1
50
1
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/ecdae20bf5062ecd0c3c8868c5dce225.pdf
58f1db7ff2d742b01a96adfad47a8b41
PDF Text
Text
Transcript of Oral History Interview with MSG Chalk Wetmore.
October 12, 2011.
Boone, NC
EF: Evan Freemyer
CW: Master Sergeant Chalk Wetmore
EF: It is October 12, 2011. We are in Boone, NC, on the campus of Appalachian State
University. I am interviewing Mast Sergeant Chalk Wetmore Senior Military Science Instructor
and Battalion Sergeant Major of the Mountaineer Battalion Appalachian State University. I am
Evan Freemyer cadet and student in US Military History class at Appalachian State University,
and we will begin the oral history now.
EF: First off can we begin with when you were born and where you grew up?
CW: Born in Valdese, North Carolina, August 17, 1972. I spent most of my childhood living in
Mountain Creek attending Burke County schools graduating East Burke High School in 1990.
EF: And when did you join the Army and why did you decide to join the army.
CW: My senior year of high school, April of 1990. I did delayed entry split op. with the US
Army Reserves as a combat engineer. And I joined the Army because I wanted to serve
something higher than just a paycheck, I wanted my job and my life to have meaning and with
the influence of comic books and knights of the round table stories and Conan the military
seemed the place that still had that code of conduct, a sense of duty, a sense of honor.
EF: And was there military family, like history of military in the family?
CW: My grandfathers both served, but otherwise no.
EF: What was Basic Training and AIT like for you?
CW: It was fun, I enjoyed the physical challenge, I enjoyed the camaraderie, and I enjoyed just
the suck of it, the grit and the sweat.
EF: And where did you do your training?
CW: Ft. Leonard Wood Missouri.
EF: And what was your, well I guess you said you went to in-between this, how did that effect
kind of your college life?
CW: Yeah, I attend Campbell University while I was in the reserves for three years or two years.
I wasn’t focused on college I was focused on being a soldier. The only class I focused on was
ROTC, I wasn’t disciplined enough, I focused on the things I enjoyed and ignored the things I
�didn’t. Which cost me, at least it cost my parents, financially, but I wasn’t focused or ready for
college.
EF: So when you decided to go active Army what kind of support did you have at home, I guess
your parents supported you in that decision?
CW: I was married at the time; I got married while I was in school. They did support me in the
decision but the biggest thing I needed became no longer about the duty and serving I needed the
paycheck, so.
EF: And where was your first duty assignment?
CW: Ft. Carson Colorado in the 299th Engineer Battalion part of the 4th Infantry Division.
EF: At that time what was your ambition for your Army career?
CW: I determined in the 6th grade I was going to be in the Army, in the 9th grade I was going to
be at least a Sergeant First Class in the Special Forces, and by my junior year of high school I
determined I was going to have the SMI, Senior Military Instructor position at Appalachian State
University. Those views didn’t change and now, I am, I did the E-7 Special Forces in under 10
years and I am currently the SMI at Appalachian State University.
EF: How did you go about accomplishing those goals?
CW: First off identify where you want to get to and what it takes to qualify for that. As the
simple answer it really came down to just doing focusing on not just the evaluation but focusing
on the mission focusing on the job do the best you can. That enabled me to get the assignments
that I wanted to include this one because of a good reputation, work ethic.
EF: So when was the first time you were deployed?
CW: To a combat zone or just anywhere?
EF: I guess both.
CW: First time I deployed anywhere overseas would be in 2000 I went to Thailand for the first
time with the 1st Special Forces group. And combat would have been in fall of ’04 with 1st
group I went to Afghanistan.
EF: How many times since those instances have you been deployed? Obviously as Special
Forces you probably have a long list.
CW: I guess about 16 - 17 times.
EF: Now you said you’re with Special Forces when did you decide or when in your career did
you put for Special Forces? How was that a change from your other active duty lifestyle?
�CW: I had made the decision while I was still down at Ft. Benning Georgia as an E5, I had been
in about four years. I had always wanted to be SF but because I was married it was not a single
decision, my wife had to agree. I was so miserable with the current assignment that’s when she
agreed then at Ft. Brag I was in the 37th Engineer Battalion Combat Airborne and that’s when
the final put in the packet went in and that was in ‘97or ’98 something like that when I went to
selection. As far as what was the second part of the question?
EF: How has that been different from your other active duty?
CW: The level of individual responsibility is much higher. You’re surrounded by professionals
even though in the Army there are professionals everywhere the metrics wise when you look at
IQ, test scores, PT scores are all high in SF. And so that was what drew me to it, the family
support is much better as well. The trips usually have meaning, a lot more meaning to it, at least
I think all the trips have meaning for everybody it’s just I was more aware and had more
influence into how we conducted our business down range, how we conducted our training on a
day to day basis. The amount of influence I had in that was much more than we had in
conventional units. And the missions are not just your typical wartime mission kick in the door
shoot someone in the face kind of stuff. It’s more of a, you know I’ve built school, medical
treatment, pulled teeth in Mongolia, teaching working with the border police in Thailand, or
developing a recondo unit in Nepal, or dealing with stuff in Cambodia, Kurdistan, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, wherever it seems to have more relevance, whether that’s true or not you would have to
ask someone else. It seemed to me that we had a lot more relevance and impact on how we
implemented our foreign policy.
