Having never studied electronics at school, I was convinced the licensing exam would be an insurmountable burden. For more than a decade, I didn’t give it much thought as I had a great time as ONL4003.
It must have been springtime 1994 when I coincidentally got myself a copy of the “Now You’re Talking” textbook of the American Radio Relay League ARRL. Even for someone who hardly knew Ohm’s Law, the theory seemed rather elementary. The manual explained foreigners were entitled to obtain an American transmitting license. It didn’t take long before I attended an exam session at the American Airforce Base in Bitburg, Germany. Soon after, I received my Technician License with a Certificate of Succesful Completion of Examination (CSCE) for the written part of the General test. A perfect incentive to practice and perfect my copying of morse code! I was granted the callsign N1TOI.

Fast forward: a few months later I upgraded to Advanced Class with another CSCE, this time for the 20 words per minute morse code test. The Amateur Extra theory was really difficult to master. My knowledge of electronics was rather limited, remember? I relentlessly kept studying and eventually achieved the highest possible grade of US amateur radio license.

Being a Belgian citizen, I did get reciprocal licenses based on my American license in several European countries, but not in my own country.