact with him when I got the time to walk up to his company. From what I could determine from those I talked to Danny had turned into a real village rat. Korea was a prime feeding grounds for a cherry boy from the states. For me on the other hand activities during the spring at Camp Hovey had been geared towards intensive training for EIB testing, pulling guard duty, motor pool details as well as all the other mundane things that make up everyday Army life in Korea.

During my free time and of a night which was limited I would cram, studying material for the upcoming infantry skills, participate in athletic programs and every once in a while make a journey to the Enlisted Mans Club. Thankfully, I'd been spared some of the duty details thus far such as kitchen police and guard duty so I could attend classes.

The Battalion Commander wanted to raise the bar getting more of his people qualified for the infantry and medical skill badges testing in his battalion than any of the other battalions in the 7th ID. He was one of those Airborne Ranger Special Forces types that had already been to Vietnam and was gung-ho on training.

To me the BC appeared to be pulling all the stops for those genuinely interested in earning the EIB. So, those of us going to classes were automatically tagged lifers. My head was occupied absorbing as much technical knowledge as possible, so the name calling and teasing didn't bother me.

I was cramming my brain full of Army technical information to answer any and all questions thrown at me on the EIB test. If I passed the test earning the coveted infantry skill badge I would be allowed to wear it proudly on my uniform. I didn't need any distractions.

The upcoming test for some reason had captured my full attention after completing the grueling road march the day after I arrived at Camp Hovey. B Company like most units in the Army was divided into different camps. The two major groups were the RA lifers or career oriented soldiers and US draftees that seemed to earn the name slackers. The lifers were also called juicers as their preference was alcohol for recreational drug of choice. The draftees or slackers preferred pot, if they could get it. And then there were guys that were into athletics.

A lot of the young Regular Army guys were more into honing there infantry or other MOS skills while many of the draftees were more interested in going to the ville to get laid. Of course the more rank the more time one could spend in the ville. Now, not all draftees were goof-offs or slackers. Many did their jobs and did them well, but that was it. Then there were the real lifers.

These were guys that had made or were going to make the Army a career choice, twenty plus years. The old lifers many interest was busting balls. They enjoyed having enlisted men pick up cigarette butts, doing what's referred to as Police Call. If your uniform was messed up they were on guys. Same for shined boots and hair cuts. I'd learned in basic to take care of details so as to not call attention to myself.

The scuttlebutt was that many of the new young lifers who had seriously given consideration to the Army as a career were not as gung-ho as they once were when they joined. With a war raging in Vietnam and troops being deployed there rapidly could mean those doing three years enlistment would have enough time left after they returned to the states to do a twelve months tour of duty in Vietnam with an infantry unit before their enlistment was up. That's how a lot of the young NCOs had made there rank so quickly.

Gary and I had automatically been labeled lifers by our peers, because we were both RA; furthermore, I was Airborne qualified, and our interest in earning the EIB. Gary had made it known that he was totally committed to making the Army his life. Gary had disclosed his aspirations during one of those nightly bullshit sessions in the platoon hooch. He wanted to make SP/4 and then as soon as possible make Buck Sergeant. Me, I just wanted to do my three years, do it proudly and then get the fuck out and go back to college. Of course, making Buck Sergeant would be a big plus for me.

Although I wanted to make sergeant I wasn't interested in making the Army my career, but intended to do my best while serving in the green machine. I really wanted to get it over with and back to college to finish my education using my GI Bill. I hadn't been all that thrilled hearing that C.I.D. was actively pursing clearing all homosexuals out of the Army with a vengeance. The undercover witch hunts were in full swing in Korea. I knew I'd lied when I signed-up with regard to my sexuality, but I didn't give it much thought - a little white lie.

Or was it a lie. Hell, I didn't know all that much about the homosexual thing as a teenager, other than it was supposedly morally wrong and against Christian teachings. I couldn't understand why the Army was so fucking worried about my sexuality. Hell, I didn't really know if I was truly a homosexual. I liked ladies back home, but not the ones I'd seen in the villes. The only thing I knew for sure was that from a young age peckers had intrigued me and given me much pleasure in life.

I did enjoy cock watching. Oh, I knew homosexuality was not accepted in civilian life either and those that were discovered to be interested in guys were ostracized from their communities for their lifestyle. My dad had made me painfully aware of that fact. That was the reason I was in the Army. More and more I was thinking about a return to the Steam and Cream when I'd turn-in of a night. After a while in seclusion at Camp Hovey I'd started to get really horny, wanting more than a quick hand job under my blanket or on fire watch to satisfy my sexual desires.

I wanted the touch of another person and want a person to touch me back satisfying my sexual wants and needs. But most of all I wanted to feel moist warm lips and a tongue caressing my cock and really didn't care whether the lips and tongue belonged to a male or female. I'd learned the pleasure of a blowjob when I was about ten years of age and from then on couldn't get my fill.

My friends used to kid around with me saying that I'd let a snake suck me off or I'd fuck a knothole if there was fur around it to satisfy my sexual needs. The one thing I missed about civilian life was being able to seek out and get sexual gratification whenever I felt like it. Something that was lacking since I'd entered the Army.

