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All of the following text comes from a booklet printed and issued to trainees in Camp Wolters during the WWII era. This booklet provided valuable information about Camp Wolters and the U.S. Army in general. As such it helped the new trainees to quickly learn about their new home on the broad plains of north central Texas. The booklet was small in size (4" x 5.75"), and contained 18 printed pages of information. The center two pages contained a map of Camp Wolters as it appeared during the war years A scan of all of the pages can be viewed at a photo gallery and all of the pages can be viewed at high resolution by clicking the enlarge button. A comparison with the Fort Wolters Guide and Directory of 1971 provides an interesting view of how some of the amenities and services on the base had changed after almost 30 years. The complete text of the Camp Wolters Guide follows - click on the links below to go directly to the topic. |
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| Automobiles | Passes, Leaves and Furloughs |
| Athletics | Public Relations Office |
| Adult Education Program | Radio Program |
| Aptitude Tests | Recreation Halls |
| Camp Exchanges | Red Cross |
| Cashing of Checks | Refreshment Center |
| Details | Religious Services |
| Guest Houses | Rules for visitors |
| Housing | Service Club |
| Information | Sports Arena |
| Insurance | "The Longhorn" |
| Laundry & Dry Cleaning | Transportation |
| Libraries | Telephones and Telegrams |
| Mail Service | Theaters |
| Medical Service | Traffic Regulations |
| Military Police | U.S.O. Clubs |
| Officer Candidate School | Your Uniform |
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CAMP WOLTERS GUIDE Camp Wolters, named for the late Brigadier General Jacob F. Wolters is the largest Infantry Replacement Training Center in the United States. Over 700 new buildings and 16,000 acres of rolling land provides excellent training facilities for men in the Camp's seventeen battalions. Camp Wolters is one INFANTRY Training center. The Infantry is one of the arms or branches of the military services of the United States. Other arms are the Cavalry, Artillery, Coast Artillery, Air Corps, Corps of Engineers, Signal Corps, and the Armored Force. The infantryman is primarily a foot soldier. With the various weapons of the infantry, he is the heart of the Army; with the aid of the other arms he performs such duties as attack, defense, guard and police. This booklet and The Soldiers Handbook wilt help the new soldier make the adjustment from civilian to military life more easily.
During your first ten days in Camp you will have to remain on the Post. After that time, unless on duty, you can go to Mineral Wells or Weatherford after Retreat. You are usually free all day Sunday. Passes for overnight trips or trips to Fort Worth and Dallas may be obtained upon proper application through your first sergeant but only a limited number of men can go on pass at one time. In exceptional cases three-day passes may be granted by your Battalion Commander, but only in cases of actual emergency will furloughs be granted during your stay to Camp Wolters. The policy regarding furloughs, leaves, and passes at your permanent station will be made known to you there. Be sure that you have fulfilled the Camp requirements whenever leaving Camp Wolters on pass. A properly authorized pass is the equivalent of an insurance policy in many respects. All visitors must be identified at the main gate and tell the military police the person they want to visit and the reason for the visit. Hospital visiting doors are 2:00 P.M. until 4:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. Visitors to Hospital must apply for permission to enter wards at information desk in Station Hospital at Brooke Circle and Lee Road. All information pertaining to camp personnel, location of units and other general data is available at headquarters of Infantry Replacement Training Center on Hood Road (marked by main camp flagpole). Telephone number is 29. Local service to and from downtown Mineral Wells by bus is the accepted method of getting into town. Taxi service is also available. Fare for buses is ten cents each way and three tokens for twenty-five cents. Taxi fare is $1.00 a trip. You can catch the "Loop Only" bus for traveling from place to place within the camp for five cents a trip. Buses maintain a regular schedule as far as possible from 5:00 A.M. until 8;00 A.M. with hourly buses from 8:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. From 4:30 P.M. until 11:30 P.M. buses are available every few minutes. Special buses for Colored Soldiers between Area 6 and downtown and return are scheduled from 5:45 P.M. until 11:30 P.M. The Greyhound Bus Company has a daily schedule of seven buses to and from Fort Worth and Dallas. On Saturday and holidays additional buses are added according to the need. Schedules are posted at the P.X's and Service Clubs. Laundry is sent out once a week to the Quartermaster Laundry and each soldier can send as much as he wants for $1.50 per month. Laundry will be picked up on a designated day of the week. See your company bulletin board. Clean sheets and pillow case will be issued to you at your supply room once a week. These are supplied and laundered by the government. Dry cleaning is extra and the cost will be deducted from your pay. The dry cleaning is done by civilian concerns and can be sent out by your Supply Sergeant. Details will be posted on your bulletin board. Cotton clothes may be sent out with your laundry, but all of your woolens should be sent to the dry cleaners. You will be required to mark your clothing with the first letter of your last name, followed by the last four digits of your serial number. Commonly call P.X's these bargain stores are located in each area. Candy, soft