Susyn,
Had to chuckle a little. I saw your reference to driving a "deuce and half" in the Army. I drove one of these trucks while at Ft Benning in the late 60's. I loved that truck! It would run on most any kind of fuel - diesel, gas, and maybe some others! My old platoon sergeant got great joy out calling me his "college truck driver" - it made him feel good I guess
Driving that truck got me out of some other nasty "details", so I didn't mind.
Anyway, I see you have gotten a lot of responses regarding setting up and taking down the TM by yourself. I'll add my $ .02 too. We have a 2619 which is the smallest TM, but I'm not sure that matters anyway (those torsion bars on all TMs do most of the work). I'd say I'm of average build and strength, and I can put up/take down the trailer my self. I find it easier to make sure I pull the shells up from the centerpoint as opposed to one side. And as someone already said, it's also easier if the trailer is fairly level before you start. I've never had a problem "locking down" the shells after lowering them.
It is certainly easier to raise/lower with two people, but one person can indeed do it too. As others have said, the best thing is to try it yourself at a dealer, if there are any near you. Unfortunately, your chances of seeing a TM at a campground are slim - there just don't seem to be many out there yet. So that's probably not a good avenue for talking to a TM owner and maybe trying to assist, while the owner is setting up or taking down.
Nick