Page 80 - Mastheads Jan-June 1945

PAGE 4 . THE MASTHEAD, SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 1945

ATTENTION All TABLE MEET THE ARMED GUARD EDUCATIONAL OFFICE

TENNIS PLAYERS-
Within three weeks from the date
of this publication there Will be
crowned a table tennis champ pf
.rreasure Island.
Open Letter from Hawaii Starting Monday, March 26, the
Some . time a:go _we promised to first table tennis tournament on
reprint any letter received from one Treasure Island will get underway
to determine just who this champ i.s
of our 'Sea-going Waves. True to
our promise.-such a letter appears ... a Wave .. . sailor . .. marine.
below ~foIJ1 one of our girls in Ha- The event is open to everyone-
waii, which ,.one we are not per- the novice, 'professional, or just
mitted lo ~ay, but you are free to good players. Play will take place
exercise ':your imagination. in the game room of the Recreation
Building, taking the form of a five-
Hello ]\]very.one: day straight single elimination.
I ha;ve been looking for a type- Time for the play will be from
writei>• .for days to . peck out this
1800 to 2100.
note to ·a11 of you, and now I'll try
To register for the tournament,
to collect the history of my travels send your name to the hostess of-
if I c~n." .
fice of the Recreation Building giv-
A~'·you know my first stop was ing also your barracks number or
Shoe.maker for a couple ¢f weeks
department. Better still, you can
of training and outfitting bef9re we
telephone this information to Ex. 32.
left for Haw_aii. The morning we
Entries will . close Saturday,
went down to our ship was beauti- March 24, at 1200. Pairings will
ful, i~ n.d I was both .thrilled and be posted at 1300 in the game room
excited by my first" look at a- big of the Recreation Building.
ship. As we left the Golden Gate. Workout for Chess Players
all of us, Marines, Spars and Running parallel with the tennis PLAYING AN IMPORTANT role of training and examin- located on the main deck of the Armed Guard building,
Waves, had a sort of strange feel- event will be a chess tournament ing enlisted men to serve as petty officers in the vast is a virtual beehive of activity. The office examines up-
ing but most of them got over it for those who use brains instead Armed Guard fleet, the Armed Guard educational office, wards of 900 men each month.
very soon. As for me, my trip over of brawn in their leisure time. Rules
was a complete blank, and to make One of the more important of the native aptitude. Such factors as Through the Educational Office,
for entry, time, and date for this
a long story short~ my diet for five battle of wits are the same as for many divisions of the Armed Guard amount of sea duty, age, past ex- men are given the opportunity to
days was celery and crackers. contest above. Center (Pacific) is the Educational perience (military and civilian) , further their education and com-
When we came in sight of Diamond plete high school and college by
Oh yes, the prizes. We've not Office. Located on the main deck education, native ability, loyalty means of the United States Armed
Head on the morning of the fifth been told what the prizes will be
day I was singing "Give me land, as yet, but you can be sure that of the Armed Guard building, it is and leadership are considered in Forces Institute by way of corre-
lots of land" at the top of my voice, they'll be well worth trying for. a virtual bee-hive of activity. With making such selections. Every spondence courses that can be com-
and believe me, really meaning it. Why not come out and join the a pe·rsonnel of five Wave and five month the Educational Office pleted while a man is at sea.
You probably read about our fun ? Grab a friend and bring him male yeomen, under the supervi- "screens" 300 _or more men, assur- The Armed Guard educational
landing reception in the -papers, but too-the champ could be sitting sion of Lt. W. W. Cowan, this of- ance that those chosen are well routine places special emphasis on
wheri that .was over we all went right next to you. Or it could be flee plays the important role of suited for and will be happy in a fleet requirements in addition to
to the receiving station and were training and examining enlisted particular duty. Armed Guard requirements. Be-
you!
assigned to quonset huts. We spent men to serve as Petty Officers in The present policy of the Navy i.s cause of this thousands of well
our first two days catching up and the vast Armed Guard fleet. Each to select from the ranks of the trained men are transferred over a
waiting for assignments. Monday Don't Forget I. D. Cards month upward of 900 examinations enlisted-personnel, as the exigencies period of time to the fleet.
night we were royally entertained are processed to determine the of the service demand, qualified The duties of the Educational
Says Post Office
at Waikiki beach by men, music ability of men in fulfilling the mili- men and women for commissioned Office are many and broad in scope,
and food. The curfew you've heard The Post Office again warns that tary and special duties of the many officer training. Schools for thi.s these· include: Handling applica-
about affects us this way. Rated in order to pick up insured pare-els, rates familiar to the Armed Guard. training include Annapolis, V-7, tions for change of duty requests,
people have liberty till six-thirty After the grading department V-9, V-12 and the Navy Flight supplying examinations for oversea
Treasure Island personnel must be
p. m. and until ten p. m. with a in possession of their I. D. cards. has corrected and graded each Training for aviation pilots. Can- bases, and grading returned exams,
