Evening star., 1940-12-03
los Fort Meade
Rockies Begin
Anti-Tank Work
Contingent, Including
10 From District,
Sleeps in Tents
BY THOMAS C. HARDMAN,
Star Staff Correspondent.

TO1tA 1COxSdG ". MGAA/G, 0O.
Dec. 3.-Holding the dubious honor
of having been the. first selective
service recruits to spend the night
In tents. los rockies, including II
Washington area men, today began
specialized training with the 93d
Anti-Tank Battalion, permanently
niched for their years military
training less than . week after theil
induction.
The trainees were given theil
first glimpse Of the battalion's CHIEF
weapon-the 37-mm. anti-tank gur
Late yesterday shortly before they
were assigned to companies and d.
rected to tents, where they will be
quartered for at least 10 days.
The nine Washington men and
one. Alexandrian we've placed In
Company A, which is commanded
by Capt. Howard r. johnson. him
self a Washingtonian and former
Central High School football player
Tents with Concrete Floors.
At least one regular enlisted man
was placed In each tent with the
rockies to "show them the ropes"
The quarters are about IA feet
square, with concrete floors and
wooden walls extending about 4 feet
from the floor. Canvas is sup
ported on wooden frames.
Sibley stoves, which resemble in
verted tunnels, provide heat for the
quarters. They burn wood and have
pipes extending several feet above
the cone Of the tents. With fires
going full blast and smoke curling
from the "chimneys." the rows of
tents appear almost like wigwams.
The tenting recruits are in select
company. Scores Of officers, called
to active duty at this rapidly ex-
panding post, have been living in
similar tents for weeks. Additional
barracks are being rushed to COM
pletion to take care Of the overflow.
1t. Col. Isaac Gill, jr., commanding
officer Of the Anti-tank Battalion,
told the new men last night they
possibly will be moved within 10 days
or two weeks to headquarters bar
racks Of the battalion-modern
steam-heated brick buildings now
being used to quarter unassigned
selectees.
Hear Pep Talk.
These barracks. considered the
model of the post, incidentally, house
not only the Anti-tank Battalion. but
the 10th Tank Battalion as well.
Col. Gill gave the new men a pep
talk when they reported for duty
He said that in addition to making
good soldiers Of the men, the years
training should better their health
ana hula up their physiques.
The rockies were given the op-
portunity to see q squad Of veterans
m action with full field equipment
The requisftion for the battalion
called for 106 recruits, but one Sc
lectee-a youth from Altoona, Pa
was missing from roll call. The slip
up apparently was q headquarters
error, however. for the order listed
him as attached temporarily to
Company D and officers of that unit
had never heard of him. He was
expected to be located today to join
his fellow anti-tankers.
451 Recruits RequisitiOned.
Meanwhile, other selectees yet to
be assigned permanently, including
approximately 65 from the WASH
ington area, continued drills in the
school Of the soldier today. Three
more requisitions, calling for a total
of 451 recruits, will be filled on sue
cessive days beginning tomorrow.
The first will be shipment Of I'll
men to Camp Holabird, Nd, motor
transport post. Thursday 20 re-
cruits will be ordered to Fort Mon
roe, Va, and Friday Isl will be sent
to Edgewood Arsenal, Md.
Virtually all Washington area
trainees will be called out in these
requisitions, officers said last night.
The shipments will more than ex-
haust the number of selective serv-
ice recruits now on the reservation
and the assignment Office is de-
pending on receiving additional Sc
lectees between now and Friday to
fill the orders.