USA > New York > Bronx County > Navy service : a short history of the United States Naval Training School (WR) Bronx, New York > Part 5
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Without assistants or projector, Lieutenant Davis, who had operated a projector only once, faced a schedule of training film showings to recruits within three days. By dint of scouting around, borrowing films and equip- ment by the week, Miss Davis initiated her program. For assistance, she was assigned three seamen from every company to whom she taught the operation of the projector, so that by the time they left "boot" school they were reasonably good projectionists and had, in the meantime, been of service to Miss Davis.
Her present assignment as Training Films Officer was made on 5 Janu- ary 1944, when this office replaced the Visual Aids Office. The chief problem of the Training Films Officer has been to procure films and show them. Introducing a movie is all-important, and for this reason, before doing so, Miss Davis tells the recruits what to expect, what to look for and how the film, if it is about the war, ties in with the whole war picture, and if it is an organizational or recognition picture, how it applies to the Women's Reserve of the Navy.
In the days when Spars and women Marines were trained at this activity it was necessary to procure also a separate schedule of films for showings to them.
In April and May, 1943, an Electrician's Mate and a Yeoman were assigned to Lieutenant (jg) Davis, and with their help, she began the schedule that has been followed since with some variations. Starting with special showings to recruits for the Instruction and Medical departments, the schedule was enlarged to include Physical Education and Brigade, Commissary and Specialist (R) and Specialist (S) schools. The Training Films Office now serves eight departments and offices, as well as War Orientation.
In April, 1943, Miss Davis instituted Staff movies at noon both for information and recreation. At first, there was no allotment for these movies, and it was necessary to borrow films for the purpose. At present,
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the value of the Staff movies having long been proven, twenty-five dollars a month is allocated for this purpose.
Every recruit, during her training period, sees fifteen films; the ad- vanced schools generally see three to five films and the Cooks and Bakers Class sees ten. In the recruit series are the "Why We Fight" series for service men such as "The Nazi Strike" and "Battle for Britain." Other films show Organization, Security, Discipline, Etiquette, Ships and Planes.
At times, forty-six hours of films a week have been shown. This is, of course, in addition to the selection of films and the maintenance of the film library which this office itself is establishing. Whereas, in the beginning twelve hours of film showings a week were average, thirty hours are today.
Training Aids for the Navy supplies most of the film, through the Bureau of Aeronautics. The projectors are supplied by the Bureau of Ships. Beginning with a single borrowed projector, Training Films now has four projectors, ten film strip projectors, one of which is a sound film used by Selection to test recruits for radio work.
Training Films serve the important purpose of correlating information given recruits in lectures to a physical identification of something that might be beyond the realm of their experience. The average Wave has never seen a warship. These ships may be described to her, but it is the film "The Battle" that most closely portrays the coordinated action of ships and planes in battle.
Training Films have helped to bring the Navy and the War very close to the recruits who must understand the picture as a whole to fit it into their individual jobs with knowledge and understanding. They give a broader orientation and encourage high morale with the purpose of clarify- ing in the mind of the recruit, through the eye, the facts she learns through the ear, thus facilitating her transition from civilian life to military life.
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.....
Training Films Office.
NORTHERN ITALY
1 C
DITE
TUNISIA
AFRICA
TYRRHENIAN SEA
SOUTHEASTERN
EUROPE
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Wave Electrician.
Projector.
-
3
Film Library.
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WAR ORIENTATION
D WARFED by gigantic maps that reach from the deck to overhead, Lieutenant (jg) Florence K. Stannert tells her recruits at the end of her lecture "Is this or is it not a big war? - Try to remember when you are busy at your little or big jobs, wherever they may be, that it took an untold amount of paper work to get sixteen million tons to England for the invasion alone, and you're doing that work."
War Orientation is an attempt to justify General Marshall's statement that the American soldier is the best informed soldier in the world. It is an attempt to make personnel more efficient on the job by giving them a good ; reason for fighting and working. And most of all, War Orientation exists at the request of those serving in the Armed Forces.
Great Britain started the movement for group discussion and the dis- pensing of up-to-the-minute information and explanation of the war's progress. All the United Nations are now equipped with similar services, the Army Branch of Special Services acting as the training unit.
