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Voi 1- -No. 1U. S. Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill, N. CSaturday, September 19, 19425c a CopyI lightTrainingPraisedNavy Leaders Visit Station To Inspect Local ProgramA galaxy of top-flight Naval visitors registered m the guest log at the U. S. Navy Pre-Flight school here this week, and left with enthusiastic approval for the program being carried out under the direction of Comdr. 0. 0. Kessing.Among them were:Capt. David C. Hanrahan, commander of the Pre-Flight school atNavy Hotables at Chapel HillPictured above are a few of the high-ranking Naval leaders who the University of Iowa;came aboard during the past week to view the Chapel Hill version of the Navy’s Pre-Flight training program. From left to right are Lt. Comdr. James H. Crowley, head coach of the Cloudbuster football team; Lieut. Jack Dempsey, former world heavyweight champion now in charge of physical training for the Coast Guard at Manhattan Beach, N. Y.; Lt. Comdr. Frank Wickhorst, assistant to Lt. | ntness program;Comdr. Tom Hamilton (pictured next in line) who heads Naval aviation’s physical fitness program; Capt. David C. Hanrahan, commanding officer of the Pre-Flight School at Iowa City; and Comdr. 0. 0. Kessing, commanding officer at Chapel Hill.Capt. Leland P. Lovette, head of Navy public relations;Lt. Comdr. Tom Hamilton, head of Naval aviation’s physicalBackward Look(This is the first of two instalments onthe early history of the Navy Pre-Flight• *School at Chapel Hill, N. C. The secondwill appear next week.)By Everett Bracken, Y$cAs February of 1942 melted into March, an atmosphere of expectant excitement prevailed over Chapel Hill. Rumor had become concrete fact—the Navy was definitely going to start some small school here—perhaps even commandeering a building or two from the University.Thus, on March 24, the townspeople and students looked with considerable interest at two Navy officers who had just arrived in Chapel Hill. These two officers, Lt. Commander B. H. Micou (SC) USNR, and Ensign E. E. Mack (SC) USNR, stayed only long enough to set up temporary offices in Swain Hall for the Pre-Flight School. After hiring Miss Harrison as a stenographer, they left for Charleston, S. C,, to start ordering supplies for the school. Miss Harrison was left in bewilderment as the sole representative of the Pre-Flight School, and she now claims the distinction of being the first com-mandant of the post.On March 26th, Lieutenant (now Lt. Comdr.) John P. Graff, USN (Ret.), the executive officer of the Pre-Flight School, arrived and reported to Captain W, F. Popham, of the NROTC, the senior officer present. A few days later, McLeod, Y2c, was assigned to the station and was followed by a chief store-keeper and four third class storekeepers. Three small rooms, then two more, and finally one large room were taken in Swain Hall, and the Pre-Flight School was a tangible reality. The townspeople settled back again and forgot the Navy, now that they saw definitely that it wasn’t going to amount to much.While Lt. Comdrs. Graff and Micou were burning mid-night oil working with the university officials laying thef' ground work for the construction and remodeling necessary for the school, the enlisted men of the fledglin g station were busily engaged in t xeir attempt to handle and find storage space for the supplies which had now started to flow into Chapel Hill.Students moved out of the Upper See BACKWARD LOOK9 page 5Group of 162 Cadets DepartFor Flight TrainingTKa third graduating group comprised of 162 cadets from the Second and Third Battalions was transferredtoday to eight Naval bases for primaryflight instruction.Of the total, 35 will go to the Naval Reserve Aviation Base at Squantum, Mass.; 32 to St. Louis, Mo.; 20 to each of Peru, Ind., Memphis, Tenn., and Norman, Okla.; 15 to Philadelphia, Pa., and a similar number to New Orleans, La., and five to the Naval Air Station at Lakehurst, N. J.Ninth BattalionOf 204 ArrivesLast Thursday 204 new cadets came aboard as members of the Ninth Battalion of the Pre-Flight School, bringing the regimental total to 1,457. This, of course, will shrink when the 162 cadets graduating today, leave for newbases.The new battalion will have as its leaders, Lt. (jg) Albert J. Lesko, Lt. (jg) Harry L. Lawrence, Ens. Stanley F. Pechar, Ensign S. C. Hammerstrom, Ens. Sam J. Donato, Ens. William A. Pudvah, and Eng. James E. Hatfield.Retained with the members of the Third Battalion not yet transferred are Lt. (jg) William F. Brown, Lt.(jg) Thomas W. O’Connor, Lt. (jg) Warren E. Lentz, and Lt. (jg) John Dickson, according to announcement made by Lt. James P. Raugh, regimental commander, and head of the military department of the school.Cadet McGuckin Designs NameplateFor ‘Cloudbuster’The nameplate on page one of the Cloudbuster is the work of MalcolmL. McGuekiii, Jx., Fourth Battalioncadet from Columbus, 0. His artworkwas chosen fromamong a dozen entries offered by competing cadets. Cadet McGuckingained much of his skill working in New York as apprentice to JonWhitcomb, well known illustrator and commercial artist now serving as a lieutenant, junior grade, in the Navy.During 1941-42, McGuckin attended the Yale School of Fine Arts wherehe served on the editorial staff of theYale Record.McGuckinKate Smith Appears Here October 9Kate Smith and her stellar troupe of radio entertainers will be on hand Oct. 9 to broadcast her hour-long show from this station. The program will be on its regular nationwide hook-up and will begin at 2000.Band Concerts ContinueThe station’s 44-piece all-Negro band, with James B. Parsons, Mus. 2c, conducting, last Sunday gave the second in its fall series of public concerts scheduled for alternate Sundays at Kenan Stadium.