US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Bragg, NC)

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Views of recreational and athletic events. ln addition to tlie activities mentioned, the Special Serv- ices Branch is charged with the supervision of the Fort Bragg Councils of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the Sergeant's Cluli and the Post Grade School. The Fort Bragg Army Exchange Service, part of the Special Services Branch, operates or supervises all the revenue producing agencies on the Post. Included among these agencies are dry cleaning and tailoring estalmlisli- ments, a meat market and a grocery store. photo studios, barber shops, beauty parlors, the bus service, a shoe repair shop, a watch repair shop. and a dairy. Those agencies just mentioned are operated as conccssionsg other agencies. such as, the 'cafeterias and guest houses ol' the Service Clubs. are operated directly by the Exchange. A few statistics will widely illustrate the tremendous scope ol' the Exchange Service Operations. The total volume of sales ranges lmetween 5:Sl0,000,000.00 and 35l2,000,000.00 annually. All average ol 230,000 liottles ol' soft drinks and an equal nuinlier of bottles of licer are sold daily. Seventy- live thousand liars of candy are sold eacli niontli. wliile smokers buy 500,000 packs of cigarettes in time same tmeriod. This tremendous task requires a force of 96,11 civilian eni- plovecs. operating sivtv lwranclies. under the direction of four oflicers, headed lvy Major Farrar M. Colmlm. Major Colili. in Scplcnilier IUI-1, took over the direction ol' the Exchange from Major C. li. Triruble, who was the Fx- change Officer during most of 1912. 43 and bl-l.

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SERVICES his favorite recording. Weekly programs are made up for his enjoyment and each night of the Week the entertain- ment differs. There are dances, amateur shows, impromptu musicals, variety shows,i quiz programs and other activities. Five large Arnphitheaters throughout the Post provide facilities for showing U. S. 0. Camp Showsg for giving public addresses, or for any occasion in which there may be large gatherings. The soldier plays as hard as he works and at Fort Bragg he is given the opportunity to participate in almost every indoor and outdoor athletic game. Under the super- vision of Captain Robert P. Armstrong, the athletic pro- gram embraces all major sports from baseball in summer to basketball in winter. League competition provides an opportunity for spirited and friendly rivalry between units. ln the winter of l943-44 more than 400 'basketball games were played in the Fort Bragg league. The large Field House is the center for basketball and all other indoor sports and for individual and group physical conditioning programs. For outdoor activities Fort Bragg has fifteen baseball diamonds, fifty tennis courts, three golf courses and nine swimming ponds, to mention only a few of the facilities. Soldiers enjoying activities of special services

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Exchange officers, left to right, seated: Major Robertson, Chief Special Services Branch: Capt. Cooper: Major Cobb, Chief Army Exchange Section. Standing: Lt. Manley, Lt. Siemenslu. Office employees at worlr SPECIAL SEHVIEES The MPX , as the Exchange is known, is the soldiers general store. Like such establishments back home, it serves as an informal club, a place where the soldier can relax a bit and discuss what he pleases with his friends while consuming a bottle of beer or a dish of ice cream. ln the EXE a soldier may obtain all items of ordinary use not supplied by the Army, be it a tube of tooth paste or a box of stationery. EE.-as Buying magazines at news stand , 4l4, Profits derived from Exchange Service Operations are divided into two equal parts. Fifty percent goes to the Army Exchange Fund in Washington and fifty percent goes to the Fort Bragg Central Post Fund. Through the latter are financed most of the recreational, athletic and publication activities of the Post. . of hange tnwll -to . oif- Q' May!! P l ' 4 43 1 l 44