Jun Kurumada, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Becky B. Lloyd, April 18, 2001: Saving the legacy tape no. 339

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JUN KURUMADA PRI 2 BEC: Then you weren't allowed to stay with th r s r and g t g d retirement from the reserves. So that's got to hurt some doesn t it? JUN: Well, I don't really fault them for that because I ve talked to ral that have been released or, you might say, from the reserves before the time of retirement. They look at you and they say, "well, you've got two more years before retirement. I think we'd better get rid of you before retirement comes up." Then you won't be eligible for retirement. BEC: I see. JUN: Well, as it turned out, when I talked to this Colonel Evans up here he says, well, for the time of service and for whatever credits they were going to give me eight years of credit for the two years that I spent in the service and being overseas counted part of it and I was already a lieutenant colonel and he says, "You'll be up for promotion," in say three years you'll be up for promotion, "you've got about twelve years for retirement and within three years you'll be up for promotion and I'm sure you might be able to make it; you might not. If you don't, well then they'll be another four years before you apply for a promotion. You might be able to get it." You might get to be a full colonel within another six years or seven years. But then you'll have another six years for your next promotion, which you'll never get. Because it would be a brigadier general. And there's no such thing as a promotion to a brigadier general for the simple reason that there's only two brigadier generals in the entire dental corp in the United States and they're not going to be replaced, see. So I'd never make that promotion. And with the time that I spent and the fact that I would not be able to make a promotion would mean a release. 24