Daily life in the Navy V-12 at Hobart College

The Navy V-12 Unit marching on the Quad, possibly as part of regular drills, August 1944.  Photo taken from Ed Knight scrapbook.

The Orders of the Day for the Navy V-12 Unit, July 14, 1943.  Click image to view both pages.

Copy of the cover and select pages of the Navy V-12 Curricula Schedules and Course Descriptions Bulletin No. 101, November 1, 1943.  Click image to view all pages.

The Miller Company in front of Miller House, ca. 1944-1945.  Photo taken from Ed Knight scrapbook.

Members of the Navy V-12 Unit eating in the dining hall, ca. 1944-1945.  Some of the members pictured are Bob Feith, Blair McCaslin, Ed McGurrin, and Doug Tuel.  Photo taken from Ed Knight scrapbook.

The Navy V-12 Unit taking the flag down at the end of the day, ca. 1943-1944.

Navy V-12 trainees hang a service flag in the window of the corner room of Geneva Hall, March 1945. Click image to view handwritten note on back of photograph.  Photo taken from Ed Knight scrapbook.

The Navy V-12 Unit at Hobart College was made up of 2 Battalions with 2 companies each.  Trainees with quarter on the Hill made up the 1st Battalion, which consisted of the 1st company with quarters at Comstock House and the 2nd company with quarters in Miller House.  The 2nd Battalion lived on lower campus with the 3rd company housed in Medberry Hall and the 4th company housed in Geneva Hall.  The companies were often refered to by the name of their dormitory, such as Miller Company.  

The V-12 trainees had to budget their time wisely as they had full days Monday through Friday and Saturday until 1200.  Days for members of all four companies were the same except for the exact times of mess, which varied according to the battalion, and resulting changes in morning cleaning of quarters, and noon personnel inspection.

Classes were held as they had been during civilian days. The V-12 trainees took the same courses as the civilians with the addition of a class on Naval subjects.

A typical day for a trainee got under way with Reveille at 0600.  They had until 0615 to dress and report for the morning setting up exercises, which lasted twenty minutes, or until 0635. 

"Our Day began at 6:00am with a muster and calisthenics, which very often included a 3 mile run in the countryside.  Following this we went to classes.  An obstacle Course was made which we had to take during our compulsory gym classes.

At noon we had a formal inspection in front ot Coxe Hall by the commanding officer, Lt. Evans.  One day during inclement weather, Lt. Evans slipped coming down the hill in front of Coxe Hall landing in a big mud puddle.  This brought laughter from some of the V-12 students which resulted in extra drilling and no liberty for the entire group for the weekend."

-Warren M. Shadduck,

Navy V-12, Class of 1949