Pawns of Power

With the threat of dying in the steaming jungles of Vietnam and mandatory service no longer an issue, few looked at the military as a career opportunity with free job training. America's youth avoided the military like the plague, creating a nightmare for Recruiters trying to fill quotas. Working with judges, first time offenders busted for possession of a single seed; a glass pipe; rolling papers in an empty baggie having a pungent odor; were given the choice, jail or Army. Filling the ranks with "street sweepings~aka~cannon fodder" for the psychological sabre rattling in Western Germany, the Pentagon was unprepared for what followed. Two battalions of soldiers on a single base, in control of nuclear weapons during the day, became involved in the drug trade at night to eventually have the largest drug network in Germany. The unspoken side of the military in an era when everyone was involved in something illeagal, from Colonels to Captains; Sargent Majors to Privates; even to Congressmen. Money, power, the desire to get stoned, whatever; made everyone a pawn. And pawns were expendable. A compelling story based on real events involving the author's service.