Employed 6 ,part 1 Army

That day, Monday January 12,1956 would mark the end of my near life-long quest to avoid the fore-mentioned Hell of combat in wars that America seemed
(still seems) to adore. l know, not all of America, but you gotta admit; the ones
who have some product to sell the war effort, or have other ways to profit from
it, will do whatever they can to keep 'em happening. How many are going right now?
l arrived at the recruiting office a couple minutes after it opened and was immediately introduced to and seated at the desk of MasterSargent Jack Harper.
He had seen action in Korea as a combat infantryman, but didn't seem to revile
my cowardly search for a way to avoid "fighting for my country". ln fact, he told 
me that soldiers assigned to ASA or any where else in the military services are
making their unique contribution and Uncle Sam appreciates every single one of them.
Sgt. Harper verified everything Ted and Ben had told me about ASA and added
some more detail:The Army tests all inductees for aptitudes and l.Q. during the first couple of weeks of basic training. Results of that testing will largely determine your assignment;very high scores might buy you an invitation to
Officer's Candidate School. A somewhat lesser score will be required to be as-
signed to one of the security services (like ASA). Those who request assignment
to ASA or another security service will be the subject of a background investigation which is conducted by the F.B.l. Usually,the results of that are in
before the inductee completes basic training. lf everything has checked out as hoped, after basic one will have two weeks for a little time off and the trip to ASA HQ in a little town about forty miles from Boston. The first week is all testing with the goal of determining the occupation best suited to the individual
soldier's abilities and whether or not the Army Language School will be a part of the experience.
When it was time to sign up l hesitated a bit: l wanted some assurance that l could pass the test for ASA. Could l take it before actually signing up? lf l fail
the test after signing, there's no telling where l might wind up. Right now, the
National Guard has me covered, but l'd rather complete three years in the Army
and have my "military obligation" satisfied at discharge,  than spend years in the Guard.
He had O.C.S. tests which, he said, were (obviously) more difficult than the basic
test given to all recruits. l could try it, he would correct it and if l got a good score on that l could almost certainly pass the ASA entry exam. So, l took the
exam, he corrected it, showed me my passing score: lf l understood what the Sgt. showed me, l was only a few answers short of passing the O.C.S. test. He
then assured me l,d have no trouble being assigned to ASA.
l was signing the contract to spend three years in the US ARMY when Ben & Ted
came through the door both grinning ear to ear when they noticed me with  pen
in hand.