My name is Joe Corteal, and I live in Baltimore, Md. I graduated from college in June of 1968, and a few months later I was drafted and found myself in the Army at Fort Bragg, N.C., for basic training. I had actually explored some options; however, I decided that I would take my chances with the draft.

On Nov. 1, 1968, I entered military service and within a week began basic training at Fort Bragg, home of the 82nd Airborne Division. Our drill instructors were members of the 82nd Airborne. The training overall was good, even though at that time some tactics being taught were not really appropriate for the guerrilla warfare being waged in Vietnam.

Probably the best segment of our training, however, was the M-14 rifle training. Each day for three consecutive weeks in December of 1968, we were instructed in the use of the M-14. The training was excellent, and I was rated as a sharpshooter. Most of those days, we marched out to the rifle range in pretty cold weather but, usually by mid-day it had warmed up and was very tolerable. When I left basic training in mid-January I felt very confident in the use of the M-14.

As a footnote, when the draft system changed to a lottery, my birthday (Sept. 14) was drawn first. Since I had already been drafted under the previous system it really didn't matter.

Thank you!