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by Lori S. Stewart, USAICoE Command Historian
USAICS CREATES OFFICE OF RESERVE TRAINING
On December 1, 1977, Col. Eugene S. Sanford stood up the Office of Reserve Training (ORT) at the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School (USAICS), Fort Huachuca, Arizona. This new office was established to handle all issues related to the training of MI personnel in the reserve components (RC, both the U.S. Army Reserve [USAR] and Army National Guard [ARNG]).
Since the 1950s, the Intelligence School (first at Fort Holabird, Maryland, and after 1971 at Fort Huachuca) had supported reserves summer training with programs of instruction and training materials, as well as correspondence courses. In the mid-1970s, however, this support became degraded due to changes in command and budget and manpower reductions at the schoolhouse.
In 1977, Sanford was chosen to tackle problems regarding RC MI training via a new Office of Reserve Training (ORT) at USAICS. A Utah native born in 1926, Sanford received his commission through the ROTC program at Utah State University in 1950. He completed a combat tour during the Korean War and then two tours in Vietnam, which included a three-month assignment as commander of the 8th Radio Research Field Station at Phu Bai. Sanford’s other notable assignments included executive officer at Kagnew Station in Asmara, Eritrea, in 1967 and commander of the 311th Army Security Agency Battalion at Fort Wolters, Texas, from 1968−1970. In November 1977, Sanford left his position as chief of the Intelligence and Security Division at Headquarters, First Army, Fort Bragg (known as Fort Liberty since 2023), and headed to Fort Huachuca.
Appointed to head the new ORT, Sanford found he would report directly to the USAICS commanding general, Brig. Gen. Albert Stubblebine. Although the Table of Distributions and Allowances (TDA) was not approved until October 1, 1978, the ORT was authorized eleven personnel. Initially, Sanford received just seven individuals, along with Maj. Eugene Taylor, an officer on a Special Active Duty for Training tour. The office was supplemented with about ten reservists on 30-to-60-day Active Duty for Training tours but who had experience in RC training courses at the Intelligence Training Army Area Schools (ITAAS). These reservists served as instructors and course developers and were guided in their efforts by Mr. Joseph Glavey, a civilian educational specialist.
The ORT was responsible for developing, reviewing, and revising all programs of instruction and their related training materials for RC training at three ITAAS locations. Additionally, the office managed and conducted select in-residence RC training at Fort Huachuca, including for some MOS-producing courses and the RC MI Advance Course. This in-residence RC training was new to USAICS and was meant to offer more course options to reserve soldiers unable to attend the standard ITAAS summer courses. The ORT also managed the Mobilization Designee Program and the RC Counterpart Training Program, the latter in coordination with the Reserve Component Personnel and Administrative Center. Finally, the ORT advised the appropriate USAICS organizations on RC MI unit force structure and officer and enlisted personnel requirements.
During its first full year of operation, the office developed or revised ten programs of instruction, distributed more than 16 million pages of training materials to the ITAAS locations and other RC units, and provided training to 280 reserve personnel at USAICS. The office’s success, however, was tempered by tragedy when, on March 12, 1978, three of ORT’s reservists—Majors Robert Small, Frank Boggess, and Timothy Sweet—died when the civilian aircraft in which they were passengers crashed in poor weather while enroute to Fort Huachuca from Tucson.
Sanford retired from the Army in January 1980 after leading the ORT through its first two-and-a-half years. While the office changed names several times over the years, it continues today, as the Reserve Forces Office, to advise and assist the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence in all RC matters.
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| Date Taken: | 11.29.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.29.2024 12:57 |
| Story ID: | 486354 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 77 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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