drinks, magazines, toilet articles, stationary, cigarettes, and other articles needed by service men are sold at reasonable prices. Profits go to funds which provide recreation equipment for the soldiers. The hours of the POX.. will be open during most of your free hours. A barber shop and a tailor shop are located in each exchange. These exchanges belong to the soldiers and are operated for them under supervision of the Camp Commander. For the soldiers who prefer a beaker of the cool refreshing amber fluid after drill hours, the Refreshment Center is the place to procure it. Known to the camp veterans as the 50th Battalion, the Refreshment Center sell tobacco, beer, ice-cream, soft drinks, etc. and has a juke box with the latest records. The Center is located just west of the 51st Battalion and every day except Sunday the hours are from 4:00 P.M. until 10:00 P.M. while on Sunday the hours are from 1:00 P.M. until 10:00 P.M. Branches are located on the East of both Area 4 or Area 6. Under this branch are included the operation of theatres, service clubs, libraries, guest houses, sports area, athletics, recreation, public relation and adult education program. Office of the Special Service Officer is in Bldg. T-791. Area 4. Camp Wolters' athletic program is extensive and more facilities are being added constantly to give the soldiers a maximum of sports competition. Included in most battalion areas are basketball courts, horseshoe courts, badminton courts, and they are areas where soccer and touch football can be played. Tennis courts are available on the pavilion at the main Service Club. Athletic equipment for all sports is available in each battalion. Company and battalion softball, baseball, and basketball teams are formed in season and every athlete has a chance to try out for them. Two softball and one baseball diamond are located on the Sports Arena Field for organized camp league play. Jitterbugs, letter writers, entertainment seekers, book worms, piano players, drug store cowboys, and extra-curricular show hounds will find their haven in Camp Wolters fine Service Clubs, The Service Club for white soldiers is located next to theater No. 1 in the Service Club area, between Areas 3 and 4. The Colored Service Club is located just South of Area 6. The Service Club is your private club, built for you. If your family is here for a visit you can talk things over in the auditorium. Hostesses are there to make you feel at home and there is something happening every night. Broadcasts are presented by the Public Relation Office every regularly, and other evening provide quiz programs, variety shows and dances are scheduled every Friday evening. Girls from fro Fort Worth, Denton, Dallas, and other nearby cities are invited to attend the dances. In the summer Months dancing is outdoors, adjacent to the Service Clubs. With more than 6,000 books on hand the main libraries in The Service Clubs are a source of enjoyment to the book lover. Library hours are from 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. and from 6:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. every day except Friday. The library remains closed during the dances. Meals, lunches, soft drinks and sundaes are available in the up-to-date cafeterias operated in conjunction with he Service Club. Cafeteria hours are from 7:00 to 9:30 A.M. , 11:30 to 2:00 P.M. and from 5:00 to 9:30 P.M. In addition to the main library in the Service Club, branches are in the Colored Service Club and in various battalion recreation halls as well as the day rooms of the Corps Area Service Unit and Headquarters Company I.R.T.C. Reception Center, Quartermaster Corps and Range. Library for Area 1 is in the 52nd Battalion recreation hall. Library for Area 2 is in the recreation hall of the 55th Battalion and in the 58th Battalion for Area 3 and in the 61st Battalion for Area 4. Other branch libraries are in the 62nd, 63rd and 65th Battalion recreation halls. Application cards can be procured at the libraries and have to be checked out at the main library in the Service Club. No application card is necessary in the recreation hall libraries. Operated in conjunction with the vast Camp Wolters' athletic program is the ultra-modern Sports Arena which is located in the Service Club area between the Dental Clinic and the Red Cross building. Regularly scheduled athletic activities are supervised by the Camp Athletic Officer with the assistance of the Regiment and Battalion Athletic Officers. The "field house" is open seven days a week. Officer's periods are from 6:30 P.M. until 7:00 P.M. Mondays through Saturdays, and from 9:30 until 11:30 A.M. on Sunday. Enlisted men are admitted between 7:30 and 10:00 P.M. Mondays through Saturdays, and from 2:00 to 4:00 P.M. on Sundays. Facilities are available for all indoor sports and included in the floor plan are three basketball, four volleyball and four badminton courts. Two professional style boxing rings are included in the equipment and seating capacity totals 3,500. Orientation lectures, boxing tournaments, pageants and plays are presented in the Sports Arena. Thursday nights are reserved for the Colored Battalions. Latest movies are shown on the silver screens at Camp Wolters' large and well-equipped motion picture theaters. In addition to the movies, theater No. 1 presents stage shows once a month during the winter, and from time to time Hollywood stars make personal appearances. Theater
tickets cost you fifteen-cents each unless you have a theater coupon
book making the cost twelve-cents a show. Coupon books can be procured
for cash at the various theaters. This is
the place where your family or parents may stay when they come to visit
you. Its clean, Men
interested in “Longhorn” or radio work are invited to contact the Public
Relations Officer. The P. R. 0. is located in Building T-791 and the
phone is 25.
