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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 25, 1950)
Retirement Pay, Training Opportunities Attract Men to Reserve Program; Navy Units Active Here 1 - WmH . ' Civilians Keep Skills Learned in Wartime By Bill Fore Mail Tribune Staff Writer There is in Medford a tightly-knit group of several hundred former servicemen who have responded to government induce ments to maintain and improve their war-developed skills and ex perience for the benefit of their own careers and for the defense of their nation. All are members of the eight separate reserve units activated here bv the army, navy and air force. They are civilians, free of military habits of thought, but rich in the skills or potential skills military commanders may eventually need. Men with famines ana iuii- time jobs, they would be the last to pretend they have signed up with the reserves out of pure altruistic instincts. The fact that they can earn points for retire ment, improve their ratings in the event they are recalled to active duty, and develop skills that can be utilized in civil life, while at the same time serving the interests of national defense, they regard as a happy circum stance. Few would deny they are 4 principally concerned with the personal benefits offered by the program, and service recruiting propagandists for the reserves apparently take this attitude for granted. Two Plans There are two types of reserve plans offered by each arm of the service organized reserve and volunteer reserve. By far the most satisfactory, in the way of service rendered to its members, is the organized reserve plan. However, it represents a consid rable expense to the government and repeated cuts in Secretary Louis Johnson's defense depart ment budget have hit the pro gram hard. There are only three organized reserve units in Med ford at the present time. The members of these three groups draw pay, based on their ratings, for each of the weekly training sessions and also enjoy period of active duty each year for which, of course, they draw regular base pay. Though this type of program makes greater demands on the reservists' time than the volunteer program, it is more attractive financially and the training offered is more con crete. Members of volunteer units draw no pay for training ses sions they attend and they are accepted for active duty only when available billets are not filled by organized reservists. But they do accumulate points toward retirement and many of them, particularly the Seabees, get valuable training with dis tinct carry-over benefits in civ ilian trades. Their program is pretty much restricted to train ing films and the lecture periods. Navy Units Active As it is throughout the nation, the navy reserve is the most act ive of the three branches of the service in Medford. Now in process of activation here is the first navy electronics warfare organized reserve unit in the Pacific northwest. In hon or of the achievement, the 13th naval district headquarters in Seattle last Monday sent Lt. T. P. Pierce to Medford to present the new unit with the. battle colors flown during the war on the car rier USS Kearsarge. The electronics company is now ready to undertake a com prehensive training program in which a reservist could start as a recruit and advance through the ranks to chief petty officer. Advancement is by examination, and the training now available through the Medford unit is suf ficient to enable the serious re servist to pass all the promotion tests, provided he spends the minimum amount of time in each rating and takes the required number of training cruises. There are also a certain number of An napolis appointments made from the ranks of the organized re serves. Well Equipped In quarters at the federal of fice building here, the electron ics company has two rooms cram med with elaborate electronic equipment that is at the disposal 0 yrur3famj& f! To be of lasting comfort, J m a funeral service must be If wl conducted with tender, W Vj concern as well as ability Tji 1 M and experience. H I 1 m I . fl m Uiapel Mortuary M Across from the Courthouse PHONE 2-8030 Frank Morgan . . Harold Snodgrass Funeral Directors of the members during their weekly training periods. The unit can train radio men, sonar men, radar men and electronic tech nicians. It owns radio testing equipment, oscilloscopes, audio oscillators, impedence bridges, electronic volt meters, as well as numerous portable radios and two destroyer-type transmitters that are used for actual trans mission to receivers in Eugene and Seattle. In addition to serving a train ing function, the navy's stock of equipment here could play a vi tal role in local disaster work or for civil defense, and there would be a nucleus of trained operators readily available. The electronics unit has been in operation here since 1947, but on a volunteer basis. Its members now will be paid for the time they spend in training periods and for the time they spend on week-end cruises out of Crescent City. The cruises, a new plan an nounced only this month, are ex pected to play an important part in the navy reserve program in this area and they, unlike the summer cruises, will be available to organized and volunteer re serves alike. Four Navy Units There are four navy reserve units in Medford electronic warfare, commanded by Lt. Ed ward O. Leonard; the volunteer Seabee unit, commanded by Lt. (jg) John Jones; the volunteer composite unit, commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Rodney Keating, and navy air reserves now being or ganized under Lt. Cmdr. Lane Bardeen. Bardeen's group is ex pecting activation orders next month. They will get lecture in struction in the history of naval aviation, the latest in naval air craft, and aircraft armament. The 13th district has also prom ised to furnish the group with a Link trainer, an elaborate mechanism used in instrument flying. The volunteer composite unit is now, and has been for several weeks, undergoing an intensive course of study of the problems involved in taking the fleet out of "mothballs." Since the war, a goodly portion of the navy's float ing stock has been smeared with protective grease and encased in shields of specially coated fab ric. Reactivation of the ships will present a highly specialized problem that will call for prompt action if the call to arms is sounded. Reservists will at least have the book-learning required to accomplish the job. Seabee Unit The fourth group in the navy's expanding program for southern Oregon is the Seabee volunteer unit. Seabee, of course, derives from the initials. CB, which stand for "construction battalions." They consist of men already pro ficient in a wide range of crafts and skills, but the reserve plan gives them lecture, training