{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/qr4nk3864n/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["David Ifflander Interviewed by Justin Kline"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/038/original/university-libraries-logo-2x.png?1711560609","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["Arizona Veterans Project, MS 835"]}},{"label":{"en":["Relation"]},"value":{"en":["Arizona Veterans Project (is part of)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Ifflander, David (Interviewee)","Kline, Justin (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2025-05-02 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["Arizona--Tucson (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eHis interview covers a synopsis of 28 years of David Ifflander's service history.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":[".MP4"]}},{"label":{"en":["Publisher"]},"value":{"en":["University of Arizona Libraries"]}},{"label":{"en":["Identifier"]},"value":{"en":["MS835.049 (uid)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Keyword"]},"value":{"en":["Branch of Service - Army","Highest Rank - Col"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Oral Histories"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eHis interview covers a synopsis of 28 years of David Ifflander's service history.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"provider":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["University of Arizona Libraries"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["University of Arizona Libraries"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/038/original/university-libraries-logo-2x.png?1711560609","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/282/754/small/azu_ms835-049_a.MP4_1752516964.jpg?1752516968","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - azu_ms835-049_a.MP4"]},"duration":1200.06553,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/282/754/small/azu_ms835-049_a.MP4_1752516964.jpg?1752516968","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-arizona.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/282/754/original/azu_ms835-049_a.MP4?1752516959","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":1200.06553,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: It. So if you just want to state your name for the camera, for me Sure. I'm","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754#t=0.0,5.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: David flander. I was a currently United States Army graduate from the Army ROTC program at the University of Arizona. Go Cats graduated in December, 76 and so I ended up being here for 1977 I actually came on active duty in January of 1977","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754#t=6.0,26.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 3: okay, what motivated you to join the Army ROTC program?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754#t=27.0,30.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: So it's kind of an interesting story. My father was a retired Army signal officer, so he retired from Fauci Arizona, my family moved up here to Tucson in my senior year. I wasn't very happy about that, so I didn't really want anything to do with the army. Frankly, I've been to three different high schools because my dad moved around a couple times in the service, and so I wasn't real pleased that I had to move from buena High School. Man, I've been in two years Tucson to go to school for a year. So I'll be honest, army was the furthest thing from my mind. So when I graduated and got to go to the University of Arizona, I wanted to go into law enforcement, and specifically, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms. I had a real interest in helping with border security before it became a thing, and stopping the trafficking of Alcohol and Tobacco and Firearms across the border. So I'm studying law enforcement University of Arizona, and in my second year, there was an issue with some instructors that apparently did some things that were inappropriate and without without getting into specifics, so the law enforcement program kind of fell out of me, so I had to do something else. So it was interesting, because I was getting ready to pick junior, junior level courses, and I had to pick a different minor. So I ended up minoring in sociology. Changing over to public administration was really a hassle. Well, unbeknownst to me, my father goes down and talks to the SART Major of the Army ROTC program, Sergeant Major Roger Anderson. I'll never forget him. He was like the ultimate poster child of a SART major, huge guy, muscular, big and my dad says, hey, you know, you seem to be kind of disgruntled with school. So once you go, once you go talk to Sergeant Major. Okay, so I go down there, and we were in Old Main at the time, in the basement of Old Main, and I walked in the door, and this guy comes out, huge. Guy puts his big arm around me in the office. Let me tell you about the military. I'm like, Okay, well, after about an hour of working with this guy, all of a sudden, I have signed a two year contract, and I'm going to to Fort Knox, Kentucky for for summer school, for summer camp in about a month. So they quickly got me all the shots that I needed to do and everything I needed to go to summer camp. So they had two different summer camps. This was the basic summer camp for the two year program. So that summer camp was designed to make up for your first two years, two years. But I was pretty familiar with the military anyway, so it wasn't, it wasn't really hard. It was called basic training. But, you know, it was basic training for people who are going to be officers in the army. So it was kind of like a, kind of like a soft sell. So I was at Fort Knox, Kentucky, which is definitely hot, humid in the middle of July, and that's kind of the start of my whole journey. That's kind of how I ended up in the Army ROTC program. Okay, that's cool. What do you think","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754#t=31.0,227.