john f. curry inspection

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APPENDIX

t Eistory o f Basic Trainillg Center No. 8,. .

:, 29 Gctober 1942 to 1 Se>tember 1943Fresno , C a l i f o r n i a


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I-N-D-E-X

. . . . . .. INTRODUCTIOF 111. STR3XGTH CFARTS . . . . .111. CEHGNOLOGICAL EIS'I'OEY . . .

. . . . . . .V. UiUT EIST3RLES 7 0. . . . .. FICTUIiE SECTION .111


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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

. . . . . . . . . . .t r e n g t h C h a r t 3-4Copy of Ge n e ra l o r d e r Ac t i v a t i n g Po s t . .Thanksg iv ing Day Program . . 16-17. . . . . . . . . . . . .2nd AAF Eand 1 9F i r s t P a rade With Band . . . . .. . . . . .ol . P . C . x i l d e r s

. . . . . . .y p i c a l T r a i n e e s . . . . . .hristmas programCamouflage Area . . . . . . .Gas Tra in ing . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .e t r e a t P a r a d eviat ti on Cadets . . . . . . .T r a i n e e s On O b s t a c l e Course . . .


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Firing on 1000" Range . . . .Depar t ing Tra inees . . . . .. . . . . .ar r i son ParadeAwardance of Good Conduct Medals .General Cows . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .and ConcertCopy of Order Transferring BTC #8. . . .ICTURX SECTION - - .

Tr ain ing and Parades . .Campbell M t . Rif le Range . .p hy sic al T ra in in g ~ c t i v i te s


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INTRODUCTION

Bas ic T rai nin g Ceat er No. 8 o r i en t a te d , c l a s s i f i e d ,and b a s i c a l l y t r a i n e d r e c e n t A i r Corps induc tees . The pro&!was des igned t o es ta b l i s h a h igh mora le fouadea on th ei nd i v i dua l s o l d i e r ' s ua de ra t a nd i ng of h i s du t i e s . The methcwas m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g i n b a s i c s u b j e c t s r i g i d l y a p p li e d t ofu rn i s h a background of re ad i nes s and ab i l i t y t o do the jobunder a l l cond i t ion s . Thi s t r a i n i ng was supplemented byc ons t a n t i n t e rv i e w s and t e s t i n g t o sc r e e n and p re pa re t heb a s i c s o l d i e r s f o r t h e i r n ex t ph as e of t e c h n i c al t r a i n i n g .

The so lu t io n of fo ur major problems measured theP os t ' s p rog re s s c onc u r r e n t l y w i t h the accomplishment of its


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m a t e r i e l u n de rw en t c o n s i d e r a b l e i m p r o v i sa t i o n b eB or e i t wassecur ed i n nec ess a ry qu an t i ty . The Campbel l Mountain R i f l eRnnge was loca ted and c o n s t r u c t e d . D r i l l and maneuver area3w er e a c q u i r e d and l e v e l e d . V a r i o u s s t r u c t u r e s w er e r e - ad a p tf o r n e c e s s a r y pu r po s es .

3. A s t a t i o n h o s p i t a l was o r ga ni ze d aad e v e a t u a l l yprovided wi th X-Ray, d i ag no s t i c and emergency s u r g e r y f a c i l lt i e s , aad a w el l- eq ui pp ed d e n t a l c l i n i c . M ed ic al m a t e r i e lwas a l m os t n o n - e x i st e n t on t h e d a t e o f a c t i v a t i o a .

