USA > New York > Bronx County > Navy service : a short history of the United States Naval Training School (WR) Bronx, New York > Part 3
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Although Educational Services is designed to make available to Naval Personnel courses that interest them or may advance their educational credits, the material is also helpful in studying for a rating. It is possible through the Educational Services Office, to obtain material on any subject from the Malayan language to photography, and from high school civics to graduate social studies.
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Textbooks for Extra-Navy Learning.
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Shorthand Class for Educational Services.
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PROVOST MARSHAL'S OFFICE
MONG the responsibilities of the Provost Marshal's Office are the enforcement of station orders and regulations, the maintenance of general security and fire prevention. In addition, the office maintains the "Lucky Bag" where a variety of articles brought from all parts of the sta- tion are subsequently returned to their owners.
Although in many of the offices and departments on the station male personnel have been supplanted by Waves, the Provost Marshal's Office has maintained its male complement almost intact. Successively heading the Provost Marshal's Office have been Major William W. Buchanan, USMC, Lieutenant Howard L. Vierow, USNR, and Lieutenant Burton W. Taylor, USNR. Assisting the Provost Marshal is Specialist (S) 1c Cheryl Dresser, a former Los Angeles policewoman. Dresser was the first Wave to be so rated in the Women's Reserve.
At the present time the Shore Patrol work is largely handled by 36 male Specialists (S), the majority of whom were former policemen. Many of these men have had special Shore Patrol training in the Navy, in addition to their years of experience in civilian police work. Their duties include sentry detail on the gates, patrol of the barracks area, payroll and payline guard duty, and the patrol of certain taverns in the vicinity of the station.
In addition to the male Shore Patrol personnel, and performing indis- pensable duties, are 35 Waves from the Outgoing Unit who stand duty as sentries on the gates and other locations where traffic control and security precautions are necessary. They also serve as ushers for recreational pro- grams in Walton High School and the Amphitheater, act as guards for the Armory Auditorium and Billeting Room, assist in traffic control on the mess line and on the ladders of Davis Hall.
These Wave sentries are supervised by two Wave Specialists (S) who act as Corporals of the Guard in respect to the Wave sentry detail. A Wave striker for Specialist (S) is permanently stationed as sentry on the main gate to examine the credentials of station personnel and visitors and to insure that all persons entering the activity have proper authorization.
Among other responsibilities of the Provost Marshal's Office are gen- eral traffic control, protection against hazardous equipment, fire prevention and passive defense.
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SR
Checking in at Shore Patrol Office.
S
Building F Headquarters.
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710 1 12 13 14 15
2 1 15 2 21 22
Gate 6.
SP
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Inside Gate 6.
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NO VISITOR
GATE 3
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Sentry Winter Gear.
SP
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Logging Out with Sentry.
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CHAPLAIN'S OFFICE
A CHAPLAIN'S work is never done. Although conducting services is a major part of his job, personnel counseling is equally important and time-consuming.
There are two Chaplains permanently aboard, Protestant and Catholic. A Jewish Chaplain conducts services on Sundays and is always available. Lieutenant Raymond J. Dollenmayer (ChC), Protestant, has been aboard since 4 November 1943. Lieutenant (jg) H. J. Laffey (ChC) came aboard 2 June 1944.
Recruits and Ship's Company bring to the Chaplains their domestic and financial problems. As a consequence, the Chaplains work closely with the Red Cross.
They have many special duties, among them, delivering "two-starred" telegrams denoting serious illness or death in the family. At least sixty of this type are sent to the station every month.
An extra duty, connected with THIRD Naval District Headquarters rather than this activity, is calling on families of Navy casualties.
In all matters pertaining to morale building on the station, the Chap- lains participate. The senior Chaplain, Lieutenant Dollenmayer, reads proofs of the "Conning Tower," sits on the Welfare Board which determines the use of funds, and lectures to Specialists (R) and (S) in training.
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Hoisting Church Pennant.
Services in Amphitheater.
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Catholic Services.
C
Jewish Services.
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Protestant Services.
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First Wedding in West Lounge.
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Chaplain Dollenmayer Gives Testament to Recruit.
CHINA CUEST
Station Library.
