Show SWI GS By IRIS SYN RG The women who wore uniforms in the second World War pioneered as the first females in our armed services It took us awhile to get accustomed to the neckties and the discipline but we weren't the only ones to have difficulty with the adjustment FROM l ALL FIELDS of industry and from all the professions men were called to serve their country They put on the uniforms uniforms uni forms of officers and that's as far as some of them ever got They were never anything any any- anything anything thing but civilians no matter how much insignia they wore I met one of these civilians doubling as asan asan j an officer when I reported for duty in the theOffice theOffice theOffice Office of Chemical Warfare at Camp Breck Breck- Fresh out of classes on Military Courtesy I entered the outer office with my shoes shined my hair off my collar and my tie neatly under the second button of my shirt The sargeant who sat at a desk told me to go right in so I did THE TIlE MAJOR sat behind his desk in a swivel chair Ills His back was to me and he had made himself a little tent with his fingers He was teetering gently singing Paper Doll under his breath I wheeled out my best salute and snapped Private reporting for duty sir lie He swung the chair around it got away from him made an extra turn and as he fIe flew by the desk the second time his foot got caught and the swivel chair swayed precariously before he got it under control DONT DO that he hollered dya want That wasn't what they'd told us In those classes on Military Courtesy They said we reported for duty the officer would tell us to stand at ease after returning our salute Major Gaines never did return my salute I dont don't think he knew how THINGS DIDN'T Improve as time went on Major Gaines a chemist in civilian life wasn't comfortable as an officer At least he didn't look comfortable He had a little potbelly on which the gold buckle of his belt rode triumphant he was forever forgetting to wear a tie and quite often when he glanced around and the gold leaf on his shoulder came into his field of vision I would see a look of vague panic cross his face Our office was shared by the Corps of Engineers and Major Egan of that department department department depart depart- ment didn't make the changeover with any greater ease He lie knew what had to be done but the paperwork the army required not only up u upset t him it bewildered him He tried ignoring it but it only snowballed on him so 60 he approached it sideways dealing with it in a gingerly manner manner- ONE AFTERNOON when Major Gaines had gone off oft to take c car care a r e of s some o 0 m 01 e business in the Officers Officer's Club Major Egan gave me some of his baffling paperwork paper paper- work to deal with I typed up a number of forms and took them back to him After a moment he rushed over to my desk and waved a sheet of paper under my nose Here now he raved this youve you've got on the top of this page What does this sop mean I took the offending paper and looked at it The sop was the abbreviation for Standard Operating Procedure but the Major didn't like it He lie said it didn't make any sense THOSE TWO Majors never did get the hang of the army way of doing things But ButI I 1 liked them I 1 never got the hang of it myself r I |