Washington High School Cadets - Adjutant Yearbook (Washington, DC)

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DR. LUTHER REICHELDERFER First Colonel of the Washi'ngton High School Cadets, now President of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia

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Cadet Camp By Captain Charles W. Hart, H. S. C. M Q L1 - TUG OF WAR OR three weeks each summer, Cadets are given a wonderful opportunity to know and appreciate each other more. Cadet Camp, start- ing shortly after school closes, gives them this companionship, a fine camp experience, and a military training fully as valuable as a semester of drill, all for a dollar a day. Camp Simms, so generously loaned for the enterprise by the National Guard, has a fine fifty foot swimming pool, a remarkable six hundred yard outdoor rifle range, a large playing field for baseball, and an excellent drill ground. The buildings include the officers' quarters, a mess hall large enough for a hundred and sixty boys, a garage, just recently built, and the canteen, where the boys purchase their extras in the way of food. When camp opened on the twenty-ninth of June last year, the instructors were pleased to find that the number of cadets enrolled came to about a hundred and forty, just twice as many as the year before. Two eight-squad companies were organized, and there was close competition between them in regard to drill, discipline, and the cleanliness of the barracks. Starting Monday, we started a program which rounded us into fine physical trim by the time camp ended. We arose reluctantly at 6.30, went through ten minutes of setting up exer- cises, went in and made up our bunks, had breakfast, fmishled cleaning up the barracks, drilled for an hour and a half, and then, until lunch, attended lectures on such topics as mili- tary courtesy, war games, ceremonies, guard duty, personal hygiene, and hints for company commanders. After lunch, we had an hour free before our period of saber instruction. After our saber drill, we were usually free for the rest of the afternoon. After supper, came Retreat, the lowering of the Flag, and then followed Guard Mounting. From then until the Call to Quarters, we could do anything we wished. At Taps, all lights had to be out, and the barracks were quiet. One of the most interesting features of the camp was the series of war game manoeuvers, worked out with the cadets fighting the assist- ant instructors. The most interesting of the games was a night attack problem, starting at nine and lasting until eleven. This annual series gives splendid training to future war game commanders. Among the athletic contests were a track meet, a swimming meet, and a company base- ball game. The Fourth of July, coming as camp got in full swing, was the big day of the three weeks. In the drill periods, cadets took turns drilling in the positions they would probably hold when they returned to school in the Fall. In the inter- company drill, held on the last Friday of camp. the cadets from McKinley and Western, under Captain Weber, won from the Central, Business, and Eastern cadets under Major Culverwell. On the evening of our last Friday at camp, a battalion review was held, at which the out- standing cadets at camp were honored. First place was awarded to Colonel Stearns, of Cen- tral: second place, to Captain Church, of Western: and third place, to Lieutenant Finley, of Business. When camp ended on the morning of the twentieth, the cadets who had attended camp took away with them many pleasant memories of their three weeks together, and a fuller under- standing of the underlying spirit of the Corps. SACK RACE

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an '..t1:zii:f1H'w1'f +f'f'-. ' ft' Major Aaron Goldman, H. S. C. i Interviews Commissioner Luther Reichelderfer ECLARING that membership in the Wash- ington High School Cadet Corps oifers the young man an unusual opportunity to gain experience in responsibility and cooperation, Dr. Luther Reichelderfer, present Commissioner of the District of Columbia, and first Cadet Colonel of the High School Cadets, went on to relate his experiences and associations with that organization. In 1890 when I entered the old Central High School, which' was then located at 7th and O Streets, I immediately joinedthe Cadets. Membership was not compulsory, but we were able to recruit enough boys to organize four companies, each containing about forty cadets. We were obliged, however, to reject some of the boys on account of their height, or rather. their lack of height. At that time we used the old 45 caliber single shot black powder Spring- field, which was awkward for even some of the larger boys to handle. Dr. Reichelderfer holds the unique distinc- tion of having been the highest commanding, oflicer for two consecutive years. The high school course in 1892 consisted of only three years. In his third year he attained the rank of Major, in command of the Battalion, which was then the largest unit. It was at the end of this year that the high school course was extended to four years. Dr. Reichelderfer con- tinued at school the next year and was awarded the colonelcy, since this was the first time that there were enough companies to form a regi- ment. Commissioner Reichelderfer, in looking over the 1929 ADJUTANT, was very much inter- ested in reading the Competitive Drill Program. In my time. he said, the Drill consisted only of a manual of Arms, which was held on the stage in the Assembly Hall of the School. The only foot movements were marching on and off the stage. After the winning company had been awarded the coveted red ribbons, all the cadets were treated to a modest supper of ice cream and cake. There was no Allison Naylor Medal at this time: the captain merely received the red ribbon. I have .one somewhere that I won in 1890, when Irwas a private in Co. C, which was commanded by Captain Edward Duval. On the basis of his experience in the Cadet Corps, Dr. Reichelderfer entered the National Guard as a First Lieutenant in charge of Rifle Practice. He served in this organization for 23 years, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During the World War he was in France for one year, serving there as Colonel with the Medical Corps. We had no band either in those days, ob- served Dr. Reichelderfer, as he glanced at the picture in the ADJUTANT of the cup awarded to the winning band. The Marine Band us- ually played at our dress parade .... It is really astonishing how the Cadet Corps has grown from a Battalion of four companies and one military instructor to a Brigade of almost thirty companies and four military instructors. He glanced at my uniform. . The uniform has changed, he remarked, but the spirit of willingness, obedience, trustworthiness, and de- termination is now, and will continue to be, the same. It is that very spirit that has remained with me, and recalls in me those pleasant recol- lections of my association with the Washington High School Cadet Corps.