My Service Stories (Part 2) – Stinger School

This is a continuation of my Service Stories series. If you haven’t read the first post in the series, you can read it here. While my stories here are written for my daughters and their kids, maybe it will help others who are looking for information on the Marine Corps.

Welcome to El Paso and Fort Bliss

After boot camp, my next stop was USMC Redeye/Stinger Air Defense School at Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX, an Army base where Marines trained to identify and destroy enemy aircraft using a Redeye/Stinger missile. Because the missiles were expensive, the Marines didn’t have their own training facility and used the barracks and training areas of the Army. Our school included not just Marines but also Navy gunners and SEALs. Although this was not my first choice, I accepted it for the good of the Corps and aimed to make the best of it. I learned that the top graduate got to shoot a live Stinger, choose their duty station, and earn a meritorious rank. I made that my goal.

School mainly involved memorizing and recognizing silhouettes of different aircraft from the US, NATO, or Soviet forces that can appear in battles. We practiced identifying these silhouettes from various angles using large decks of flashcards. During exams, we had just 3 seconds to identify an aircraft after seeing its silhouette. We also trained in a large dome with a 3D video game called the Moving Target Simulator (MTS), where aircraft were projected all around, and we used simulator missiles to track and engage them. It felt quite realistic for the late-80s technology. We had to determine if the aircraft were friend or foe and, if they were foes, engage them before they could launch their weapons.

All this was in preparation for our actual job which was to identify enemy aircraft that were closing in to attack whatever we were guarding. We were the last line of air defense. We were mobile and frequently attached to infantry or artillery companies. Our positions were frequently forward of the forward edge of the battle area (FEBA) so we could engage the aircraft before they got close the other troops. On-board ships, we stood watch on the tops of the ships watching for aircraft that might target the ship. We deployed as a team of two; gunner and assistant-gunner. One person engaged the enemy aircraft and fired the weapon while the other identified the aircraft and communicated with higher command for engagement authority and instructions.

I excelled in that school. I was selected as the class leader and eventually graduated top in my class. We went out to White Sands Missile Range and I got to shoot a large BAT (ballistic aerial target) that was about 3-5 kilometers out traveling at about 550 miles an hour. Stingers are shoulder-launched-anti-aircraft missiles. They have a seeker-head that locks onto the heat and infra-red signature of an aircraft. They reach mach-2 in 3-5 seconds. It was one of the coolest experiences I had as a Marine.

Because I graduated top in the class, I was able to request a duty station transfer. I chose Okinawa, Japan. One of the reasons I wanted to join the Marines was to see the world. This was my first step. Additionally, I picked up Lance Corporal (E-3). In less than a year, I had been promoted twice!

Next stop – Okinawa, Japan.

Series Navigation

<< My Service Stories (Part 1)My Service Stories: Okinawa – Part 1 >>