|
Credit: Nick Romanenko
Drafted in 1970, Seth Gopin served in
Germany as a Russian language translator
for military intelligence.
|
The following paragraph has been redacted because it contains sensitive and classified information pertaining to what was then the U.S.S.R.
Any story about Seth Gopin’s military career would have to exclude the most interesting parts of his time in Germany, where he worked as a Russian language translator in military intelligence for the National Security Agency. Frustrating for the interviewer, yes, but even after nearly 30 years out of the U.S. Army, Gopin is mum on much of his actual work.
“I was stationed to a special place in Europe, where I was doing Russian translations, and a special project called ‘Guardrail,’ ” says Gopin, who is now director of global programs at the university. “I was in military intelligence, and I had ... certain restrictions put on me.”
So while he won’t share any stories about dealing with Soviet soldiers at the Ramstein Air Base, Gopin doesn’t hesitate to talk about the benefits of the time he served in the Army, from 1972 to 1976. “The military helped me get my Ph.D. through the G.I. Bill,” Gopin says. The self-described Francophile also got to travel extensively throughout Europe, spending much of his time in France.
He was drafted when he was 18 years old. “It was the last draft lottery and the only lottery I ever won,” he jokes. He had the option of serving two years of guaranteed combat in Vietnam, three years’ service with a choice of location or assignment, or four years with the relative luxury of choosing both his assignment and location. Gopin chose to be a Russian linguist in Germany and went to Monterey, Calif., to attend the Defense Language Institute. Afterward, he went to the School of Applied Cryptological Sciences, where he learned about coding and decoding secret messages.
Gopin’s mother was not pleased that he was leaving their home in Leonia to serve in the military. “As president of Women’s Strike for Peace, she was ready to move the family to Canada. But by the end, she came to visit me and she thought it was a positive thing in my life,” Gopin says.
After all, the Army allowed Gopin to live among Europeans in a small town named Winnweiler, “with a bakery, a butcher, a brewery and 12 taverns,” he says. “It was more fun to live in the town. I was very involved in the Jewish temple at Ramstein Air Base. I taught Hebrew school and helped clean up Jewish cemeteries that were abandoned.”
Gopin credits his military service with getting him where he is today. As director of global programs, Gopin is responsible for cooperative ventures between Rutgers and international entities, encouraging student travel, facilitating international travel for faculty, and sponsoring conferences and activities on campus involving foreign visitors or global issues.
Although he says he was always “the person who picked up and left” – he took time off from high school to wait tables in Sete in southern France – Gopin’s service in the military sharpened his international perspective.
“At the time, I hated it, but time has mellowed that thought,” he says. His work in military intelligence made him a more critical reader and listener. “I never trust anything I read in the newspaper. It made me the ultimate skeptic of information.”
|
