Regimental mirror. (Fort Benning, Ga.) 1943-194?, March 30, 1944, Image 3

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Regimental mirror., March 30, 1944, Page PAGE THREE, Image 3

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Newspaper Page TextThursday. March 30. 1944 Packages Os Food, Streams Os Books Keep RPO Busy The post office of the Aca demic Regiment has never lost a piece of mail nor had any claims against its staff, accord ing to files which extend back over a period of two years. This record is all the more remark able, in the opinion of the postal authorities, in view of the fact that the staff, which includes three relatively new members, handles anywhere from ten to 15 bags of mail a day. including huge quantities of insured and registered mail. The efficient set-up organized by the staff, which is headed by Code Room — (Continued from Page 2) Sam Baum are in charge of the automatic machinery, which is operated by Cpl. David Ruby and Sgt Louis Peltier, who send the machine tests to the students. S. Sgts. Andrew Palumbo and Michael Dunn are supervisory assistants to the crew chiefs, with Palumbo in charge of the supply work. “THE FISTS” The lower-speed tests are sent by hand by two instructors who are popularly known as “the fists"—Sgts. Hugh Madden and Robert Holloway. Charts of the progress of each student are kept by Sgt. Russell Kean and Cpl. Stanley Swenton. When a class enters the Code Room the students have to be seated so that each soldier is in i a booth that will receive his } speed of code. The “set-ups” | for the number of seats at each 1 speed are handled by Cpls. Rob ert Arthur and Andrew Hickey. The “general men” give per sonal instruction to the students on the floor and collect and grade their tests. In Group A Cpls. John Deschere, Joseph Fahey and Charles Schwalm are “gen erals", relieving or being reliev ed each day by Cpls. Walter Clarke. Thomas Cusack, Steve Kolzlowski and Melvern Kra mer, “generals” for B Group. Field Nets — (Continued from Page 2> who are required to maintain communication with the plane. Failure to do all of the field nets work satisfactorily means a flunk for the course All of the enlisted instructors (from A Company) are them selves first class operators, and nearly all of them, even the up per three graders, are selectees. Each non-com works with the same group for the entire month of field nets work so that he can develop the maximum efficiency in each man by knowing his in dividual problems. At the end of the course each student is graded individually on his own set. The first team of instructors, headed by T. Sgt. William Ler sch, consists of S. Sgt. Kenneth Reynolds, Sgts. Harold Hill, James Hegel, Joseph tAschom, and Cpls. Frank Krupansky, Irving Linderman, Fred Barrett, Arthur Wells, and Thomas Jen nings. Team B is headed by T. Sgt. Garrett Fyffe who was, inciden tally, also a teacher in civilian life but learnt communications in the Army. His team is com posed of S. Sgt. Joseph Tursi, Sgts. McKinley Cook, Julius Farkas, Joseph Galla, and Cpls. Manuel Urrutia, Anthony Pirrel lo, Bernard Langella, James Ka falas and William Bobo. Cpl. Willard Widman, stood its stiffest test recently when large numbers of incoming and out going casuals were shifted a round the regiment. Although the post office has had to work harder, its record of prompt and safe delivery of every item of mail has been kept up. Food packages predominate, according to the staff, who are classified as skilled regimental mail clerks. One of the services rendered by the post office is the re-wrapping of many of these boxes of food, which, the “post master” says, too frequently come in in a damaged condition SHOULD WRAP BETTER “The home folks should take that as a tip." says Cpl Wid man. “Food packages should be wrapped with extra care. We’d like nothing better than to see every package* delivered in an undamaged condition Another tip for the home folks is that they should write more legibly. “Everybody’s mail can be held up a little.” says Cpl. Regina Schmidt, assistant to the "post master”. “by a few carelessly addressed letters—wq have to check through the locator files to find out whom they really belong to.” READING REGIMENT "One thing you learn down here fast.” points out Pvt Vir ginia Ketchum— who likes postal work so much that she might go into it when she leaves the Army—“this is a very literate regiment! You’d be surprised to see the huge volume of the best magazines that comes in by mail to members of the Academic Regiment." FORGET ASN Literate though they may be, Academics still forget a few ba sic postal rules, according to Pvt Gwenn Kern, fourth mail clerk in the RPO. “The serial number must fol low the name on every return address when a soldier uses his franking privileges,” Pvt. Kern reminds us. “We’ve got the three Harmony Church units on the ball in that matter, because we handle their outgoing mail di rect. But the Main Post compan ies still have to get a lot of their Gls to frank their letters prop erly.” The chief complaint of the unit mail clerks to the regimen tal post office is that soldiers are slow in picking up their newspapers. The RPO works directly with the Fort Benning post