Norwich bulletin., 1917-06-27
HOW COAST GUARD
 BOYS ARE TRAINED. Three Hundred Are Being Fitted for Coast Guard Patrols.

The United States government has
 established at Fort Trumbull the. only
 training school for enlisted men of the
 coast guard service in the history of
 that service. Already 300 recruits
 from all parts of the United States
 and all walks of life who have heard
 through intensive training preparatory
 to manning the coast guard cutters to
 patrol the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
 Although the coast guard service.
 older than the United States navy, 1t
 has never before had a training school
 for it's enlisted men. Recruits upon
 enlisting were detailed Immediately to
 cutters and gained their knowledge
 through practice. The naval training
 station at Newport. where recruits are
 trained for the navy, has denonstratx
 ed what training will do for the "land-
 that when the time of need has come
 and the order has been issued for
 double manning of every coast guard
 cutter, that branch of the service has
 been forced to adopt a plan by which
 every one of its men will know what
 to do and how to do it at the right
 moment, from the minute he reaches
 the ship. In war time there is no time
 to waste in explanations.
 The school, similar, therefore, in its
 
 at Newport, Is facing in the first three
 months of its infancy future similar
 in scope to the Newport school. The
 coast guard service being smaller service than the navy, the school will of course never become as large as the one at Newport, but it will hold the same relative importance to the coast
 guard service as the Newport school does to the navy. Located just above the mouth of the harbor, at the histor- ic Fort Tru1nbul1, which served as a temporary shelter for the patriots of ITS who attempted to defend New Lon don against the advance of Benedict Arnold and the British troops, the site offers unusual advantages for land and water drills. In addition to the natural resources, the department has put the cutter Onondaga at the command of Capt. IF. c. Billiard, commandant of the school, for use training ship. Short cruises are being made every few days, about 100 men going aboard ship to serve in trial capacities in po- sitions which they will be expected to Even the training school at Newport, with it's wealth of resources, does not have the advantage of a, battleship for giving it's recruits practical training.
 The period of training has not yet been definitely determined It was expected to be six weeks or two
 months, but some of the recruits have already been there for that period and have not yet been detached, so that 1t will probably be heightened to three months at least Daily the recruits go through an intensive routine of work and recreation. Reveille sounds every morning at o'clock. and from that time on the 800 men are kept busy cises, infantry and artillery drills, drilling at rapid fire guns, signaling rowing and resuscitation drill. A large proportion of the time is devoted to rowing because manning small boats plays an integral part in the service of a coast guardsn1an. Coast guard cut ters are the relief ships of the coasts In time of peace their duty lies in the midst of storm, when all other ships are coming into port for shelter the coast guard cutter goes out to patrol its district, ever on the alert for s. O. $. calls and distress signals When a ship founders it is the business of the coast guardsnen to take the passen- gers and crew from the wreck and to remove and save whatever portion of the cargo it is possible to rescue When conditions permit, the cutter must tow the wreck back to port. In the high seas during the winter months and the bitter cold along the coast such work the most skilful seamanship And not seamanship alone but a man. hood of the type most worthy to wear the uniform of the United States In this respect the recruits at Fort Trun1- bull are not rockies. At first glance at the towering rows of stalWS.rt young marching and counter marching on the parade grounds to the crows nest rnanninp the boats and going through the vari- ties of strenuous setting up exercises the spectator immediately recognizes that the men who have enlisted in the coast guard service are of the highest type. physically and mentally
 Military and naval officers are deep ly impressed with the strikingly in teresting fact of the rapidity with Whlch the new men acquire military bearing and adapt themselves to con dit1ons and circumstances Many of the men are college graduates and many come with the degree of nauti- cal knowledge they have acquired on their own motor boats and yachts.
 After watching the 300 men perform noon, and revel in the recreation pe riod from 4 to 5.30 tunbling about the parade ground with a football like a crowd of echoo.boys during recess. the visitor hears the bugle call for mess and immediately wonders where and how all those men are fed and quartered on a reservation only a few months ago devoted exclusively to the trainlng of some 12 or 15 cadets But It is done, and with a larger propor ton of comfort to the men than has been attained in many naval stations The mems hall is fitted out with long plank tables, crowded close-y together to be sure. but food is generously pIen. ll1ui and the recruit forgets the incon- venience of being crowded in the fov of satisfying his healthy hunger. bred or strenuous work in the outdoors.
 The drill hall overhead, on the first floor of the building has been trans lorned into a barracks. Not a bar racks in the army sense howe1-er There are only beds and in the day time when a visitor looks into the han he sees onlv long rows of big canvas bags suspended from wooden pegs and inlhg the walls. Overhead, about six 10 tnres- inch -