The University has turned outenough reserve officers in 23years of military training tostaff army of 50,000 soldiers

The University of Oklahoma is conduct-ing an extensive program of war activities,but its most important contribution to thenation's war effort is probably a projectthat was started 23 years ago.

Since 1919, the University has main-tained a unit of the Reserve Officers Train-ing Corps and this unit has trained, com-missioned and placed on reserve nearlytwo thousand officers . Now the nation,in its national emergency, is calling ahigh proportion of those officers to thespecial duties for which they were pre-pared in the military science classroomsand on the drill fields at O. U.The value of 2,000 officers to the mili-

tary establishment of the nation can bevisualized by citing a hypothetical case .If it happened that the 2,000 officers fellinto the right assortment of officer gradesfrom second lieutenant to general, thenumber of officers would be sufficient tocommand three full divisions of theUnited States Army-a total of nearly50,000 men in round figures .As a matter of fact, the Army is draw-

ing about half of all its officers from thereservoir of college-trained reserve officersbuilt up during peace time .During the last year reserve officers have

been leaving their businesses and theirprofessions to answer the call to the na-tion's service . In the last few months,the process has been speeded up . Andthroughout the world, wherever the starsand stripes fly, Sooner officers are on ac-tive duty . From China to Iceland, inboth hemispheres, men commissioned bythe University R. O. T. C. are stationedon military duty and a number are inthe actual combat area in the Pacific .Not only are the 2,000 officers who once

drilled on O. U.'s marching field contrib-uting to the all-out defense program, butformer R. O. T. C. commanding officersand staff members are carrying notable

12

Over hill, over dale, as we hit the dusty trail,And the caissons go rolling along ;

In and out, hear them shout, countermarchand right about,

And the caissons go rolling along .

The R.O.T.C . System Pays Off

-Caisson Song

responsibilities on home and foreignfronts .Of the ten commanding officers who

successively guided the destiny of the R.O. T. C. unit during its '23 years, threenow hold the high rank of brigadier gen-eral . They are Edwin P. Parker, FortBragg, North Carolina ; Harry J. Malony,Washington, D. C., and Carl A. Baehr,Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont.Other former staff members also have

had extraordinary military careers . Lt .Col. Ivan D. Yeaton served as militaryattache at Moscow, Russia, for severalyears after leaving the University, and re-cently was recalled to the United States .While at O. U. Lieutenant Colonel Yea-ton developed and awakened student in-terest in polo, boxing and pistol shooting .Once when some of the R. O. T. C. horsesneeded treatment the colonel's fellow staffmembers discovered that he also had latentabilities as a veterinarian .The pistol team sponsored by Lieuten-

ant Colonel Yeaton walked away with tophonors in national and district intercol-legiate pistol competitions . Two of hiscrack shots were called the "dead-eyetwins," Tom and Bob Mayrath, twinbrothers who received their commissionsand engineering degrees in 1933 and havebeen stationed at Wright Field, Ohio .

OKLAHOMA INSIGNIA

Aileen Connally, '29fa, designed thisemblem worn by R . O . T . C. men atO . U. It's a formalized design of a

man driving a covered wagon

Military training at the University forthe last 23 years has been more than simplymilitary training . Those boys in the R.O. T. C. have taken part in more athleticand other extra-curricular activities,brought more honors to the O . U. campusand staged more special events than anyother one division of the University .The University R. O. T. C. unit was

established back in 1919 at the request ofthe student body . The first commissionwas granted two years later to Donald E.Mathes, '23ba, who is now a major at FortLewis, Washington . In civilian life, Ma-jor Mathes was an engineer at Houston,Texas.For a time, all commissions were

granted in the infantry division, but asenrolment grew and the unit blossomedout, the number of branches in whichtraining was offered was expanded . Atthe present time, commissions are given inthe following branches : infantry, field ar-tillery, ordnance, cavalry, chemical war-fare service, signal corps, quartermastercorps and coast artillery. This year forthe first time, two military students willbe commissioned as engineers.

Individual personalities and exploits ofboth military science instructors and stu-dents have contributed to the progress ofthe unit . Discipline has been maintained,but friendly relations between teacher andstudent prevailed .For instance, there was the time back

in the early '20s when the commandingofficer, his staff members and studentswent to bat and cleaned up on the otherbaseball teams in the area, including theNorman and Oklahoma City sandlotters .This and other yarns are recalled by lively,black-haired Sgt. Ralph Dougherty, who, asmember of the R. O. T. C. staff for morethan twenty years, probably knows moreof the 2,000 Sooner officers than any otherone person .An interesting but obscure bit of in-

formation in R. O. T. C. archives is thatMajor E. L. Gruber, commandant in 1922and '23, composed the Caisson Song, thefirst four lines of which appear at the be-ginning of this article. This song, wellknown throughout the armed forces, isthe official tune of the field artilleryunits. Under Major Gruber's command,the R. O. T. C. unit received its first dis-tinguished rating in the annual govern-ment inspections .Despite the masculine emphasis natur-

ally expected in military training, thewomen are not to be overlooked . A co-ed art student, Aileen Connally, '29fa, in

PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 29)

SOONER MAGAZINE

The R.O .T.C . System Pays Off

1927 designed the Sooner Wagon insigniaof the University R. O. T. C. unit, whichis stenciled on all military machines andequipment and worn in pin form by of-ficers and military science students . Thepins, made of red and white enamel, showin formalized style the front view of acovered wagon with driver and horses .Miss Connally is now Mrs. Corwin andlives in New Philadelphia, Ohio .