In January of last year, Lieutenant (jg) Stannert and Lieutenant (jg) Phyllis Bemiss were made War Orientation and Educational Services Officers, respectively, and sent to Washington to take the courses which are offered jointly. On most stations the work is not divided. Of necessity at this tremendous recruit training activity, they are handled separately. In April, Lieutenant (jg) Stannert, with the aid of the First Lieutenant's Office and the Training Aids Workshop, set up her maps in Gillet Auditorium and began her series of lectures.
Every Regiment has three background lectures and one covering cur- rent news. It is War Orientation's aim to increase the lectures by an addi- tional current news talk to give adequate coverage and explanation using enormous maps of the European and Pacific areas. By tying up the current news of the day with the background material they have absorbed in pre- vious lectures, Miss Stannert makes the news of the day real. At the end of the third lecture, the "boots" are asked to write out questions which are answered in the last lecture. Questions run from such personal queries as, "Is there still fighting on the Island of Roi?", which indicate a recruit's interest in a brother or friend abroad, to tactical questions such as "Con- sidering the terrain of Italy, wasn't the Anzio beachhead a mistake?"
Lectures to recruits are only a fraction of War Orientation's activities. This office is in charge of the distribution of weekly news maps, files of maps, news bulletins posted around the station, and explanations of items of current interest such as the stories on the B-29s that raided Japan. Every
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other week on Wednesday night, discussions are held in Officer's Quarters, and a complete series of lectures is being planned for Ship's Company.
Cooks and Bakers and some Specialists (S) in training hear the War Orientation lectures.
The "U.S.S. Hunter" not only has gone to war. The war has come to the "U.S.S. Hunter."
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War Orientation
100000
TONS of CARGO
BY AIR
BY SEA
44
10.022 PLANES
SHIPS
3 200
120000 MEN
MEN
165 000 BARRELS-OIL
9000.000
BARRELS OIL
Stann
War Orientation Lecture.
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114
1
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A . A
SLA
Y
-
THE WAR FEASTS
THE JAPANESE WEL HIGHT HARG IC END THE WORLD'S GUNNE NINE FINTHS / TUNGSTEN AND SURPLUSES BI OW
NEWSMAP
San Francisco
Dover
Gibraltar
Suez
Australia
Ador
Panama
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Maps and Bulletins.
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MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
O N 1 February, the first Medical Officer, Commander Thomas A. Arrasmith (MC) USN, reported for duty at the U. S. Naval Train- ing School (WR) to plan the organization of the Medical Department, and to work out with the Commanding Officer the routine to be established in examining Wave recruits.
Within the first week in February, Medical Doctors, Dental Officers and Hospital Corpsmen were ordered to the station. By 22 February there were fifteen Medical Doctors (one the Senior Medical Officer), fourteen Assistant Medical Doctors, six Dental Officers and fifty male Hospital Corpsmen.
With this staff, preparations were made to give complete physical examinations to a Regiment on 22 February. There were, of course, physical inadequacies for a Medical Department in what had been a civilian college. The heavy physical science laboratory equipment on the third deck of Gillet had to be moved to clear the space for a Sick Bay. Partitions had to be built in the examining rooms on the fourth deck. The equipment and supplies, normally adequate for male Navy personnel were not adapted for the Women's Reserve, and the department had to set up new orders on drugs and instruments.
By the 27th of February there were 81 Hospital Corpsmen, 52 men and 29 Waves. The Wave corpsmen were X-ray technicians, Laboratory and Dental technicians. By 12 April, the Dental Officer staff had increased to 14; the Nurses had increased from 12 to 15.
On 29 May 1943, Captain John B. Farrior (MC) USN, reported for duty as Senior Medical Officer, replacing Commander Arrasmith.
The Medical Department is organized to take care of the different types and stages of physical disorders. For the first aches and pains, per- sonnel report to Sick Call in the Dispensary of Gillet. If the case warrants, the next step is Sick Bay, which has a bed capacity of forty-five. There the patient is admitted for treatment or further study, and may require any one of the following examinations which the Medical Department here is equipped to give: Laboratory, X-ray, Physiotherapy, Electro-Cardiograph and Basal Metabolism.
The department is essentially set up to give a thorough screening examination. In many cases where a recruit has had previous history of a physical ailment, she is sent to the Brooklyn Naval Hospital for further study. Illnesses of a serious nature are also treated there.
The Dental offices, which are open from 0830-2000 are equipped to
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handle 189 appointments a day. These appointments are made to fit into the recruit's daily schedule without interrupting her training program.