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 3: is your biggest experience from being in the ROTC program that allowed you to succeed further on down your career as an officer?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754#t=228.0,238.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: I think for me, it was the non commissioned officers. Always remember the SAR major and NCOs that helped us to the program. They're always there for us, guided us, you know, they helped us with our uniforms, you know, just simple things like, okay, the branch goes below and US stadium goes above, and just just doing the things that we needed to do to be successful. Because for them, I think it was really a pride issue in many ways, because they we were their cadets. You know, that's my cadet, and I felt that way with the NCOs. I felt like these guys are looking out for my best interest. And one of the recurring themes in the whole program there was, go find a platoon sergeant. Go find the first sergeant. Go find the sergeant major in their first unit to get there and just soak them for all the information, because it was so critical that you understood them, because they can make. Break yet the army still calls them the backbone, whether it's an Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine force. That was the biggest thing that he made a big difference with me. Okay,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754#t=239.0,313.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 3: so as you were going through the program, what did you originally want to branch, as when you were in the ROTC program, and what did you end up getting at the","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754#t=314.0,322.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: end? Yeah, so kind of an interesting story. My my first year at the University of Arizona, I partied a lot, so I ended up on academic probation, and so I was, I was working hard just to get my grades up to graduate, so I knew I wasn't going to be a distinguished military graduate. I knew that wasn't going to happen. I was happy to graduate. I wanted to be in the military police, because law enforcement was kind of where I was going. So I selected, I think it was military police, Signal Corps, infantry and Jill artillery. Was my last choice. Once, when all the branches came out, there was a dirt artillery officers in my year group. So anybody that that wasn't a DMG was going artillery. So most of the guys that graduated with me in December were artillery guys, and that's where I ended up in the field artillery.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754#t=323.0,375.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 3: So you want to explain to me, like, what was like the political climate during your commissioning. Was there any wars going on, any sort of foreign engagements? Were they preparing you guys for for that kind of level of training?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754#t=376.0,390.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: Yeah. So the biggest thing for us, we were coming off Vietnam. My father had gone to Vietnam twice. I witnessed something that was the ugliness of the American public to Vietnam. So when I was a freshman in high school, my dad came back to Vietnam the first time, and when he was coming off the plane, he was in uniform coming back from Vietnam, and people were booing him and spitting at him. So, I mean, I was so angry that I couldn't even sit straight. And that environment was almost anti military at the time, when I was in school, when I was going to the University of Arizona, from I started in step three, essentially it was kind of anti military. We were not allowed to wear uniforms on campus, because they were concerned about us getting beat up and different things happening to us. So we went into Old Main and it was really kind of funny, because we had this small room where we all had to go change. Ultimately, it's goat rope in the small room with everybody changing out from their sodium clothes into the uniform. And it got to be a real comedy of sorts. But that was the plot that at the time, you just did not walk around campus. I didn't feel embarrassed. I had done it anyway, but cadre said we're not doing it changing. Change there. So it was not a favorable occupation to have.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754#t=391.0,478.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 3: So graduated university. At this point, you've received your first branch. Did you go active duty? Did you want to do National Guard reserves? What did you end up doing? Where did you where did they end up sending you? What was your first unit?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754#t=479.0,495.