Now that I was out of training and settled into a permanent TO&E unit my morning erections had returned. I definitely needed another blowjob. I'd had a couple rather colorful dreams about Gary and me engaging in some mutual sexual play in a remote location around Camp Hovey. I'd also had a dream where I took him anally in the company shower early one morning, sucking his fine piece of meat and then fucking him to fruition. I guess I could dream without being busted by Sid.

Gary and I continued hanging out, studying together and becoming closer friends. Neither of us had been laid down in the ville yet; furthermore, there was no real desire to do so. Since my arrival I'd learned that Sid had busted one of the local house boys in the battalion for thievery as well as a senior NCO in HHC for black marketing.

Black Marketing was another thing we'd been warned about when we arrived in Korea. We also learned about the stiff penalties if one was caught engaging in black-marketing activities. We'd been told that even buying cigarettes or toiletries at the PX for the lady's in the ville was against the rules. From what I'd seen I guess the senior NCOs hadn't received that information when they arrived in Korea.

Lying on my bunk I was reading and thinking about all that and it was tiring me out. After noon chow I was taking advantage of some afternoon free time after a morning in the motor pool pulling PMs with other drivers when Gary entered the hooch saying, 'Randy, you got CQ with SGT Pennington tonight. Top told me to pass on the info. He also said that we could go to classes, but before you report for CQ he said to go by the orderly hooch to tell the company clerk before going to class.'

'Okay,' I responded, turning back to reading my Technical Manual on communication equipment. I didn't mind pulling guard duty or Charge of Quarters duty, especially being it was with my squad leader. I'd never looked forward to KP since entering the Army. Pulling guard duty meant I at least had a chance to earn the privilege of being picked as Colonel's orderly if I won at the pre guard inspection. And I didn't mind working on company vehicles in the motor pool. That was kind of like being back in the world working around the old man's shop. I remember the first time I met the company clerk my manhood jumped inside my fatigue trousers and my heartbeat accelerated.

Yes, SP/4 Ryan Edge had captured my attention immediately the first time I met him when I went to get my meal card the first day in the company. I hadn't seen him or had a chance to make friends with him in the days since our initial meeting, but I wanted to get to know him better. Maybe I'd get the chance when I reported later for CQ duties.

The clerk was about my age, maybe a little younger. He was about five feet eight, ten inches tall at most and weighed about one hundred and thirty-five maybe forty pounds. What really drew my attention to him was his beautiful olive complexion, short cropped raven black hair and his eyes: strikingly alluring green eyes. The black eyebrows set off his seductive green eyes. They were a total compliment to his angelic face and perfect white teeth when he would smile. I'd only seen eyes so green, so soft, and so seductive a couple times before.

Maybe once the burden of EIB testing was over Ryan and I could get better acquainted I thought. I secretly hoped that I'd get a chance to see his naked body out in the communal shower someday day. I'd only seen one other guy in the Army with such beautifully seductive green eyes; maybe that was what caused me to take notice. But the guy who really caught my interest was Jared.

Jared worked at the market down the street from my dad's repair facility. He was of smaller build than our company clerk about five feet seven or eight inches tall weighing about hundred and twenty pounds, but boy did he have one of the most beautiful seven inch cocks I'd ever laid my eyes on.

The summer before I joined the Army he and I had gotten together developing a special relationship. Because he was a few years older he had his own apartment. It didn't take long after our first encounter for us to be spending more time with each other; about very second night at his place during the weekdays, and almost every weekend together. He was my sex teacher and I was his student. He knew more about sex than I could ever imagine. During our time together he definitely made me a happy and sexually satisfied individual.

Jared rocked my world from that first night we engaged in sex together until the day of our tearful parting. My parents thought it odd that I'd taken up company with a guy six years older than me. Dad ask, no he demanded, that I end my friendship with Jared. He said our friendship didn't look good to outsiders and there was gossip starting up around town.

I'd had a terrible fight with my parents over my friendship with Jared. Dad said that staying friends with him made it look as though we might be a couple, romantically involved, as in a homosexual couple. And that our relationship wouldn't be tolerated in a small southern Indiana town. Dad had a reputation and business name at stake. Hell, I was just having the time of my life the summer before going back to college.

My dad suggested that I join the Marine Corps or Army. He felt that the military would make a man out of me, and take the sissy outa my ass. I really didn't know what he meant by that comment. I thought at nineteen years of age I was all grown up and definitely all man. Physically, I was a man. Not too many people wanted to fuck with me when it came to physical altercations. I played football and baseball all the way through high school and into college, so I was no runt.

The next morning after our terrible fight I told my parents much to their chagrin that I was dropping out of college, joining the Army and going to Vietnam after training. I was going to do what my dad wanted: be a man and die like a man for country and family honor. God, that was an ugly scene. I wish I would have handled it differently.

Everyone was crying that morning I walked out to join the Army and there were even more tears as I left for Oakland after leave to go to Vietnam. I often wondered how many other families were caught up in the same things during that tumultuous time in our history. The ugly arguments and fights between parents and children. Amends that would never be made by either party after a son was killed, only to be returned home in a cold metal box, or a parent passed away while the son was gone.