Evening star., 1943-11-18
mo. S OF a Series.)
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES,


sailor-should have eyes like q cat
He should have night eyes, for most
landing assaults are begun in the
hours before dawn.
While some men naturally have
sharper eyes in the darkness than
others, soldiers and sailors taking
amphibious training together at
Camp Bradford, near Norfolk, Va,
are being taught to make the most
of their vision at night. There's a
night vision testing laboratory, un-
der the direction of 1t. j. H. Sulz-
man, Medical Corps, U. S. N. r., an
eye specialist.
You 60 through a dim-lit passage
way into room which at first seems
completely dark. Gradually you dis
Germ that there are vague lights of
calculated colors, which fail to IL
Illuminate the room. Students are
kept there 80 minutes to accustom
their eyes to the obscurity. Then
they 60 through the black -out
maze" to show how we'll they get
along In strange and confusing
(understatement) environment.
Visiting newspapermen didn't
have time, because of the strenuous
inspection program arranged, to stay
in the dark room long enough for
visual orientation, if any. They went
through the maze with all the lights
on, and still almost broke their sew
eral necks. There were steps Of va
rious and unexpected lengths, in
Guiding a jutting one guaranteed to
crack any set of shins. We encoun-
tered pasSageways that ended in un-
announced downward or upward
steps; sandbags that rose up and
socked you: corridors you had to
enter STOPPING. There was a stream,
complete, with rocks to jump across
The men in training go through this
buffeting labyrinth in darkness re-
lieved only by pin-points of over
head lights, such as stars might
shed. How they do it without land
ing in the sick bay Is a mystery.
Vitamin A is Helpful.
"They take 1t in stride" 1t. Sulz-
man insisted.
The doctor added that vitamin A
was helpful In developing night
vision. It's found in carrots and
other things.
The work of Camp Bradford has
been described-how soldiers ano
sailors are training together there in
the fundamentals and refinements
of amphibious attack. At Solomons
Md. an all-Navy base, officers and
enlisted men are being trained tc
operate the larger types of landing
craft and ships, such at Let's, LOIS
and LISTS.
The commanding officer at Solo,
mons Is Comdr. r. S. Barrett, U. S
N. r., an Annapolis graduate who
dropped out Of the Navy some years
ago, but kept Reserve commission
He directs the schooling of thou
sands Of officers and enlisted men
There also are a few British Navy
men learning how to run LCIs. Solo,
mons Is doing for the larger vessels
what the Little Greek (Va.) base is
doing for the small craft, providing
them with trained crews.
Most Of the officers chosen for
training at Solomons come from in
doctrination schools. Many have
been at sea- Others are drawn from
shore stations. A great many of the
enlisted men are sent straight from
boot camp.
Many Reserve Officers,
You realize, looking over the am
phibious training centers, how much
our vastly enlarged Navy must, like
the Army. depend on officers from
civil life. Naval Academy graduates
make up only fraction of the COM
missioned personnel, and Reserve
officers In large numbers are navi-
eating and performing other serv-
ices requiring the highest technical
skill. AT Camp Bradford, for ex-
ample, the commanding officer,
Capt. J. w. Whitfield, is the only
regular officer on the postal the
others are U. S. N r.
AS Comdr. Barrett explained. so
great was the demand for navigators
and engineers when big-scale am
phibious operations became immi-
nent that any one who had ever run
a launch was candidate for skipper
or officer of some landing craft or
ship.
Typical Of these civilians-turned-
sailors is a lieutenant, captain of
the LIST the largest type of land
ing ship on which We took an over
night cruise from a point near Nor
folk to the Solomons. He is from
Seattle, and he took one Of the
Navy's v courses at the University
of Washington. studying ships and
navigation. He served aboard a bat
tleship In the South Pacific, taking
part in several battles, before he
came to the amphibious forces. Un-
der him are seven other youthful
officers and a crew of IS.
An LIST Is more than 300 feet
long, and it looks like a big freight