University of Virginia Naval ROTC - Long Glass Yearbook (Charlottesville, VA)

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I Battalion Hi tor W f- VW' f 4 ' ' ,fi Q ,J 5' wwf-2 'f' ' . ,- .i ,Q in if A if , if t, wwf MW, ,f y I, , , ff, ,, eww ff I ,V ,fyfy W7 f f.1ff f ,iw W I , f , ff f' 27594 , t 1 ' W W, affwff- f 1 if ,A ,ff 7 wwff , . f K , f , ff 1 gy yff,-,a0rg 'yi ig, ,ff ff M 'I W' I . ' . , . ff 4. ' 7 W ff f f Q -f'f f , , 2 ' vi ' ' WVU , C, FY f me 1 I 9 f X W' f 4 I , .,,, I VL M ,I V'f,w'f7fg 3, ,, K, I Zlfzff-ff sf , ' CWA? f 1., BRIEF SYNOPSIS . The battalion has undergone a number of changes since its inception before WWII. The university asked to have an NROTC unit in july, 1940 and it was in operation beginning that September. The speeded-up pm. gram during WWII led the first class to be commissioned well over 1000 lprobably closer to 20001 officers into the Naval Service. In its first two years of existence the unit held classes in Thornton Hall. Classes and offices were moved to the then new Maury Hall in November, 1942. The next major change came in May of 1953 when the Naval Armory was constructed for midshipman training. Midshipmen actually received hands-on training on a wide variety of then used naval weapons systems. When this type of training was phased out at the end of the fifties the name Naval Armory seemed somehow inappropriate. On December 12, 1959 the name was changed to Halsey Hall in honor of the late Adm. William Halsey who attended the University in 1899 and 1900 before going to the Naval Academy. By the mid-60s a number of the battalion 's traditions were already well- entrenched. Company competition, military weekend and all its accom- panying activities, awards day presentations, and even Honor Guard's yearly pilgrimage to Mardi Gras were already old Standards then. Those of us who were around under Captain Stark may well remember the end of the venerable practice of requiring voluntary blood donations from all midshipmen. That one has been around a long time before it was mercifully ended. Until the early 70s members of the unit would travel to the Na val Academy and Pensacola for orientation and indoctrination trips. For a time the unit even had a mascot - a goat, which was on hand for Army-Navy football games and the like. 26 .af sf? .. l I xr I 1 4-fe i 1 . mf I '1 .ff ,. 1 x NN I . M K . mf- ,h i

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1941-1981 A5 the 60s progressed the unit steadily grew in size until 1968 when there were 85 entering college program freshmen and a total enrollment of 347 ! These high numbers are attributable to the draft and the escalation of the ' War which sent college-age men scrambling for a deferment, Vietnam and what was better than ROTC? The increasing anti-war agitation of the early 70s did not bypass Virginia. ' faculty opposition to ROTC showed up in a 1969 Arts and Sci- Growing ences vote to eliminate degree credit for all ROTC courses. It has only been an upgrading in quality and a steady push for acceptance that has returned the amount of credit given now. The nights of May 4 and May 6, 0 Maury Hall occupied by student protestors numbering 100 or so 197 saw on the 4th and over 200 on the 6th, including student activist and Chicago . . . d 7 member Ierry Rubin. The occupations resulted in broken windows an l minor collateral damage. The following year saw an incident where a on y o hecklers interrupted drill by forming up and marching on the dozen or s drill area in mock fashion in the midst of NROTC platoons. When the Unit . . ku CO intervened he was sprayed with shaving cream and cursed. The hec I shouted obscenities at the midshipmen until the Dean of Students ers h' h time the hecklers quickly departed The students were arrived at w IC . brought before the ludiciary Committee where charges were contemptu- usl dismissed The last incident occured in April, 1972 when red paint o y - was tossed in the steps of Maury Hall to protest the recommenced bomb- ing of North Vietnam. Excitement- and enrollment - fell off after the war, with the only new f t fthe unit being our beloved orientation week fbegun in 19721 and ace s o the Long Glass itself. The Long Glass originated in 1972 as a soft-cover 'I ent more publication resembling a Salty Cavalier, plus editona comm , than a earbook. The first yearbook edition of the Long Glass appeared in Y 1976 and, of course, continues to the present day. 1, '? G-'I' '76 55 1 --1 -Q 1