July-August - Air Defense Artillery School

The mockup freight cars are the design of Technical
~rgeant John M. Devlin, of the SA Section, and are said
to be the only ones of this exact nature in the country. Prior
the building of these simulated freight cars, rolling stock
5 rented from the railroads for the purpose.
Schools of all sorts continue to function here. Subjects
light include everything the AA Artilleryman should
nowand the instructors make use of everv known device to
thei.rmessag~s t
across. The Aircraft Ide~tification School,
hich IS a contmuous course, has turned out several thound
graduates. There is a School of Medical Science, a
adioSchool and others which run more or less constantly.
ther schools, such as the Intelligence School, give unit
~.2'Seight hours per day of intensive lectures for one week
t a tnne.
AST ARTILLERY ACTIVITIES 77
Stewart also intensified its Centralized Troop School
training program; and opened a specialized "Camouflage
Area."
The gigantic Transportation Show, held early in 1\ lay,
was witnessed by a majority of the camp's military and
civilian personnel. Lieutenant Colonel John P. MacNeill's
antiaircraft battalion took top show honors with two first
and two second place wins. Its "most original entry," a
"jeep Roat" showing the evils of neglect of vehicles, and
the same battalion's ambulance won firsts; and its ~ ton and
2~'2ton trucks took second places.
More than 100 vehicles of all types lined up in ten
separate lanes before the reviewing stand. Brigadier General
Spiller spoke brieRy to the entrants, stressing the immense
value of preventive maintenance of motor vehicles.
Colonel \Villiam V. Ochs, Post Commander, also spoke
brieRy, commending the show staff under Lieutenant Colonel
Larrv Graham on its work. .
The ~nique "track meet," held early in June to emphasize
the Stewart physical fitness program-believed to be one
of the most intense and thorough of any training camppitted
the champions of Stewart's nine obstacle courses
against each other for the grand championship of the camp;
and also selected the champion mi]er of the post, G.r. style,
which included running with C.r. shoes, fatigues, full war
pack and riRe.
The obstacle course champions ran on one of the toughest
courses anywhere, consisting of thirty-five super-difficult
obstacles stretching over a quarter of a mile. vVinners were
selected in three categories, those negotiating the course
without equipment, those making it with equipment, and
those taking the hurdles with a gas mask, while tear gas
enveloped them on the course.
The "X for the Axis" preventive maintenance contest, a
follow up on the Transportation Show, started off with a
Hourish in late ]\,t[ayand its first phase will end on July 3.
Originated by the AAATC Automotive Section, the contest
consists of an expert spot-check inspection team that
stops vehicles indiscriminately on the reservation and gives
them the unsavory X's for all deficiencies discovered. At end
of the first phase the units with the least deficiencies or X's
will receive prizes and three-day passes.
Each time a unit receives X's it is advised by the Automotive
Section that those X's are aiding the Axis. The contest
has proved such a success, the Automotive Section said,
that it will be continued indefinitely, each phase running
for a six-weeks period.
Stewart's second model airplane contest is set for the end
of June, when 32 antiaircraft units will compete for prizes
and passes in a tourney designed to foster the AAATC Aircraft
Recognition Program. Latest types of British and
American warplanes will be built to a scale of 1 to 10
mounted on jeeps and paraded around the camp so that all
troops may familiarize themselves with the salient points of
the craft. Enemy and allied planes were featured in the
first such contest, held in March, 1943, which was won by
Lieutenant Colonel A. B. Barrett's battalion.
The tug-of-war tourney started early in June, as a physical
conditioner and sports stimulator of the Physical Training
Section of the AAATG All antiaircraft units, with
eleven-man teams, are at present in preliminaries. Finals of