This Yahoo! Group and its related website is dedicated to all those who served in the 9th Infantry Regimental Combat Team (Light) from October 1985 to August 1995, either at Fort Ord, CA or Fort Lewis, WA.

Choosing to focus on that short span of only 10 years of the more that 200 years since the regiment was first organized, is intended in no way to minimize the achievements of all those Manchus who came before or since.

We were part of the Rapid Deployment Force, and rotated our turn on the ramp with the likes of the 82nd Airborne Division. Our fellow Manchus regularly rotated in and out of the Rangers, Special Forces and even Delta. We had a percentage of Ranger qualified NCOs and officers second only to the Ranger Regiment itself.

Those who were Manchus during those years were volunteers. The draft had been over for more than 10 years. We all volunteered to join the Army - and not for the money! In those days a Staff Sergeant with a wife and two children was eligible for food stamps!

It was a time when it had become good to be a soldier once again. People bought us drinks downtown and smiled and waved when we walked down the streets. Our country was on the way up again. It was good to be in the Army. And there were few places better to be than Fort Ord, in the 9th Infantry Regiment, in the 7th Infantry Division.

So if you were there please apply for membership and get reacquainted with old friends! Check out our main website at http://www.manchulight.com.