US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Eustis, VA)

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I Fort Eustis- O-D -Fort Eustis h X QQ9 , q F W ff PROCESSING FATF W To wan. Q Eustis and out again at the end of the month's training fe as ' Q The details of safely getting the CMTC into Fort fAlfi?fffjf5'03? ' Q 0 Q , Q - . . ss X O I A www, E X 'O Nexy 25555. o f y? were carefully arranged many months in advance. V Q Before dawn on July 8 the officers and non-commis- xv ,X ' Q Q-Elf sioned oHicers who were attached to the CMTC were K iff If f at their designated posts ready to receive the inhux 'W V 118 of youngsters. They came by boat and train and C: ow ,'-Ll :elonga- automobile, from near and far, and all promptly went ftsof f f .v,.:-Q through that same round of examinations and fitting f of uniforms that the military authorities call proces- Q fig! X R singw. At the main gate to the reservation they A Qjwff disembarked from the trains and trucks that had X Q! .SE-sijf brought them thus far. Here their orders for camp F get mm and other papers were inspected and they continued f on for an interview with the surgeons. Each man put his civilian clothes in a barracks bag and underwent a thorough physical examination. If successful in passing this examination, the candidates were turned over to the Supply Officer who comfortably fitted them with everything from shoes to hats and sent them on to their companies where they were assigned to their quarters. GRIST OF TI-IE MILL LESLIE C. 'WHEAT, Captain, 34th Infantry Omohundro, OiReilly, Paoli, Pennington, Petrovsky, Pomolianf, answered in as many brogues and inflections by a lusty I-Ierel It is not the roll call of the Foreign Legion but that of any Company, CMTC. From the mountain districts they come where Whose service is perfect freedom means what it says in more ways than one. For some, who come from the congested districts of great cities, this month in camp is Uncle Sam's Fresh Air Farm. Wfhat made them come to camp? W'hat do they expect to get out of it? They could not give you a decisively sensible answer on the day they arrive. Ask them the same question on the day they leave. Quickly and clearly come the answers-everyone different but any one of them good and sufficient. One came to carry off the prize as best Basic, another came to clean 'em up at riHe shooting, another came to finish up his fourth year toward a Reserve commission. Now, about that training. When we start our plans we must remember that a month's a month and when allowance is made for arrivals and departures there are just about three weeks left. Other factors that cannot be overlooked are differences in hardness and in the degree of military training of the men. For the Basic training we stick to the essential basic subjects that are best suited to carry out our purpose. We give them a lot of close order drill to teach them coordination between mind and body and the habit of prompt and unquestioning obedience to proper authority. Then we teach them to shoot. That's good training for hand and eye. It also makes them better able to carry out their obligations in time of great emergency. VVe discuss their problems of citizenship with them too, but we try chiefly to see that they acquire habits and traits of character that make them better citizens. For their moral health we offer them unlimited facilities for clean recreation. For their spiritual welfare we offer them ample facilities for worship, whatever their faith. Perhaps you did not have an opportunity to get to camp this year to see your son actually undergoing that transformation, in his spiritual make-up that so astounded you when he came back from Eustis. See him at work and at play next year with his comrades from every part of the Third Corps Area. 'We think we can make of you what we have made of your son, a valuable and valued friend, who, recognizing the quickening spirit of the CNITC in himself, seeks to spread the gospel of good citizenship. Pa vw Nizw! '-211.718 D x :V1'-Yn'.YnYnVnYAYnYnV4'.U-EYuv-VnYnVn'4Y-YnYnVnYaVn'nYJ U s 1 . A 1 n A q , n A 4 A I

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'X 'X 011 s . 3 S 5 1 S - S S S S S 1 f a Fort Eustis- O-DH-Fort Eustis A DEMOBILIZATION 'Before four o'clock on the morning of August 6 nearly every CMTC company was wide awake vocally and physically, so that sleep was impossible for the trainee for whom first call had to be more or less of call and recall' during twenty-nine mornings of his month's stay in camp. r The march to Yorktown and 'back to Eustis had been made after a glorious fight on the battlefield of 1781 that acted as a fitting climax to the training of the CMTC. Mileage had been paid out the day before, tickets bought and collected again, equipment turned in and nothing left to the students but pleasant memories and the comforts of bed and food. The tickets which had been purchased the afternoon before were collected at that time by the company commanders and placed in respective envelopes, each one of which bore the man's name and company. After mess in the morning these tickets were given to the student together with his discharge certificate which read that he was to advance a course, repeat his course or was desired for no further military training. The CMTC of Eustis had very few in the latter class. The final physical examinations had been given on August 3, 4 and 5 to those students who by regulations were required to take them and it remained for the CMTC student only to don his civilian clothes and take his departure. Strange beings were these new civilians with their faces bronzed by the Virginia sun and awkward in clothes that had fitted sheikishly but four weeks before. They seemed ill at ease as they wandered aimlessly around camp during the early morning hours. The railroad and bus lines had arranged for transportation direct from the CMTC area and two trains, leaving about eight carried the bulk of students to Richmond and Norfolk, the 'junction points from which they could go to their homes. The nearby com- munities were served by the busses which came directly into the area. Some students left by private automobiles and those going to Baltimore and Washington were carried to York- town by bus. Few students remained in camp after mid-day. VVe were glad to see you come, many of you as undisciplined youngsters, and as the strains of '4Auld Lang Syne, played by the 34th Infantry Band which preceded you in so many parades, broke on the clear morning air, we felt sorry, sincerely sorry, that we should have to wait another summer before renewing the friendships formed during your training period. As we turn back to the Quartermaster and the Ordnance Officer the supplies for your bodily comforts and instruction, huge though the task may be, we are thankful for our share in the work of sending you to your homes better and more apprecia- tive Americans for your month's experience at Fort Eustis. DEPARTURE ron Home Page One Hundrfd