Gerald W. Smith Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

Gerald W. Smith
in New Hampshire, and Vemnt and around Bangor, Mne.
The other mtter in connection with a special program that
up was to provide them a mica1 enserrble. At our headquarters
Nanchester, New Hamhire, a smll gmup of rnusicims - -
professional musicians, but most of them just
had put toether a very splendfd little wind
and brass - - I'm not sure but maybe we did
winds a violin in it. They played music of quality and played it w 11, and
so we would book them as a part of these program. I could take th 8 se
people out as far as we could get with a staff car and back in an elrening,
you know, because these were all people with regular assigmnts at the
headquarters. We did that mny tims and they turned out to be a mry pop-
ular pup. I think we were quite fortunate in having the recruiting
offices really interested in us because we had shown enough interest in
them to give them help and we did in fact enjoy rewards of those efforts
by finding that a rimer of young women around the six New Fngland States
did in fact enlist in the service with a station and job assigment at one
of our bases.
Q. Well, I think maybe that's pretty good way to end up the actual mllitary
experience that you had . . .
A. I think we need to add one other - - this was just the WAC recruiting.
At the end of the WAC recruiting in May, I advised . . .
Q. By the way, what year was this now?
A. . . . yes, I want to correct the tape. I said yesterday, or Pbnday,
that this was 1945 and in fact this was in Febrmavy to Pby, 1944. 1 had
only been back from Iceland a couple of mnths - - about a mnth and a
half - - when I was taken fmmmy squadron position and put in this role.
In May of 1944, I went to Colonel Rice, the personnel man for the division,
and told him that I felt we would now reach the point of diminishing returns,
I didn't see enough benef'it from a full tim assilgnment in that role to
justify a field grade officer traveling ammd the country; I said maybe
periodically sorebody might make a follow-up.
This point he asked me if I would be interested in becomlng the NtKiitary
Personnel Officer for the division. So instead of returning to q squadmn
out at Grenier Field, I came from that interlude into the position of Mlitary
Personnel Off'icer for the Nor-th Atlantic Division and served in that office
for the rest of tim, &om May of 1944 unt;il I was separated *om the
service In Pbrch of 1946. During that period of tim I held two positions,
I served part of that tim as a filitary Personnel Officer for the division,
and then the last several mnths in service I was promoted to
of Staff for Personnel on the general staff in the division.
role that I left the service in 1946.
I think I'd like to suggest that one thing happened to rn while /I was
in that role Military Personnel Officer that was usef'ul. I was
an applied personnel managemnt school in Florida. I went down
attend a two week school, but it was a two week school that operate
mrning, afternoon and night. It was an applied personnel mmagem&t school
for Beld gmde officers. In my j udwnt I have nevw attended a sFool of
any kind that did so much in that mmnt of tire as that school. I learned
things about personnel managpment that have been applicable to ever#thing
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