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PAGE TWO
E And C Men Do
"Behind Scenes"
Work On Ranges
“When any class or unit of troops arrives on one of
our ranges”—says M. Sgt. Stanley Carlin, enlisted chief of
The Infantry School range office—“the officer in command
doesn’t have to ask the range sergeant if everything is ready
for firing. He knows it’s ready!”
Backing up this simple statement of fact are scores of
range men from C and E Com- •
panies, Academic Regiment,
whose “bell imi the scenes” work
keeps some 50-odd ranges at
Fort Benninig ready and safe for
firing Their assignment includes
not only the construction and
maintenance of all targets and
the layouts of the ranges them
selves, but involves such factors
as soil erosion and the move
ment of troops in and out of
firing areas at the proper times.
So vital is their work that the
range office (headed by Lt. Col.
L A Minichiello) resembles in
some respects the field head
quarters of a tactical force.
Charted on large maps each day
are the exact areas where units
are firing and roads arc closed
and blocked. A weekly range
and terrain schedule of all firing
on the post is sent out to all
units and commands concerned.
Road closures must be announc
ed in the Daily Bulletin to warn
pedestrians and motorists of the
damger zones Telephones are
constantly busy notifying the of
fice of road and range repairs
made necessary by the weather
and by the firing, and reporting
the discovery of duds and the
shifting of troops
M Sgt Carliin and M. Sgt.
Sam Prophet, formerly chief
clerk now on special duty with
prisoners of war doing road con
struction, both operate from this
office, where Sgt Victor Lana
heads the clerical staff that co
ordinates all range activities
‘‘There can be no critical er
rors in our figures,” says Sgt
Lana; “we must check every
thing three or four times.”
FIVE STAGES
Although The Infantry School
ranges provide for all kinds of
firing, from a pistol to an anti
tank gun, almost all training
goes thro|igh the same five
stages First there is basic work
on the "drill field” or “parade
M. SGT. SAM PROPHET (right), OF C COMPANY,
Academic Regiment, goes over the maps of the day’s firing
with Lt. Col. L. A. Minichiello, range officer. (Official U.
S. Army Photo—The Infantry School.)
ground.” Then comes firing on
the 1000-inch ranges, after
which the students move from
the "known distance" and ‘'land
scape" ranges to actual field
firing.
YANKEE VILLAGE”
Targets for all these problems
vary from the standard "bull’s
eye” affair to simulated field tar
gets On the Landon antitank
range, for example, columns of
tank silhouettes are pulled by
cables across the line of fire. On
the bayonet courts, like Norton
Court, the range Academics must
set up dummies and maintain
the proper terrain for the assault
course. Antiaircraft and ma
chine-gun ranges use specially
designed targets. Some problems
involve the construction of en
tire villages, like the recently
built “Yankee Village,” near
Galloway range, which includes
about 20 buildings for an attack
problem. Out on Hook range
a recent strafing and bombing
problem called for the construc
tion of a simulated ammunition
dump and truck convoy.
“There wasn’t much left after
the problem was finished.” says
Cpl. John S. O’Hara, “but that’s
one of the things that make our
work interesting.”
LANDSCAPE TARGETS
One of the special types of
targets used is the “lamdscape"
target, which is a large colorful
painting of countryside with
hills, streams, perhaps a farm
house, a well and a church stee
ple. all in proper perspective so
that gunners can aim at targets
called out. like “sniper in tow-
er at 300 yards.”
The School fires in all kinds
of weather and the range men
are particularly busy when it
rains. The paper “faces” of the
targets must be replaced more
often in bad weather, and the
targets break more easily when
REGIMENTAL MIRROR
SGT. SHERROD ROBY (I
ies the range officer on a ton
(Official U. S. Army Photo—'
wet The men. incidentally
make their own paste out of
flour, lye and water
“Most Army work slows down
when it rains,” says Pfc John
W Numann, “but on the range
we grab shovels and start dig
ging flumes and making dams
to prevent Erosion.”
Although all of the men usual
ly work together on all of the
range tasks, there are a few spe
cialized jobs at each range, like
those of the clerks who keep the
supply and firing records. Ex
citement runs high on a range
when some class or Academic
Regiment instructor is on the
verge of breaking a record, or
when Infantry experts are test
ing a new weapon.
