C,2 STATE BOAIID OF AGRICULTURE. 



(a) Valuable suggestions as to character of training were contained in 

 the instructions of the Committee, formally issued, and verbally in inter- 

 views witli the District Director, and from the various bulletins of the 

 Federal Board of Vocational Education. 



From these sources the course of study was first outlined and then 

 modified by consideration of institutional facilities for the work. 



At. M. A. C. the first job assigned by the Committee w\as that of train- 

 ing for auto-mechanics, detachments of 500 drafted men qualified b}' 

 8th grade schooling and mechanical training or aptitude, notification 

 being received on April 22, a contract being signed on Maj^ 3, and the men 

 being schetluled to arrive on May 15, and to depart on July 15. 



It was decided to utilize an organization in the Farm Mechanics De- 

 artment which had successfully carried on "short-course" work in gas 

 tractors and small gas-engines for a number of years, and an excellent 

 equipment and personnel in forge-work in the Mechanical Engineering 

 Department. The outlines of the Federal Board of Vocational Education 

 and the instructions of the committee were not in radical conflict wdth the 

 above plans and we were able to draft thereby a number of our college 

 personnel in the work, to their delight and with advantage to the morale 

 of the whole undertaking as a college job. 



The organization as finally worked out provided eight units of instruc- 

 tional ivork. 



1. General chassis repair. 



2. Chassis parts repair. 



3. Engine repair. 



4. Carburetor trouble and block test. 



5. Ignition, lighting and starting. 

 (). Road trouble and driving. 



7. Forge work. 



8. Tractors and stationary gas engines. 



The instructional schedule was rotational instead of progressive and w^as 

 based upon the platoons of which there were eight, each consisting of 

 eight squads, each sciuad being a teaching unit so far as the duplicated 

 equipment and the number of instructors was concerned, except in the 

 forge-shop, where individual equipment was available at the outset. 



This scheme, in general and in detail, is very mechanical and might be 

 criticised adversely on that score, but it worked so well when put in prac- 

 tice that its main features were adhered to until the war ended. 



A very comprehensive recording system was devised to meet the re- 

 quirements of the Committee. 



(b) The administrative and teaching organization personnel was recruit- 

 ed from the college teaching personnel, from regular students, and from 

 the outside. 



Some outsiders were obtained from two automobile schools in Detroit, 

 some from the waiting list of another institution, some from apprentice 

 school-work in automobile factories, some from mechanics in factories and 

 garages, local and outside, some from Self ridge Field Transport School, 

 and an electrical expert was loaned for a few months by a local factory. 



The men were picked as carefully as possible in the time available 

 and only a few misfits were found. 



The number of teachers procured for each instructional unit varied 

 with the character of the work and the estimated chances of finding 

 suitable soldier instructors. 



