United States Military Academy West Point - Howitzer Yearbook (West Point, NY)

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to be expert artillerists. Firing was scheduled for Thursday, but the usual heavy fog mack- it. out of the question. Instead we were introduced to two unusual activities, mine laying and sound ranging. Mines, as a defensive arm, are sometimes more im- portant than even the guns, as tile fog proved. We were shown how they worked, how and where they wire laid, and all the other details. The case- mate was visited and there the control system was demonstrated. Sound ranging is a newer thing and most of it was too technical to arouse a great deal of enthusiasm in our youthful breasts, but it was undeniably interesting. The firing was, of course, the military climax of our visit. The day was perfect and results were very satisfactory from our point of view. The guns flashed and roared, the ground shook, hits were registered, and everyone but the gun crews had a lovely time. They, poor souls, labored and sweat, and had to take the worst of tile Mast. But we did other things at Fort Wright besides our morning half-dozens. From dinner until taps we were allowed to go wherever we wished on the island. Some fished, some swam, a few golfed, and a number slept during the afternoons. The first six companies were taken to New Lon- don for the Harvard- Yale races on the Thames. After we had been parked on the river for most of the afternoon, we watched some fellows go by in funny looking skiffs. News filtered in by radio that Yale had won, so we asked the chauffeur to take us back to the post. The last six companies. having no boat races over which to enthuse, were given an opportunity to visit the sixteen-inch dis- appearing gun at Fort Michie. Those who went felt that the time was well spent. For entertainment in the evenings we had movies and hops. The hops at the Service Club were very successful and did much to make our stay more enjoyable. The arrangements were made by the officers and ladies of the post, the music was fur- nished by the post orchestra, and our palatial mine planter brought over from New London a hand- picked group of femmes. The Hay Harbor Club, located near the post, asked us over to their hop, but the evening was rather chilly, unfortunately, and not all the men took advantage of the invi- tation. One night our admirable Frank Wandle — may his tribe increase! — engineered a stag party on the beach. A driftwood fire. Boiled lobsters, drinks. and the other appurtenances disappeared in a sur- prisingly short time. Then followed an impromptu song test which boosted the morale up and up until nothing would satisfy us but an equally impromptu pep meeting. The affair was a cold max, and ft I I P one hundred ninety-six

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children from their parents. But war is war, you know. And now we conn- to the meat of the nut. th time actually spent at the two posts. While only one half of the class was at cither end of the Sound at the same time, the experiences of both groups wire nearly identical atld may lie treated as such. We now have for your consideration Exhibit A. usually known as Fort H. (1. Wright, and Exhibit B, officially designated as Mitchell Field. EXHIBIT A Long Island Sound is a rather large body of water, as everyone knows, running eastward from New York City, and hounded on the south by Long Island. It is interesting to note here that the Skeptics Society is at present attempting to solve the question, Was Long Island Sound named af- ter Long Island, or vice versa? However this has little to do with our story. What was much more vital at the time was that Long Island Sound is long — very long. The longer we sailed away from the setting sun, the more we longed for Fisher ' s Island and supper. As the last rosy glow died in the west we felt that the chauffeur had started across the Atlantic by mistake. However our fears subsided as we began to pick up channel and shore lights ahead and on cither flank — as vmi wire. beam. (We must be salty, you know). Half an hour after Red Reeder had made his last wise crack about this noisy Sound. the dim out- lines of Fisher ' s Island loomed ahead of us and our voyage was temporarily at an end. At 10:00 P. M. we landed, and p week boning Coast. Long before daylight on the first morning we were awakened by a series of mournful hoots. Several men were heard to make bitter remarks about people who would leave cows out in the cold, but a foggy reveille routed that theory. No matter how hard you try. you can ' t get milk out of a fog horn. At Fort Wright our mornings were devoted to drill. Permanent assignments to the various de- tails were made and much time and effort were spent in learning how to handle the batteries of twelve and six-inch guns and twelve-inch mortars. Gun pointers pointed, in spite of what the Book of Etiquette says about such things, ramming de- tails rammed home, and base end stations got in their nefarious work. Our drill was real work, especially for the men in tin- pits, but it was not without its humor. Gene Smallwood stood by at a base end station out at the end of Nowhere until long after mess call had been sounded — most unusual conduct. Cal- houn, the dee] water sailor from Nashville, was directed by the battery commander to sight on the funnel of the target. He replied in a most regret- ful tone that he could not see the funnel but that he would sight on the smoke stack instead. And in the plotting room: Sergeant Ducrot. how many canned courses have you. ' Two. sir! Hun canned course number three backwards! Atld on. far into tl For five davs pent our morning lm.i.li-i-.l nincty-fiv

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wc can recommend its adoption as a tradition, if only for the sake of class spirit. On Saturday. June 20, the halves of the class changed places, the first six companies westward hound on the Baird and the last six moving to Fort Wright on the Ord, another mine planter. At one o ' clock the ships passed in the middle of the Sound in the midst of an uproar such as only Kaydcts can create. For once the Sound lived up to its name. EXHIBIT B Our noble predecessors of ' 23 hit behind them a horde of stories concerning the advantages of Mitchell field; its proximity to New York, the many attractions nearer at hand, and other hits of information. The result was that we had piped Mitchell Field long and consistently, conjuring ilissful visions of lots of time and lengthy leaves. Anticipation is always a deceitful wench and. in this instance, she upheld her former black reputa- tion — apparently. The last six companies, upon their arrival at the post, were informed that taps would be observed at 11:00 1 ' . M. and that we would not he allowed to go more than a few miles from the post. For a while the general impression was that New York, changed overnight from a playground to a den of all that is objectionable, would he visited only by special permission and under the most exceptional of circumstances. The news had a most depressing effect. For a few hours morale went way down and the future assumed a most dismal aspect. Word filtered through to the rest of us at Fort Wright that there was no justice and the result was truly awful. But experience proved that imagination is a re- markable thing when properly stimulated. Our fears were groundless and without reason. Per- mission to go to New York was readily granted after one had complied with two or three very simple conditions. In fact, on one occasion all those who had no other plans were taken in offi- cially to sec What Price Glory, the trip being made in a bus. On another day a trip was made to Coney Island and the little Kaydcts were al- lowed to amuse themselves to the limit. Both of these trips were very successful and were the re- sult of the kindness of the officers at Mitchell Field. But New York lost much of its attractive- ness when we were exposed to the hospitality of the post and tin- people in tin- near vicinity. There was no end of entertainment and fun. But wc digress. Mitchell Field, as you may have heard, is an Air Service post. More than anything else, we had ked forward to this opportunity to investigate the genus airplane in its native haunt. p i fcutv 8 in i i hundred ninety !