office, and is subject to “surprise inspect ions” by both the Army and the Federal inspectors. The staff says that the stiffest inspections, however, come from their own postal officer, Lt. Vernon C. Hoyt, S-2 of the Academic Reg iment “They’re a very efficient bunch,” Lt. Hoyt says. “We’re proud of them for the higtt.stan dards they are able to maintain, even though they must consist ently work overtime and are, incidentally, one of the few groups that must work every Sunday in the year.” PROMOTIONS WAC DETACHMENT NO. 2 Tec 4 Ellamae G. Mensing to Sgt Tec 5 Zelma Dobkin to Tec 4. Pfc. Mary C. Moss to Tec 5. Pvt. Eleanor R Wozniak to Pfc REGIMENTAL MIRROR ACADEMIC REGIMENT? ACADEMIIC DEPARTMENT? ACADEMIC COMPANY. The Parachute School? Somebody didn't write legibly! It’s all in the twice-a-day’s work to the mail clerks at Academic Regiment Headquarters. (Left to right) Cpl. Regina Smith, of Portage, Wise.; Pvt. Virginia Ketchum, San Diego, Cal., who likes postal work so much she might take it up after the war; Cpl. Willard J. Widman. of Westville, 111., in charge of regimental post office; and Pvt. Gwenn Kern, of Crawfordsville. Ind., whose husband is in artillery in the Pacific theater. All of the WAC's are members of WAC Detachment Two, The Infantry School. (Official U S Army Photo- The Infantry School.) New Post Rates Up Airmail To 8 Cents In U. S. The new postal rates, which went into effect Sunday and an* expected to bring in about $90,- 000.000 more revenue annually will not affect theGl's free-mail ing privilege on regular mail, but will charge him eight in stead of six cents for every sug ar-report sent to the girl-friend at home by air mail. Mail sent to servicemen or women over seas can still be sent at the old rate, which is six cents for the first half ounce. Another change that does not affect Gls is the boost in local rates from two to three cents, since this type of mail comes under the franking privilege ac- corded servicemen Fees for other postal services have been upped considerably. The minimum registry fee has gone up from 15c to 20c; the lowest insurance fee on parcel post will be 10c where it used to be five; and tht* lowest' charge for money order service will be a dime, an increase of 4c PROMOTIONS WAC DETACHMENT No. 1 Pfc. Olga B. Husa to Tec 4. Pfc. Florence M. Miller to Tec 5 Tec 5 Nettie M. Womack to Sgt. MAIN POST OFFICE, FORT BENNINd. WHERE ten to 15 bags of mail arrive daily for members of the Aca demic Regiment. (Official U. S. Army Signal Corps Photo.) YANK Will Follow You After Pay Day Drive “YANK will follow you!" is the slogan of the Army weekly's subscription drive which ends tomorrow, payday, when every Academic will have a chance to sign up in his orderly room for six months' ($1.00) or a year's ($2.00) sub scription to the official GJ newspaper. From that date on. no matter where he goes, the soldier will get his YANK, full of combat correspondence. Sad Sacks and pin-ups, one day a head of its appearance on the local PX newsstand Also the subscriber will save fit) cents a year and will n.wer have to run the risk of gett hg to the PX after YANKs are sold out. The Army’s guarantee that v PROMOTIONS WAC DETACHMENT NO 1 Tec 5 Natalie' A. Noyes to Sgt. Tee 5 Priscilla Blackington to Tec 4 Tee 5 Charlotte M Schneider to Tec 4 Pfc Marjorie J. Clayton to Tec 5 Pfc. Nora A. Decker to Tec 5 Pfc Louise V. Tait to Tec 5 PAGE THREE "YANK will follow you" Ls bas ed on the fact that the magazine now has printing plants set up in 13 different war theaters. Mats are prepared at the New York editorial headquarters and flown to the foreign theaters on time to be cast and printed on the regular publication date Al! that the soldier has to do, to make sure the magazine keeps up with him when he is shipped, is to send to the circulation manager the change-of-address coupon which is to be found in any edition. Plans for the payday subscrip tion drive were formulated by the authorities at Benning dur ing the recent visit here of Cpl Bernie Lantz, of YANK circula tion department. "Our magazine is strictly for enlisted men.” Lantz pointed out. "Most of our staff are pri vates and corporals. Our war correspondents are scattered all over the globe—they go into ac tion with our troops, carrying pencil and paper in one hand, a camera in the other, and a rifle slung over the shoulder." One of YANK’s crack photo graphers, Sgt Johm Bushemi, was killed in the first landing on Eniwetok Atoll. Almost all of the combat staff of the news paper, in their constant effort to write up and picture the Ameri can soldier and his work, have been under fire and through the battles they’ve written about Installations in the United States are included in YANK’s weekly coverage. A recent com munique sent out to all unit ed itors and PROs asked for even more news of camp activities “which show camp life as a se rious, adult existence.” Humor is also a YANK forte, as any reader of Sgt George Baker's "Sad Sack” will testify. Subscriptions will be taken on a cash basis when men leave the pay tables tomorrow, will be en tered in triplicate and sent off immediately to YANK’s New York office. One copy will be kept at regimental headquarters as a record of the payment.