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: So my branch field artillery, I knew I was going to go to Fort Sill. So I did a little research on Fort Sill, on what was like. I went there in January. So Fort Sill, Oklahoma. January is not the best time of year to go to Fort Sill, because it's pretty cold and it's always windy, and the wind always blows in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. So I went there for my basic officer training course. I spent, I guess we finished. I think it was six or seven months long, maybe. And my first studio assignment was overseas in Germany. I wanted to go to Germany, so I went to neuelm, Germany, which is Southern Germany, below Stuttgart, and I was in a field artillery unit. There was second and third and third field artillery. My very first unit went over there, reported in, and I actually reported to the first sergeant. Because I, you know, I was a dumb lieutenant, you know, I walked in the door and reported to my first sergeant. His name is Robert marrello. I never forget the guy. He said. He said, Sir, you don't report to the first sergeant. Sit your ass, ass. So I sat down next to his desk, as the commander wasn't bad. It was a firing battery I was going into, and he said, let me talk to you about the unit. And really guided me and I and every time I had a question, I went to him. I became the guy that was running the supply room. So everybody has an additional duty. So I was a field artillery and fire Ford observer. So back then, the concept of fire support really hadn't developed. So I was a Ford observer, and we had three Ford observers. We had a battery, we had an assistant executive officer who was the Fire Direction officer in the battery, and then we had an executive officer and a battery commander who. US, there were, was a, wasn't really any platoon sergeants. You had a chief firing battery first sergeant. You have a supply sergeant, Sergeant. And so it was a little different structure of that and we, and we evolved into the current fire support concept that's out there today. It was different. But the always thing, the thing that always stuck in the back of my head was pay attention to my NCOs. Pay attention to what Unfortunately, my supply sergeant had issues. He was trying to get booted out of the army on a mental section 88 or whatever it was called out. So he was always doing goofy things. So I spent a lot of time in the first Sergeant's office trying to office trying to figure out what to do. So he guided me through the process of helping this guy get kicked out of the Army, because I, you know, he was a nice guy, but he wasn't very effective, so I ended up doing a whole lot of work in the supply room that that an officer wouldn't normally do, because I wanted it to be good. I didn't want it to fail during inspections, we spent a lot of time in the field. So with us, our infantry unit, we supported, was north of us, just outside of Stuttgart. So every time we did something, we went to the field with them, with the infantry unit, and then we went to the field with the artillery unit. So as a field, as a Ford observer, I think I spent probably 10 months out of the 12 my first year in the field. It was absolute, and it was hard, because every time I turned around, I was going to the field. So basically, there was no social life, which was okay. I mean, I was Lieutenant, I was learning. But it was different, because connectedness with the unit wasn't there. Just do a lot because you're always gone all the time. Eventually, the Army developed what's called the Quick Fix fist concept. So the fire support team and they, they pulled all the NCOs that were Ford observers of the border platoons in the units. So when he took them away from the infantry and the armor units, put them in the artillery units, I became a fist chief, so that I was in charge of three Ford observers who were NCOs. So that concept began to gel. And then we had the fire support officers up in the unit at battalion headquarters, so three of them. But that concept for advancement, it was considered not such a good thing to be a Fire Support Officer back then. You know, the progression for the good guys. Good guys was port observer, fire direction. Officer, battery, firing battery, executive. Officer, that was a progression. Well, I didn't do that. I ended up being a Ford observer, then a fist chief, and then I went up to the headquarters battery to be their XO, which was okay, but it was a different progression. So my life as a lieutenant was okay, but it wasn't what was called, what would have been the ideal progression as an artillery officer.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754#t=496.0,786.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 3: So how long, how long of time did you spend as Lieutenant then? So it would have been during that first deployment in Germany for, for how long, how many years would you say for first and second lieutenant?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754#t=787.0,798.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153682/file/282754/transcript/81686/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: So second lieutenant. I was in no home for a couple years, for two years, and then I went up to the headquarters because they needed back then we had nuclear weapons in the October 90s. So the 155 unit that I was in had a nuclear weapon. So I ended up being a nuclear weapons guy up at our headquarters and gripping it. We were with the First Infantry Division forward. So there were two forward brigades in Germany. There was a second army division forward, and the First Infantry Division forward. The First Infantry Division up, honestly, was in Fort Robert Kansas, so we were the forward brigade because to us, and you asked me earlier, what was what were we getting ready to wage war against? Well, it was still the Russians. So the wall was still up, the Berlin Wall was still there, and we had battle plans to fight the Russians. That's who we were going to fight. So we had, any time, we had some sort of a an officer's call or something like that, we'd take a bus to the border and examine our border positions. So we'd go up there, because we had three position locations for our units at the border, and we'd go up there and civilian clothes and check on all our positions. Of course, the Russians are on the other side