VMI Cadet. September 29, 1961

              W e l c o m e New Cadets
Wkt
VOLUME H VIRCINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE, LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1961 NUMBER 1
Three Hundred - Fifty New Cadets
Processed During Cadre Period
A group of newly arrived fourth classmen are shown''as they
receive first instructions from upper class cadremen before be-ginning
processing on September 13.
—— ^^
Combined Arjm Training
Offered To Cadets
Monday, September 25, marked
the initiation of the "U.S. Army
Combat Course." This course will
offer sixty-two hours of practical
outdoor training, featuring ten
hours of physical training, four
hours in practical use of the bay-onet,
and classes in hand-tO'hand
combat, repelling, demolitions, and
tank firing. The instruction will
culminate with a night patrol at;
if.g. Army Camp A.P. Hill in late
November. On this night patrol 'the
cadet will use all the training he
has previously received in the
course.
This program is especially de-signed
for infantry and armor
cadets, but members of both artil-lery
and all: force brandies will-be
welcomed", or special interest to
the armor stil^^ent will be the
b|acHou1i: and: infra-red. tank <trivr
ing, Jcoupled; witlj,. the iive firing
of thfe coaxial mathjne, p n . ' In^
fantry Cadets sbouhl
, id^'the, special pl^^sicair^
! pro'gkm " d ^ i ^ -Jo meet bo^
rlngi^ and 'aiAornfe i^quiremfents.
At the end of . the physical training
segment the cadet among other
tljings will do thirty push-ups and
fifty-two squait jumps.
Sponsored by the Military Science
Department this instruction is
threefolding design. First, it wiH
offer a challenge to the ability
and imagination of the cadet by
presenting subjects concerning the
combat arms of the army. Another
aim of the course will be to foster
self confidence in the future pla-toon
leader. The final objective
will be to prepare the cadet as
a future U.S. Army combat arms
officer. This course is over and
above the standard R.O.T.C, re-quh-
ements, and has been establish-ed
to prepare the VMI graduate for
the possible events of the near
future. Just as Col. Glover S. Johns,
the previous commandant of VMI,
was chosen to lead a battle group
to Berlin, so might a member of
the graduating class be called upon
in 9 similarly critical situation in
future inevitable crises. This course
has been inaugurated to start ithe
cad«t'9 preparation for this all to
likely possibility.
At present, the course will be
instructed by three non-commis-sioned
officers and three commis-sioned
officers. Classes will meet
oa Monday and Thursday a^er
military duty, Wednesday during
general permit, and on three Sat-urdays
for special sessions. It is
not mandatory that a cadet attend
all classes and may attend as often
or as seldom as he pleases. The
Military Science Department is
contemplating giving a test at the
completion of the course, to mea-sure
the trainee's aptitude in the
By E. J. Fygi
Wednesday, September thirteenth,
was a black day indeed for some'
three hundlred j^ty-odd youths, |
freshly emerged from the aura of
high school frivolity. It was their
day of reckoning, their moment of
truth guised in a ceremony known:
as New Cadet Processing. j
For th® eighty members of the'
new cadet cadre this moment was
a welcome respitp ,..*r^'«r'. t'. o two'
days of tedium which comprised the '
necessjiry refresher period that
prepared the processors for the
arrival of the new fourth classmen.
Processors soon learned, however,
that being the administrator can be
as trying as being the recipient of
ithe cadre's efforts.
At 0830, Wednesday the first
Cadets filed out of Cocke Hall
under the direction of cadreman
Si Bunting; from here the group
proceeded to the barracks for lug-gage,
issuance of a pair of uniform
black socks, and a first pungent
taste of the ratline. Then the new
cadets went to the fourth stoop
and were introduced to their rooms
skills taught :i|i the previous two and such important items as the
months, Ov^Jpirty-|ive. gidets are turnout and the procedure follow-eatfly
in the proctessing period
coanpletjed initial processing (a
four hour venture) in time to spend
the remainder of the day learning
the rudiments of close order drill.
Those who procrastinated their
matriculation faced even more
pressure from the cadre to com-plete
the required steps of pro-cessing
before SRC; necessary in
order that there would be enough
time left after processing to in-struct
the new rats in the move-ments
needed for retreat that
evening.
Perhaps the most distasteful
event for the new rats was the first
morning; promptly at 0615 the rats
were greeted by the not too cheer-ful
countenances of their cadremen
who directed groups of twelve be-wildered
new cadets to their for-mation
areas for breakfast. After
Crozet," the new cadets were
marched to the parade ground for
sizing and placement into com-panies.
It was here that the first
rat suffered a change of heart
about VMI and decided to leave.
Concurrently, another new cadet
(who had been misdirected to Lex-ington,
Kentucky) arrived and was
placed in his company while still
in civilian clothes.
Now that the new cadets had
been assigned to the respective
companies, they were marched to
barracks for the transfer of room
arrangement to company areas on
the fourth stoop. From this point
the schedule of the new cadets
was divided among lectures, talks,
drill, uniform outfitting, post tours,
athletics, and more drill.
