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Show Civilian Changes To Military Life The transition from civilian life to military life is one many thousands thous-ands of our American boys are having to make, whether it be through the draft or by voluntary enilstment. Young men from Utah, western Idaho and Nevada first come in contact with the Army at Ft. Douglas. Here all the inductees in-ductees and enlistees for the Army are processed for subsequent shipment ship-ment to Ft. Lewis, Washington. The processing that these men will go through begins the minute they reach Ft. Douglas. As soon as a prospective Army recruit arrives he is given a complete com-plete physical examination arid a mental test. If he successfully passes both these steps he ig then either sworn in, if he is a volunteer, or returns to his home to await subsequent induction- notice. Once sworn in, he is then shipped out directly to Ft. Lewis, Wash., where he begins a five-day transition transi-tion from civilian to soldier. The first day the new soldiers are given a brief physical examination, examina-tion, receive a complete issue of Army clothing, hear orientation lectures and see films depicting various phases of Army life. The second day they take a series of ten classification tests which are used to establish their physical profile and education level, as well as indicating which branch of the Army they would be best suited for. Also on the second day they are given a personal affairs orientation orien-tation including a briefing on the benefits of GI insurance, wills, power of attorney and allotments. The third day is spent by attending attend-ing a classification and assignment assign-ment interview, where each new soldier . is given three classifications, classifica-tions, two for non-combat jobs and one combat position, and completing complet-ing any personal affairs forms they may wish to. Also on the third day each man receives a partial pay in the amount of $10.00 which is to tide him over during his 5-day 5-day stay at Ft. Lewis. On the fourth day they get immunization im-munization shots, hear the Articles of War, and if they have scored over 110 on the classification tests they are given the Officers Candidate Candi-date test for possible assignment to Officers Candidate School. This completes their processing at Ft. Lewis and the new soldiers await transfer to other stations where they will complete their basic training. All men, regardless of the branch of the Army they are assigned to, must undergo the same basic training which lasts for six weeks. During this time they learn to work as a team. They have training train-ing in the use of all types of guns, run obstacle courses and learn patrolling, map reading, field sanitation sani-tation and the tricks of camouflage. camou-flage. Upon completion of this six weeks of basic, each new soldier is assigned to another eight weeks training in the branch of the Army where he will fight or perform per-form his non-combat duty. In all, it takes 36 weeks before the Army is ready to consider the new soldier sold-ier qualified for regular duty. By this time he has ceased to be an individual and has become an integral in-tegral part of a great team, per-pefctly per-pefctly trained and able to take his pice in the ranks of the world's best Army. |
