Training as a “Saturday Afternoon Tail Chaser”

Despite the effort that the Committee on Education and Special Training (CEST) put into the SATC, things did not always go smoothly when it came to military instruction and training. Benton Brooks Owen was a student at the University of Virginia from 1918-1922 and was a member of its SATC unit during World War I.1 After graduation, Owen attended the Sorbonne in Paris, France before enrolling in Yale’s graduate program in 1925. He taught at Yale from 1930-1965 before first becoming a lecturer and researcher at the University of California San Deigo’s Scripps Institution in Oceanography.2 Decades after his time in the SATC, Owen wrote down some memorable moments from his brief time as a ‘Saturday Afternoon Tail Chaser’, the name given to the unit by the locals from Charlottesville. These anecdotes illustrate some of the inadequacies with the military training in SATC units, particularly in terms of equipment.

Guard Duty with a Spoon

One of the main themes of Owen’s account is the lack of equipment for the SATC. He notes that “since rifles were sorely needed in France, we began drill practice without weapons, and with incomplete uniforms.”3 As such, when it came to night time guard duty, SATC members went without rifles, or in the case of Owen’s roommate Percy Kuhn, a two foot long soup spoon. Owen recounts that Kuhn grabbed the spoon “in the hope to clobber a rat to lessen the tedium of a lonesome watch.”4 Instead of catching a rat, Kuhn had a rather embarrassing encounter with a member of the UVA faculty:

It so happened that he [Kuhn] was carrying the spoon at his right shoulder in proper military fashion when a figure suddenly appeared out of the gloom. Without considering the absurdity of the action, he slapped the spoon smartly to present arms, and called out ‘Halt! Who goes there? Advance to be recognized’ The figure came to attention, clicked his heels, and replied ‘John Lloyd Newcomb’ loud and clear, but with just enough amusement in his voice to leave Percy feeling foolish. Newcomb was Professor of Civil Engineering, who later became dean.5

A Left Handed Salute

Because of the lack of rifles available, Owen and his comrades had to conduct military drills and training without them. As a corporal, Owen was in charge of a leading small group of SATC members through drills and was responsible for reporting to the SATC commander about the status of his men. When the SATC unit finally received rifles, Cpl. Owen had some trouble adjusting to military drills and training with them.

Excerpt from Benton Brooks Owen’s recollections about his time as a member of the SATC.6
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Notes:

  1. Athletics at UVA and Centre College, n.d, Accession # RG-22/2/83.971, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA; “Benton Owen, 88, Ex-Chemistry Professor,” The New York Times, May 10, 1989, http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1989/05/10/793589.html.
  2. “Benton Owen, 88, Ex-Chemistry Professor,” The New York Times, May 10, 1989, http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1989/05/10/793589.html.
  3. Athletics at UVA and Centre College, n.d, Accession # RG-22/2/83.971, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
  4. Athletics at UVA and Centre College, n.d, Accession # RG-22/2/83.971, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
  5. Athletics at UVA and Centre College, n.d, Accession # RG-22/2/83.971, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
  6. Athletics at UVA and Centre College, n.d, Accession # RG-22/2/83.971, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.