Reminiscences of a Life Well Spent by an Old Redleg (Artilleryman): Book 2: Striving for Excellence, (Paperback)

Col(Ret) Gerald W. "Jerry" Sharpe covers his life from birth in November 1941 to the current day in a four volume autobiography. Book 1, entitled <em>Building a Foundation for Success</em> was published in August of 2024. In this second volume, he describes five assignments in the Army up to his promotion to LTC and command of a battalion. He concluded Book 1 with his civil schooling at the University of Oklahoma following his year in Vietnam. He begins with his three years at Fort Benning, GA where he taught on the Artillery Committee in the Infantry School. He became very active in a local Kiwanis Club and won awards at the local, state, and national level. He spent a year at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS where he developed a knack for selling advertising for the class yearbook and was an Honor Graduate. He was reassigned to the Pershing Missile Brigade in Germany, and he describes the three jobs he held, as the brigade S2, command of a service battery, and as a deputy battalion commander. He tells of the families' travel to various parts of Europe. In 1979 he was sent to Fort Bragg, NC and attended airborne training at age 38. He recounts his experiences there from jumping out of airplanes, to being promoted to lieutenant colonel, and serving as the XVIII Airborne Corps G2 operations officer and as XO and S3 of the 18^th Field Artillery Brigade. He was selected to command a direct support field artillery battalion in the 2^nd Infantry Division in Korea. He concludes this volume describing his very successful command.<p></p><p></p>Jerry will publish Book 3 of this series in 2027, entitled <em>Reaching the End of the Road. It </em>will cover his life, from commanding a recruiting battalion in Milwaukee, WI to attendance at the US Army War College, his promotion to full colonel, and his service as a deputy corps artillery commander in two corps. He will outline the reasons for his early retirement from the US Army in 1989 and his early retirement years living in Chapel Hill, NC.<p></p>

• Reminiscences of a Life Well Spent by an Old Redleg (Artilleryman): Book 2: Striving for Excellence, (Paperback)
• Author: Gerald W Sharpe
• ISBN: 9781961505605
• Format: Paperback
• Publication Date: 2026-05-12
• Page Count: 556