In 1970, William Hirschfield served as an instructor at the U.S. Army Intelligence School at Fort Holabird, Maryland. That was Hirschfield's day job. He also had a regular morning job and sometimes an evening or late night job and sometimes a weekend job. As a sergeant E-5, Hirschfield was responsible for supervising trainees at the school, who lived in the barracks. His specific duty, in the morning, was to see to it that the twenty-six soldiers who slept in one of the bays properly prepared the bay before going to their classes. Hirschfield's good friend, Sergeant E-5 Ted Swift, had the same responsibility for another bay.
The reason for the evening or late night or weekend jobs was the attitude of the newly arrived executive officer of Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Intelligence School. Second Lieutenant Harvey Ryan seemed to go out of his way to make life for the NCOs and trainees as unpleasant as possible. Five mornings a week he would inspect the barracks and always find something wrong.
When he found enough things wrong, he ordered the first sergeant to invite the NCOs and trainees to a G.I. Party. One of those G.I. Parties had serious consequences for everyone in Headquarters Company.