Vol. 1—No. 23
U. S. Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill, N. C.
Saturday, February 27, 1943
Picnic Scheduled
For Officers
There will be an officers’ picnic
and calling party next Wednesday
iit the Chapel Hill Country Club,
starting at 1730, Lieut. Frank L,
Gillespie, USNR, assistant welfare
iind recreation officer, announced
last week.
Family members are invited,
i^nd the affair will be informal so
officers may come in sport clothes
slacks if they desire. Southern
fi’ied chicken with fixings, soft
<*rinks and other refreshments will
be on hand, and music will be pro
vided by the Pre-Flight orchestra.
The country club is located
within five minutes walking dis
tance of Alexander Hall, going
’^orth on Raleigh Road and turn-
right on Country Club Road.
Prices involved are $1.00 per
$1.50 per couple, and $2.00
per family (parents and children).
Officers are urged to use this op
portunity for getting better ac
quainted with each other. It is
suggested that all tickets be pur
chased in the Chaplain’s office
(Room 113, Alexander Hall) as
soon as possible.
Number of College
Cadets Decreases
Examination of figures prepared
under the direction of Lieut.
Comdr. Howard L. Hamilton,
USNR, academic coordinator,
*hows that the previous academic
Pi'eparation of the cadets has
fallen markedly since the first
^oup came aboard last summer.
While only 14.8% of the First
attalion were non-college men,
66.6% of the 18th Battalion which
I eported here recently, had no col-
training whatsoever. Those
''"ithout any college training in
’^•athematics increased from 36.7 %
to 78.4%.
This trend means a more diffi-
^‘ult task for Pre-Flight instruc-
responsible for training the
cadets in sciences basic to flying
’Modern combat planes.
Dignitaries Don Gloves
SQUARING OFF, North Carolina Representative Willie Lee
Lumpkin (left), of Franklin County, prepares to lay low Lieutenant
Governor Reginald Harris (right)—under the careful supervision
of Referee Josephus Daniels, former Secretary of the Navy. It was
all in good fun, however, as the dignitaries squared off for an
impromptu bout while inspecting the boxing program here last
week.
At full strength, some 140 members of the North Carolina
Legislature, Governor J. M. Broughton, and the Council of State
spent Thursday a week ago touring the Pre-Flight base as the
honorary 20th battalion.
Carolina General Assembly
Expresses Appreciation for Visit
In a joint resolution passed Feb. 24, the General Assembly of
North Carolina , officially expressed appreciation to Comdr. John P.
Graff, USN (Ret.), commanding officer of the U. S. Navy Pre-Flight
School, Chapel Hill, N. C., for the hospitality extended to its members
during their visit here on Thursday, Feb. 18. The resolution also
commended the Commanding Officer and his staff for the “fine service
they are performing in the training of Naval Aviation Cadets.”
Complete text of the resolution (H. R. No. 620) is reprinted below:
H. R. No. 620.
A JOINT RESOLUTION EXPRESSING APPRECIATION TO
COMMANDER JOHN P. GRAFF, USN (RET) AND HONORABLE
JOHN W. UMSTEAD, JUNIOR, FOR ARRANGING THE VISIT
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO THE NAVAL PRE-FLIGHT
SCHOOL IN CHAPEL HILL.
Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives con
curring: ^ . 1.
Section 1. The General Assembly of North Carolina does hereby
See GENERAL ASSEMBLY, page U
Navy Plan Offers
Good Uniforms
At Fair Prices
Acting in response to a growing
number of complaints of excessive
charges, poor service and inferior
quality, the Bureau of Supplies
and Accounts has developed and
placed into operation the Naval
Officers’ Uniform Plan establish
ing a standard of comparison for
all Naval officers and prospective
Naval officers to use, it was dis
closed in an Executive Memoran
dum issued here this week.
Quoting information received
from the Bureau of Supplies and
Accounts, the plan was described
as devised “for the protection of
Naval officers... to make available
to Naval officers a standard uni
form of high quality and reason
able cost.”
Included in the plan are ready
made service blues, raincoat-over-
coats, and overcoats for commis
sioned and chief petty officers, as
well as winter working uniforms
for flying officers, braid, insignia.
See UNIFORMS, page i
Navy Adds Fishing
Kits to Life Rafts
Future Navy airmen forced
down at sea will have a better
chance for surviving until rescued,
as the result of the development
of an emergency fishing kit by the
Life Saving Board of the Navy
and Coast Guard.
The kits, containing fishing
lines, bait and sinkers, will pro
vide full directions on how to “live
off the sea,” and thereby help solve
the food supply problem for
American fighting men adrift in
lifeboats and floats.
The newly designed fishing kit
is now being added to the standard
equipment of lifeboats and rafts
on all Navy and merchant ships
of 3,000 tons or more, and will
likewise be carried on rafts used
by airplane pilots.