film, and correspondence course train ing, leading to advancement ii rating and wider acquaintance with the specialized fields. Seabees hold job specialties a drivers, surveyors, electrician' mechanics, builders, steel work ers and utilities men. The cur rent training course for southern Oregon reservists deals with cold weather engineering. Members are afforded an opportunity to ! participate in summer active j duty periods at either Port Hue- neme, Cal., San Diego, or Seattle ' provided the budget can stand the strain. Med Medford Second Section it Si .7 W V t BATTLE COLORS PRESENTED Lt. Ted Pierce, left, and Lt. above with the battle colors formerly flown from the aircraft was brought to Medford by Lieutenant Pierce, naval reserve procurement officer of 13th naval dis trict headquarters in Seattle, for presentation to the new organized electronic warfare company now being activated here. The company is the first organized electronic warfare unit to be formed in the northwest. Lieutenant Leonard is commanding officer. Air Program Cut The air force reserve here used to be one of the most act ive in the northwest. It boasted a small air fleet all its own. and the caliber of the first-hand training it offered its 140 flying members was second to none anywhere. It was a budget cur tailment that literally clipped the wings from the splendid unit and left it with a room at the air port to give lectures and show training films. Though impressively organ ized under the title of 9091st vol unteer air reserve training group, with headquarters in Med ford supervising a vast lower hierarchy covering western Ore gon and northern California, air force reservists outside of the Portland area arc denied the kind of a program that would make the unit widely popular. It offers the same kind of retire ment benefits as the other volun SAVE $200- On Your New Car Yes, we'll give YOU $200.00 MORE FOR YOUR USED CAR, when you trade it on a beautiful new 1950 Packard. Actually, the cost of this Packard i less than many of the 6 cylinder cars delivered in Medford. LET US APPRAISE YOUR CAR NOW! LEEVER MOTOR CO. 5th Near Riverside Phone 2-6719 MEDFORD, OREGON, teer units of other reserve pro grams and if active duty billets are not filled by organized re servists, the VAR members can get in a few hours of actual fly ing time during the summer. Many Subjects Though it is a far cry from their past program, air force re servists do get courses in a va riety of subjects that some day may come in very handy fighter-bomber tactics, Soviet air power, military intelligence, ground warfare, arctic naviga tion, air defense, aircraft mainte nance, statistical control, air in stallations, and a long list of al lied subjects. Col. Elmer H. Stambaugh commands the group and Lt. Col. James C. Langdon is the commanding officer of the Medford flights. The army ground forces have three reserve outfits here 6310th logistical training divis ion, the' 382nd quartermaster f: l ma 1950 PACKARD $2679-00 DELIVERED IN MEDFORD Complete with . . . OVERDRIVE Fresh air ducts, turn indicator lights, courtesy lighter, clock, cigar lighter, trunk compartment light and many other extras. SUNDAY, JUNE 25, 1950 Y Edward O. Leonard are shown carrier USS Kearsarge. The flag battalion, and 476th quartermas ter service company. Draw Pay Though they do not go by that name, the two quartermaster units are on a par with organ ized reserves in other branches in that they draw pay for meet ings attended and have prefer ence for billets in summer train ing camps. Lt. Col. William H. Prentice and First Lt. Arthur Cook command the two units. The 6310th is still a volunteer- type outfit, but is about to be reorganized on the same basis as the other two. Col Thomas F G-unn commands. Concerned mainly with sup ply and transportation problems, the units are supplied with elab orate visual aids that make their lectures and training sessions somewhat above averaga in in terest, and there are certain pe riods each month set aside for actual paper work, called on-the- Tribune Pages 1-8 job training. It approximates the kind of procedures the reservists would encounter in base section operations. Point System Points toward retirement are accumulated in the same man ner by all reserve components 15 points per year simply for being a member, one point per meeting attended, one point per day for active duty periods, and added points for special duties performed during the year. A minimum of SO points is required for a year of satisfactory service and 20 years of such service makes the reservists eligible for retirement at age 60. Retirement pay is based on the rate held at retirement and on the total num ber of points accumulated. Though that may seem like a hard grind to keep up for 20 years, it is obviously attractive enough to give the nation's de fense machinery the core of trained specialists it would need in time of mobilization, without resorting to large military forces in peacetime. And all eight Med ford units can boast of the high level of enthusiasm and interest they have aroused in their ranks. There is a measure of the old wartime esprit evident at reserve meetings and new recruits are swelling the ranks every day. HAVE at Southern Oregon's Wonderful LAKES Last week we described the de lightful Lake of the Woods trip ... so here are two more you won't want to miss. You should KNOW these attrac tions, too, so that YOU can direct summertime visitors and become a really GOOD TOUR IST HOST! For Delightful O Diamond Lake Crater Lake's neighbor 13 miles to the north (Driving time 2 hours). Justly called "The Gem of the Cascades," this resort lake is a restful, xestful haven with fine accommodations and plenty of fish. You will like it, we guarantee. . . . swimming , . . boating . . . hiking ing ... or if you like real mountain climbing, just try your skill on lovel" and lofty Mt. Thielson! It's FUN Southern EQUIPMENT PROVIDED Naval reservists in the electronic warfare company in Medford have at their disposal thousands of dollars worth of modern, up-to-date electronic equipment pro vided by the 13th naval district for training purposes. The re servist shown here is receiving messages from one of a battery of radio receivers in the radio room at the reserve headquarters. Also available but not shown in this picture are two destroyer type transmitters for sending messages t o Seattle and Eugene and radar equipment. utings Suggests T rips To -and Fish Lake (Driving time 2 hours). Lovely Fish Lake, at the foot of towering Mt. McLoughlin, with its excel lent camp grounds and accommo dations, and superb fishing invite your earnest attention. And look the management says no rat tlesnakes, poison plants, or mos quitoes! Imagine! To KNOW Your Own Oregon Vacation Land! j r i Snider's