Scattered far and wide throughout theUnited States are some twenty alumnaewho at least have one thing in common .They were the popular co-eds elected hon-orary colonels by the R. O. T. C. Attiredin military costume, they all presided overtheir share of reviews, parades, balls andbanquets .

Horses and mules, maintained by theR. O. T. C. for riding classes and draftwork, also have a place in R. O. T. C.history . Many of the animals have beenor were connected with the unit so longthat they have become a little traditionall their own. What faithful alumnus, re-membering jug, the little army mule soldon the auction block after eight years ofloyal service to the R. O. T. C., isn'tprompted to shed a crocodile tear or two?Stories about the antics of Copenhagen,who devoted 16 of his 23 years to nib-bling R. O . T. C. pastures, will not soonbe forgotten although the horse has beendead more than a year . A memorialplaque has been erected at his grave.

Since 1928, the R. O. T. C. unit hasbeen given the highest, or "Excellent,"rating, by the officers who annually in-spect such units at the nation's collegesand universities for the War Department .Brig . General Parker was commandantwhen the first excellent rating was re-ceived . Prior to this, the unit receivedthe second highest, or "Distinguished,"rating for five years. Since its installation,the unit has always been classed amongthe top ranking units in the nation bythe War Department .

Lt . Col. Hal Muldrow, '28bus, formerlyof Norman and now stationed at CampBarkeley, Texas, is believed to hold thehighest rank now among the 2,000 mencommissioned at the University Of theSooners now in active service, about tenwear the gold leaf of a major and ap-proximately forty wear the two silver barsdenoting the rank of captain.

Major Lee B. Thompson, '25ba, '271aw,for 16 years aide to Gen. W. S. Key, nowcommanding officer of the 45th division atCamp Barkeley, Texas, recently was ap-pointed division personnel officer at CampBarkeley .

Headquarters of the P. M. S. and T.(which sounds like an alphabetical puzzlebut stands for Professor of Military Sci-

FEBRUARY, 1942

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12)

ence and Tactics) have become muchbusier since the United States enteredthe war. R. O. T. C. office s in the longred-brick armory on the corner of Brooksand Asp have literally become an infor-mation bureau for men students who wantto know about entrance requirements forvarious branches of service and the ever-changing draft laws .

Despite the added work, activities of themilitary science department are carried outin the usual brisk and efficient mannerunder the supervision of Lt . Col. CharlesH. Brammell, present commanding officer .Each day's mail brings news of moreSooner officers called to active duty, andalmost daily communiques from the WarDepartment . Outgoing mail, in the spiritof the times, bears the print of a rubberstamp recently acquired by the depart-ment which reads, "Remember Pearl Har-bor."Seven of the nine members of the mil-

itary science faculty are Sooner alumniwho have returned as instructors to thepost where they themselves were com-missioned. Adjutant to the commandingofficer is Capt . George H. Shirk, '35ba,'361aw, Oklahoma City lawyer in civilianlife. Others are Lt . Dale D. Desper, '39ba ; Lt . Bill J. Turin, '35bus ; Lt. Stuart F.Brady, '36; Lt . N. F. Williams, '39eng ;Lt . Richmond F. Thweatt, '39eng ; andLt . Thomas Perry Ewing, '38bus .

Capt . Shirk has recently prepared a rec-ord of all Sooners commissioned by theUniversity R. O. T. C. unit, as well as arecord of officers now on active duty, withtheir ranks and last known addresses .Copies of both these lists have been sentto Sooners in service with a request to sendin addresses for any officers whose namesdo not appear on the latter list . The re-sponse has been excellent and each daybrings more of the requested information .

Faculty Speakers AvailableAbout 250 University of Oklahoma

faculty members, all experts on variousphases of national and international de-velopments, are available as speakers fororganized group meetings of Oklahomacitizens .An invitation to schedule these lecturers

through the University's Lecture and En-tertainment Bureau has been issued stateresidents by J. F. Malone, '37ba, bureaudirector .

Speakers for lectures, roundtable dis-cussions, and so forth may be secured byschools, civic clubs and study groups . Thebureau encourages the organization ofpublic forums and other discussion groupsin the state, Mr. Malone said .

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