Colonel Richard A. Underwood was commissioned an Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School 27 September 1967. His first duty assignment was as a Platoon Leader, Company C, 1st Battalion, 505th Infantry, 3d Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. | His subsequent duty assignments include: Assistant S-3, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3d Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Republic of Vietnam; Executive Officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3d Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Republic of Vietnam; Company Commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3d Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Republic of Vietnam; Motor Officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2d Battalion, 50)4th Infantry, 1st Brigade, 82d Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Commander, Company C, 2d Battalion, 504th Infantry, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Commander, Company C, 307th Medical Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Senior Advisor, Mobile advisory Team, Military Assistance Command-Vietnam, Dalat, Republic of Vietnam; Plans Officer and Instructor, The Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia; Instructor, 3294th U.S. Army Reserve School, Macon, Georgia; U.S. Army Reserve Enlisted Military Occupational Specialty Development Advisor, U.S. Army Training Support Center, Fort Eustis, Virginia; Operations and Plans Officer, Department of the Army, Deputy Chief of Staff Operations (War Plans), The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.; Chief, Operations Center, Army Reserve Personnel Center, St. Louis, Missouri; and Chief, Mobilization and Requirements Division, Army Reserve Personnel Center, St. Louis, Missouri; Director, Reserve Component Support, XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.