Knox College - Gale Yearbook (Galesburg, IL)

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Sgt Bob Robinxmz model- ling what Ihr wel!-drexsed soldier will Wear. Colonel Boetlcber or thirty antiquated rifles resurrected from the attic of Old Main, however, every- body had a chance to learn the manual of arms passably well. ROTC training consists of military drill and military theory classes. The teaching load fell, for the most of the year, upon the shoulders of two regular army men stationed at Knox: Colonel Arthur Captain Ford Boettcher and Captain Harold Ford. Later in the year the staff was augmented by Lieutenants Fein and Zimmerman of the field artillery. These lieutenants taught several basic classes and worked with the rifle team. Col. Boettcher, the head of the depart- ment, came to Knox from Syracuse, N. Y., where he had also been teaching military I

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Inrlmclizm in thing: military, lbe primary function of Old Sirvaslz. Major Blue, bead of the Air Carp: Training Program, lec- tures to his men on Willard field. World War, every year graduating twenty men as second lieutenants into the U. S. army reserves. The ROTC department at Knox has consistently been awarded the uexcellentn rating by the inspecting ofhcers of the Sixth Corps Area. In September more students than ever before enrolled in the military science cle- partment. Every man in the freshman class who was physically able took the course. Wasting no time in getting under way, all basic students were ordered to re- port to Sergeant Herndon and get out- fitted with their form-fitting uniforms. On the first Monday after school actually got under way, drill was called and the junior and senior men began the task of teaching the freshmen the mysteries of military drill. For these drills the students are assigned to one of four companies-A, B, C, or D, which in turn go to make up a battalion. Each of the four companies consists of approximately fifty men. The freshmen and sophomores are rated as privates or corporals, the junior students are given sergeant's stripesg while the second year advanced students, the seniors, are cadet commissioned ofhcers - ranging from sec- ond lieutenants up to cadet colonel, who is the battalion commander. Drill is held just once a week, between 3 :30 and 5 :3O Monday afternoons out on Willard held back of Old Main. The bugler blows assembly, roll is called, and the companies then march off to their as- signed drill area to practice. The new student learns the position of the soldier at attention, the difference between eyes right and right face -ad infinitum. One drill handicap was the rifle shortage, all the Springfield 1903's having been shipped off to the wars. By passing around twenty

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science. A man with a broad military background, the Colonel is a graduate of the Infantry School, Ft. Benning, Georgia, and the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He has also seen foreign service in Cuba, Panama, the Philippines, France, and Puerto Rico. His specialty, according to the seniors, is military history and tactics-they swear he niques. Students leave his classes with confidence in their military knowledge. Every man in the advanced corps would like to serve under Captain Ford in the field some day-he's the type of officer you would follow anywhere. The Colonel and the Captain have a full schedule, their teaching demands an amazingly diversified knowledge. Their Machine Gun Disanembly-Sgt. Herndon shows Chuck Boydxtun fleflj and Fred Boss the first step .U in taking dawn the heavy machine gun. knows the tactical maneuvers of every bat- tle ever fought by U. S. forces. Captain Harold Ford, himself a Knox graduate, class of '39, has been on the department staff for three years. He has studied at Benning and has spent: every summer on active duty in the field. The Captain is an excellent teacher-he is always abreast of the latest military tech- subjects range from leadership principles to machine gun disassembly and from care of motor vehicles to military history. The freshmen concentrate on riiie marksman- ship, military discipline and courtesy, first aid, and map reading. The sophomores spend considerable time on the automatic rifle, then take up musketry, scouting and patrolling, and combat principles of the