University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

Page 19 text:

Beavers and Chipmunks Early in the course of the war, Presi- dent Baker offered the services of Massa- chusetts State College to the War De- partment in whatever way these services might be utilized, and, particularly, for the training of members of the military forces. In January, 1943, there came a telegram to the College from the Director of Individual Training Headquarters, Army Air Forces, Washington, D. C, asking for a report by wire as to facilities for housing and training air force cadets in a program soon to be undertaken. A detailed report was dispatched in- dicating that the College could accom- modate 750 cadets in a training program. On February 19, 1943, the Army Air Forces indicated that Trainees would be sent to the College, and the first con- tingent of these men, called Aviation Students (A S) arrived on February 28th. From then through May, 1944, when this type of training program was discon- tinued, nearly 2400 young enlisted men and non-commissioned officers in the Army Air Forces received training at Massachusetts State preparatory to their pre-flight course at army fields. Major General T. J. Hanley, Jr., com- manding general of the Army Air Forces Eastern Flying Training Command, stated the purpose of the College Training Detachments as follows: To bridge the gap, the ever-increasing gap, between the presently low and simple requirements to enter the air corps and the high and complicated demands upon the student when he is in. The training program for the 58th College Training Detachment at Massachusetts State consisted of four parts: 1) ten hours of dual control flying at the Westfield Airport, 2) courses in military discipline which were handled by the 58th headquarters staff ' (Captain Dewey W. Couri and Captain Richard J. Congleton were successively commanding officers), 3) physical training, 4) academic courses. The academic course was twenty-one weeks in length; it was organized in such a way that a group, or Squadron, of A S was graduated each month — when another group would arrive to take the place of those who had shipped out. The curriculum was so organized and directed that each course applied very definitely to helping a man operate an airplane intelligently. Physics was taught with relation to forces which act on a plane in flight. Geography dealt with the use of maps, with time belts, meteorol- ogy and climate. History was confined to such topics as form the background for the present war. English was directed toward the improve- ment of speed and comprehension in reading and toward the development of precision and facility of expression in writing and in speech. Mathematics was taught on the basis that operating an airplane represents one mathematical calculation after another. The physical training program included conditioning activities — cross country. 15

Page 18 text:

58 ' CTD MSC

Page 20 text:

wind-sprints, grass drills, obstacle course running, swimming and first aid. Nearly 100 members of the faculty de- voted a great portion of their time to the teaching of courses for the 58th. In addi- tion, the A S were provided with the complete facilities in Draper Hall for their mess. The boys were housed in Lewis and Thatcher Halls and in Abigail Adams House, all of which had double decker beds installed by the Army. All of the facilities of the college in- firmary were turned over to the 58th, and the Phi Sigma Kappa house was con- verted into a temporary infirmary for the civilian students. Memorial Hall served as the 58th headquarters. During the course of the program the following statement was transmitted to the college staft ' : The Trustees of Massa- chusetts State College wish to express their appreciation to all members of the college staft ' for the splendid response which they have made to the challenge of the war. President Baker has reported to the Board the fine spirit in which in- structors have taken up new assignments in connection with the Army Air Force Training Program and how other mem- bers of the college staft ' have offered to assist regular instructors. We are con- vinced that through the efforts of all staff members Massachusetts State College is playing a vital and effective role in World War II. Captain Congleton ex- pressed himself in a similar vein in many talks which he gave before service clubs up and down the Connecticut Valley. He said, The citizens of this Commonwealth may well be proud and should be proud of the part which Massachusetts State College is playing in the war training program. The educational and military back- ground of students in the air corps pro- gram, as exemplified by the 58th, was varied. There were college graduates, college students, boys with high school diplomas, and those who had not com- pleted high school, enrolled in the groups on campus. There were men with no previous military experience, some who had ROTC training, and some old soldiers who had been all of two or three years in the service, both in the United States and overseas. One A S at the College was a transfer from the Navy. This man had been aboard the West Virginia when that ship was sunk at Pearl Harbor. He got ashore. He was aboard the carrier Lexington when that ship was sunk. He got ashore. Right at that point he decided he should learn how to drop the bombs himself, rather than, simply, have bombs dropped 16