--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Larsen, Louis W. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 21 number: 11 published: 1918-09 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Larsen, Louis W., \"Utah's Detachment School,\" *Improvement Era* 21, no. 11 (September 1918): 995–1000." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera21011unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera21011unse start_page: 995 end_page: 1000 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1918-09) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera21011unse publication_year: 1918 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1918, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Utah's Detachment School Utah's Detachment School By Louis W. Larsen To supply an army of mechanicians and artisans, so indis- pensable a supplement to its still vaster army of fighting men, the United States Government has adopted a policy of utilizing to the utmost the country's higher institutions of learning. Its plan is to send a contingent of several hundred draftees re- cruited in one state to the schools of a neighboring common- wealth for two months of intensive, practical training. It has come to be a sort of exchange system carried on in all of the states of the Union. At the end of the period of drill, the boys are sent immediately overseas for service. A group of stalwart Utahns were called a few months ago to Boulder, Colorado. As soon as they were transferred into efficient fighting men, they were sent to France. Three hundred Wyoming men have just completed a course at the Utah Agricul- tural College and are now on their way to the front. And so it — goes every institution of importance working overtime to whip into shape the raw material out of which Uncle Sam is building up his invincible war machine. In the case of the University of Utah, however, an excep- tion was made. Instead of sending boys from a neighboring state, 453 native sons were assigned by government officials to the local detachment school. The general theory that men work harder and progress faster when cut off by distance from home ties and associations has not been confirmed by the results achieved at the state school. The Utah boys have been more or less accessible to sweetheart, mother, or sister, but that has not deterred them one whit from settling down to the work with a zeal that has made for rapid and sure progress. Indeed, the op- portunity to meet their friends and loved ones has been an ani- mating influence, keeping them ever in good spirits. Their morals have been excellent, thanks to the buoyant power of a home atmosphere. When the University entered into a contract with the Gov- ernment to domicile, feed, and train 453 boys, it was reaching out beyond the warrant of its normal laboratory and instruc- tional facilities. It was obliged to invent, improvise, and build, — and to do it all at top speed for when the country is at war there is no time for elaborate planning or leisurely deliberation. Results are all that count, and that means action, often in fever- ish haste, but with dispatch and precision. And may it be re- 996 IMPROVEMENT ERA marked parenthetically that one of the salutary results of this war, a sort of by-product, is the drawing of the American peo- ple out of themselves, the teaching them their real capacity when hard put to it by the exigency of conflict. The draftees must be taught in small groups, to be taught effectively, and that calls for a large corps of instructors who are competent to teach and demonstrate along practical lines. After requisitioning the available men already on the campus, a call was sent out for volunteers from among the prospective students themselves. The result was that Dean Joseph Merrill's office was flooded with applications. It then became a matter of elimination. The upshot was that a supplemental staff of stu- dent-instructors were on hand at the opening of the course to aid in the work of training their comrades. Aside from the em- ployment of several mechanicians from downtown, the problem of teachers was solved. Then there must be new supplies and equipment in vast quantities. This entailed a big financial problem, since the Gov- ernment is subsidizing its new educational movement only to a limited degree. Such concerns as telephone, electric and auto- mobile companies came loyally to the rescue of the University and by the working out of a co-operative system this difficulty was squarely and adequately met. On their arrival on the campus the boys were divided into vocational groups according to their adaptabilities and prefer- ences. About half of the number elected to study the gas engine. Others chose carpentry, forging, telegraphy, wireless operating, electricity and telephone construction. The work was quickly organized and every man hit a vigorous pace that was not slack- ened throughout the eight weeks of study and drill. A half hundred old, dilapidated automobiles and motor trucks were purchased at nominal, "discard" prices and used for practice in learning the parts, repairing and driving. Every man who took this line of work became by the end of the term a good driver of the pleasure car, the motor truck, the motor cy- cle and the tractor. When he is assigned to the wheel "some- where in France," he will be familiar with all the ins and outs of the chauffeur's craft. Students of "wireless" made most of their aerial apparatus and learned how to transmit and to receive messages quite as expertly as if they had had access to a station that flashes dis- patches half-way round the world. — And the prospective carpenters learned to build the best — of methods by actually building. A number of sectional gar- ages were made for faculty men and downtown people who had only to furnish the material. The draftees wanted a canteen where they could purchase the little notions and delicacies that UTAH'S DETACHMENT SCHOOL. 