Hill Military Academy - Adjutant Yearbook (Portland, OR)

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fine spirit shown' by the losers in being the first to give their yell for the winners. This spirit was commented upon very favorably by the officers who acted as judges. The battalion of 1924-25 has demonstrated it is a better organi- zation than that of 1923-24, and it is proper it should be. Now for the battalion of 1925-26, you will either be better or Worse, you can't just equal. We believe it will be a further advance. How about it class of 1926? Let's see your stuff. The Work of the military department during the past year, has been a distinct success. The members of the class of 725 have done their part Well, too much praise cannot be given them. Good-bye '25, may all your future efforts be as successful, is the best Wish that can be given you. Major Luther Felker U. S. A. Commandant.

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Co. A. Co. B. Co. C. Hqrs. CO. 1. Rifle Marksmanship 6 1 6 3 2. Discipline, camp 1 6 6 3 3. Company Inspection 6 3 1 4. Squad drill 1 6 3 S. Extended order 3 6 1 6. Manual of arms 6 3 1 7. Relay race by company 3 6 1 8. Battalion parade 6 3 1 32 34 20 6 Company HB commanded by Cadet Captain Carroll Dean won the competetition with thirty-four points. Company HB earned their reward as they had worked hard preparing for the event, several oc- casions staying out after recall from the drill period to further perfect themselves. Captain Dean was presented with a handsome engraved regular ofiicer's saber. Good luck to you. Carroll, you worked hard and concientiously for it, may your ambitions of the future be achieved as this one was and they will be, when you put the same conscientious effort back of them. Company A, commanded by Cadet Captain Ford Livermore won second place with thirty-two points. It was a close second and they deserved it to be close as the work of the company was a fine example of Well trained team work combined with the fighting spirit to win. Ford, you deserve credit for the fine qualities of leadership you showed, by the loyal support and hard fight company A put up for the prize. Company A has nothing to be ashamed of in this drill, but you have every reason to be proud of your fine work. Company C, commanded by Cadet .Captain Ralph Shaffer was third with twenty points. Next to the fine showing made by the whole battalion the most outstanding feature was the progress in training shown by company .C. Their work was fine and they put up a great fight but the handicap of size was too much. There is not an organization of cadets your size could have beaten you. Corporal Bates squad put up a snappy drill in the squad event, and won second place, only after they were several times recalled for further drill to determine first place. Ralph, you deserve full credit for the progress and interest the cadets of company C. have showing in the work the past school year. You have always been on the job and your company shows it. It is not intended to imply in the above that the captains alone are responsible for the excellent, showing made by their organi- zations. They did their part and deserve full credit, however, like the fight at San Juan in '98, this was the privates battle and was made possible by the interest and hard work of all concerned. After this day everyone who saw the drill knows H. M. A., has a REAL cadet battalion, a well trained and disciplined cadet organization that every member can well be proud of belonging to. In closing, we add that one of the fine parts of the drill was the

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GALLERY RANGE PRACTICE AND ' RIFLE MARKSMANSHIP INSTRUCTION. Built on a foundation that was well started in the school year from September 12, 1923 to June 11, 1924, the ,rifle instruction of this past year has shown marked improvement and has reached quite a high degree of efficiency. Major Luther Felker, U. S. A., our commandant deserves great praise for his leadership in this matter. It has been a pleasure and a profit to all who have cooperat- ed with him and have had the benefit of this practice in marksman- ship. A true eye, steady nerve, a determination to win, to be right, to be exact, these are among the aims of the boys who have quali- fied in this department of cadet life. Of decided help have been the short talks given by the com- manders of the companies. ' When the cadets went to Rocky Butte in May, 1924, they were given a more thorough course than they had been given earlier in the year. The battalion as a whole did very well and a good many of the cadets qualified for medals given for a certain degree of proficiency in shooting. The course that was fired was one that Army Officials had worked out. In the summer, about fifteen cadets went to the C. M. T. Camp at Camp Lewis. Here, due to their previous experience, nearly all of them made the required score to qualify for medals. They also were given the task of coaching the boys who did not know so much about rifle firing. All in all the year was very successful. This year started out with a bang! First the companies were divided into groups with officers and the first sergeant in charge. Each cadet in charge was an instructor and it was his duty to see that the cadets under his supervision were properly instructed. The first step was the sighting bar with its various uses for bringing out the defects in a cadetls sight alignment. The next thing on the schedule was the nomenclature of the rifle. After a few days of this, in which the pupils became very proficient, they turned to the triangle exercise. The implements used in this exercise are, a rifle, a box on which the rifle rests, a piece of paper as a target back- ground and a movable target. Before this they were taught the different positions and the use of the sling. When instructing his group the instructor sights the rifle on the target correctly then he has the spot marked. Next the pupil sights the rifle on the target and the spot is marked. The sight alignment is changed and the pupil endeavours to bring the sights back to the correct alignment again. When he thinks he has done so he has the spot marked. After he has done this three times the instructor looks at the group of spots. If they are close together it shows that the pupills ability to align the sights is good, but if they are widely spaced it indicates that he does not know how to align the sights correctly. The next thing that was done was to have them pass a test to find out if they had been properly instructed. If they passed this