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Show 8 January (t ygWufeooxitB 5, 1944 Oscar's Only a Dummy, but He Is Good at Life Saving J By Marge Ferlnmen 'Hit the SiW Veteran A vx Hi: Oscar is just a little guy who works at Ogden Air Service Command, but he has undoubtedly saved the lives of scores of Army Air Force flyers. Oscar never gets any medals, or even commendation from his superior officers because he is a canvas-coverrope dummy, about four and a half feet tall, weight one hun- av Cited as Best in ASC Processes Here Praised at Dayton Confab - wM tioTof gency. The Air Forces Insist that the first twenty 'chutes under every new contract with a manufacturer as well as every be twentieth one thereafter throughout the contract, in order to insure r. eonslstent quality of the Oscar and His Crew When the parachutes are delivered at Ogden Air Service Command, Oscar and his orew of more than twenty other dummies are drafted for service. On them are 'chutes of trapped the nylon silk, and they are dropped 300 to 600 feet from a bomber or from a cargo plane. The 'chutes are wired so that the ripcord is automatically pulled when the dummy is released from the plane, and the 'chute opens exactly as if would if a flyer were depending on it for bis safety. AH parachutes in stock at Ogden Air Service Command are inspected and repacked every sixty days, and repair of damaged 'hutes is an important task. The parachute department, a part of the equipment repair branch, employs fifty people, over three-fourtof them women, to inspect the material defects and to repair them when necessary. Repair of the 'chute is actually Jast mending on a large scale. Each is twelve feet long and twenty-four feet in diameter, and contains five hundred yards of silk or The previous white silk nylon. formerly used has been replaced recently by nylon, believed to be more durable. drop-teste- d, life-save- nd hs Sections When one of the Ninety-si- x ninety-si- x sec- tions of the chute is found to be torn, no matter how slightly, the entire section is removed and a new one basted into the seams by hand. Then the new seams are stitched by machine and again tested for defects. In charge of the parachute repair work is Henry P. Daross, whose in canvas and experience Lt Col. Joseph W. Vinson of the War department's war manpower board in Washington, D. C, is vis iting Hill Field to Inspect the man power office here and to discuss current manpower problems with Major Leroy R. Farmer,manpower director. The office of the director of manpower was established here recently coincident with similar action taken in all ASC major depots. It includes the functions and personnel of the old manpower utilization section and the duties of the office manager. Purpose of the new office is to insure an efficient use of manpower at this installation. Post Movies WEDNESDAT-THITRSDA- V JANUARY 5- - "Destination Tokyo" Grant Cary John Garfield FRIDAY-SATURDA- Y JANUARY 8 "No Time for Love" Claudette Colbert 1-- Fred MacMurray SUNDAY-MONDA- Y JANUARY t--1 "Around the World" Kay Kyser Joan Davis Mischa Auer TUESDAY JANUARY 11 "The Cross of Lorraine" Pierre Aumont Gene Kelly Peter Lorre 12-1- -- -- Hill Field's Mutual Benefit So-- non-prof- Officer Cautions on Packing Damage Second LL George S. Shurtleff, assistant chief, branch 3, who has seen at first hand the condition of many ASC shipments on arrival, talked to employes of warehouse 5 last week describing instances of damaged equipment he saw while stationed in Hawaii with an Infantry organization. His talk also included suggestions on better packing procedures to insure material arriving with a minimum amount of damage. He gave employes an idea of an air depot in the theatre of war, pointed out the kind of treatment equipment must go through en route to its destination, and explained the necessity for taking pains in packing it. Lt. Shurtleff was an enlisted man during his stay in Hawaii, left for Officer's Candidate School in December, 1942. He was assigned to mil Field last month. Safe Arrival Was reported this England by Pfc. Junior J. Varney of the air corps, who formerly was employed at Hill Field. He enlisted ia the air corps last ween in aarcn. system. said tha . vn pitit ' !.!!. nave arisen in icmo wuivu 1 1 stallation of the system . . 1 1.1- vuoocu ai. iciigi.u, mat, m we conrerees, th T " m the oi procedi usea x uaehj were, almost out exception, superior to In use at other command. Stanley K. Dee, technical bui. to major Murray, said I uuuuiuion or tne system i M w 10 to per cent complete, When completely install system will operate somewhat the production line technli eacn employe being respo: for the processing of certain of items from the approximil iau,wu nanaiea in the brtnc Employes were trained on the to completely process item signed to them even to the i of military; correspondence necessary. The new method allows for ai location oz records and sin ploye responsibility in each a Kardex trays on the clerka plus a simplified paper flow made passible the reduction in i ploye needed and in the nunl of posting errors m some brani Supply division committee sponsible for the complete tion of the system here consul Dee as chairman, Willard H. and Robert I Stearman. iJ ... of one of the thousands For a drop-te-st OSCAR IS PREPARED Oscar, of parachutes repaired and packed at Hill Field every month. helmet and wear the not flying jacket, does usually the dummy, occasion by Ben Larkin, day shirt shoes, but was dressed for the 'chute foreman in the department. Two Units in Move To New Location The safety branch, civilian per sonnel section, formerly located on the third floor of repair hangar f ciety with 10 deaths in the year to handle had