The physical examination is set up to cover one company a day, in sections of forty at a time. The check-up includes eyes, ears, height, weight, chest, heart, lungs, neuro-muscular, posture, gynecology, Laboratory, X-ray and Neuro-Psychiatric Observation. The initial inoculations, tetanus and typhoid, are given. A subsequent series of typhoid, tetanus and small pox, are given at later, spaced periods.
With eight doctors and thirty Hospital Corpsmen on the "Daisy Chain," as the physical examination is called, Waves are examined at the rate of one every two and a half minutes.
Through Regiment 35, 52,895 recruits have been physically examined. From the very beginning, there have been only 3.2% discharges of Waves for all reasons, and in this time, a total of only 787 medical discharges. This is a nominal number for the thousands who have passed carefully under the critical and watchful eyes of the department whose major concern is the health and comfort of the sick and injured of the Women's Reserve.
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Medical Record Office.
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT U.S.NAVY
USN
Ambulance.
133
5
-
-
Ready for the "Daisy Chain."
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"Shot."
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DEN
Dental Dispensary.
Laboratory Analysis.
135
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All-important Thermometer.
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T
136
Basal Metabolism.
Cauterizing Hand.
Diathermic Treatment.
137
REN
T
Dog Tags.
UNITED STATES DISPENSATORY
-
138
Drugs, Medications, Supplies.
Podiatrist.
Chest X-ray.
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SELECTION DEPARTMENT
T HE Navy career of every Wave recruit is largely determined by the Selection Office. Here, on the basis of the Navy's quotas for special- ized training and jobs, compiled by the Bureau of Personnel, the recruit is placed where she can best serve. She is given aptitude tests, lectures, demon- strations of special devices and individual interviews during the first nine days of her training. Then her final placement is determined by the Selection Officers, who consider her background qualifications, her Navy test scores, her personal preferences, as well as other factors about the recruit as an individual, before deciding how she can do her best job for the Navy.
While the greater part of the training school is organized to "make the recruit Navy," the Selection Office, occupied with its job of accurate classi- fication, acts also in a liaison capacity between this activity and the des- tination of every recruit who leaves the station.
Since the establishment of the Selection Office, Lieutenant Ewald B. Nyquist has been in charge, and in the earliest days when women Marines and Spars were trained at this activity and interviewed by officers of their own Corps, their classification was coordinated with that of the Waves through Lieutenant Nyquist.
Staffed, at first, with Women Reserve officers and male Yeomen the office also employed, for the first three Regiments, the services of three male Classification Specialists. The entire staff succeeded with real pioneer spirit in doing everything from testing to filing. The only Wave officer aboard with previous Navy classification experience was Lieutenant (jg) Helen M. Strauss (then Ensign Helen May), who was at the Navy's school at Cedar Falls, Iowa when it was operated as a "boot" school.
In the first months of the "U.S.S. Hunter" 75-80% were sent to advanced training schools. That percentage has now dropped to 45-50%. However, the number of schools was limited in those beginning months. Many mechanical and aviation billets which opened later were responsible for the establishment of new schools such as aerial gunnery. The number of specialty ratings have also increased and many new direct assignment billets have been opened to Waves.
Those schools which have been in existence only since the last few Regiments came aboard are Aircraft Plotting, Aerial Camera Repair and Anti-Aircraft Gunnery. Among the new direct assignment billets are Accounting, Civilian Aeronautics Authority Ground School work, Radio Technician and Cartographer.
On the other hand, some of the schools have been closed. Two of the
-
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oldest, Aviation Machinist's Mate and Aviation Metalsmith are no longer in existence but seamen on direct assignment at an air base may strike for these ratings.
Petty officer ratings are no longer given upon graduation from service schools, as they once were, although strikers have ample opportunity to advance in their jobs when the complement of their duty station permits. Trainees graduate from the service schools with Seaman 2c or 1c ratings.
The Classification interview has always been the most important phase of the Selection program. Now, with twenty Women's Reserve Classi- fication Specialists and five officers, all highly trained in personnel work, the interviewing schedule averages about forty recruits an hour, giving every recruit from twenty to thirty minutes and much longer if her case requires the time. This is the initial interview which does not take into account re-interviews for special schools or the testing and lectures, all of which average ten hours of group and individual attention.
The infinite detail necessary to the classification of 1680 recruits every two weeks has been so conscientiously handled by the Selection Officer and his staff that 90% of the trainees get either their first or second choice of assignment. This accurate placement has been the aim of the office and has accounted in large measure for the success of the enlisted branch of the Women's Reserve.
