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AWARD

 

Candidate Donald A. Barber, Class 14-66

-  A Brief Bio, As Of December 2009  -

Donald A. Barber, Class 14-66I graduated with Class 14-66 in July of 1967. After training in New Jersey, I arrived in Viet Nam, assigned to the 1st Cav. Div. However my orders were changed and I reported to the 459th Sig. Bn. at Nha Trang. I became OIC of the battalion ComCtr in early 1968. Later I was reassigned to Co. B as a platoon leader. 

After my tour, I asked for and received orders to STRACOM, Alaska, as I had been in Alaska prior to my OCS acceptance. My first command was the 272nd Sig. Co. (CA) at Ft Wainwright. I also served as the battalion S3 and my last command was CO of the Fixed Signal Company. 

While stationed in Alaska, I applied for a branch transfer to Military Intelligence as I was in the Army Security Agency prior to OCS. I received the transfer, but my orders sent me to the career course at Ft Holabird, Md. 

Upon graduation from the career course in mid 1970, I was assigned to the 313th ASA Bn. at Ft Bragg, NC. This assignment was totally unexpected as I had been back from Viet Nam for 3 years and was expecting my second tour. While with the battalion, I was the Training Officer, Operations Officer and Headquarters Company Commander. In September of 1973, I was RIF'ed. 

As a civilian I went to work for Deering Millikan textiles, as a shift supervisor. After a couple of years, I got into nuclear construction as a pipefitter. I helped build nuclear plants in Kansas, North Carolina and Texas from the early 80's to mid the 90's. In 1994, I started traveling about the country working on nuclear refueling outages. Normally this work was 6 to 10 weeks of 12 hour days, 6 or 7 days a week. 

After 9/11, I was hired as a recruiter with a major company in the nuclear outage business. My job was to find qualified craftsmen who could be cleared via background checks to work on nuclear sites during refueling outages. 

In 2004, I decided that sitting behind a desk for the rest of my working career was not what I wanted, so I took the required OSHA training to become a qualified (personal) safety coordinator. Since that time, I have worked for several company's at various nuclear locations throughout the eastern part of the US. 

This past October I retired, but I intend to keep doing the outage work. Nuclear refueling outages occur in the spring and/or fall, so I can schedule my working time. I get plenty of travel, meet old friends, and get to see the sights of this country. This type of work allows me to have time off (summers/winters) and enjoy my retirement. 

After being RIF'ed, I remained in the active reserves until Sep 1988. And I received the "subject to recall" letter, when the Gulf War was about to start. Thank God that war turned out better than ours did.... 

I have lived in Florida since 1999. I have a daughter and grand daughter nearby, so I can think of no better place to call home. 

All of my military experiences have made me what I am today.  I would do it all over again...

Donald A. Barber, Class 14-66Donald A. Barber, Class 14-66Donald A. Barber, Class 14-66

Don Barber, Class 14-66 Don Barber, OCS Class 14-66

Click any picture above to see full size image. 

This page originally posted 4 December, 2009, updated 24 May 2010 


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