Evening star., 1941-03-14
Few Hours in Uniform
Make Big Change in
Camp Lee SeIectees
ButtoIion Commander
Bubbles Over With
Pride Over Rockies
BY NELSON NJ. SHEPARD,
Star Staff CorreSpondent.


the mothers who had no idea short
months ago that they were raising
their boys to be soldiers in 194l.
1t was time for the 4:50 pm. re-
treat call yesterday in this new re-
ception center at Camp Lee, where
about TOO Washington boys, fresh
from jobs and unreStrained city
ways have been shuttled in the last
10 days to the stranger environment
of Fort Bliss, Tex.
Mai. A. G.. Moore, the battalion
commander, was fairly bursting with
pride
Il want you to see these boys,
you'll be surprised" We beat tracks
for what seemed to be a makeshift
parade ground Remember" Maj.
Moore was saying, they got into
their uniforms at l O'Clock today
and they've been soldering for only
four hours. Man alive, you wouldn't t
recognize them for the same bunch
that came in here this morning"
Down the rough, dried roadbed
of red Virginia Clay-the same clay
the feet of similar doughboyS trod
in 1917 and 1918-in mass formation
marched Camp Lees latest con-
tingent of Selective Service in
ductees. In charge of each forma-
ton was a couple of seasoned non
CONS" They were marching in
step, with heads up and shoulders
thrown back-Some with kinks in
their shoulders, it's true, but 13
weeks in replacement center will
iron those out.
Learn Their First Duties.
Five hours in uniform certainly
had transformed them. They had
learned the first duties of a rookie
soldier-to march in squads and to
obey commands. They were still
self-conscious of their new garb, but
that, too, will change in a day or
so.
Maj Moore said the most aston
ishing thing to the "old timers"
at the camp was the ease and
quickness with which these new
men seemed to fit into Army life.
The men had no guns, but in five
hours or less they had learned to
march. straighten out their lines
and come to attention without con-
fusion.
The reception center at Camp
Lee is paying the penalty for its
neWnesS. 1t opened for business
on March 3. 1t hasn't got a flag
yet or bugler. The standard used
at the retreat parade was an Ameri-
can Legion standard borrowed from
q Petersburg post. And the "bugler"
sounded the retreat call on a clari-
net. It was good imitation, how
ever, of the real thing.
Maj. Moore had good reasons to
be proud of the bearing of these
boys, who had Just come in from
induction centerS. A few were from
Washington and Baltimore, but
most were city boys from Pitts
burgh, miner boys from Wilkes
Barre and others from scattering
Of Pennsylvania towns.
Regret Old Uniforms.
But there was one source of en-
barraSsment to Maj. Moore, en-
barrassment to Maj. Moore, an en-
up the line to 1t. Col. Cyril BaSSich,
the commanding officer of the re-
ception center.
Did you see that old uniform?"
Maj. Moore asked. And that one
there, and there?"
They were easy enough to spot
and recognizable to any one as
years-old Army issue.
Uncle Sans factories are turning
out new uniforms by the thousands
every day, but the old stock of uni
forms still is much in evidence.
Some of this stock is shoddy enough
to make a 1941 quartermaster
squirm. But there's nothing that
can be done about it. They are
old and Wrinkled and some have
been worn before by c. C. c. men.
The men don't like them, for it
makes them stand out like strange
oddities in comparison with their
comrades who are outftted in the
really excellent uniform material
that is being issued fresh from the
factories.
Col. BasSich was apologetic about
the old uniforms but he needn't have
been. One can see them at Fort
Meade, Fort Sam Houston, Tex,
Fort Benning and almost any Army
camp.
Rapid Turnover.
The men are coming and going at
AI.;- ia 1,of
1t is an almost continuous line of
civilians transformed overnight into
soldiers. More than 200 arrive and
leave each day.
Early yesterday, a trainload of
800 men left for a 2038-mile train
trip to Fort Bliss. About 18O Dis
trict of Columbia men who will help
fill up the ranks of the 260th Anti
aircraft Regiment were among them
The men who left for Texas yester-
day had been inducted into service
in Baltimore Monday. They are
shuttled out of the Camp Lee recep-
ton center in two or three days
depending largely on circumstances
The reception center has 1000
bed capacity. Between March II
and March 20 a total of 1900 men
will pass through it. This is the
peak load. about four times as many
as the Fort Meade reception center
will check in and out during the
same time.
THE thing to do is to keep the
lines moving" Col. Bassich COM
mented. I'VE have just so many
beds available, so we can't let the
number of men get above the bed
capacity"
Trains Arrive at All Hours.
Life for the officers in charge is
made hard by the schedules of trains
arriving from Pennsylvania areas
from which great many of the men
come. These trains arrive any time
between midnight and 3 am.
The menAhave to be fed, regardless
of the hour. Coffee and hot dogs
usually suffice. Then the number
must be checked against the papers
and the men must be assigned to