NROTC Students Make Training Run

"Join the Navy and see the world" became more than a slogan to 89 members of the University Unit, Naval Reserve Training Corps, this summer, when they went on the annual training cruise down the Atlantic coast to Cuba and back.

The members of the Class of '40, under the command of Lt. L. J. McPeake, U. S. N., cruised on the destroyer, Herbert, while the Freshmen and Sophomores, under Lt. Hugh D. Black, U. S. N., traveled on the battleship Wyoming.

Havana, with the attractions of Sloppy Joe's cuba libres and bacardis, and with a dance thrown for the Unit at the Biltmore Yacht Club, was the most popular stop on route. Every man had guest privileges at the Havana clubs, through special dispensation of the U. S. Ambassador.

Two other stops were made at New York, for the Fair, and at Guantanamo, a naval base in Cuba. A stop in Charleston, South Carolina, was cancelled on account of infantile paralysis.

During the time at sea the men received instruction and practical experience in navigation, seamanship, engineering, and gunnery. Firing the five inch guns on board the battleship was the big thrill of the trip, it was reported, while taking the long watches was the chief hardship.

The ships used are part of the Atlantic Coast Training Fleet, and were manned by regular seamen and marines. The Unit served as reserve officers, practically running the destroyer by themselves.

Every man had a station on a gun crew or in the gun director, working on ballistics. They received actual experience in anti-aircraft firing, star shell firing, blackouts, and searchlight drills, as well as in the ordinary mechanics of firing.