. 4 a ‘ Vat aee oe BIOGRAPHIES OF CAPT. HOWE AND COMDR. HEERBRANDT Captain Hamilton W. Howe, USN, Command- ing Officer of the U. S. Naval Training Center, Miami, Florida, came to this command in February, 1945, from a diversified career at sea which encompassed service aboard major U. S. war vessels. Captain Howe was born in Albert Lea, Minn., and was graduated from the Hyde Park High School in Chicago. He was appointed to the U. S. Naval Academy from Kenilworth, Ill., and is a member of the Class of 1926. He wears the Navy Cross for combat operations in the Atlantic, and the Commendation Ribbon for performance in the invasion of Sicily. Commander Paul F. Heerbrandt, the Executive Officer of Miami's Naval Training Center, had a wide range of war experience at sea before as- suming his duties here. He was graduated from West Technical High School, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1925, and from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1930. Commander Heerbrandt wears the ribbons of all major battle theaters, with three bronze engagement stars on the Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon. TREES RT jp i at BY CAPT. HOWE The Naval Training Center, established in Miami, Florida, soon after the outbreak of World War II, has provided com- prehensive training for naval combat and has equipped its men for duty of every type. This book is compiled in order that personnel serving here or who have served here may have a pictorial and word record of activities. My best wishes go out to all with whom I have been associated. Pictured above is Com- mander E. F. McDaniel, first Commanding Officer of the Naval Training Center. Relinquishing his command of a destroyer, Comdr. Mc- Daniel came to the Center from overseas at a time when enemy submarines were sink- ing American ships within sight of the Miami beaches. His energy and spirit marked the development of the Center in its first two years. During Comdr. McDaniel’s command the Center as- sumed its basic pattern. The urgent need for trained crews to combat the grow- ing submarine menace in- creased the original plans for training 600 men to 6,000. Hotels and docks were re- quisitioned, training ships were brought to Miami. NTC came to dominate the Miami bayfront and NTC trained crews began to dominate the Atlantic. The curve of sinkings began its steady decline. In the same month in which the Naval Training Center was found- ed, a German submarine torpedoed, a tew miles off Miami, the tanker which is pictured in flames above. With the enemy at our very door- step, we were without the trained crews needed to man our fighting ships. NTC played a major part in this “battle of training.” Shown be- low is a symbol of all that America found hateful in Germany. This life boat was found adrift in the Gulf Stream. Its hull was riddled with machine gun bullets, and in it were five dead seaman. German subma- rines had sunk a merchant ship and killed the five seamen with their machine guns. Commander Mc- Daniel had the boat installed out- side his office at Pier I—clearly visible from his window—a grim- mer memento than any chiseled from granite. Captain Beverley R. Harri- son, USN, pictured above, assumed command of the Naval Training Center upon Comdr. McDaniel’s transfer. A veteran of North Atlantic convoy and Mediterranean warfare, Capt. Harrison was notably qualified to continue and improve the training techniques already devel- oped. Originally the Center, as its name—the Submarine Chaser Training Center—im- plied, was devoted to pro- viding crews for PC, SC and DE ships, but as these ves- sels multiplied, and sinkings along the convoy routes threading the Atlantic dimin- ished, emphasis was placed more and more on general line training. In June, 1944, this change was reflected in the change of the station’s name to the present Naval Training Center. ° -_ - “a Sa Lh Vile a. ee ce ee . NTC Boosts ont Lead By Win TLL ALSO SEER APAR TMENTS vavy Housing Projec : pi { Pans VW itness League Opener ni NT isputed Dade Lead scone 4 eae aon C Wins, Tokes The devices that have been developed in this war to detect enemy attack are vastly complex products of pure science—based chiefly on the behavior of the atomic electron. This “war of the scientists,’ has produced such varied instruments of detection that it became necessary to bring them all together in one place, called the “Combat Information Center.” This is the nerve center of all ships today, for it is here that information from all the remarkable electronic machines is correlated and acted upon. These pic- tures show student officers learning complex techniques of INSTRUCTION AFLOAT Familiar to all student officers in the afloat stage of their training, is the grueling schedule by which they become capable deck officers. The fourth week of their training period is spotlighted by a three-day cruise aboard DE, AM and PC ships. In this cruise, emphasis is placed on navigation, deck seamanship, and the actual gunnery exercises pictured on this page. The fifth week is devoted to orientation in the develop- ment of naval operations in the Pacific; practical instruction and exer- cises in tactics, communications, and maneuvering board. The sixth week includes another three-day cruise aboard DE’s, AM’s and PC’s which operate as a squadron, The seventh and eighth weeks cover introductory courses in Combat Information Center and Anti-Submarine Warfare, with emphasis on demonstrations and student officer participation in in- tensive team drills. The last week is given over to a six-day cruise which summarizes the entire course activity. In the upper inset is Commander Briscoe Chipman, USN, NTC’s Training Officer, : aie * > ee