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COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
T HE Communications Office was set up in the early days of this sta- tion with two male officers in charge - Lieutenant William Potter and Lieutenant (jg) Richard Holden. Shortly afterward Lieutenant Holden relieved Lieutenant Potter, and on 31 July 1943, Lieutenant (junior grade) Genevieve McCaa (then Ensign) relieved Lieutenant Holden, whom she had relieved as Communications instructor at the Naval Reserve Mid- shipmen's School, Northampton, Massachusetts, before being detached and ordered to the "U.S.S. Hunter."
The main duty of the Communications Office is sending outgoing messages and receiving incoming messages. At this activity the official messages are chiefly dispatches concerning the placement and transporta- tion of recruits, but personal telegrams also are received and prepared for delivery. The Communications Yeomen use four types of typewriter key- boards: Standard, Communications, Western Union Printer and TWX (teletypewriter). Assisted by two Yeomen who work on shifts from 0800 to 2100, Lieutenant (jg) McCaa routes copies of all messages to the offices concerned. Sometimes one dispatch will pertain to five or six offices. The duty section of Ship's Company stands Communications watch enabling the office to give a 24-hour service.
Having custody of all classified matter, confidential and restricted, the Communications Officer's greatest responsibility is the maintenance of security.
There are five Civil Service operators assigned to the station switch- board which is attended around the clock, and as their welfare is important, it is Miss McCaa's responsibility to check periodically on their working conditions.
In connection with telephones, it is necessary to work through the THIRD Naval District for changes in service and checking of telephone bills. Keeping long distance telephone calls under control is another of the administrative jobs with which the Communications Officer is charged.
The Post Office, which is subject to both Navy and Government in- spection at all times and is operated according to an agreement between the Government and the Navy, comes under the supervision of the Com- munications Officer. Due to the fine efforts of the Specialists (M) there have been few difficulties in mail deliveries in spite of the complexities of the service. Even on Christmas, when the amount of incoming mail reached a peak, it was quickly delivered through the cooperation of enlisted per- sonnel in the barracks.
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The Post Office staff at present consists of a Chief Specialist (M), a Specialist (M) 1c, four Specialists (M) 2c, two Specialists (M) 3c - all male personnel. There are eight Wave Specialists (M) 3c and Waves of the Outgoing Unit also on duty. Readdressing, or forwarding, is necessary for fifteen per cent of the mail handled by this staff due to the rapid turnover of recruits. For reference, a directory is maintained, representing all per- sonnel who are at this activity or who have been here. The forwarding of mail is done by Seamen, temporarily assigned to duty in the Post Office, who are supervised by Specialists (M).
It is interesting to note that this activity handles three times as much mail as male "boot" schools of comparable size. On Mondays - "bad days" - as many as 65 sacks of parcel post mail and 7 pouches of first class mail may be received; and an average of 21,000 letters, or three per person, go out in the mail in one day.
It falls to the lot of the Communications Officer to investigate inquiries about mail which has not been delivered. Most of such problems are simply unexplainable: why, for example, it should take a package almost two weeks to come from Rochester, New York to the Bronx training school.
Post Office inspections are extremely important and consist of the fol- lowing routine:
Daily :
Inspection of report of money orders issued.
Weekly :
Captain's Inspection.
Semi-monthly: 1. Inspection by Officer-in-Charge, primarily con- cerned with financial section - involves counting stamps and stamp funds, and checking money order reports.
2. Surprise inspection by Government post office inspector who checks on whether or not postal laws and regulations are carried out and advises on problems peculiar to Navy Post Offices.
Quarterly :
Surprise inspection by a representative of the District Postal Officer who makes a thorough check of the per- sonnel and functioning of the post office of this activ- ity.
Typical of the functions of any Navy Post Office are the following:
Distribution of incoming mail.
Pick up outgoing mail.
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Cancellation of outgoing mail.
Sorting of outgoing mail for dispatch through the Government Post Office. Stamp Sales.
Parcel Post.
Insured mail matter. Registered mail business.
Money order business.
C.O.D. service.
Directory service.
The Communications Officer's duties as Navigation Officer consist of computing sunset time and maintaining custody of the flags. Formerly when honors were paid to visiting officers, the breaking of a personal flag fell to Lieutenant (jg) McCaa who, on one occasion when very short notice was given, had to break an Admiral's flag herself. She tells another story that is illustrative of the things that can happen to a Communications Officer. She took a detail of seamen up on the roof of Davis Hall to break the flag for Admiral Downes. As he was piped aboard, one of the Seamen gave the halyard a firm tug and nothing happened. She exerted a little more pressure on her second tug and the guide end of the halyard came adrift, leaving the flag dangling from the staff. After about three minutes of hectic flapping in a strong wind, the flag broke loose and serenely floated to earth just as the review was starting. Everyone took it with good humor, but it gave the Communications Officer several nerve-racking minutes.
