Aberdeen Proving Ground - Yearbook (Aberdeen, MD)

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Ji,.Ji,iJl5,.3iiliWO Q uk Ordnance men have To know every derail aboui each Jrype oi gun Jrhar Jrhe Army uses. He rnusi know how if is consfrucfeci, he musi know fhe srresses and srrains +o which if is subiecrq he musf know how +o repair if in Jrhe shop, how ro im- , 2, . nfl' 2 .1-14, ,p,13Q,'LJ ' ' , .. ,, ,jay-fl ' 3:9-2 2 E i??a21a 5 'V W.,- -W Je ez? 1 Top: Repairs in +he field. Above: Anfiaircraff gun firing. EEE Antieircrafi gun check. Work on gun barrel.

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llllli ll SIIHIIIIL The Ordnance Replacemenf Training Cenfer. Before The end of May, four more provisional companies were acTi- vaTed aT The school for The housing of enlisTed sTudenT personnel. On July 8 an evenT occurred which marked The begin- ning of a new branch of The school, a branch desfined To aTTain a size greafer Than any oTher. This was The sTarT of insTrucTion of The firsT class of Ordnance Officer Candidafe STudenTs. The iniTial enrollmenf was only a Tracfion of The class which now sTarTs weekly, buT, never- The less, iT was imporTanT. On Ocfober 8, affer Three monfhs of infensive Training and insTrucTion, approximaTely Three-guarfers of The class successfully complefed The course and were commissioned Second LieuTenanTs in The Ordnance Deparfmenf. A number of These men were assigned for duTy wiTh The School STaff and Faculfy. AT The Turn of The year, January, I942, The school balance sheeT boasTed almosT one hundred officers and over five hundred enlisTed men assigned To The sTaff. The officer sfudenf rosTer conTinued wiTh li++le change. buT The enlisTed specialisf course enrollmenf had iumped To well over a Thousand men under insTrucTion. AT This Time There were four officer courses and TwenTy enlisTed specialisf courses. The school conTinued wiTh iTs many Tasks, perfecfing and revising courses, adding new ma- Terial and discarding old, and The Training of insTrucTor personnel for any immediafe fuTure expansion. Many addifional duTies rnusT be performed in order To allow an organizafion such as The Ordnance School To make full use of iTs insTrucTion Time. Every hour ThaT a sTud-'enT spends aT The school is considered valuable. Therefore abouT all he does is aTTend classes or sTudy. The housekeeping rnusT be performed by oThers. Kifchen police dufy and company deTails are all performed by men of The 4OTh Ordnance Company lTng.l or The Ord- nance School Defachmenf. lnsTrucTion is rapid and every device To speed iT up and To make assimilaTion more swifT is employed. Training aids and TexTs are developed and wriTTen aT The school. These aids include charTs, diagrams, film slides, mofion picTures, mock-ups, and models. The school has iTs own phofographic secfion and a visual aid secfion. Much of The work is performed by These agencies. Models and mock-ups are builf by The insTrucTion secfion which is going To use Them. Charfs and diagrams are produced by The school draffing and arT secTions. Preparafion of school TexTs is an imporTanT funcfion. A sTudenT should have read his nexT day's assignmenf be- fore reporfing To class in order To successfully use every hour of insTrucTional class-Time. This necessiTaTes The use of TexTs. Since much of The eguipmenf used in insTrucTion is new, The regular War DeparTmenT TexTs have noT yeT been published. Therefore The insTrucTion secTions fur- nish The Technical facTs To The Publicafions Secfion of The Ordnance School and This secfion ediTs, prinTs, binds and disTribuTes The informafion. l.imiTed numbers of These TexTs are also provided To Ordnance unifs in The field. ln April, l942, The careful planning of The school paid off in big dividends. l-leadguarfers in WashingTon cle- creed ThaT The immediafe iob was To Train Thousands of enlisTed men for commissions as officers. This was To Take place wiThouT curfailing or inferfering wiTh insTruc- Tion in oTher secTions of The school. Since April l, Ten more officer Candidafe Companies have been acTivaTed, bringing The ToTal To fourfeen. There are seven general messes in exisfence. The school sTaff now has an acTual sTrengTh of almosT five hundred officers and nearly Two Thousand enlisTed men To care for adminisTraTive, insTrucTional and housekeeping loads. lnsTrucTors who had formerly been The only officers Teaching a given subiecf suddenly found Themselves aT The heads of secTions of a score or more officer insTruc- Tors, all Teaching The same subiecf. Courses increased so greafly ThaT To name Them would be cumbersome, and names have been replaced wiTh numerical code designa- Tions. AuTomoTive, once embodied in a single course. has developed info Three courses, and is aT presenT broken down inTo Twelve separafe enlisTed courses in addiTion To officers and officer candidafe courses. lnsTrucTional secTions, once housed in one small building, now occupies several large ones. All secTions of The Ordnance School are noT locafed aT The Aberdeen Proving Ground. ln Ocfober, l94O, The firsT branch school was formed aT Springfield, Massa- chuseTTs, -for The Training of machinisfs. The presenT number of enlisTed men undergoing insTrucTion aT This branch is abouf one hundred. A second branch school began in January, I942, aT Savanna, lllinois. Over six hundred sTudenTs regularly receive insTrucTion in Depof and Supply and AmmuniTion aT Savanna. Affiliafed schools have been esfablished aT planfs of civilian con- cerns who manufacfure Ordnance maferiel. Among Those in exisfence aT presenT are schools locafed aT Lansing, Michigan: Akron, Ohio: and DeTroiT, Michigan. The concerns include: Firesfone Tire and Rubber Company, General MoTors, and The Whife MoTors Company. The Ordnance School is beginning To produce a rich harvesf. Trained officers and enlisTed men are going everywhere To perform innumerable Ordnance Tasks in Thousands of places. Whaf The fuTure holds in sTore for The school-no one knows, buT The sTaff is ready To cope wiTh any siTuaTion, iusf as They have done in The pasT.

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provise repairs in The Tield, and he musT be able To cornpleTe These repairs in record Tirne. ln The ArTillery secTion oT The Proving Ground The various Types used by our Torces are TirsT TesTed and Tried under all sorTs oT condiTions. IT is here ThaT our new weapons are TirsT Tired, iT is here ThaT They receive The exacTing and rigorous TesTs ThaT will deTern'iine Their TiTness Tor accepTance in acTion. ln addiTion To Tinding and correcTing Tlaws in new Types oT guns The Ordnance man musT learn Thoroughly The '11 ix l .ink l l i l operaTional principles oT each Type oT piece. l-le musT be able To overhaul and puT baclc inTo operaTion pieces ThaT have been damaged, or which have worn ouT. On These pages we see various phases oT acTiviTy in This secTion, Trom Tiring The rnighTy railway guns To repairing quiclcly small deTecTs in anTiaircraTT guns. To W WW W k 'Ad M -,,, A.,s MM., ,N , , V' so Yeo gs, . L., ' w:.::f4Ll' L . , ..,,T.f ' if if . W. .w..,- Top Bg g re air. Above: Ready To mounf anfi- 'rcraff gun. - We X if Q' .,: Y gi ji J s f fl g X F6 z xx ii N , ' -F' ,- .. 5 ifii xg: 'TT ff . in '- 4 V, i i' if T V' T E 'A i ' 3 : i un barrel in for p CI Top. Anfiaircraff gun placemenf. Cenfer: Tesfing lighTer 'Field pieces. Above: A big gun roars. 1 :T Q ff' ok- rf' B ji - ff X X S' fa lh Q 4, -, ..- -, Q v 1 l 4 l l l l l I. F.