Wilh Sunday cjRme the first
SMI, and, for many, the first con-ception
of how easy it is to get
boned. Many New Cadets, upon
encountering the hushed reverence
of J. M. Hall, had to supress the
urge to doze; some supressed it
better than others. The Religious
Council's gala, annual Rat Picnic
followed as a welcome respite from
the rigors of a week in the ratline,
and served as an opportunity for
the rats to gird their loins for
the inevitable holacaust that would
accompany the return of the re-mainder
of the Corps the next day.
enrolled at tl^ present time, and
the instrtict^'^will welcome at any
time all othe^ who wish to take
pant in this .vlt^l course.
erf when an" upperclassnian enters
the room.
The pace never let up. The groups
comprised of those who arrived
Colottil H. N. DiUard
Direct Hop Committee
Colonel Her^rt Nash Dillard
has recently 'alsumed the respon-sibilities
of faculty ad\:isor for this
year's VMIvHo^ Committee. Assis-ting.
him thikSemester will be Lt,
CpK will re-.
linqui,Sh \ t h ^ ^ i t i o n of - aide ,to'
hext' semi»ter
whereupon fljajpr Thomas B. Gen-try
will take over, coioi.el Dillard
feels this year's Hop Committee
has worked the hardest ever in
preparing for the dances, and their
enthusiasm for the new plans set
forth is tremendous. Both the
Superintendent and Colonel Dil-lard
recall the time when formal
dances at VMI were the focal peint
of barracks social life; but, in re-cent
years, the dances have not
been fully supported by the Corps.
With the considerable improve-ments
planned, however, it is hoped
that tlie entire corps and alumni
win support the Hop Committee
and attend the dances.
The Hop Committee is working
diligently to improve the overall
character of the dances. Special
credit should be given to Cadets
Jay Bierman, Jim Trioe, Hugo Bur-ton,
Don Arey and Carl Galants.
They and other members are in
PX COUNCIL
The Post Exchange Council
will make advancements oa
ROTC ClMcks again this year.
Tke charge tor these advance,
handled by Captain Beard in
meat* wiU be I1.M and will be
advancements can be made on
the Treasurei^s Office. These
Wednesdays from 4:M pjn. to
5:%0 pjn. and Fridays from 4:M
p.m. to S:SO p.m.
the process of improving the quality
and variety of the entertainment,
the audio system, the lighting
facilities, and the decorations. In
fact, the general bearing of the
dances is undergping a change. .
•V, Th^ Corps will be pleased to note
that the usual Midwinters Dances
wil be changed in form; two se-parate
dances on different Satur-day
nights will be held instead of
the usual one weekend. This is be-cause
the Hop Committee wishes to
break up the somewhat monotonous
period between Ring Figure and
Easters, a move which will benefit
the entire Corps. But, the Com-mittee
needs the help of the Corps
in planning future improvements.
Any suggestions will be welcomed.
Letters will also be sent to the
parents of all Fourth Classmen
informing them of the importance
of the hops. All in all, it is ex-pected
that this year's dances will
be better than ever. For their work
and effort, the Hop Committee
members deserve extended con-gratulations.
VMI's Opening Hops will begin
with a bang on October 20th and
2l8t. At Friday night's formal af-fair,
Dean Hudson and his band
will provide the music and en-tertainment;
whereas, on Saturday,
the VMI Commanders plan to liven
up the gynmasium. Both dances
will begin at 9:00 p.m. and end
at 12:00 midnight. Tickets, $6.00
per night, may be bought at the
dor either Friday or Saturday night,
but full season's Hop Tickets can
be obtained from Hop Committee
members in Rooms 114 and 116 any
tjme before Openings.
Fourth classmen — Frantz, Wilkinson, and Taylor are shown
in their new home, after having undergone several phases of pro.
cessing and instruction conducted by the cadre. Mothers, look what
good housekeepers your sons are now!
MAN ON
THE STOOP
Each year VMI sends over 200
men to darious ROTC summer
year many summer camp instruc-camps
throughout the country. This
year many summer camp instruc-tors
were left with a favorable
opinion of the abilities of VMI
men. But what did the Keydets
think of summer camp. The follow-ing
question wa s posed ito a typi-cal
group of barracks denizens;
"Do you think your time at sum-mer
camp was well spent?"
BOB STOY: No. Out of the
twenty-eight days of summer camp
I belie\^ there were no more than
several hours of instruction in
which I actually learned anything.
KEN MURRAY: Yes. The prac
tical training I received greatly
supplemented classroom instruc-tion,
but; I lost my girl, lost six
weeks of summer, and couldn't get
a job when I got home. One thing
about summer camp; it helps you
appreciate the organization at VMI.
JOHN MORRIS: I feel 1 learned
something but the majority of the
time was wasted through repeti-tion
and inefficiency.
ED CARLSEN: Yes, I would say
it was well worth while. Every day
we saw new and interesting things
that we wouldn't have seen other-wise.
However, I don't think the
"ratline" of the Air Force was
enforced well enough to be of any
benefit.
MOTT ROBERTSON: I think I
learned a lot from a practical
standpoint, i.e., becoming acquain-ted
with the weapons. Nearly every-thing
else was repetitious of what
we had already had in ROTC class.
CHARLIE BROWN: Yes, I think
it was. I got a lot out of it. How-ever,
it would have been more fun
to have stayed home and gone to
the beach.
GARY KAYLOR: Yes, I do think
so. It gave us a good practical re-view
and a chance to apply the
various things we were taught in
class. I also enjoyed the athletics
and "happy hours" in the Officer's
Club.
JIM DE.\N: No, I didn't go. Oti.
\^ell, you can't win 'em all.