what manager Kay Olander described this week as "a busy enough year.'' Rapid turnover m membership found the society gaining two or three hundred new members each month and losing about the same number. Total signed up at the present time Is 3,500, Members pay six dollars a year. la each case of death, beneficiaries were immediately paid the $1000 stipulated in the Society's constitution. The 40 volunteers who collect assessments from members in their departments were called upon IS times in 1943 and did a praise-earnijob from Miss Olander and her assistant, lone Johnson. The Mutual Benefit Society was activated and i maintained soleit basis, and ly on a amounts to a thousand dollar "insurance policy" on the life of the member. Assessments are made whenever condition of the Society's funds warrants it so that death payments may be made promptly. Contrary to common understanding, members are covered off the field as well as on, and payments are made for any type of death. Even suicide after the first year is accredited. Major Robert Ren fro, employe relations head, is custodian of Mutual Benefit funds. . (nwru ovtA Winner Mutual Benefit Society Had 'A Busy Enough Year' of It WEDNESDAY-THURSDA- Y JANUARY 3 "Higher and Higher" Frank Sinatra Michel Morgan Jack Haley the corporation? Kardex '"stalled in th ply division her i. "upw any in the ASC. Major D. J. Murmur m.. the property accountinr iZ) LIT- ,frrrt N. Winner, ofuuijinum the con salt Lake City branch, VkT in attendance at the conW held in nniiAT, rwus. n cerned the use ofvino, aMn. in equipment conjunction wittl 65,-0- 00 ng Manpower Expert Visits Maj. Farmer Multlgraph tativea leather repair began during the horse and buggy days. A native of Texas, Dareas was an apprentice of the late R. C. Flick in a harness and saddle shop in Cuero, Texas, when he was fifteen years old. He has followed the shiftfrom ing trend of transportationmodern the horseless carriages to airmy aircraft. It is under the supervision of Daross that the workers in the parachute department have shot their production record up over 150 per cent in the last twelve months. In the last year the nimble fingers of men and women in the department have inspected overover'chutes, packed 8454, and hauled and repaired approximately five parachutes out of every hundred they have inspected. At least three thousand 'chutes go every through the department month, some of them for inspection only, others for packing and repair. Foremen in charge of the para chute work are Ben Larkin of Og den, day shift, and Lea Clayson of Salt Lake City, swing shift. ssrssLrssk received word last SSS the opinion of. confer,? cent conference of AddrJliJ ed dred and fifty pounds. He's the fellow who makes the first actual test of parachutes who drops from one of OASCs giant airplanes to see if the 'chute is ready for the pilot to depend on it for his life in case of emer- 1 number one, and the compensation unit, formerly in the industrial AAF to Eliminate . medical dispensary, moved their offices last week into warehouse 17, adjacent to the payroll sec tion. The compensation unit, a part Longer of the safety branch, processes all claims as a result of injury Painting while in the line of duty. The In the Hawaiian Islands The army atr forces has ordered consolidation of the two depart' Lee M. Stephens of d Seaman one is in ments to office expected from be removed war that paint tee was who increase their effi den, employed almost all of its aircraft Removal ciency. Further, operational the new location sine repair branch at Hill Field of the greenish-gra- y camouflage is m proximity to civilian person fore he enlisted in the unj June. paint, heretofore covering all 17. S. net neadquarters. warplanes, will give planes several miles an hour additional speed and will result in an appreciable reduction in weight. Paint From Planes Repair Jobs Here Will no Include 2c A Maintenance here said facilities at the present time this depot will not commence paint - stripping opera tions. Any plans for doing so in the near future remained officials of that due to a lack A, - a Day for Prayer I nowever, application or .war paint here has already ceased as a result of the AAF order. Previously, a camouflage paint job was part of most overhauls. AAF action was the result of recommendations from combat commanders. Camouflage will be retained, from now on, only on specialized planes overseas. In the U. S. practically all military aircraft wiu rou on tne asembly lines in me natural metal colors. Removal of paint will reduce in fighter troes bv 15 to weight 20 pounds, in heavy bombardment types, by 70 to wm 80 pounds. Gen. Dunton Heads New Awards Board An awards and decorations board which will review and recommend to higher authority types of awards and decorations to be awarded officers and enlisted men was an-pointed earlier this month by ASC headquarters. The following officers were ap- pointed: Maj. Gen. Delmar H. Dun-topresident: Brig. Gen. Elmer E. Adler, and Lt Col. Gardner F. Brown, recorder. Generals Dunton and Adler have both visited Hill Field before on Inspection trips. Gen. Dunton is Atxj deputy commander. Gen. Ad ler is ASC chief of plans and train' ing. General Dunton has been award ed the Legion of Merit for out standing work as commanding general of the North Africa air service command. He has also served In the Philippines, Hawaii n, oa mono mco. IT . TTXlS ON JANUARY FIBST . . FoSewiag PieaUeat w ifari oe oDserved as a day of prayer, apecw --r tst eonducted la the chapel, and workers paused in ,,e"JE(vW at lim Field. Shown, left to right d,uri.E ciiia Keney, Thebna Bmfth, aad Wlasteai Seef""'",' --wwea wniis wuuam W. CaraeS, sssistaat reresnsw "'EltS r rf,fWstZrCarf7 |