Evening star., 1942-06-28

This group of students is Learnt
THE scene was famous hotel in the
l. Niagara Falls district which Army
censorship permitted correspondents on a
tour of war plants to rechristen Honey
moon House in lieu Of its real name.
But romance had taken flight. Instead
of newlyweds, the hostelry was thronged
with lads in uniform. Every bridal bou-
doir had been stripped of its trappings.
In their place were benches. blackboards.
blueprints, airplane engine parts, ma
chine guns and their mounts or devices
for retracting landing gear. Almost over
night the Army had converted Honey
moon House into post t-graduate college.
in which cadets of aviation ground crews,
after completing basic mechanical courses
at Chanute Field, Rantoul Ill, specialized
in servicing the Airacobra pursuit plane.
The school had been originated by the
Bell Aircraft Corp. Of Buffalo. Since
Pearl Harbor it has sent to various COM
bat areas large numbers Of its fast. saw
agely armed strafing craft. 1t was found
that they could be maintained and re-
paired efficiently only by expert me-
chanics of particular training. Glasses to
that end were set up. The Army thought
so we'll of the idea that 1t took the school
over. and is planning to extend the
scheme to other leading planes. such as
the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk the Flying
Fortress, the Consolidated B-24 and the
North American BIS.
Training for Millions.
The above is cited as one picturesque
item Of the most colossal educational
undertaking in United States history.
This is the training Of workers for fac
tories essential to President Roosevelts
enormous production schedule for 1923.
A private university which numbers its
student body by thousands is rated a
titan. Uncle Sans enrolleeS and alumni
may already be counted by the millions
and the figure will eventually be tens OF
millions.
At the beginning of 1910 this country
had only 500, 900 warkers in defense in
dustries. as against $500 900 in Great
Britain and 10000, 900 in Germany. In
January of the present year the Ameri-
can roster had mounted to $500 900. BY
December, an additional 1o,5O0 900 men
and women are to be enrolled, making a
1912 total of $4,000 OOO For 1943 fur
ther recruiting of $500 900 is planned.
Thus the grand aggregate. 1S months
from now. should be 20500,000.
An overwhelming proportion OF these
workers must be taught from the be-
ginning or else converted to new proc
esses. Regarding hundreds of thousands
of men and women pouring into airplane
factories from white collar jobs and
housework, j. H. Kindelberger, president
of North American Aviation. Inc, re-
marked I'VE have to guide their hands
Complex Tasks Broken Down.
The problem has been attacked from
two directions. One is simpliflcation
of the job itself. For instance, task
requiring IS operations by a skilled ar
tisan is "exploded" into IS separate
processes each of which can be mas
tered in a few months or weeks by a
novice. The veteran mechanic Is re-
moved from direct production and be-
comes an instructor and supervisor.
The second measure, that Of training
proper, has had two phases-for emer-
gency labor. and for technicians, SUI
perintendents, foremen and expert me-
chanics. For both purposes. American
industry, in cooperation with the War
Manpower Commission of the Federal
Security Agency and the training
within industry branch of the War Pro-
duction Boards labor division, has drawn
on the resources of 200 technical col
leges and universities. 2,400 vocational
schools, 10000 school shops and in-plant
training facilities developed by 3,l95 war
contracting firms employing more than
$500, 900 workers.
These resources have been used to pre-
pare newcomers for industrial employ
ment, to advance workers already en-
ployed, through supplemental courses,
and to teach operations by the process
of doing them. The last measure, known
as ION the job instruction or in-plant
training, has been found the quickest
and most efficient method for producing
semi skilled labor.
Federal appropriations, starting In
June, 1910, after the collapse Of France,
have carried vocational education in this
country to unprecedented dimensions.
Current enrollees, numbering upward OF
three-quarters of a million at the end
of a recent month, were divided as fol-
lows: College and university engineer
ing, scientific Al b management courses,
| i'''7''; '0e.t''n school courses Dr'D:r-