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Admiral's Flag.
Western Union Printer.
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ALSONOI
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The Mail Goes Through.
: SYSTEM SITES IN THE ED FORCES
NAVY
U. S. NAVY
NAVY
NAVY
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Telephone Switchboard.
Specialist (M) School
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Sending Mail to Barracks.
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MARYLAN"
WASH. D.C.
MAINE
VERMONT
ILLINOIS
CALIFORNIA
CANADA
STATEN ISLAND POSTOM, MASS, PHILA, POMIA. C
FOREICH
Processing Mail.
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Letters from Home!
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MAIL SPECIALIST SCHOOL
S UCCESS of WAVES in one branch of the Naval service is proven with the transfer of the Mail Specialist school from the U. S. Naval Training Center, Sampson, N. Y. to the U. S. Naval Training School (WR), The Bronx, N. Y. Although men will no longer be trained as Special- ists (M) except on the job, WAVES will be instructed in the mail service in a nine-week course. Equipped to handle a maximum of 150 new trainees every two weeks, the school is staffed with two officers and eight Mail Specialist instructors. Graduates of the course are qualified to work in Fleet Post Offices and shore establishments throughout the United States. Lt. (jg) A. J. Wronske, USNR, is Officer-in-Charge. He is assisted by Ensign Ollen Honeycutt, USNR.
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COMMANDANT OF SEAMEN'S OFFICE *
O N 20 March 1943, Lieutenant Commander (then Lieutenant junior grade) Eleanor G. Rigby reported to the U. S. Naval Training School (WR), The Bronx, New York, on temporary duty orders to assist Lieutenant Helen Shuey, the Commandant of Seamen, in the reorganization of the Brigade set-up. Lieutenant Commander Rigby, one of the first group chosen for officer training at Northampton, served as Battalion Commander and later as Regimental Commander at the Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School (WR), and was therefore well qualified for the considerable job which faced her as Chief of Staff at the "U.S.S. Hunter."
So successful was Mrs. Rigby in the performance of her duties that she was issued permanent orders from the Midshipmen's School to the Waves' "boot" school and on 6 May, relieving Lieutenant Shuey, became Comman- dant of Seamen and Brigade Commander. One of her first official acts was to make the Assistant Instruction Officer, Lieutenant (then Lieutenant junior grade) Elizabeth Geen her Chief Staff Officer. This title replaced .
"Chief of Staff" - an office to which only a Flag officer is entitled.
About the first of August, Lieutenant Commander Rigby, with the assistance of Lieutenant Geen began to work on the reorganization of Brigade by which Company Commanders and their Specialists (S) were placed in full charge of the activities of their companies. The plan was even- tually to have a Specialist (S) for every section, thereby alleviating the work of the Company Commander.
At this time Instruction, Physical Education and all recruit training came under the Commandant of Seamen. On 1 January 1944, they were put under the Training Officer who is responsible to the Commandant of Seamen, this change being the reestablishment of an office originally func- tioning at the school and dissolved in May, 1943. Lieutenant Commander Rigby relinquished her title of Brigade Commander to Lieutenant Margaret Kuechle who continues to function in this capacity under the Comman- dant of Seamen.
Lieutenant Commander Rigby considers the Brigade set-up as it is now organized to be the most efficient, workable plan yet devised. Her own duties, though comprehensive, may be summarized briefly as follows: direct supervision of the Brigade Commander and the Training Officer and responsibility for the training, efficiency, discipline and welfare of recruits; advising the Commanding Officer and the Executive Officer on all matters
* Lieutenant Elizabeth Reynard has relieved Lieutenant Commander Eleanor Grant Rigby as Commandant of Seamen upon the latter's detachment from this station and assignment to duty in Hawaii.
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concerning the welfare of the personnel of the Women's Reserve attached to this station. She is present at every recruit's mast, publishes summary court martials of recruits to the Brigade and of Ship's Company to the Division.
Disciplinary problems, Lieutenant Commander Rigby has found to be almost nil. She believes the reason for this is the recruits' motivation for enlisting. The spirit of service permeating the corps from Apprentice Seaman to highest ranking officer recognizes only the desire to help end the war.