EF: Kind of going off that, what can you tell me about the different times that you’ve that you
have deployed some of the different things you have experienced in those situations.
CW: The bulk of the time has been in the role as teacher, with different skill sets, not teaching
English, but teaching small unit tactics, marksmanship, first aide, staff organization, planning is
the bulk of it. And the second part?
EF: Just what can you tell me about your different deployments and...
CW: The coolest part is living and working with the people your training in the different culture.
I was inducted as a member of a tribe and lived out in the jungle for a while in a place and then
eating their food, immersing yourself in their culture. Whether that’s dealing with the different
tribal conflicts in Afghanistan or the social inequity that some tribes have in Thailand and
Cambodia or seeing the perspective of the insurgency going on in Nepal from the viewpoint of a
Nepalese soldier.
That interest me and I really enjoyed that part, those type missions and how they train, how they
live, what they eat, what they wear that’s always been the big thing, the big take back from those
trips whether we’re working for the DEA or some other government agency.
�EF: Has there ever been a time that you’ve feared you weren’t going to make it home and how
have you overcome those situations.
CW: Faith is how you overcome, yes lots of times; you know the big concern was not with me
coming home just because before you leave you have to make sure everything is straight that
way you don’t have to worry about it. My biggest concern was with my soldiers not coming
home. As far as every time I’ve been in a situation where it’s pretty likely that I was going to be
dead or die it never really affected me a whole lot, a lot of that is based on my faith.
I know, I am a Christian, I know what is going to happen when I die, I understand the procedures
that are involved with that and the accountability I’ll have to have, and I accept it. And the big
concern is with, with your soldiers. Have you trained them hard enough? Are you giving them
correct guidance? Are you making the right call at the time? Now whenever it’s actually in the
midst of combat you’re not thinking through, you’re concerned with that, but that’s not what’s in
the forefront, you focus on the mission, what’s going on at the time. Because it’s too late to
worry about it then, you worry about it ahead of time and you worry about it afterwards, but
when you’re in those situations you’re just focused on what’s going on.
EF: And talking about the current conflict that we’re in...
CW: Which one?
EF: In the Middle East.
CW: Okay, which one?
EF: (laughs) I guess the one that’s at the forefront, or two, the ones that are at the forefront of the
civilian world’s mind I guess, would be like Iraq and Afghanistan. How do you see the
military’s, or how, from your perspective how are the military operations there going and kind of
what can you tell us about what is going on over there?
CW: Okay. I think the military has fairly well identified that this is a long-term fight. As far as
the conflicts in relation to the legitimacy of the government of Iraq or the Islamic Republic of
Afghanistan it’s in a transition mode between being a military operation and being a state
department operation. There is always going to be some push, pull there as you have differing
viewpoints, but from a military stand point I think they have conceptually a good plan. But that
really depends on how that is facilitated by the government, our government, as well as the
governments of the host countries. And then if we’re able to follow through then great; however,
that is dependent upon Commander in Chief and a lot of that comes down to the will of the
people.
Their view points as expressed in the vote, as expressed by their chosen representatives in
Congress, to whether we follow through with the long term plan or not. As far as the War on
Terrorism I think we’ve been very successful, worldwide terrorism has gone down by 98% since
we’ve invaded Afghanistan and Iraq which shows a direct correlation between those two events
�and when those terrorist activities fell off. So as far as keeping the fight over there I think we’ve
been very effective denying them safe haven and disrupting their command and control system.
EF: So I guess, I’m sure you’ve changed since the years when you first enlisted so if you could,
like if you could see your 18 year old self who just enlisted in the Army, what are some of the
changes you would notice right off the bat and what’s some advice you give somebody who is
think about enlisting or just enlisted? How has the army shaped your worldview I guess?
CW: Well, a couple, as far as personal changes patience, I’m much more patient now.
Everything had to happen right then or I would get upset. Self-discipline has greatly increased,
self-accountability has greatly increased, and part of that is the burden of leadership but a lot of it
is due to maturity, holding myself accountable for what I do or fail to do. I realize now that thick
skin as far as, should only apply outwardly, we should be thin skinned when it comes to our job,
our performance and the example we set.
I understand now much better that it’s not just me, everything I do represents something bigger,
represents my family, my faith, my job, the US Army. Part of that came from being the only
American in an area during my time. That, being accountable to others, holding myself
accountable is one of the big changes. As far as how, the world is much smaller now for me, I
keep a much broader view. The number one thing that’s changed, the biggest thing that’s
changed is I don’t sweat the small stuff anymore.
Those little things that get, tend to get people all worked up, I appreciate simple things. Being
able to lay down in my own bed, having a warm meal, not having people try to kill you (laughs).
So if the weather is a little bad or I get a flat tire I don’t get near as upset anymore cause those
are minor things, the important things are God, family, and country and anything else is an
enhancement to that.