997 soldiers so delight in. The carpenters built it; the linemen in- stalled the telephone ; and the electricians wired it for lighting. The two boys who have had the thriving little business in charge were subse- quently assigned to the quartermaster's de- partment, thus fitting in to a place for which they had had an inci- dental training. So it may be seen that re- markable efficiency and economy have characterized every phase of the work. Ev- erything has been util- ized to the end of con- verting each youth in- to an expert in some line that is involved in the prosecution of the war. Eight hours a day the boys have applied Linemen at W ork themselves to this vo- cational work. Every course has been essentially laboratory in its method, and hence practical to the last degree. Military drill has claimed two strenuous hours of the daily program, one in the morning and one just before mess call at night. The young men were in fine mettle when they departed, supple, straight and hardened to a point that they could perform easily tasks that formerly they would have wilted under. They are better for the discipline in every way. And not least of the excellent results is the fact that they will be a prized asset to their communities when they return home to ply their trades in the peaceful pursuits of con- struction and building. The problem of feeding three times a day a half thousand men has been no trivial one. The government is very particu- lar about the care of its men, and exceedingly watchful of every detail that might directly or indirectly affect their health. Three meals a day of substantial food is one specification. The Uni- versity has been able to meet this requirement fully and sat- isfactorily. The Emery Memorial House, heretofore used for a men's dormitory, has been converted into a huge cafeteria 998 IMPROVEMENT ERA with table room that could accommodate the whole detachment in only two relays. Every man his own waiter, was the plan; hence there was little grumbling about poor service. The only complaint registered was by a government inspector who warned that the men were being fed too much. Fitting up a temporary barracks was another big task. It was decided that since the training school building was not in use during the Summer months it could be utilized to good advan- tage for sleeping quarters. So the rooms were stripped of their furniture and fixtures and cots set up on every floor. This, sup- University of Utah Detachment Radio Class plemented by a hundred bunks in the assembly room, was ade- quate to the needs of housing the 453 vocational guests of the University. Recreation, plentiful and wholesome, has not been wanting. The Hostess House, established by the Women's Faculty Club as an adjunct to the detachment, has looked to the social needs of the boys every day of the week. With headquarters in the administration building, the faithful hostesses have brought cheer into the leisure hours of the draftees by providing mu- sicals, dancing parties, and excursions, to break the monotony of routine drill life. They have been furnished with wholesome reading in a special way, beside having access to the school's magnificent library. Free stationery on which to write to loved ones, and a secluded corner for the purpose, have been provided every young man. Moreover, they have had the pleasant and UTAH'S DETACHMENT SCHOOL. 999 refining association of the women registered at the University for the summer quarter. Early in the summer a band of thirty pieces was organized among the boys in training. It has furnished many open-air concerts for the entertainment and delight of all on the campus. Several singers of exceptional ability were numbered among the drafted men, and these, too, were pressed frequently into ser- vice. By August 12, enough talent had been discovered and de- veloped that a successful concert was ventured in the Salt Lake theatre. The proceeds were put into a mess fund. Many commendatory things might be said of the detach- ment school, but suffice it to remark, in conclusion, that the Battery Assembled for Retreat whole venture proved unqualifiedly successful. The highest compliment is the Government's request that it be continued, on a larger scale, for an indefinite period. Accordingly, detach- ments will be trained on the campus, coming in relays two months apart, for at least another year. The venture of the summer has been something of an ex- periment, but through the cooperative guidance of President John A. Widtsoe and Captain Will A. Dietrick, officer in charge, it has proved a triumph as a short-cut educational device. So the Government's scheme has fully demonstrated its efficacy. It is increasing the Nation's might in waging a righteous war; it is making sturdy men of the country's youth; and not least, it is building up a power for civic enterprise that will vitalize and quicken community life when peace shall reign again. — ) — J