1
141
Arriving for First Selection Interview.
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KLOVE
...
R.GARNER SPc:
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The Personal Interview.
,
. ..
Selection Orientation.
AMIOHOR MACHINIST'S MATE
THREE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT QUALIFICATIONS ARE :
L DESIRE
都對在幫混,
2. PHYSICAL STAMINA
S. NAVY
3. PHYSICAL SIZE
WE YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES
Freis what you will learn Machinists Mate's School
I BASIC PHASE
I AIRPLANE PHASE"
ZENGINE PHASE
ICPERATIONS
Qualification Charts.
143
WAVES
2
THE
HOSPITA
HOSP
Hospital Corps Display.
Testing Scores.
144
Correlating Marks.
S
I
----
THROUGH THESE DOORS PASS THE MOST ESSENTIAL WOMEN IN THE WORLD
Wave Rates Identify Types of Service.
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UNIFORM DEPARTMENT
U NIFORMING as it is done aboard the U. S. Naval Training School (WR) is unusual, not only in the Navy, but in the entire retailing world. The organization on this activity is without precedent and may well be a revolutionary step in merchandising.
The problem of clothing the Wave recruits was a confounding one to Captain Amsden when the geographical location of the school and the num- ber of personnel, made completely impractical the Northampton method of uniforming - sending the girls downtown to a department store. Six retail stores in New York were licensed to purchase Wave uniforms, but from 1500-2000 recruits couldn't be sent to New York every two weeks to be fitted, go back within a week to be re-fitted, and perhaps once again to pick up their gear. As for wholesaling, the Navy flatly refused to go into the business of women's clothing, so issued gear was out of the question.
The Captain, with common sense observation, Navy logic, and com- plete disregardfor the traditions of the retail world, calmly delivered the ultimatum tha t the stores were to pool their resources and operate as a unit at the training school.
After maintaining, at first, that this could not be done, within a brief period, Abraham and Strauss, Bloomingdale's, Loeser's, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Wanamaker's, had formed the Retailers' Uniform Agency, Inc. (RUA). As a unit, they purchase the stock of government approved uniforms which stem from the single wholesale market, Women's Naval Uniforms, Inc., where every piece of gear is inspected by the Navy. The Women's Naval Uniforms, Inc. was not organized, however, until the fall of 1943.
RUA, run as a single unit, is headed by a General Manager, Mr. Vactor Chambers, who was appointed by the Board of Directors of the agency.
Lieutenant (jg) Dorothy L. Leeds (then Ensign Samuelson) came aboard two days before the school was commissioned. She saw the hold of Davis that had been allocated by the Captain for RUA with little expecta- tion that it would serve its purpose. It was, without pretense of being anything else, simply a basement. RUA had chalk marks on the deck. Within two weeks, the department, much as it looks today, was completed.
On 20 February, a "guinea pig platoon" was put through uniforming for timing. Thereafter, with very few hitches, the department was launched.
Uniforming is divided into three sections. The Controlled Section, which handles all scheduled uniforming and sells only government approved uniform items such as uniforms and raincoats, handbags and havelocks, is
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staffed entirely with RUA employees and Waves. The Uncontrolled Sections are the Accessory Shops and the Shoe Department. Actually they both work in close connection with the Uniform Department. The Accessory Shops sell lingerie and Wave accessories for cash. The shoe annex sells regulation oxfords at scheduled times to recruits.
All civilians employed by RUA are hired by Mr. Chambers, with the exception of the fitters who come two days a week from their respective stores, as follows: Monday and Tuesday, Macy's and Wanamaker's; Wed- nesday and Thursday, Abraham & Strauss and Loeser's; Friday and Saturday, Bloomingdale's and Saks. Also working directly from their depart- ment store, employees are the clerks in the Accessory Shops. These stores also appear on a regular schedule as follows: one week, Abraham & Strauss and Loeser's; the next week, Macy's and Saks; and the third week, Wana- maker's and Bloomingdale's.
When uniforms are fitted by a store during the two-day fitting schedule, they are trucked downtown and brought back, completed, in exactly one week.
RUA also runs a workroom for the benefit of Ship's Company and Officers.