sat =] Se ae CHINESE TRAINEES About the first of this year, Admiral Ten Fu Liu, of the Chinese Navy, came to Miami to confer with Captain Howe on the subject of setting up a training program for the Chinese Navy at the Naval Train- ing Center. The Center was particularly well suited to this task, not only because climatic conditions allow for year-around shipboard training, but because the Staff of the Center has gained invaluable “know how” in the process of training navy men of no fewer than fourteen foreign nations. When the Chinese Naval Unit under Cap- tain Ngo Soong had been formed, and cer- tain administrative problems met, the first group of officers arrived in February, after a colorful journey from Chunking “over the hump” by air to Calcutta and Bombay; by ship from Bombay to Melbourne, and to Los Angeles, and thence to Miami by rail. All are graduates of one of China’s Naval Academies, and all were found to be suffi- ciently fluent in English to permit instruc- tion in naval warfare being initiated in that language. During this period of orientation, these Chinese Naval Officers, and officers of our own Navy, discovered much in com- mon which speeded understanding and friendship. On the Chinese New Year— February 12—a joint celebration of the event was held, and a new word: “gombay” —“bottoms up”—became current. The long awaited thousand of China’s en- thusiastic young bluejackets arrived in Miami in April, and, after assignment to the Alcazar Barracks, were given a sched- ule that included physical instruction and Basic English in daily equal parts. Basic English is English in a few words — 850 words to be exact. Since not all of the enlisted men knew Eng- lish, and since not enough otherwise quali- fied Chinese-speaking American officers could be found for the teaching, it had been decided to begin at the beginning, and teach the Chinese Basic English. Dr. Ivor A. Richards eminent semanticist and Head of the Commission on English Language Studies at Harvard University, had _pio- neered the practical application of “Basic” in America, and he and his staff came to NTC to train a nucleus staff of officers and men in the techniques of teaching. These personnel assumed the difficult task of writing instruction books in Basic Eng- lish covering the underlying sciences of naval warfare, and then of teaching the subject from those books. At present, the Chinese are studying these basic sciences of warfare—seamanship, gunnery, damage control, and navigation—looking toward a specialization which will fit them finally to assume duty aboard a ship of war. Con- sidered as an experiment in education or in friendship, NTC’s Chinese Training Pro- gram has been outstandingly successful. Pictured above is the arrival of the en- listed contingent; at center, inspection of men by Captain Soong; below, an instruc- tion period in small arms. oul OX tg ie ey Rs ay + * d i i. i t ~ 5 4 ws : G 23 ‘¢ ~ > # =". 7 & <3 .- ew a : Pg ~ . ; +. Mm ‘ a ; Pa ae i ee ' \ a. BASIC ENGLISH Basic English utilizes a vocabulary of 850 key words which can be quickly learned and will give anyone a working knowledge of the language. The work of the Basic English Unit of the Train- ing Officer’s Department is to teach Eng- lish by the shortest method to men sent here from other nations, thus making it possible for them to secure naval training from qualified teachers in our language. The two pictures above show students in Basic English classes. Dr. I. A. Richards of Harvard University, one of the leading pro- ponents of what may someday become a universal language, who is pictured at the left, guided the NTC program in its initial stage. sees /9 HOUSING, FEEDING AND MEDICAL ATTENTION Adequate housing and messing facilities are the tirst requirement ot any naval activity, and the success of the Navat Training Centers vast training program has been in no smail part due to the smooth functioning ot these basic departments. Arrangements were made that were frankly of emergency nature—called forth by the necessity tor speed at a time when enemy submarines were operating practically within sight of the Miami hotels. These arrangements have proved themselves in long-run operation. The Bachelor Utticer's Quarters and Barracks organization ot the Naval ‘lraining Center is among the largest in any U. S. Navy activity. When N1C was founded in the citys dock area, it was essential that housing tacilities be secured in immediately adjacent areas, and to meet this need, duration leases were taken on nine of Miami's downtown hotels. The Columbus, Villa d Este, Venetian, Miramar, and Bellevue hotels were converted for use as bachelor officer's quarters, and the McAllister, Alcazar, and Plaza became barracks for the Center's enlisted male personnel. The Leamington hotel was assigned to house the WAVE group of the Center. At the head of what is, in effect, one of the largest hotel chains in America—a multi-million dollar enterprise—is Lieut. Comdr. GC. A. Crawford, NTC’s BOQ and Barracks Officer. Some idea of the complexity of his task, which includes responsibility for messing, as well as housing of officers and men, can be gained trom the fact that fourteen officers and 4538 men are required to carry out the varied activities of his command. All students have opportunity to engage in their favorite sports after standard con- ditioning routine. Some phases of this routine are pictured here: At upper left, the jump from the Servicemen’s Pier. At lower left, the calisthenics which insure top trim for sea service. Arduous as the exercise period is, the students find energy for an evening’s dancing, as is testified by the view below of the Satur- day night Miramar dance. ined alte =