This black and white 1944 War Department Official Training Film TF21 2067 Army Service Forces is Part 2 of two parts (Part 1 is 28934). It was presented by the Milwaukee Public Museum. It opens with the Sergeant waking the men up with a loud whistle (:14-:34). The men march (:40-:50). The soldiers are given an Army Classification Test, which is a written exam (:53-2:20). Soldiers are individually interviewed and the “yellow card” Form 20 is shown and explained (2:21-6:15). The men line up at the Infirmary and get shots. Outside they move around their sore arms (6:16-7:28). The men sit in a dark room and watch a military film (7:29-7:42). More marching, a close-order drill with many mistakes, and more marching (7:43-9:05). The men, wearing fatigues, march with brooms, and then use them to sweep the ground outside. Others police the area by picking up cigarette butts (9:06-9:48). The warehouse detail involves unloading trucks (9:49-10:00). Kitchen detail includes scrubbing pots (10:01-10:31). A soldier plays a trumpet, the flag is lowered, and a soldier stands at salute during the ceremony (10:32-11:10). The men carry their Army bags and load onto the train to leave for basic training (11:12-11:38). After leaving the train, the soldiers line up and load into trucks (13:22-14:05). A soldier stands at night in the rain doing interior guard duty (14:10). The soldiers learn how to dig foxholes (14:20-14:53). They learn to read maps (14:59). A line of soldiers simultaneously salute (15:00). They learn first aid (15:08). A soldier completely covered in camouflage bushes stands up and walks (15:11-15:15). They learn how to shoot a rifle and read more maps (15:17-15:23). A bird’s eye view is shown of many soldiers standing in straight lines, simultaneously exercising with their guns (15:27-15:30). The soldiers run an obstacle course, jump over fences, weave through a maze, jump over a trench, and swing on rope to cross a pit (15:31-15:42). They practice getting down in blasts and crawling under fire (15:42-15:52). In their free time, soldiers visit the Post Exchange, known as the PX, where they can have a beer, drink a shake, and eat a hamburger (16:20-16:39). Soldiers relax outside, smoking cigarettes (16:40-16:45). The Company Day Room has books and billiard tables (16:53-16:57). Movies are shown in the Recreation Hall (16:58), where soldiers dance with local girls (16:59). Sports include baseball (17:02). There’s also a church, with a Chaplain you can talk privately to (17:05-17:27). A poster for the 1943 War Fund shows Clara Barton and says “The Greatest Mother in the World” (17:28). Dental service is provided (17:35). Soldiers with a pass go to the USO Club for dancing (17:38-18:00). A warning screen at the end prohibits showing this film to the general public without permission of the War Department (19:45).
Very interesting
ReplyDeleteA bit different from June 1966 when the Army was reopening all sorts of older barracks, I spent a week putting footlockers together waiting for our company to be filled up. After two years of ROTC I expected a whole lot of Basic Training Chicken-Shit and I was surprised. We had very good officers and sergeants, an exception First Sgt who had been in WWII, Korea and already done a tour in Nam. He was interested in turning out soldiers who could run, incredible about of PT, shoot, lots and lots of time on the range and dry firing and not much time polishing stuff that just needed to be clean. Lots of humor and respect for us tools.
ReplyDeleteWe had a platoon of black soldiers who had signed up for Airborne, the graduating class of a Detroit High School and they were hard working men. There were a handful of us in our company who were enlisted for the ASA, Army Security Agency and we tested out kind of high on the intro to the Army quiz stuff and we were badgered by certain officers trying to get us to sign up for OCS to become officers and we were just trying to avoid the draft and spend four years not being forward observers.
I was a strange adventure at an interesting time when I spent 1967 to 1970 in Germany living with my wife in a high rise apartment and doing rotating shift, 24 hours per day intercepting commie communications. August of 1968 was most interesting when the Czechs went silent one night and all of a sudden we had Russians sending morse code where they had not ever been before.
Other than that it was kind of a fun three years making three October Fests and spending some great time visiting various lovely European cities.
Thanks for sharing your story.
DeleteI have a couple pictures of my dad in "boot" camp in Jacksonville Fla getting ready for deployment by train to New York then onwards to England by ship.... They left the US in December and according to him it was fucking rough trip, everybody was seasick and there was one hell of a mess aboard that ship....
ReplyDeleteJD
God bless every one of them. Sinners and saints, heroes and cowards. I was very lucky to meet hundreds at VA hospitals in the 1980’s and ’90’s. May have failed in raising next generation, but were better than us.
DeleteSo the guys slept overnight in a barracks, took the written classification test, then worked a little in fatigues (issued the same day or the day before?) until it was time to board the train to boot camp.
ReplyDeleteCompared to when I joined the Air Force in 1978, everything was backwards - I took the classification test at the recruiters, was flown across the state for the physical and flown back (200 miles in a puddlejumper), then flown again to the induction center to take the oath and get on a big jet to boot camp. Before fatigues were issued, we slept one night in the barracks, ate breakfast, had another physical because the Air Force didn't trust the mostly-Army doctors in the induction center, and ate lunch. They didn't intend to issue fatigues and take them back if you failed the physical. (I guess this was justified because they found a heart murmur or something in 1 man out of 50, and he was sent home that afternoon.)
But in 1944 they were in-processing millions of men, and they did everything possible to speed it up - except for skimping on the training, if I've heard correctly - unlike 1978, when AF basic training had been cut back to 6 weeks.
Did USAF Basic in 86, roughly the same as you describe it....except it was 8 weeks as I recall....
DeleteThe USAF flip flopped between 6 and 8 weeks multiple times in the 80's. I went through Lackland starting in January 84 and we were the second class of the 8 week Basic. We did everything in 6 weeks and basically did the last two weeks a second time. By the time I finished Crypto school they were back to a 6 week Basic.
DeleteI had quit smoking about a year before I went to Basic. In Basic we could get out of a formation for a smoke break in the smoking area. We were being encouraged to smoke.
Army basic training in Oct/Sept 1978 was 6 weeks 4 days.
Delete6+4 days in June and July of 79.
DeleteMy dad may have watched this in 1945. Thank God for nukes. Did not have to invade Japan.
ReplyDelete