{"id":4813,"date":"2026-08-18T14:11:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T14:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=4813"},"modified":"2026-08-18T14:11:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T14:11:44","slug":"ssg-still-outranks-my-phd-over-a-half-century-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=4813","title":{"rendered":"SSG still outranks my PhD over a half-century later"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Having spent over 55 years inside academe \u2014 earning Bachelor of Science (BS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees, then serving as a post-doctoral cancer researcher, faculty member, and research administrator, not retiring until almost 79 years of age \u2014 how the one-year title of Staff Sergeant (SSG) decades ago could mean more to me than my PhD might seem bizarre. Nonetheless, it\u2019s true.<\/p>

Read more The high cost of manufacturing nostalgia<\/a><\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

The 19-months in the U.S. Army, as a 24-year-old draftee, transformed my life. Essentially every significant civilian success thereafter can be attributed to that brief stint serving America, and two main factors were responsible.<\/p>\n

First was the 12-week Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Candidate Course \u2014 a.k.a., Shake \u2018N\u2019 Bake school \u2014 attended following basic and advanced infantry training. The Vietnam War created a huge shortage of infantry squad leaders and platoon sergeants, so Shake \u2018N\u2019 Bakes were needed to fill the void back then.<\/p>\n

The butt-busting instruction by Army Rangers, mostly, was first-rate with the infantry leadership motto, Follow Me, being thoroughly engrained, then applied in combat and long afterwards during my academic career. Thanks to their efforts, I earned my SSG stripes \u2014 three strips and a rocker \u2014 a little over eight months after being sworn in. And somehow, out of nearly 170 graduates, I managed to be one of eight who earned the rocker to go with the three stripes. In peacetime, attaining that rank would require years of service.<\/p>\n

Second, and most importantly, was leading troops in combat in Vietnam. I was only in Vietnam for three-and-a-half months \u2014 January 7 to April 19, 1969 \u2014 but I experienced enough combat to employ all of the NCO training and then some. Starting off Groundhog Day as a squad leader, then jumped to platoon leader by the end of the day, doing the job of a Lieutenant. The reason: Delta Company casualties, killed and wounded, were tragically high in a bloody, day-long battle.<\/p>\n

The remainder of my time in Vietnam was split about equally between platoon sergeant and platoon leader, the latter involving two different platoons.<\/p>\n

As should be expected, Follow Me is accompanied by lots of casualties in leadership positions in the infantry. Thus, the need to assign ranking NCOs remaining in the company wherever they are needed, including into officer slots when necessary. That\u2019s how I got shuffled around every couple weeks or so.<\/p>\n

In addition to Follow Me, three other leadership parameters were driven home under fire, having been introduced during the NCO training. They were: think you can; WE not<\/em> ME (selfless service); and battlefield vision.\u00a0 Their roles have been described elsewhere.<\/p>

Read more Hasan Piker, Bond villain<\/a><\/p>\n

My combat duty ended April 18th when a visiting Major tripped a booby trap behind me. Three pieces of shrapnel hit me and the one embedded 2-inches from my heart got me shipped to Okinawa the next day and out of the Army after serving 19 months. Nonetheless, the leadership principles validated in combat proved to be invaluable from then on.<\/p>\n

Without them, there\u2019s no way I would have been president of the university research foundation (16 years), vice provost for research and dean of the graduate school (9 years), and vice president for research (7 years). Warfare within the hallowed halls tends to be bloodless, but Follow Me, think you can, WE not<\/em> ME and battlefield vision are all applicable.<\/p>\n

But how can the rank of SSG before my name mean more to me today than the PhD after my name?<\/p>\n

Well, the consequences of one\u2019s actions in Vietnam, regardless of rank, could result in life or death of teammates. My PhD was never so onerous. Had I held the SSG rank in peacetime, any lasting impacts almost certainly would have been diminished.<\/p>\n

Also, I don\u2019t think I have ever done anything better in my life than I did my jobs in Vietnam. That\u2019s just my assessment, but it\u2019s what I believe. I\u2019ve mentioned to friends previously that if one is supposed to do in life what it is they\u2019re best at, staying in the Army would have made the most sense for me. Somehow, though, knowing I should have died on multiple occasions in 1969, civilian life appeared more promising.<\/p>\n

And, finally, it\u2019s unlikely that anything could match the pride instilled while serving in a combat unit where selfless service \u2014 WE not<\/em> ME \u2014 is the norm. In fact, I feel sorry for people who haven\u2019t experienced that during their lives. Being surrounded by individuals willing to die for their brothers around them is something to treasure for a lifetime. That level of brotherly love is awe-inspiring and we could use more WE not<\/em> ME in America today.<\/p>\n

Yes, SSG still outranks my PhD \u2026 by a lot!<\/p>\n

R.W. Trewyn is the author of Vietnam\u2019s War of Hate: Proud Military Veterans Vilified at Home.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

Read more Forbes editor fired over $6m payoff had threatened companies who dared hire outgoing Trump administration officials in 2021<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"ChatGPT\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Image generated by ChatGPT.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having spent over 55 years inside academe \u2014 earning Bachelor of Science (BS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees, then serving as a post-doctoral cancer researcher, faculty member, and research administrator, not retiring until almost 79 years of age \u2014 how the one-year title of Staff Sergeant (SSG) decades ago could mean more to me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,985],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign-policy","category-military"],"yoast_head":"\nSSG still outranks my PhD over a half-century later - Interstate Logistics Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=4813\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SSG still outranks my PhD over a half-century later - 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