4. Means were prov ided f o r p romot ion o f neededs p i r i t u a l , m or al e, and e n t e r t a i n m e n t a i d s . P r op e r c h a p e l swere e r ec te a . Indoor aud i to r iu rds were con s t r uc t ed . Physic2t r a i n i n g and a t h l e t i c m a t e r i e l was p u r ch a sed and i n s t a l l e d .A t h l e t i c s a r e a s were p r ov id e d, c on s t a a t l y e n l ar g e d t o m eeti n c r e a s e d aemanas, a n a c o n t i n u a l l y r e l o c a t e d t o a l l o w f o r


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WEERLY PERSONNEL STRENGTH OF A A F T T C , B T C #8November 1942 t h r u ~ u g u s t 943

RECRUITS AND ACDATE UNASSIGNXD PERMANENT PARTY

3 Jan 194310 Jan 194317 Jan 194324 Jan 194331 Jan 1943


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--had b ee n t o g i v e b a s i c t r a i n i n g . T h e i r a r r i v a l meant t h e -Pos t would a l s o be a R ec ep ti on C en t e r f o r p r e - f l i g h t c ad -e t s . These c a d e t s wer e t o be a c co r de d p a r a l l e l t r e a t m e n tw i th r e c r u i t s a t t h e P os t.

March 5 , 1943:C ons t r uc t i on o f a t e mpor ar y r i f l e r a nge on C obbl s

p r o p e r t y was begun &nd p r a c t i ca l l y completed on t h i s d a t e .

March 6 . 1943:A 1 1 c o n s t r u c t i o u o n t h e r i f l e range was com ple ted

excep t the obse rvn t i on tower .iu:

ajor General John F. Curry, Commanding General oft he 4 t h L i s t r i c t , AAFTTC, Denver, C sl o ra d o, a r r i v e d a t 1 230 .f o r a two-cay to ur o f in sp ec t i on .


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June 4, 1943:P r e l i m i n a r y w o r k on a r l f l e r a n g e a t Campbell

Mountain, 25 m i l e s n o r t h e a s t of Fr e s no , s t a r t e d t o da y.

June 6 , 1943:A 55 f o o t by 7 f o o t m ur al , d e p i c t l n g t h e m e n who

"Keep 'Em F l y i n g n , i n s ch o o l an d on t h e b a t t l e f i e l d , wascorzlple te d tod ay . Loc ate d i n t h e c l t i s s i f i c a t i o n b u i ld i n g ,t h i s mura l was pa in te d by Pfc:. Ar th u r F a Ames.

June 11, 1943:Ge ne ra l John Fa Cur ry and s t a f f a r r i v e d a t 1 600.

A g a r r i s o n p a r a d e w a s h e l d .

June 12 , 1943 :


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June 17, 1943:A l i a i s o n o f f i c e r , L t. Marvin J. Nyby, a r r iv e d a t

t h e F r e s n o B a s i c T r a i n i n g C e n t e r #8 fro m t h e Reno Army A i rBase t o l a y the g roundwork f o r an advance movement o f S i gn a lu n i t s t o be t r a ns fe r r e d f rom Reno, Nevada t o Fresno .

June 18 , 1943:Lt . Leonard Br i cke y and s even e n l i s t e a men a r r i v e d

t o co m pl et e a rr an g em ent s f o r t h e t r a n s f e r o f C hemi ca l War-f a r e Se rv ic e Groups from th e Reno Army A i r Base.

J u n e 20, 1943:The 56-day ba s i c t rs :Ln ing p rog ram f o r t r a in e e s

became e f fec t ive ,

June 21, 1943:


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D ur in g t h e r e t r e a t p ar ad e, C ol . w i l d e r ~ wardedan e x c e l l e n c e b a nn er t o t h e 8 0 5t h T r a i n i n g Group f o r i t so u t s t a n d i n g a c h ie v e me n t s.

June 26, 1943:B ec au se o f i n c r e a s e d demand f o r f i r l n g t r z i n i n g ,

a r r an g e me n t s f o r a n a d d i t i o n a l p r e l i m i n a r y m ar ks ma nsh ipc o u r s e a t the range were made.

June 28, 1543;A l a r g e n u n k e r 3f o f f i c e r s an a e n l i s t e a p e rs on ne l

of t h e s i g n a l u n i t s , whose e q ui pm en t a nd s u p p l i e s h ad b ee nship ped her e on June 22 , 194a, a r r i v e a b y t r o o p t r a i n .

