Evening star., 1939-08-04
Troop Vanguard
Occupies Field
Al Bull Run
5000 Men Will Be
On Hand Tomorrow
To Begin Moneuvers
BY ROBERT A. ERWIN.

by HUBERT A. ERWIN.
A vanguard of National Guard
staff officers and advanced details
were encamped today on the Civil
War battlefelds of Bull Run around
Manassas, Va, ready for the arrival
tomorrow Of 10000 troopers of the
18th and 29th Divisions for two
weeks of 1st Army maneuvers.
Caravans of heavy, khaki-colored
motor trucks will roll away from the
Pennsylvania avenue armory tomor-
row morning to take most of the
District National Guard personnel to
the 29th Division area near Gaines
vile.
Maj. Gen. Milton A. Reckord of
Baltimore, commander of the 29th
and adjutant general of the Mary
land National Guard, moved into di-
vision headquarters yesterday He
was accompanied by 1t. Col Peyton
G. hewitt, assistant adjutant general
OF the District Guard and adjutant
general of the 29th, and other
officers.
The entire Washington section
will find itself in the midst of the
troop movement tomorrow The
Virginia National Guard will pro-
ceed to Manassas over State high
ways, while the Maryland Guard
and part of the PENNSYLVANIA Guard
Will pass through Washington in
trucks during the day, using both
Highway and Key Bridges for exits
from the District.
Four d. c. Guard Units.
-Four units of the District Guard
will make the trip to Gainesville.
the first at 7:30 am. tomorrow. They
are the 260th Coast Artillery, COM
manded by Col. Walter w. Burns,
now armed with the most modern
OF anti-aircraft weapons and pre-
pared to operate separately under
command of Sd Corps Area Head
quarters: the 121st Engineers, under
Col. John w. Oehmann; 29th Di-
vision Special Troops, Maj. William
T. Roy commanding, and the 1st
Battalion, 104th Quartermaster Regi-
ment, under Maj. Fletcher F. Berns-
dorff.
The District Guard will number
almost 1900 officers and enlisted
men in camp. Fifteen days of real
Army life lie ahead. The men will
pitch their pup tents in the division
area, sleep on the ground at night
and line up at the field kitchens
for meals in their own mess kits.
After eight days of training for
the 28th and 29th Divisions, there
will be four-day might maneu-
yer that will turn Bull Run into a
peacetime battlefield. The National
Guard will operate as the Blues"
with Maj. Gen. James K. Parsons of
the Third Corps Area as supreme
commander. The invading enemy
will be the Provisional Division of
$500 Regular Army troops COM
manded by Brig. Gen. Maxwell MUIR
ray head of the Washington Provi-
sional Brigade, newly motorized and
fast moving. coming from Fort
Meade, Md, and Fort Belvoir, Va.
Brig. Gen. Albert L. Cox, COM
mander of the District Guard, has no
camp assignment by virtue of his Of
flclal position and the division or
ganlzation setup, but plans to inspect
the District troops while they are in
camp.
Officers in 29th.
His staff officers will be divided
among the 29th Command. Mai.
Sidney Morgan. inspector general,
Will be assistant intelligence officer
Tor the division. Maj. Just c. Jen-
sen, ordnance department, will be
assistant to the ordnance officer.
Maj. Walter S. Welsh, judge advo-
cate, will assist the chemical Of
ficer, and Capt, Hugh Everett. jr.,
will assist the plans and training
officer.
The 20th National Guard Divi-
sion. coming exclusively from Penn
sylvania, will be quartered near
Manassas, several miles from the
29th.
National Guard and Regular
Army medical officers have COM
pleted an extensive advance pro-
gram for an adequate water supply
for the encampment and other
measures to protect health. A bull
letln on protection of the body
against infection from the COM
mon dog or wood tick already has
been issued. Many Guardsmen have
been immunized against Rocky
Mountain Spotted Fever, a disease
carried by the tick Investigation
has revealed that the tick is not as