\Greetings from the SkipperIt is a pleasure to greet all hands through the columns of thisinitial issue of the Cloudbuster.This is your newspaper, and everyone aboard is urged to take an active interest in it.Through its pages, it is hoped we may come to know one another better. It is my wish that cadets, the crew, and officers lend their support to make the Cloudbuster the bestservice newspaper possible.0. 0. Kessing,Comdr., USNLt. Comdr. Frank Wickhorst, executive assistant to Lt. Comdr. Hamilton;Lt. Comdr. Victor M. Blakeslee, head of the magazine division of Navy public relations;Lt. Comdr. W. G. Beecher, assistant to Capt. Lovette;Lt. J. H. Van Alen, head of the magazine publicity section inNew York city; andWpmning Station, Manhattan Beach ,N. Y.Lt. omdr. Tom Hamilton, whose^—“blue print” of a physical fitness program was planned to develop in numbers men whose physical and mental strength and guts would make them the hardest-fighting fliers in the world, said of his program as seen m action here:“It is a real thrill for me to see this school operate. The spirit and enthusiasm of the cadets exceeds our expectations. I hope they will carry it on through the rest of their naval careers. Flying calls for all the qualities developed here . . . speed of reaction, coordination of mind and body, and ability to relax and deliver in the clutches in free and easy fashion. It will be a great help to them in all their flight training.”Expression of the same spirit came in the enthusiastic words addressed to the cadets by the greatest fighter of them all—Lieut. Jack Dempsey, who told them:‘‘Get tough, boys, and keep fightin’. The best defense is a great offense, slug it out from the first bell, and never give up. The country is looking to you to win the war.“Now you are being conditioned like no one ever has been conditioned. Soon you’ll be flying the Navy’s fast planes and pouring hot lead into our enemies. Keep fightin’ boys, and give ’em the works.”To officers and cadets alike, the ex-champion said:“Your program here is the greatest thing that ever happened, and just how grefit it is w ill be shown when you whip hell out of the Axis.”Lieut. Dempsey, always a tough man in the ring, is imparting that toughness as head of physical training at the U. S. Coast Guard Station, Manhattan Beach, N. Y. A long-time friend of Comdr. 0. O. Kessing, Dempsey spent four days here observing the program and taking notes for the program he plans to install at Manhattan Beach. He met all the officers, mingled with the cadets, asked almost as many questions as were asked him, anddemonstrated why he was the most popular champion in history.Capt. Hanrahan, commanding officer of the Iowa Pre-Flight School and described by Comdr. Kessing as “one of the most distinguished naval officers in the world,” was here on a “scouting trip” to see how a similar type of school is operating. Of this, the first of the other Pre-Flight Schools he has visited, he said:Since being here, I’ve watched the cadets from all angles ... on the streets, in sports, in military drills . . . After this observation, I can say that I could copy every thing here to my advantage, if we weren’t already doing it at Iowa City. The battalions of the Chapel Hill Navy Pre-Flight school could be interchanged with those of my Iowa station, and you wouldn’t know the difference.“A great job is being done at these schools, as the Axis will soon find out.” Capt. Leland P. Lovette, head ofpublic relations for the Navy and author of the book, “Navy Customs, Traditions, and Usage” was gratified to see the progress made at Chapel Hill since his first visit here when the school was commissioned on May 23rd.“You have come a long wray,” he told school officials, “and, I can see that the program is already a great success.” Lt. Comdr. Victor Blakeslee, who was officer in charge of disseminating Navy communiques in Washington at the start of the war, and who now heads the magazine section of public relations, declared:“I think the Pre-Flight program here is the best thing I’ve seen since this war started. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s more than a swell job. I’ve seen German, Japanese, and Russian youth, and I can tell you, after seeing the cadets in action here, there’s no doubt about how this war is going to turn out.”During his stay here, Lieutenant Dempsey threw a verbal right hook to the collective jaws of all the critics ofSee NAFF NOTABLES, page 5
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Chapel Hill Cloudbuster
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US
Sat, Sep 19, 1942
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