These are some personal notes that describe some of my memories and opinions of the organizations that I served with in an Army career that spanned nearly 30 years. If you find this site by accident through a search engine you are welcome to contact me and share your thoughts. Thanks. My e-mail address is BradenClan@ gmail.com.

I had the pleasure of serving nearly 30 years in the United States Army. This could not have have been done without the support of Bonnie and the family. My dear Bonnie, who went to be with Our Lord in 2014, calculated that we moved nearly 25 times during the course of my career. Some moves were a short distance, as in the same community; some moves were overseas. Whether around the block or around the world, there is no such thing as an easy move.

During my service I met some great people. Many I still keep in contact with. I value these relationships and regret the ones that somehow dropped over the years. If our paths have crossed, send me a note; I'd love to hear from you.

Why this Web page? Good question. In 1993 my parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary. At that time my father was 75 and I took him aside. I had an early model of a videa camera, one about the size of a small suitcase that rested on a shoulder while being used. Dad had served in World War II in the European Theater as an Ordnance (Ammunition) Officer, and he ran or help run ammunition dumps in Luxembourg and Belgium. I put the camera up on my shoulder and asked him to tell me about his World War II experiences. Dad paused, and finally said, "I don’t remember." Wow. I had failed earlier to ask him about his military service in World War II and now all of that was gone. As for me, my children and grandchildren have not asked me much about my service in Vietnam, and I understand completely. They are involved deeply with their families, just like I was involved deeply with my family. But there may be a day when they ask, and that may be a day when either I do not remember or I am gone, so I decided to leave this record of my memories of all my military assignments.

~ Jay

ROTC Reserve Officer Training Corps Purdue University 1962-1966	EOBC Student, Engineer Officer Basic Course Fort Belvoir, Virginia 1967	339 Engr Bn (Const) Platoon Leader Fort Lewis, Washington 1967-1968
169 Engr Bn (Const) Platoon Leader Vietnam 1968-1969	Purdue Student Purdue University 1969-1971	USA Engr School Instructor Fort Belvoir, Virginia 1971-1973
370 Engr Co (CS) Company Commander Kaiserslautern, Germany 1973-1975	DCSENGR, HQ USAREUR Engineer Staff Officer Heidelberg, Germany 1975-1976	317 Engr Bn (Combat) S-3 Operations Officer Eschborn, Germany 1976-1978
CGSC Student Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 1978-1979	TRADOC Office of the Inspector General Fort Monroe, Virginia 1979-1981	20 Engr Bn (Combat) Battalion Commander Fort Campbell, Kentucky 1981-1984
US Army War College Student Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania 1984-1985	7 Engr Bde Deputy Brigade Commander Ludwigsburg, Germany 1985-1986	130 Engr Bde Brigade Commander Hanau, Germany 1986-1988
USSOCCENT Deputy for Exercises MacDill AFB, Tampa 1988-1989	USCENTCOM Engineer MacDill AFB, Tampa 1989-1992	USATSC Commander Fort Eustis, Virginia 1992-1996
The CSM Creed A humorous look at a very important position	Army Stories A few Army stories based on nearly 30 years of service	Notes to Steve 34 thoughts and suggestions for new lieutenants
Of Tillman and the Flag "Letter to the Editor" of the Tampa Tribune	PeaceKeeping 101 Jay's Rules: Peacekeeping Our Way	Humor - Sources Unknown What makes these funny is the truth in them
Can You Hear the Pin Drop? America and the World Not sure if these are true, but hope so	Army Voice Mail What You Should Hear When You Call for the Army	It's the Soldier Some thoughts on the price paid and the freedoms earned by soldiers
Army Combat Engineers Who are Combat Engineers? See their contributions through the ages	The Engineer Song Enjoy the song sung by engineers of many nations	Training Commanders The importance of Combat Engineers to demonstrate their capabilities
Life After the Army   What happened to the Bradens after Jay retired from the Army? The answer is that he worked for five years for Florida State University and earned his Doctorate of Education while there and then he worked for Stetson University at its Celebration campus for twelve years. In each case his focus was on developing and delivering continuing education and professional development courses. Working for FSU Working for Stetson

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