of the border watching us, and they knew we weren't civilians, so we were scoping out all of our artillery locations, and they were watching us with cameras have been ocular it got to be it was just interesting at the time, but I ended up going to the division headquarters and being their nuclear weapons officer. So I was in charge of all the nuclear weapons codes and everything we did for messenger back then, because the 155 had a had a nuclear weapon. It was a smaller projectile, but it was still nuclear. I. And I was involved in that program for a while, and eventually those all went away, once the wall came down and climate change, all those weapons went away, and that's that's for their honor. So I was a second lieutenant two years automatic promotion first lieutenant, and then I got promoted to captain. I stayed in Germany five years. And during that period of time is when I met my wife, who was a quartermaster officer at the headquarters. It was kind of interesting story, because she was single on the IG inspection team. So my headquarters battery commander, when I was the exit, I was in charge of the motor pool, or the motor pool that also have a supply room. And he goes, Hey, David, you know Lieutenant hanagan is coming down here. She is single. And I'm like, What are you getting at, sir? Because you know you're single, and you know maybe, maybe you guys can that'll help you on your inspection. I said, Yeah, right, sir. So she, why she she walks into the supply room for the inspection. Well, her hair is tight as a bun, starch fatigues, shiny boots, and I'm looking at my supplies. Starting going, we're in trouble. Here he goes. What do you need, sir? I said, Man, this. This is a Strack of time. We're in big trouble here. Well, we passed the we passed the inspection for the supply room, but we failed miserably in the motor pool, as did the rest of the battalion. We were in bad shape, but it was interesting, and that's when I first met her. And when you hear her side of the story, she thought it was pretty good looking, but she never said anything about it. So that was her side of the story when she did the inspection, and she was checking me out to see married, you know, just kind of looking for the ring and all that stuff. And the second time I met her, I was up in the headquarters group again. So all the officers would go to the officers club for breakfast every morning, because back then, we all kind of hung out together the bachelor officers quarters within it was within about 100 meters of the officers club. So there was a little sidewalk between the officers club and the buq, where you kind of stumbled back and forth after you had a night of revelry at the officers club. But we I met her again at breakfast one day. So I'm sitting at breakfast reading the newspaper, because everybody read the Stars and Stripes. That was the thing to do every morning. She was kind of checking out, unbeknownst to me, because every time a single guy showed up, all the single Lieutenant females were like, Okay, this is, you know, what's going on with them. Let's go. Let's go see what's happening. And the same thing, what happens with the guys too. They check out several lieutenants. So that's, that's where I got to meet her a second time. And she was a quartermaster officer. She was in the supply and services platoon, our supply and services company, our second assignment. She was in the IG team her first time, and we got to meet each other. She was the XO of the supply and services company. That was kind of a fun relationship. We ended up getting married over there. So I met her. We got married in the heart, in the local chapel there, and we invited everybody, because it was a small post, so we invited the whole post away. So it was like one big party. And it was interesting, because her father was deceased. He was a retired warrant officer who passed away as a result of some complications of heart surgery. So she didn't have a dad. And at the time, I was working at a headquarters as Secretary of General Staff, so the one star, I was working for the one star committee general and so she was like, I need to find somebody to give me away at the wedding. I said, Well, why don't we, why don't we go ask General Hensley, and they just call him slick. That was his call sign. I said, Why don't we go ask him. She goes. He's general. I said, Well, let's go in and go see him. So we got an appointment to go see the general. And said, Hey, sir, we want to talk about something really important. He was puzzled. Was like, were these two lieutenants coming in here? And he always called me, SGS, he never called me by my name, because I was SGS, what's going on, sir, my fiance and I want to talk to talk to you about something important. So we sat down and chatted, and he came out from behind the desk and sat on the couch with us, and he goes, so what's he said, Well, we want to ask you to give my give Mickey away. Her nickname was Mickey way to me at the wedding. He goes, Wow, that's pretty cool. I've never done that before. Well, to be a first service and so it was interesting, because she ended up kind of being adopted by him as his quote, unquote daughter. So it played out in a lot of fun ways. We used to do a lot of formal dinners. I was has the Secretary of the General Staff. I was also the protocol officer. So we did a lot of dinners with the with the foreign military. So whenever there was a dinner, I always needed an at a plus one, because we had to have even numbers at the tables. So she always came to me with all the dinners. So she would come to me with the banquet, and then at one particular one, the general was sitting around the table with all his battalion commanders. 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