EF: I guess as part of our, you know we’re talking about military history, we talk a lot about
battles and historical battles, can you, I guess as much as you can, can you talk to me about some
of the combat situations that you’ve been in? Would there be too much sensor...?
CW: No, I think one of the big, everybody always asks about the combat piece and it seems to
ignore a lot of the, the majority of your time is not spent in combat; you’re in a combat area. I’ve
probably been exposed more than most in the actual; you know, kill or be killed side of it. So on
that, I don’t know, it seems it’s just another mission that bad things happened. It’s a, you just see
some horrible stuff that you can’t see; you can’t unsmell like people burning, it’s just a smell
unlike anything else. But that’s, the bulk of the time though like we’re living with the tribes to
try and get them to take control of their own lives.
Seeing, I was thankful once for saving a soldier, he had his wife make me something to give to
me and I’ve had that happen several times, and that’s the kind of stuff you really, really means
something cause once you get out there as Special Forces you work with indigenous personnel.
So it’s not necessarily working with US soldiers all the time and developing that trust, that
brotherhood, that camaraderie means a lot and a lot of that is tempered by, by combat.
�Everybody seems to react to it a little different, some people get amped up like they’re going to
power life or get in a boxing ring or something like that. Fortunately most the time I’ve seen it
been on the planning side, we intended to go in there and do something, but there were many
times where you know it just started happening around you. Me personally I tend to get real,
I’ve been told, I’m real calm. Whatever it is seems like everything moves real slow, I'm able to
communicate what I need done and maintain the big picture; then afterwards is kind of when you
get the jumps from the adrenaline.
And, I, I’m not the best guy to ask on that, I’ve had the honor of serving with heroes who do
amazing things on the battlefield, some of them will never come home. And those are the kind
of people you should probably ask those kind of questions. For me it was do the mission, I just
happened to be with some outstanding soldiers and some American heroes and that’s why I’m
here. That’s combat, being able to serve with those and doing my best to do my part.
EF: Thank you for sharing that. I guess the last kind of final, I’ll try to be on a lighter note, what
has been the most fun thing you’ve done in the Army or your favorite thing you’ve done in the
Army? Then what has been your most rewarding thing you’ve done in the Army?
CW: The training is the most fun, the jumping out of airplanes, the swimming in from over the
horizon, finning in, the skiing the snowmobiling, the four-wheeling, the driving schools, the
shooting, the blowing stuff up that’s all fun stuff. Training with the team down range in different
countries, Nepal, had a blast there, except for the chow, chow sucked. And then the most
rewarding is, we set up or we were approached by some of the elders in Chamkani, Afghanistan,
they wanted to set up a school for girls.
And the bulk of the people supported it; however, it was strongly opposed by the Taliban. We
didn’t dictate it or delegate it or any of those things or even suggest it was coming up for them,
but we did decide to aide them, so we pulled, we got it to where the locals agreed to let the girls
stay in school, they weren’t allowed to have a building, but they were allowed to have a tent.
And once they hit twelve they could no longer attend because then they would be the age of
marrying, they would be married soon thereafter. But, during that brief time they were allowed
to be educated so we pulled security cause they threatened to kill all of the girls as well as the
families of the men who sent the girls there. So enabling that school to get going was one of the
most rewarding.
EF: Well thank you for your time and consent to this interview, I do appreciate it.
CW: Ride on.
�
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/8af5bb49a351a4eb3045a862318a74a4.mp3
fd892772f424b4ccd37bec95267ee362
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Appalachian State University American Military History Course Veterans Oral History Project
Description
An account of the resource
Each semester, the students of the American Military History Course at Appalachian State University conduct interviews with military veterans and record their military experiences in order to create an archive of oral history interviews that are publicly accessible to researchers. The oral histories are permanently available in the Appalachian State University Special Collections. The project is supervised by Dr. Judkin Browning, Associate Professor of History at Appalachian State University and all interviews are transcribed by the student interviewers.
Copyright Notice:
Copyright for the Veterans Oral History Project’s audio and transcripts is held by Appalachian State University. These materials are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Veterans Oral History Project, University Archives and Records, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC).
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Freemyer, Evan
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
0:12:40
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound.
6 pages
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Chalk Wetmore, 12 October 2011
Subject
The topic of the resource
Veterans
Wetmore, Chalk
United States
Interviews
Description
An account of the resource
Chalk Wetmore, Master Sergeant, U.S. Army, was born on August 17, 1972. In this interview, Chalk Wetmore says that his reasons for joining the military were because he wanted his job and life to have meaning. He goes on to discuss his experience at basic training as well as his experience in active duty. His deployments overseas include time in Cambodia, Afghanistan, Thailand, and other areas as well. Wetmore also gives his take on the War in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
10/12/11
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright for the Veterans Oral History Project's audio and transcripts is held by Appalachian State University. These materials are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Veterans Oral History Project, Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC).
Language
A language of the resource
English
Afghanistan
Chalk Westmore
Evan Freemyer
US Army
War in Afghanistan
War in Iraq