June 29, 1943:Troops began f i r i n g on t he newly complet ed 1OGO


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Approximate s t rength :p a r t y 1 , 7 5 0 .

J u l y 2, 1943:Xa j a r Genera l John F.

4,000 r e c r u i t s ; p e r m a n e n t

C u r ry a r r i v e d on an i n s p e c t i o ntou r . Dinner was h e l d f o r him a t t h e new O f f i ce r ' s C lu b.A s t r i n g o r c h e s t r a f ro m t h e band p e r s o n n e l f u r n i s h e d t h emusic .

The Army A i r Porces 'Training Command was a c t i v a t e dw i t h H eaaq u a r t a r s i n P o r t Worth, Texas . The Army A i r ForcesFlying Training Command and the Army A i r Forces Techn ica lTr ai ni ng Command were t r a n s f e r r e d t o th e Army A i r PorcesTraining Command.

Ca pta in P h i l i p Levoff:, who came fro m Edgewood Ar se na l,


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visi ted Campbell Mountain Range, where he entertained themen on bivouac th e re wi t h camp f i r e songs and t r i c k s .

The e l e c t r i c l i g h t i n g sy stem a t t h e r i f l e range wuscompleted and t h e l i g h t s t u rn ed O D f o r t he f i r s t time a tapprox imate ly 2100.

Ju ly 12, 1943:Major Vioods, Fin anc e O f f ic e r , becams a Class A

Acc ou nt ab le G i sb u r si n g Of f i c e r . P r e v i w s t o t h i s , MajorWoods had been a C l a s s B Agent O ff ic er t o the Finance Off icea t kiammer F i e l d .

J u l y 13, 1943:Brigadie-r General Cli .nton W. Howard, Commanding

,General, Sacramento A i r Servi.ce Commana, v i s i t e d the Pos t


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the O f f i c e r ' s C l u b .

August 31, 1943:Col . Wi lde r s dep a r t ed .

September 1, 1943 :- -The Pres no Bas i c Tra in i ng C en te r No. 8, was t r a n a -Pe r r ed t o and became an A i r ;Serv ice Command i n s t a l l a t i o nunde r t he Sac ramen to A i r S e r v i c e ,C o m a n d , M c Cl e ll a n F i e l d ,C a l i f o ro i a . The name of the Po s t was changed t o Army A i rF o r ce s Fr e s no a a s i c T r a i a i n g C e n t e r . Viith t h i s cnanke , t hePos t cea sea conne c t i ons w i t h t h e Tr a in in g Commana wi t h wh ichi t had been connec t ad s i nce 7 J u l y 1 9 4 3 .

A s a n a d de d p o i n t o f i n f o r m a t io n , o ne o f t h e b e s tr i f l e r ange s on t h e 'Rest Coas t was s chedu l ed t o be comple t edw i t h i n t h e n ex t t ~ oeeks. T h i s ra n d e , l o c a t e d a t C ampbell


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s i d e c o n t r a c t was l e t b y t h e Un ite d S t a t e s E n g in e er s , f o rt h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e a c t u a l r a ng e s. The v a l u e of t h eb u i l d in g s and f a c i l i t i e s had i n c r ea se d f rom $601,000 onNovember 11, 1942 t o app rox i ma t e l y @,500,000 on Sep t ember1, 1945.

The P o s t l e v e l e d o f f i n t o a new s t r i d e an d c on -t i nu e d t o f u n c t i o n u n i n t e r r u p t ed i n i t s m i s s io n o f t r a i n -i n g and s h i p p i n g t r o o p s , f o r wh ic h i t was o r i g i n a l l ya c t i v a t e d and b u i l t .

'The f o r e go i n g co v e r s t h e c h r o n o l o g i c a l h i s t o r y ofB a s i c T r a i n i n g C e n t e r No. 9 f ro m t h e d a t e o f i t s a c t i v a t i o non 1 November 19 42 t o the d a t e o f i t s t r a n s f e r t o t h e A i rS e r v i c e Command on 1 Septernbar 1943.


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john f. curry inspection

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