It takes two weeks to uniform each Regiment. Lieutenant Leeds, who acts as liaison officer between the Navy and RUA, sets the policies and fitting standards. Her assistant, Lieutenant (jg) June Heelan, has been with her from the beginning. Working with Mrs. Leeds and Mrs. Heelan are Wave Specialists who check the alterations to see that they conform to Navy standards.
Every recruit gets a 10% discount on all her purchases. In the summer when "boots" are issued two winter uniforms and two greys, as well as accessories, the bill generally comes to $163.00, alterations about $5.70. The average $170.00 bill is paid by the recruit one minute after she is paid her uniform allowance of $200.00, the remainder being used for any articles of equipment such as additional shirts, another uniform, whites, or lingerie.
Uniforming has not drastically changed, but constant changes have been made in improving, sizing, and increasing the supply of all articles of gear. Jackets are longer now, the raincoat and overcoat have been improved, and above all, Wave sizes now run in shorts, longs and juniors. Most radical switch has been from last summer's cotton gabardine "gremlin" to the grey striped seersucker worn today. The change at first was a drain on the stores who could hardly supply the 70,000 Waves already in the field and the new recruits coming in. The shirts were changed from yoke to button style because of the laundering problem (button shirts could be ironed by
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machine). The new white handbag proves more practical than the white cotton cover that served as makeshift last summer. Hats now have snap-on tops, also for laundering reasons.
The main difficulties in Uniforming, aside from occasional lack of stock, are the difficult figures to handle, such as a stray 6'2" recruit, not accounted for in general sizes.
A typical Navy problem is trying to determine how much weight a "boot" will gain or lose during training. In addition, posture generally improves during this period, and straightened shoulders make jackets hang differently.
The net result is that every Wave leaves this school completely uniformed. This has been done with the complete cooperation of the Navy and civilian stores.
That the methods have been highly successful is best evidenced by the well-dressed Waves themselves.
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EXIT
NAVY
Hats, Bags, Hose, Ties.
NAVY
U. S. NA
U. S. NAVY
· NAVY
64
First Day, First Hat.
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Fitting Room.
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Accessory Shop.
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Summer Grey Seersucker.
40
Dress Whites.
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Winter Work Uniform.
Winter Dress Uniform.
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Uniform Gear for Rainy Days.
SP
It's Navy Blue and White This Season.
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TRANSPORTATION
T HE Transportation Office provides transportation for recruits not only after they arrive in New York to report at the "U.S.S. Hunter," but also when they leave for advanced training schools or direct assignments after they complete the basic training period.
Every two weeks, when a new regiment comes aboard, the Trans- portation Officer arranges for each draft to be brought from its point of arrival in New York City out to this station. The First Lieutenant's trucks pick up and deliver the baggage according to instructions by the Trans- portation Office. In a period of thirteen months, this office handled well over 100,000 pieces of baggage.
The Transportation Officer, Lieutenant (jg) Elizabeth B. Larkin, makes all arrangements with the railroads. When drafts include fifteen people or over, a military routing must be secured from the Bureau of Personnel. Transportation for officers and Ship's Company who are transferred to other stations is provided by this office, as well as return transportation for officers and petty officers accompanying drafts.
When planning a routing for a draft, the Transportation Officer must check time schedules, dining and sleeping car facilities with every railroad line over which the draft will travel. She must also inspect railroad cars for cleanliness and safety. Naval personnel are entitled to Pullman for over- night journeys and coach for day travel. The railroads must be given advance notice of seventy-two hours for movements of drafts involving over fifteen people. The Transportation Officer also instructs and supervises all officers and petty officers meeting trains, subways and busses bringing incoming drafts.
The Transportation Office was set up by Lieutenant (jg) Larkin, under the supervision of Lieutenant George H. Thompson, Disbursing Officer (now Supply and Disbursing Officer). Miss Larkin, aided by one male storekeeper and two storekeeper strikers, had but three weeks to arrange for the first out-going drafts from this school.
As the amount of work become overwhelming, Lieutenant (jg) John Lynch reported here as Transportation Officer and Miss Larkin served as his assistant. Lieutenant (jg) Noel F. Bahrenburg, Ensign Frances Armstrong (a Spar), four yeomen and a Marine corporal were added to the office which in June, 1943, reached its peak of personnel - a total of four officers, three storekeepers, four yeomen and a Marine corporal.
As the task became systematized, the personnel was drastically reduced in August, 1943, and at present Lieutenant (jg) Larkin and two store- keepers take care of the tremendous volume of work passing through the Transportation Office.
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