An introductory exploration of the Fort Sill post facilities by private willson and other members of the CEMMC-2 class was in order, the liberation of the city of Lawton was set aside for a latter prospective. The post service club provided a full spectrum of programming, ping-pong, pool, snooker tables, music room with piano, and most encouraging , bounteously populated by post WAC citizenry. The California soldier allotting interest with several respective class constituents after classroom hours, enlisting the skill of Paul White to introduce him to the game of Chess. White’s father was purported to be a past Pennsylvania State champion chess player, and Paul purported to be ” a chip off the old block’.
Gary’s desire to explore the game was reinforced with his introduction to White and his sense of logic. Given amble edification, Gary soon discovered, administering a game of chess is like his engaging music on the piano, playing by ear and intuition, contemplation is retrospective. Another ensuing discovery within walking distance, a journey to the post Library, not to partake of the bountiful shelves of accumulated knowledge, the Soldier discovering a hidden treasure, a music rooms equipped with phonographs, headsets and a thesaurus of LP records, enabling the youth to escape the presence of the military and transport himself to the world of Wagner, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky.
The student acknowledging a course of study, commencing with basic math thru algebraic exponent, their relationship to electrical applications and Ohms law in concurrence with terminology and function, the subject material more engaging than arduous. The class finding a lighter side to electrical circuitry besides resistors, capacitors, diodes and pentodes, the age-old parable of how to discern a resistors size by its color-coded markings was ensued. Each color denoted a numerical value and multiplier and by using a memorable verse the first letter of each word in the verse designating a color and value 0 thru 9. The acronymic coloring verse “bad boys rape our young girls but violet gives willingly” translated into the colors (black-brown-red-orange-yellow-green-blue-violet-gray-white) was very efficacious, covering the chromatic as well as the intonated spectrum and not soon forgotten.
The soldiers soon learned that if an explanation or inquiry about a subject matter was needed it best be immediately resolved or it would remain a question, the instruction as well as the instructors took no prisoners. There was a apportioned sense of attainment among the class, finding those who could reason and assimilate assisting those who pondered. Gary’s anticipation being fulfilled with the inaugural of every educational chapter, a learning experience, the presentation of the subject matter liken to an adventure story always striving for a climactic ending.
It was called Fire Power Demonstrations held on Saturday mornings and you were invited or so you were led to believe. Gary first experience was encountering a NCO walking thru the billets early Saturday morning directing those he came into contact with to report outside and board a bus. Once aboard the unsuspected were informed that they would be attending a Fire Power Demonstration on the West Artillery Range. The number of military seated on the bleacher facing the West Range was in the hundreds plus a contingency of others in civilian clothing. It was announced over the PA the unit designation of artillery firing battery units participating. The firepower demonstrators were artillery units consisting of 155mm, 8 inch and 280mm artillery monster commonly called the atomic cannon. Gary having never witness the sound of artillery up close let alone able to see the results. What really surprised him was the pressure repercussion of the out of sight 8 inch guns, not knowing exactly where they were located, but when fired the ground shook. It was rather disappointing, the 280.mm was fired just one time, but what impressed all was, you could actual see the projectile and watch its trajectory as traversed to the far mountain destination. He later discovered later it wasn’t mandatory to make yourself available to attend, especially if you happened to be an early arrival at the service club for Saturday morning coffee and donuts.
The educational discipline of CEMMC-2 classroom instruction was advancing with applied principles including audio, visual, signal generation, transponder telemetry, servo-generation, three-phase attribution, the subjects were labyrinthine in essence. The military students having converged upon the in-depth intrinsic ingredients of missile components and adjunct support equipment, the operation, reason and purpose of meaning of the subject matter all being empowered.
Seriousness was not always captive during class, youthfulness would vacillate and sometimes deviate, causing a prankish impulse to prevail. Relinquishing a fully charged 250 volt microfarad capacitor on a work bench at the end of the day, for some unsuspecting clean-up person to remove, resulted in a sternly administered class reprimand. The classes facetious conclusion about the clean-up person was, ” it must have been a shocking experience”.
The months of progress manifested and
CEMMC-2 sojourned further into the reaches of the byzantine structure and missile acquisition, but the missile entity was illusive. The exiled classroom instruction was concluding, and the transition from paradigm to reality was fast approaching to address the Corporal….
Inquisitive Quest 
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