Do you have any job skills that are now obsolete?

[LogDog75]

142. Keypunch operator

I job in the AF was medical materiel (medical supply for you civilians) and for the first 10 years (mid-70s to mid-80s) we used 80-column IBM keypunch cards to update our records. We use a keypunch machine and we could "program" a card that would allow us to "gang-punch" similar transactions; that is, a pre-programmed card would be placed on cylinder and the machine would know which card column to stop on for use to enter information. Our system required us learn about 20 transaction code and what information would go into each column. I figured out early to make a duplicate of each transaction code to use as a reference. In a week, our staff, about 10 people, would keypunch between 2,000 and 3,000 cards. We'd put them in an empty box they came in, which would hold 2,000 cards, and take them to the base processing computer center on Friday where they'd process them over the weekend because our computer program took the longest of any program on base. By the mid-80s, we went to having our own real-time computer system and printing capabilities which eliminated our needs for keypunching.

After 40 years, I still remember many of the transaction codes as well as where on the keypunch card it went. And yes, I was good and fast at keypunching.