A Billeting Office has been established under the Commandant of Sea- men's Office. Lieutenant (jg) Helen S. Dahl has been appointed Officer- in-Charge.
A Service Schools Office for the training of Specialists (S), Specialists (R), Cooks and Bakers and Specialists (M) has been established under the Commandant of Seamen's Office. Lieutenant (jg) Marion Mailler is serving as Officer-in-Charge.
A Barracks Office (Advanced Training) has been established under the Commandant of Seamen's Office. Lieutenant (jg) Katherine Curtis has been appointed as Barracks Officer (Advanced Training) in charge of the Out- going Unit and Service School Barracks.
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Lieutenant Commander Eleanor G. Rigby - Commandant of Seamen.
AICANS
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Mrs. Rigby Talks to a Ship's Company Wave.
SCHEDULING OFFICE
C HARTS and symbols covering the blackboards in the Scheduling Office indicate in detail where every section of recruits is during every hour of the day and evening, and the scheduling of activities from which the charts are made was the job of Lieutenant Katharine Lobdell until she went on inactive status and was replaced by Lieutenant (jg) Phyllis Bemiss in September.
Operating from three master sheets of A, B and C schedules, this office plans the trainees' day - the hours of Instruction, Training Films, medical examinations and lectures, Physical Education lectures, Uniforming, Phys- ical Education, Selection interviews and tests; pay; time to buy Bonds and Insurance and make allotments; Insurance movie and lecture, Drill, inocula- tions, shoe fittings, First Aid lectures, fingerprints, identification photos, Company meetings, War Orientation lectures, Selection Orientation and above all, mess.
It is mess that determines the A, B and C schedules. A, with eight periods a day, accommodates the first shakedown week wherein the recruits get the absolute necessities such as shoes, uniform fittings (all recruits are uniformed by the third week review) and physical examinations. B schedule has seven periods and is an early schedule with noon mess beginning at 1130. C also has seven periods, and is the late schedule. The Scheduling Office asks Commissary to refrain from serving unpeeled oranges and spa- ghetti the first few days a Regiment is aboard because the extra minutes required to eat and serve these two things, respectively, can jam the mess line from Student Hall to Walton High School.
Until 5 January, Lieutenant Mary Bowman was Scheduling Officer. When she took over as Training Officer, Lieutenant Lobdell, with three Yeomen, became Scheduling Officer. Her Yeomen, Lieutenant Lobdell points out, are masters of that accuracy which is essential to the smooth functioning of the schedule. One slip of a typewriter key, one change in number or letter can cause tie-ups all over the station.
Scheduling is the only office on the station through which all activities clear. The Hunter College grounds which were set up to accommodate 1,500 people serve 6,000 under the Navy. As a consequence, with the prob- lem of compiling daily and weekly schedules, clearing special interviews for recruits, Laboratory tests, Selection interviews, Dental schedules, out- going drafts, etc., the Scheduling Office is constantly busy even when there are no hitches in the program, a state of Utopia not always possible to achieve.
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Snowstorms, when shoe-fittings must be adjusted to two programs, fair and foul weather; early Selection tests to speed up Classification; shots given in spaced progression; menus that cause delays in mess lines - all are part of the Scheduling problem, one efficiently solved to judge from results.
On 25 July 1944, the Scheduling Office was placed under the Com- mandant of Seamen's Department.
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HU 73
2.
WO-
EL
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OGu
S
064
25
S
PA
DRILL
FAL
/26
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A Place for Every Recruit Every Minute.
HL
Scheduling Yeomen. .
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FAL
28/S
S
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BRIGADE OFFICE
B RIGADE is a closely-knit chain of command, pyramiding from the Commandant of Seamen, Lieutenant Commander Eleanor G. Rigby, down to the Specialists (S), and its primary mission is to instill "The Navy Way" into every recruit going through six weeks of basic Navy training at this school.
The function of Brigade is executing the well-ordered schedule for the six weeks of training, teaching recruits how to drill and observe military courtesy, and acquainting them with discipline in preparation for service in the Navy. Brigade coordinates the functions of all other activities on the station - the Uniform Department issues the uniform and Brigade in- structs the recruits how to wear it; the Medical Department gives the shots, and Brigade teaches the recruits the spirit of "carrying on" in spite of throbbing arms; the Instruction Department teaches rules for saluting, and Brigade gives practical application of these rules.