Most of the men seem to like
the range, all of them mention
ing first the fact that it s health
ful out-of-doors work. “It’s the
best work I’ve done since I’ve
been in the Army,” says Pvt.
Doyle C Duncan. “It’s real field
soldiering, with plenty of sun
shine.” says bronzed Pfc. Saul
Meltsner.
The vast work on the range
requires the presence at the of
fice of a “yard chief”. Tech Sgt.
Richard E Daugherty, to coord
inate the supply gnd mainten
ance activities, which are headed
by Tech Sgt. Carlton Bihm (car
penters); Tec 3 Edward A Hunt
(carpenter shop); Sgt. Harris M.
Bryant (sanitation): Tec 4 Hay
ward Simmons (grass detail).
Some idea of the equipment re
quired can be gained from the
single item of tractors—three are
needed alone to cut the 6000
acres of grass on the ranges
S. Sgt Olynn Atkins is re-
left). E COMPANY. ACADEMIC REGIMENT. ACCOMPAN
ir of Maertens Range, where Roby is the enlisted chief.
The Infantry School.)
sponsible for selecting prisoner
of war details.
Following are the enlisted
chiefs of the various ranges:
Tech Sgt. John C. Holloman, Mc-
Andrew (rifle) range; M. Sgt.
Miguel Salazar. Hook (general)
New Air Mail
Rates Snafu Gls
The new air mail rates have
still got a lot of Academics
guessing, and guessing wrong,
according to the regimental pos
tal clerks, who say that Army
air mail letters are being return
ed to members of this regiment
for insufficient postage.
To run through it again before
we forget it ourselves:
Letters to Gls overseas may be
sent by Academics at the rate of
six cents per HALF ounce, with
another six cents required for
each additional half ounce or
fraction thereof. Apparently
many Gls have been under the
impression that the soldier’s six
cent privilege covered the mail
ing of a full ounce, and their let
ters have been returned to them.
Letters to persons in the States
and Alaska, sent by air mail,
will cost eight cents per FULL
ounce. Apparently soldiers have
assumed that the six cent privi
lege covered their domestic mail
too.
To complete the snafu, it seems
that many Academics have for
gotten to tell their folks and
friends to use Army serial num
bers when writing to soldiers.
Many letters are delayed because
this simple means of identifica
tion is not included in the ad
dress.
Thursday, May 4, 1944
range; Tech Sgt. Rugh A. Allen,
Bickford (antitank) range; Sgt
John T. Orrico, Landon (anti
tank) range; Tech Sgt. Robert L
Blankenship, Norton Court and
Calderia (bayonet and obstacle)
field; S. Sgt. Nathan Murphy,
Simpson - English (1000-inch)
range; Sgt. Lonnie Potter, Fiske
range; Sgt. Delmost Churchwell,
Shelton (rifle) range; Sgt. Lean
J. Voisine, Barlow (bayonet and
obstacle) field; Sgt. Edward
Hodges, Barto (machine-gun)
range; Sgt. Marion Shavers,
Brinson (1000-inch) range; Sgt
Antonio J Ferraro, Broomfield
(1000-inch) range; S. Sgt. Gar
land O. Lively, Deese (ma
chine-gun) range; Sgt. John R
Stake, Dickman (bayonet and
obstacle) field; S. Sgt. Thomas
T Gangone, Galloway (antiair
craft) range; Cpl. Reuben C
Baxter, Keariin (machine-gun)
range; Tech Sgt. William T
Gunn, Lippitt (bayonet and ob
stacle) field; S. Sgt. Sherrod M
Roby, Maertens (rifle) range;
Sgt. Samuel S. Graham, O’Brien
and Strickler (antitank, land
scape); Sgt. Ledford Calsor,
Weigel (antiaircraft) range.
RANGE OFFICER
AND HIS STAFF
Lt. Col Minichiello, the range
officer, has been associated with
forestry and engineering work
practically all his life. He is as
sisted by Capt. William P Bat
chelor, Jr., adjutant; Lt. Keith
B. Evans, chief of the clerical
staff; Lt. William C. Cherry*, in
charge of prisoner of war de
tails; Lt. Hadley* C. Gray, in
charge of road repair and con
struction; and Lt. Leslie R Tich
enor, Jr., demolition and range
supply officer
