Memphis State University - DeSoto Yearbook (Memphis, TN)

Page 22 text:

ROTC Extends Learning to the Skies Night flying blends special navigational skills with unique beauty. Above skyscrapers a tiny black dot broke through the clouds. It would have been unnoticed if not for the white haze that marked its trail. Young men taking advantage of a thrilling learning opportunity flew these jet planes. During 1976 the Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) program taught over 1500 graduates national ROTC programs the mastery of flying jets. From Memphis State University five second lieutenants were called to serve. 18 Academics

Page 21 text:

With the addition of the modern $250,000 Charles H. Nash Museum to the original museum facility in 1976, Chucalissa was equipped to provide visitors with new exhibits and a 100-seat auditorium for slide presentations. Museum staff members were also involved in various community ser- vices, including identification of archaeological sites in the area. We go to high schools and ele- mentary schools and give talks and demonstrations that realistically tell how the Indians lived. This summer Wood Bell and Grady John, whose Choctaw families live and work on the grounds, have given talks and craft demonstrations at the public libraries, said Haggitt. If anyone finds any pottery, arrowheads or bones, said Smith, we ' d love to see them and attempt to identify them. We ' ve learned many facts about the area as a result of people bringing artifacts to us. We can help the public and it can help us. Mark Haggitt explains the ancient Indian method of drying animal skins to a group of visitors touring the village. William Hancock and Pat Sledge paint mannequins for one of the museum ' s life-size exhibits. Academics 17

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ROTC cadets gain most of their pre-UPT instruction in single engine airplanes. Jets such as the T-38 supply training on more elaborate systems. They learned from the ground up, said Capt. Lou Melinne as he spoke to a MSU ROTC class briefing them about UPT. They began learn- ing how to fly a jet by practicing parachuting and its landing pro- cedures in case of emergencies. After a week of preliminary train- ing every student climbed into a T-37 jet. Fifteen flight-hours later each manned it for his first solo flight. For the next 51 weeks each day was spent studying flight pro- cedures. Academics 19