The evolution of Brigade from the early days of this station to the sec- ond anniversary of the Women's Reserve involved changes and reorganiza- tion until the present highly efficient system gradually came into being. Organization of a school this size could not be accomplished overnight - it took months of planning, changing those plans which proved inefficient and replacing them with workable ones.
The complement, in the early days of two regiments, was in no way comparable to today's quota of three regiments with 1,680 per regiment. The basic training period at first was six weeks, later shortened to four weeks, and in early fall, again increased to six weeks. At the time the six- week period was reinstated, the regiments were increased to three by the simple expedient of adding Regiment 19X, composed of companies from previous regiments who had been held over, forming the third regiment aboard.
The first days of Brigade were complicated by the crossed wires of two chains of command. One operated with an Officer-of-the-Day attached to barracks, who was responsible for the security of the building, the welfare of the personnel in the barracks, for the barracks' log and the billeting of recruits. She was charged with the posting of all orders, directives and memos and the execution of them in her barracks. She was directly under the Senior Officer-of-the-Day.
The other chain called for a Company Commander, charged with per- sonnel and routing of troops, who was responsible to her Regimental Com- mander. This situation occasionally resulted in conflicting orders and con- fusion as to where one responsibility ended and the other began.
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The tour of duty for the Officer-of-the-Day was from 0800 to 1800, with a relief Officer-of-the-Day from 1800 to 0800. These officers also stood Sunday watch in other buildings. The Company Commander, assisted by one Specialist (S) accompanied the "boots" to their activities and was charged with their discipline, but had nothing to do with their drill, which was handled entirely by male Chief Petty Officers.
Brigade entered an experimental stage in the summer of 1943, which was not very successful. The Officer-of-the-Day was eliminated, and four officers with equal responsibility were attached to each building, working consecutive watches. The Specialists (S) took the recruits to scheduled activities and the officers remained on duty in the barracks. This plan failed after a month and a half, principally because no one had full authority. But it was from this experiment that the present highly efficient organization was evolved in August.
Under this plan, each Company Commander was charged with full responsibility, assisted by two Platoon Officers and a Specialist (S) for each section. At present there is but one Platoon Officer, who assists the Com- pany Commander, and six Specialists (S) allotted to a barracks. Two of these specialists serve as Master-at-Arms, alternating watches. The others, who long ago replaced the male Chief Petty Officers as drillmasters, accom- pany the recruits to all activities.
The top offices of the Brigade chain of command have also changed considerably. Formerly, from the Commandant of Seamen, then Lieutenant Helen Shuey, stemmed a Brigade Executive Officer, Lieutenant (jg) Elizabeth Geen, under whom Lieutenant (jg) Laura Rapaport served as Operations Officer. The chain now descends from the Commandant of Sea- men, Lieutenant Commander Rigby, to Brigade Commander, Lieutenant Margaret E. Kuechle, to the three Regimental Commanders, Lieutenants (jg) Virginia Gray, Mary Talbot and Emily Halipos, to their respective Company Commanders.
The evolution of Brigade has hinged considerably on the training of enlisted personnel. At first the supply of Specialists (S) was necessarily limited, but as drilling was done by male Chief Petty Officers, recruit train- ing did not suffer from it. The few Specialists (S) had tremendous enthusiasm and they fulfilled their duties with seriousness of purpose and zeal. With the present Brigade structure, however, Specialists (S) are able to give closer attention to their recruits, and consequently higher standards are main- tained. A Specialist (S) charged with forty recruits always knows her charges and their individual problems, and an experienced First Class Specialist (S) can handle two sections with no difficulty whatsoever.
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The Bureau of Personnel was in dire need of Specialists (S) last Summer for Masters-at-Arms in Wave barracks all over the country, and as fast as they were trained here, they were assigned to other billets, thus depleting the number available for this station. In September, such an emergency shortage existed that a group of seamen who met the requirements were taken from their original billets for temporary assignment to Specialist (S) and Company Clerk duty at this school.
To protect this station's complement, which was being drained so heavily by the Bureau of Personnel, a Specialist (S) School, with a four- week training period, was inaugurated with the dual purpose of meeting Washington's demands and retaining here the Specialists (S) who were par- ticularly fitted by experience for "boot" school.
Last Summer also witnessed Yeomen in Brigade doing Master-at-Arms duties and hupping the recruits. In addition to replacing all these Yeomen, Specialists now do everything from teaching a "boot" how to make a bunk to giving her an "About - Face!" on the drill field.
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