Pamala Marshall:
CLASS OF 1965
Lake View High SchoolClass of 1965
San angelo, TX
Pamala's Story
My first real job was with Zale¿s Jewelry Store on Chadbourn and then I worked for Gandy¿s Creamery as a wholesales bookkeeper. I then joined my husband in Fort Riley Kansas for his last 18 months in the army. I worked there for the Chevrolet dealership as cashier and bookkeeper. After that we moved to Texas City, Texas. I then went to work for NASA as a clerk typist. I loved it. I worked there on temporary assignments until August 1970 when I received and offer I couldn¿t pass up. I was at NASA during Apollo 11, 12, 13, & 14. It was very exciting and I enjoyed every moment there. I worked in a time of making great history. I worked for the Landing and Recovery Division. They were in charge of the command module upon return to the earth and any contingent points of splash down.
My offer that I could not turn down was from U.S. Customs Service. I worked for Dept. of the Treasury U.S. Customs Service Inspection and Control, from August 1970 until retirement April 2005. At that time the organization changed to Depart of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection. I worked at the port of Galveston in the office as a documents examiner and then a Marine Officer. In September of 1987 my position was changed to Customs Inspector (I call this the street cops of Customs). Quite a switch for me. I was sent off to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and Customs Academy to study Customs Law and be trained for my duties (9 weeks of hell) in Georgia. I passed with exceptional grades and then was put to work at the Houston Seaport. I was already familiar with Seaport work, but had not been in the field. Boarding Ships, Planes, barges, rigs and doing cargo examinations were many and all over the place. 30 miles of Houston Ship Channel, Barbours Cut, Bay Port, Texas City, and Galveston. Planes were at Houston Hobby, Galveston, Ellington Air Force Base, and Intercontinental Airport Cargo. Quite a bit of traveling. This job took up my days, nights, weekends, and holidays for the most part. I ...Expand for more
would get pretty tired and keep outside activities at a minimum. In 1990 I decided I would be better off alone and got a divorce. I had some very interesting assignments though. I took training to be a trainer in several software systems used for law enforcement. I worked in the training section some and was sent to the Customs Academy for three and four month assignments to teach there. I was sent to Washington DC to rewrite the Vessel Boarding Manual. One not so great assignment came as a direct order for 60 days to the Mexican border on a special operation to stop heavy shipments of drugs. This was November and December of 1990. I worked on the Contraband Enforcement Team going from bridge to bridge working special stop operations to search all cars and people. This was 10-12 hours a day in the cold and it was pretty stressful and dirty work. I drove back to Houston in the worst ice storm in years. Had to stop before San Antonio and spend the night. My little convertible couldn¿t keep the ice from building up on the windshield, so I was having to stop and scrape the windows every few miles. I was ready to stop. I was freezing with all my clothes, heavy coat, gloves, hat, boots and the heater running full blast. Boy was I glad to get home. My last long temporary duty station was Genoa, Italy. I was trained on the anti terrorist software and had years of back ground with cargo and seaport operations. So away I went to Italy. The work was stressful as I was screening cargo containers for weapons of mass destruction (WMD¿s). When we had a day or two off, we would travel around the country with permission of the Customs Attaché who reported to the Italian Consulate. Quite a time to remember.
I am truly enjoying my free time and seeing family and enjoying all my great nieces and nephews. I play cards occassionally with Janice, Betta, and Karen. We enjoy Ladies of '65 events too. I joined the First Christian Church and have made friends there. First time in my life with no pressures. Yeeeee
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