We have been following Marland Burckhardt, a Russell High School graduate who married his Russell sweetheart during college and began a career as an Army officer focused on Military Intelligence and Special Forces operations. He deployed to Vietnam in January 1970 where he provided intelligence support to the 5th Special Forces Group. Upon his return, he and Barb moved to Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

“We drove into Fort Huachuca in February of 1971. Before you got to Huachuca there was a little town called Huachuca City. (Marland chuckled) It was nothing but dilapidated trailer houses. When we drove down that road, Barbara started crying. She thought that was where we were going to live. When you first got to Fort Huachuca it looked pretty desolate, but we enjoyed our time there.”

The Burckhardts moved into government quarters on post and Marland explained his assignments while at Fort Huachuca.

“When I arrived I was supervising contractors renovating buildings for the in-coming Intelligence School. I moved from that to the Interrogation Committee where we taught interrogation. From there I commanded the Student Company for a year. When I finished my company command, I was in the 37-week Advanced Course.”

The Burckhardts flourished at Fort Huachuca.

“We made a lot of friends, people going through some of the same experiences and had children about the same age. Our son, Montz, was born at Fort Huachuca, so that was a big event. Once you got used to the weather, it was quite nice. It got warm, but was dry. Then you’d get the rainy season where everything greened up. Fort Huachuca sat at the foot of the Huachuca Mountains and we’d have snow on the mountains in the winter.”

But Fort Huachuca also included turmoil for many officers attending the Military Intelligence Advanced Course.

“When we came out of Vietnam they downsized the Army. A lot of people got RIF’d. (Reduction in Force) Most had Reserve commissions. I had a Regular Army commission, so that helped me. I knew a lot of people who got RIF’d. A notice would come out and a lot of people in the Advanced Course were on it. We’d have these RIF parties at the club. It was scary times. You didn’t know if you were going to have a career.”

Marland’s reassignment orders sent the Burckhardt’s to Fort Bragg, North Carolina in the summer of 1974. Their daughter, Megan, was five and their son, Montz, was just over a year and walking. They bought a small home off-post near Fayetteville. Marland’s initial assignment was unusual.

“The follow-on assignment unit was called Forces Command Intelligence Center. My duties were as an analyst and producer of intelligence documents based on information from the field. For instance, one of the things we did was work with embassies to build maps for evacuation plans. We did other things, too. There was Cold War targeting and monitoring that based on new information. I spent about a year and half there.”

Marland’s reassignment did not require another move, but introduced new intensity to his work.

“I went to the 82nd, Airborne Division, where I was the G-2 Operations Officer. I was there for a year-and-a-half. The 82nd is Airborne, so we were regularly jumping out of airplanes. It is the rapid reaction force, the first ones to go if there is a hot spot. So, a portion of the division was always on alert. That meant they had to be ready to fly with 18 hours’ notice.”

He explained the reality of being the nation’s rapid reaction force.

“You had a battalion locked down, ready to go. They had their ammunition and everything they’d need. As soon as the planes came in, they would start to go. Then there was a ready brigade, to which that battalion belonged. The brigade would follow-on as that first battalion left. Depending on the need, the rest of the division would follow as airlift was available.”

Marland’s section supported the division’s mission with operations intelligence and realistic training scenarios for the division’s units.

“G-2 is the Intelligence section of the division. Our job was to have the intel necessary to support operations. Because the 82nd mission was world-wide, we had to keep up on events world-wide. You were always looking to see if something was bubbling up. Besides that, you were always practicing. You’d get a midnight alert. That generally involved an exercise where you’d load in the airplanes, jump on a particular location, have a training mission, and then return to Fort Bragg.”

He respected the G-2 team at the 82nd Airborne, nearly all of whom were Vietnam vets, and enjoyed working with them. Marland reflected on how he grew during this assignment.

“You worked on a General’s staff, so you learned to coordinate with the rest of the staff team. You learned to work with Generals and Colonels. It was a lot of OJT on (training) exercises and readiness. You learned what the Division command group wanted from you as an Intelligence Officer when we’d deploy”

This assignment limited his family time.

“It didn’t take Barbara long to figure out what was going on. She didn’t work (outside the home), so she was with the children. In retrospect, I wish I’d have spent more time with the family, but we worked full weeks and regularly on Saturday’s. You think about that years later.”

Marland’s follow-on assignment to the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas gave him and his family respite from the intensity of serving with the 82nd Airborne Division.

©2025 William D. Palmer.