late pass. The measure came as a result of examination a BNP form No. 624 is dictates for these programs are in- equipping merchant vessels with
When our assignments were difficulties regarding ownership and completed and sent to the Person- terviewed and assisted in preparing necessary training courses so that
given us Wednesday, I found that has been in effect for some time. nel division. There the individual's required data for application. This enlisted men may prepare for ad-
I had drawn one of the best sta- service record is supplemented and is done by an experienced and com- vancement and distribution of
However, for those who are not
tions out here. I repacked my sea- aware of the ruling, this notice is the necessary notification is for- petent staff. After interviewing and monthly advancement lists to all
bag and our draft left for our new printed in an attempt to avoid any warded to the Bureau of Naval Per- passing judgment on the qualifica- port directors and liaison officers
home. Our reception was wonderful, sonnel. tions of each candidate the board throughout the world.
further misunderstanding.
and everybody got the lei greeting In a program especially designed makes appropriate recommendation Meet the Educational Office, be
which means that someone dashes ours, and we also have our own to place qualified personnel in spe- to be forwarded to BuPers. Ninety aware of the many opportunities
up, throws flowers around your ship's service and canteen. If we cialized billets when available, such candidates were processed in which the Armed Guard has made
neck and kisses you, which is very want to entertain dates on the sta- much emphasis is placed on a man's the month of February. available to all its personnel.
nice. tion there is lots to do and see.
Our working hours are different Speaking of dates, I've never been bomb' passes, it sounds like a small red dots would disappear. It
from 'those at home for we go to so popular in my life. My line of MAGICIANS RECALL flight of about 100 planes, with a gave us a tremendous thrill. It was
work at 7:20 a. m. and are off chatter was never deadly before so couple of Army six by six trucks like being ring-side for the greatest
early in the afternoon to avoid the I just lay it to the fact that women EXPERIENCES WHILE thrown in." show on earth."
heat of the day. We have liberty are a shortage out here. Just the
one day out of six and station lib- same the fellows are certainly nice, IN E. T.O. They were in London when the They were near the fighting lines
invasion of France was fired. While when the Ardennes bulge occurred.
erty every night till ten, with lights they don't even whistle.
While Eddie Cochrane and his returning home one night, Coch- Cochrane told of soldiers in the
out at eleven. Doesn't sound bad, Well, gang, I miss you all and
wife were entertaining American rane and a friend noticed, where American Army Quartermaster
does it? think of you often, hoping that
troops in Europe, they actually saw before, the harbor had ships packed Corps, stationed miles behind the
Our quarters are similar to those some of you will be out my
way the take-off of a German V-2 bomb. as tight as New York commuters front, grabbing guns and "go over
at home and are arranged cubicle soon and will look me up. on the subway, the harbor was the hill" toward the fighting in an
style with six to a cubicle. I have Till then, The Cochranes, billed as Coch- empty. Right after noticing the effort to stem the onrushing Ger-
never seen a nicer beauty shop than BETTY. rane and Nadine, a magician t-eam,
appeared on the Hollywood Unit harbor, they saw small red lights, man horde. In England, American
show at Theatre No. 1, recently. like fire flies, approaching over a soldiers were trying to bum rides
ARMED GUARD H O O P Q U E E N S "It looked like a comet," the hill top. They were the exhaust on planes bound for the fighting
flares of the planes towing the front. Some even tried to stowaway
thaumaturgists declared. "Though gliders, bound for France. on ships.
the bomb was traveling at an up- "There seemed to be hundreds of Returning to the states on a hos-
ward angle, and at a tremendous
them," the conjuror recalled. "As pital evacuation ship, the team
rate of speed, it looked as though
they got out over the channel, the gave 40 shows in six days.
it was slowly moving through the
sky. It didn't flash like a falling
star. We could see it until it be-
came a mere pin-point in the sky." BASKETBALL ... WAVES STYLE
Cochrane and his . wife spent 24
months in London, during which
time they played shows before Am-
erican troops throughout the Brit-
ish Isles, France, Belgium and
Germany.
At one time they put on a show
1500 yards back of the front lines.
"I don't think the German ob-
servers enjoyed the show," Coch-
rane said, "because we were about
in the middle of the act when they
opened fire on us with their artil-
lery."
While in London, the Cochranes
lived in what was called "Buzz
Bomb Alley."
GIRLS OF THE GUARD are these five from the Armed Guard Center "Every night," they recalled, TREASURE ISLAND BOUNCING BETSEY$, are left to right R.
who expect to create quite a splash in the Women's City Basketball "those 'buzz bombs' would come Chavez, Y2c; M. Worley, SKD2c; E. Gunland, SKD2c; E. Bond, Y2c; M.
League whic~ opened March 1 in San Francisco. Left to right, Reba Robertson, Y2c; H. McBride, Y1c; and M. Fry, SKD2c. The Treasure
Skinner, Y2c; Eva Bond, Y2c, team captain; Helen McBride, Y1c; over. A 'buzz bomb' is more terrify- Island team has been engaged in the district tournament for the past
Marian Fry, SKD2c; Edith Gunland, SKD2c; and Ann Gentsch, Y3c. ing than a V-2. When the 'buzz two months.