Navy Develops
Aluminum Arctic
“Prefab” House
WASHINGTON, </P) — Polar
househunters, attention—the navy
has a new aluminum “Prefab” de
signed for 65 below zero weather
which a dozen men can assemble
in less than two hours with their
mittens on.
This cozy home is not intended
for sale here but for military use
in the Arctic.
The navy said it plans to put
its new anti-freeze unit to the test
this winter when 16 Seabees will
make it their home in Point Bar
row. First, however, the barracks
will be tried out next month in the
air forces’ cold weather hangar at
Elgin Field, Fla.
The structure, designed by
Douglas Aircraft Co., comes in
thick insulated panels. The walls
of paper honeycomb are covered
with only two thin aluminum
“skins,” yet the unit can withstand
50-mile-an-hour gales and the
weight of 13 feet of snow, the navy
said.
Weighing about 10,000 pounds,
the Arctic barrack can be trans
ported by plane and erected quick
ly by men bundled up from head
10 toe against the numbing cold,
using only a mallet and a sock
hammer, which also serves as part
of the door handle.
Whatever the temperatures out
side, the 20 by 48 feet house can
be kept at a comfortable 70 de
grees with two oil-burning heat
ers, the navy said.
Both the navy and air force have
been studying methods of living
and fighting in the far north. Mil
itary experts do not* expect large
troop movements ever to be pos
sible in Arctic snow, ice and
sweeping winds, but an air attack
over the North Pole is on their list
of possibilities.
A defense network of weather
an dradar warning stations has
been suggested along the top rim
and radar warning stations has
housing units, such as the one un
der test, for men manning the Arc
tic outposts.
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ALASKA STATES PRODUCE
Arctic Indoctrina
tion School In 2nd
Year At Marks Base
—
(Continued from Page One)
experts, consisting of both air
force members and native Alas- 1
i
kans. In 1947 the Alaskan air
command was primarily concern
ed with the training of its own
personnel in survival tactics. This
year, although its own personnel
will fill three-quarters of the quo
tas, allocations have been issued
to headquarters, USAF and to the
department of the navy. Air force
headquarters has already detailed
high ranking staff officers and
key flying personnel from the air
defense command <7», military air
transport service <20», strategic air
command <33), air materiel com
mand (10), the air university (5),
the air proving ground command
<5), and the tactical air command
<20*. Headquarters, Alaskan sea
frontier at Kodiak has announced
that in addition to its selected per
sonnel, staff members of Com. Air
Pac., commanding general of the
Fleet marine force, and Com Phib
Pac, will also attend.
This widespread interest in Arc
tic survival technique is an indica
tion of a situation peculiar to the
Air Force whereby men must be
accustomed to rapid change and
must be able to adjust themselves
readily. In twenty-four hours air
crew members have been shifted
from the semi-tropical areas of the
southern United States to the Arc
tic climate of Alaska winter. At
the time of its beginning last year,
the AIS was primarily an experi
ment to ascertain if the knowledge
gained by the rated crews justified
the school’s existence. The first
classes craried only thirty students
per week. As the winter season
progressed and the instructors be
came more adept in their roles,
the classes jumped to sixty stu
dents per week. At the end of the
season the AIS had handled and
processed an estimated four hun
dred students.
This year the classes will con
tain sixty students who will be
proecssed each week, with an
Alaskan air command estimate of
over fourteen hundred men dur
ing the winter months. The Arctic
indoctrination school is command
ed by Colonel Harry N. Burkhal
i ter, Jr., commanding officer of
Marks air force base, Nome, and
supervised by Harry Strong, until
recently an air force captain and
former commandant of the school.
Mr. Strong is an Arctic old-timer,
who has spent much time in and is
familiar with the conditions of the
Seward Peninsula. The instructors
are men who are experts,- each in
his own field. These men have
lived in the outdoors most of their
lives and during the recent war
learned much with Uncle Sam’s
fighting troops about the use of
modern equipment. Native Alas
kans are also utilized for their in
herent abilities. Possessing knowl
edge that has been passed on by
generations of their forebears.
' During the one week course, the
students of the Arctic indoctrina
tion school will spend one day in
class rooms, soaking up knowl
edge and tips from instructors.
Tips they will do well to remem
ber later in the course. The rest of
the week is divided into two
phases: Si^vival in barren, tun
dra-type terrain dotted with only
the small Arctic scrub-willow; sur-!
vival on the ice and shoreline of I
the Bering Sea. Each phase is dis
tinct in that different shelters
must be built and different condi
tions met and overcome. To fliers
Re-Employment
Rights Of
Reservists
FORT RICHARDSON, Alaska—
According to word received at
Headquarters, U. S. Army, Alas
ka, from the department of the
army in Washington, reports indi
cate a good number of reserve of
ficers and reserve enlisted men
are not volunteering for three
years of extended active duty be
cause they are under the impres
sion that they will have no re
employment rights upon termina
tion of their duty.
These fears, according to the an
nouncement from the department
on long weather and patrol mis
sions over Polar regions, this
training means increased confi
dence. The former students will
know that in the event of a forced
landing they will have an excel
lent chance for survival, and the
10th Rescue Squadron, responsible
for the recovery of downed air
men, will know that the survivors
have the presence of mind to co
operate with their rescuers.
Albert Bernhardt, well knou »
resident of Teller and son pass* :
through Nome this week enrou:
to Anchorage where Mr. Ben
hardt plans to spend the winte
While in Nome he visited with
his daughter, Mrs. William Mun
He plans to return in the early '
spring to his home in Teller.
of the army are entirely unfound
ed. For the information of any
resrerve officers or reserve en
listed men who are desirous of a
our of active duty subsection (£•
<2) of Section 9, The Selectiv
Service Act of 1948, is quoted o »
follows:
“Any person who, subsequer'
to the effective date of this titl'
and w’hile it is in effect, enter
upon active duty in the Arme !
Forces of the United States . . . i..
response to an order or call to ac
tive duty shall, upon his relie
i from active duty under honorabl
conditions, be entitled to all of th
re-employment rights and benefu
provided by this section in case o
inductees, if he is relieved fron>
active duty or as soon after the
expiration of such three years a
he is able to obtain orders reiiev
ing him from active duty.”
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