Our First Movie Night

We held our first official unit "Movie Night" on Friday, February 22 at Will Green's house. In attendance were Will, David Jameson, Scott Rowe and myself. We started the night out by watching two WWII-era training films. The first film centered on being inducted into the U.S. Army. The second film covered the ins and outs of military courtesy - basically when to salute and when NOT to salute. Needless to say, I love the old wartime films, the subtle nuance of phrase, the authoritative narration and the really cheesy actors. Then we threw in "The Story of G.I. Joe" starrring Robert Mitchum and Burgess Meredith. This has become one of my favorite World War II action dramas over the years. Released in 1945, it features 150 actual veterans of the war and I think it shows in their movements, language, and mannerisms. After the movie we headed down to Will's basement to bask in the glory of his awesome Civil War and World War II collection. We did a little rifle drilling as well - I know, we're total nerds!!! It was a fun night and hopefully the first of many more unit Movie Nights to come.

Drill Training at the Museum

On Saturday, February 16th, our unit held an indoor training drill at the Strategic Air & Space Museum near Ashland, NE. The day started out with an in-depth study of U.S. Army uniforms led by Will Green. We were given a really solid refresher course on all of the uniform items that a G.I. would have been issued prior to Pearl Harbor all the way through the end of the war. Items covered included hats, helmets, boots, dress uniforms, utility uniforms, and cold and wet weather gear as well. It was a really great presentation. Way to go Will!!! Next we broke for a brief lunch followed by some instruction from our president Sean Cheek on maneuver tactics in the field. The primary focus here was on the advantages and disadvantages of various formations used by squads in the field, for example a skirmish line, wedge, column, or diamond formation. We then spent some time going over basic rifle drill exercises. We covered such basics as "falling in", practicing rifle inspection, shouldering our weapons, and practicing turns. It was great to be in a line of guys all going through the manual of arms together! Next up, I gave a class on the use of our unit hand signals in the field. A majority of the hand signals we use are directly taken from the actual WWII signals that G.I.'s used, however, we have adapted a few signals to work better within the realm of reenacting and the needs of our unit structure. The day ended with quite a few of the guys touring the cockpit of the B-29 "Superfortress" and the entire inside of the B-17 "Flying Fortress". Wow!!! These airplanes are truly a treasure! I think that I have always taken it for granted that I have access to a restored B-17 and B-29 in my hometown. A big salute goes to David Jameson, an awesome member of our unit and a volunteer at the museum, for giving us the chance to spend some time in these incredible old warbirds. It was a great day and a lot of fun to see all the guys again.