Mediterranean Algiers Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 17, 1943, Algiers, Algiers                                Saturday july 17, 1943the stars and stripes weekly Page la replacement depot where the overseas unemployed sweat out steady jobs in the a my somewhere in North Africa out at the 1st replacement depot one of the main gateways to North Africa for unattached troops arriving from the states and major reclassification Center for de hospitalized veterans the men still talk wistfully of the Day when maj. R. C. Rodgers adjutant general of the depot stood before the assembled casuals and said �?�1 want 200 men to act As escorts for prisoners going Back to America. How Many of you will Volunteer for the Job a that was the first and last requisition like that one but its one instance of what a replacement depot does anything from supplying an outfit with a Complete lineup of new Cooks and chauffeurs to sending out hundreds of trained men As replacements for casualties in a combat unit. Actually the depot is an army employment Agency where the applicants Arentt worrying about paying the rent while they re waiting to land a Job. Excluding the cadre the men at the depot fall into two groups the raring to go replacements and the wounded veterans still smelling of Antiseptic. Ifs the latter Bunch who get the wide eyed attention at any Bull session. Escapes prisoner ship take pvt. Anthony Mucci of Brooklyn who a been put on the limited service list by the depot s medical 4 r e classification Board because of a Back injury and shrapnel wounds he picked up at the front. It was a Little More than two months ago that Mucci along with seven companions dived overboard from an italian prisoner ship in the Bay of Tunis and swam 700 Yards to Shore. During the night Mucci who Speaks italian fluently hid with several of his escaped pals in a Tunis air raid shelter. The next Day Tunis fell. Mucci also escaped after being captured by the germans near Al Huettar made his Way to the Camp of a French gum outfit and enabled the French to make an important Advance by reporting enemy positions he had observed on bks Way through the lines. He was decorated by the French for that. A a now that in a no Good for combat anymore in a hoping to get a Job As an interpreter a Mucci said. Chances Are he will too if such by to sgt. John m. Willig stars and stripes staff writer a requisition Isnit too Long in coming through. But there a one Case that has the classification and assignment Section which fits the men to the jobs really stumped a a a he came Here from the front for Bat duty insist on being sent Back to their old outfits. A the men Are unhappy and homesick away from their old pals a said col. Charles w. Christenberry depot commander a and ii t a w a t reclassification to limited service in every Case we try to get them and brought along five sentry dogs a maj. Rodgers said a a and wherever he goes the dogs  Man and his dogs the Soldier with the dogs is pfc. Ewell Mclester of Miami Fla. Mclester landed with the infantry during the invasion at Fedala along with Quot Menam the company a sentry dog. But the invasion Barge Carryle the ammunition and a a Menam was hit by a Shell and exploded. Then at Casablanca. A a Menam was bred to another out Back into their former outfit if its at All  a Columbia graduate and former army Tennis Champ the colonel has gained a reputation among the men for his fairness and has thrown out the old theory that casual troops Are so Many men to be packed shipped and dismissed like so Many a a sacks of  rather he treats the Meh As individuals so far As can be done with a constantly fluctuating population. He knows for instance that most casuals have developed fits sentry dog. It Wasny to until a shoved around Complex and Mclester a unit reached the front that they discovered the dog was badly Shell shocked by that initial Landing. Meanwhile the dog had dropped her pups. And Mclester himself became unfit for further action so Shell shocked Man and dog with the pups were returned to the 1st replacement where they j be in style in a separate tent and Mclester acts As father and Trainer for the dogs. Mclester explained carefully that All of the dogs Are pure bred sentries. A Tye got to get them Back to the states soon for training a he said Quot or they wont be any Good. The men become too familiar with them for sentry duty. Butch Here looks just like his daddy a he went on pulling Butch from beneath his cot. Mclester does t expect to go Back with the dogs. He figures hell probably Wund up As a Cook somewhere. Most of the de hospitalized replacements still in shape for com of _ Ltd Ltd Ltd to Quot k to 1 nerf Tel i f con i 1 .0 o 9 a us. Of sense of confusion and he has reorganized the whole operation of the depot to eliminate that condition. Attitude changed the a Law what the hello a attitude has no vindication Here. For one thing the depot has