A son of former US Army officer, 1LT Thomas Hornster, Joined the army in 1957 as a volunteer. He completed basic training at the New England Recruiting Battalion in Fort Williams, where he was known as an excellent marksman. After basic training he was transferred to 197th infantry brigade, Fort Benning, where he received advanced individual infantry training. He requested transfer to Special Forces in 1960 and was subsequently transferred to Fort Bragg in 1961. Here he trained as a weapons specialist on US and foreign infantry weapons, ranging from pistols to mortars. His secondary SF training was Operations and Intelligence.

C.J. Hornster excelled at both and gained the rank of ‘Staff Sergeant’ on December 15th. These skills helped him through two tours in Vietnam (1962, 1963).

As a child he and his father often went out hunting and even at a young age C.J. would receive comments about how good a shot he was and nick named him “sharp shooter”. His father served as a lieutenant first class in OSS and his wild and exciting stories inspired young C.J. to eventually follow in his footsteps and walk through the doors of the US Army recruiter on his 18th birthday. His father was very proud of the fact that his son wanted to follow in his footsteps and serve his country and so helped C.J prepare for army life and made it his goal to teach him everything he knew.

C.J’s father was in the National Guard and together with his friends, known as the “weekend warriors”, would arrange weekend war games. C.J. being keen would also go, here he learned a lot about strategy, he also found out that he preferred the role of a fighter rather than a general. So rather than waste his time studying at West Point military academy he chose to join the regular army.

C.J. thinks he knows even more about army ways and the weapons than some of his instructors. Though contrary to what he had imagined he found out that “army life” could be just plain boring. He is a believer in giving his all and to do the best he can (to do it better than anyone else). He has a burning ambition to be as good as his father; to maybe one-day be as good as this man he idolized while growing up. His father saw action, he talked about it many times, he wants to experience the same and one day tell his kids tall stories of missions he has been on. The Special Forces would be is route to emulating his father, his driving force. Thanks to his skills and burning ambition the transfer was rushed through.

The Special Forces would be the place to finally hone his skills, a place to test his measure against the best of the best.

The Instructors instantly noted his marksmanship and he was trained as a weapon specialist. His strong physical stature meant that he had no problem in holding and firing the heavier guns and so he usually carries an M60 as he is incredibly lethal with this and knows it. There’s no safe place for an enemy who strays into his sights and even if they do his skill at operations and intelligence sniffs them out.

To sum him up, he is a tough and deadly serious solider. He doesn’t have a sense of humor when it comes to people joking about the U.S. Army; these sort of jokes get taken VERY personally. He doesn’t talk much but when he does, it’s usually about the Army or weapons. He hates communism. He believes that Nam is just the beginning of the end of the commies (if he has anything to do with it that is). His personal life is rather shallow – back in US he never really wanted to leave the army base, but Nam changed him a bit, he became a bit more adventurous a bit more open minded. He likes the brief visits to the cities, where he can relax with a drink and party with the local girls.

He is a very dependable soldier who has great military experience. With perfect marksmanship and outstanding physical condition, he is one of Americas finest. He is also absolutely deadly with an M60.

C.J. is not very popular with the troops, but he is well respected, this is mainly down to his experience and physical prowess. He is a dedicated solider and aspires to become an officer once he has completed his tour. I highly recommend Staff Sergeant C.J. Hornster for the officer’s test and I am sure he will become one of the finest officers this country has ever produced.