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Ken Cornett wrote : We used the old Army issue type writers.  If you made a mistake on a kids form, you had to start all over.  All those DD forms and such. Yuk!

Ken,

Oh man, can I relate! As First Sergeant, I was responsible for the unit's EER"s (Enlisted Evaluation Reports) You were not allowed to have a single mistake or correction. We'd type and retype those damn things, until our fingers were bleeding. By the time I retired, the Form was on a computer template. No fuss, no muss.  

I remember those, and when I left the military in 93 and got on with the PPD, I thought I left that all behind. But, as luck and the lack of technology would have it, "perfection" was not dead.

When making an arrest, we'd have to take all of our paperwork down to what we call the "Warrant Office" where the Sgt would be the approving supervisor. He was a crusty old ****** who had the support of every supervisor on the planet. This was before typewriters were common and everything was hand-written (still in the 90's). If he didn't like what you wrote or wanted corrections, he'd make it with a red pen and you'd have to do the whole thing over again, no appeals. If you questioned his motive or authority, after he had at you, he'd call your Lt..........us new folks hated that guy.  

Computers and "cut & paste" have really made things much easier.  

--Last edited by mstuart on 2008-03-22 19:29:20 --

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I still have an electric typewriter around here somewhere.

...& I still have a manual one in the closet.