become known As one of the most self sufficient Camps on the continent and one of the cleanest and Best regulated. Discipline is the Campos watchword. As a lieutenant in the last War col. Christenberry saw the value of Well trained troops both in fighting for their country and in saving their own lives while doing so. Quot most american soldiers Arentt afraid they re confused a the colonel declared. Almost All replacements arriving from the states yelp like hell when they get wind of the training program but eventually they come to regard it like one private who remarked a the training out Here is Good stuff in fact i think its the Best there  in general the training is based on a plan of mental and physical hardening and discipline under Battlefield conditions and resembles a refresher Basic course with a few added attractions. In the mornings the men get one hour of mass athletics then an hour of close order and extended Drill then an hour of calisthenic followed by an hour on the Rifle Range or classes on varied military subjects. In the afternoon comes marching to music and a jogging hike. One Dav a week the men of each battalion. Ramble Down a 700-foot Cliff have an hour of swimming in the Mediterranean and climb Back up to the Camp. That business not Only helps develop the wind and leg Muscles but helps to take care of the weekly Bath problem. Some gripes a a sure some of the men Gripe about the training a said maj. Robert Webb of Shreveport la., on detached service from the fifth army to supervise the training schedule. A when they first get off the boat they think they re going to fight right away. Then they discover the Only thing they re going to fight for awhile is a Chow or Shower line. A a when they realize what the training is doing for them though they take it  the training officer said. Both he and maj. Stephen Griffith of Clarksburg West va., his executive of 1 firer Are graduates of the infantry school at fort Benning and the command and general stall school at fort Leavenworth. Casual officers at the depot and there a one whole company of them get the training As Well As the enlisted men. In addition they Are rotated so that each takes his turn in taking charge of the training of the enlisted casuals. Probably one of the loneliest jobs in the army is that of first sergeant of a replacement company something like being an information clerk in grand Central depot. 1st sgt. Richard Joyce of Vermont does no to even try to match up names with faces any More because they come in and go out so fast. A a if you really want to get a headache try making out a morning report for a casual company he remarked. A a or keeping the Roll Call up to  mess officer it. Floyd Weaver. Of East Lansing mich., has another Tough Job. Weaver never knows from one Day to the next whether he needs food for 500 men or 5,000, which Means he has to run a miniature warehouse on the Side in Case of emergency. Ask almost any Soldier what he thinks of a replacement Center and hell probably groan tossing in a few muttered remarks about a a concentration Camps and the like. Chances Are that men coming from this depot five months ago  have anything to say to brighten that picture either. Then to now but that Sall water Over the dam now. Since its Early Days when the men slept and All on the ground crammed into Pup tents and pyramidal and sloshed through mud with almost no paths or roads to guide them the depot has grown into a Small sized City almost Complete in itself. Nucleus of the depot Are the colourful buildings of the Small and exclusive summer resort absorbed by the growing Camp. Roads have been built an army postal unit installed recreation and mess Halls constructed with movies and stage shows a nightly feature and a red Cross Virdt established on the grounds. I he depot even has its own weekly newspaper a Dana Ana Organ life. The first drum and Bugle corps in North Africa. There a a dance orchestra too that a death on Quot the St. Louis  but the men Are proudest of the band. Except for one incident not so Long ago when Gen. Eisenhower visited the depot rather unexpectedly and asked sgt. Hugh Adams the band director to have them play Quot Beer barrel  Adams sent frantically Back to his office for the music but by the time everything was All set and the band ready to give the general was gone. They played it anyway. Col. Christenberry stated Quot we Are pot trying to make this Post into a hotel Astor but we find that when the men Realise that we Are doing everything we can for them then they Are in a state of mind to give their Best on the Drill  since the addition of numerous recreational projects awol has been Cut 84 percent. The replacements Are becoming increasingly proud of their Camp and Are doing More and More their part to accomplish the depots chief Mission to turn out replacements that Are fit mentally and physically so As to help end this War quickly and decisively