Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1917-12-21
Drilling and Study Occupy About
Is Hours of Every
:, Day.
GET ESSENTIALS IN 5 WEEKS
Eight "Ground" Schools Located at
Leading Universities Where Cand'-
dates Are Given Intensive Course
of Training-More Men Are
Needed in the Service.
BY a Lieutenant of the Aviation Sec
ton


Westinghouse group of Sc well-set-
up young Americans, the summer
tan lust fading from their faces, are
closely studying a battlefield. Wltmh
six feet of them is the rapid flash OF
shells bursting in quick succession
not real shells, but as close an lmlta-
ton as desirable in a lecture hall
and the men are behaving with the
sureness and precision which, as fu-
ture officers and pilots of Americas
great aerial battle fleet, they are ex-
pected to display.
After each explosion, or, rather,
flash, is heard the buzz Of the wireless
as the men take or send a message
from "sOmewhere"-in California, or
Massachusetts, or Illinois, as the case
may be.
A second group of pilots, looking
down upon the others, are seated IN
cockpits high above the miniature bat
tie field They hear the imaginary
roar of Pershing's guns, and there is
another succession of lightning flashes
on various squares of the military map
below them.
Directs Artillery.
"Buzz-z-z, Buzz-z-z-z!" goes the
wireless, as in actual warfare, where
artillery fire is directed by the "eyes
of the army" the pilots from the top
of the scaffOld observe the location OF
"hits" by the artillery and signal the
range TO the gunners-in this case
Observation-Disclosures.
"W-29D-7-9'' is the message to the
artilleryman-crypt Of course, to
those who do not understand the
squared map and pin-point system in
use by aerial observers on the western
front. Perhaps it is prearranged
shoot, in which case the clock code is
handy for signaling how close the
hits" come to the dugouts of Kaiser
Wilhelm's privateS or trench crossings
filled with huddled groups of the same,
or whatever else the target may be.
"W-4. BE-" sings the buZzer. And
the United States artillery officer cor
rects the range of his big gun to suit !;
eft least. he will do so a short time
hence, when our young pilots now in
training get the first real opportunity
of showing their mettle to the enemy
across the Rhine.
At the Ground Schools.
The foregoing is a few minutes
work in what is part-a very small
part-of the program of one of the
United States schools of military
aeronautics, more commonly known as
"ground" schools. The man in the
street has a fair knowledge of what
our flyers are doing. By sight and
hearsay he is beginning to know of the
work at our many flying fields. AS
for war. conditions, the average cftf-
zen carries a vague picture of swoop-
ing bird men, loops and spiral dives,
rapid-fire duels high above the clouds,
etc. But the man in the street knows
nothing of the eight weeks milling
that these lads go through before even
stepping into q fusilage and proudly
calling "contact'-to set the motor re-
yolving for their first ascent. In 9TH
err words, he knows nothing of our
ground schools for the fundamental
training of aviators.
The American schools are located at
the following colleges: University of
california, Cornell, Georgia School of
Technology, Princeton university, Uni
versitv of Illinois, Massachusetts In
stitute of Technology, Ohio State uni
versity. and University of Texas. AL
though they have taken over a large
mart of the technical apparatus and
some of the instructors of the ,univer-
stiles on whose grounds they are stu
ated. It is to be noted that they are IN
no sense a part of the university or OF
the ordinary university course. 1hey