“THE LONGHORN" Regular
broadcasts and numerous transcriptions for home town radio stations are
turned out The M. P.’s perform the same functions in a military organization that police perform In civil life. They represent the Camp Commander and are carrying out his orders. They must, therefore, be obeyed and treated with the same respect that is given any soldier on guard. The Military Police are charged with seeing that a soldier’s appearance and conduct is a credit to the Army. If you keep this in mind you will have no trouble from them. They can be of great assistance to you. If you should ever run into any trouble while away from the camp, get in touch with the nearest M.P. He will help you and give you every possible assistance. Their prime aim is not to get soldiers into trouble but to keep them out of it. Just as in most cities, traffic laws are strictly enforced in Camp Wolters with the M. P.’s serving as traffic regulators. A limit of 25 miles per hour prevails throughout most of the camp, but in some zones vehicles can go 35 miles per hour, and in others the limit is less than 25 miles per hour. Watch roadside signs. All vehicles must reduce speed to 10 miles per hour when passing troops. All camp parking areas are designated. Though
trainees are not forbidden to bring their to camp, they we encouraged to
leave them at While at Camp Wolters each soldier will be given his share of special and fatigue details, one of the most important of which will be guard duty. Though it may not seem important here, the safety and lives of men in the regular outfit will depend on the intelligent and alert action of members the Guard. You must not only learn the General Orders and Special Orders, but understand and appreciate your responsibility. You
will be detailed periodically on a regular basis to K. P., latrine
orderly, table waiting, fatigue details. etc. Each man shares alike in
these and no discrimination is shown. Occasionally duty is imposed on
men as a penalty for an infraction of rules—such as failing to keep
equipment In proper condition, missing bed check, or being late
for reveille. Two
aptitude tests will be given nearly every soldier shortly after his
arrival at Camp Wolters.
OFFICER CANDIDATE SCHOOL
RELIGIOUS SERVICES The Army Chaplains are here not only to conduct religious programs, but to help solve any problems which you feel require consultation and a guiding hand. Don't feel any hesitancy in seeking their advice; they are happy to help you in all your personal matters.
MEDICAL SERVICE The
Station Hospital is located near Camp Headquarters on Lee Road. Included
in the Station The
Camp Dental Clinic is located between the Guest House and the Sports
Arena in the Service Club area. If you have a toothache or want to get
some teeth fixed do the same as if you were sick. Report to the
dispensary and arrangements will be made for you to receive medical
attention. Dispensaries are indicated by green lights and a prophylaxis
station is located in each dispensary. Soldiers we required to report
for prophylaxis treatment within two hours after exposure The low premium rates are deducted from your monthly pay. For example if you are 25 years old, the rate is 67 cents per $1000 insurance carried. If you have a $I0,000 policy then $6.70 is deducted monthly. This is far cheaper than rates offered by civilian companies, and the cost per month depends on your age. If
you have a life insurance policy when you are inducted into the service
and are unable to pay the premiums, application may be made to the Veterans
Administration under the Soldiers and Sailor Relief Act of 1940. and the
premiums will be paid for you while you are in the service. After your
discharge you will have a number of years in which to pay up the back
premiums. By all means keep up the premiums if you can. Camp Wolters has its own post office located near I.R.T.C. Headquarters. Every postal service is offered at the Camp Post Office. Money orders can be cashed at the post office which stays open on week days until 7:00 P.M. Be sure to learn your correct address and the procedure following in sending free mail. Your address will include your rank, name, company, battalion, and camp Wolters, Texas. To send free mail put your rank, name, organization, Camp Wolters, Texas and U. S. Army in the upper left hand corner of the envelope and put the word free in the upper right hand corner. Your name and the word free must be handwritten, other information be typed or printed.
Telephone booths are located In battalion recreation halls and theaters,
Service Club, and Sports Arena. If you want to send a telegram you can
do so from one of the pay stations or from the Signal Office located
near I. R. T. C. Headquarters. If you get a telegram it will be
telephoned you at your orderly room, and the original will be sent to
you later through Message Center. Incoming paid long distance calls will
be received at your company orderly room. $50.00 or less can be cashed at the Cashiers Office, Main Camp Exchange. near the I.R.T.C. Headquarters. Checks of smaller denominations can be cashed at the Hostess office in the Service Club. All checks must be indorsed by your company commander. Fatigue clothes are often worn for drill while khaki uniforms in the summer and O. D.'s (olive drab - woolens) in winter, will be worn at Retreat and Inspections. Leggings will be worn with fatigues at all times except when on special duty. Full regulation uniform is required when you go off the Post. Civilian clothes cannot be worn at any time. You will not be allowed In the Camp Theaters in fatigue clothes. If you wear an overcoat, raincoat or field jacket it must be fully buttoned at all times. The field jacket can be worn outside of Camp when the command is in woolen uniform only by those living off Camp when going to camp and returning home. When the cotton uniform is prescribed the field jacket may be worn off duty any time. If your shoes need repairing you will be authorized at designated times to take them to your supply room for that purpose without cost to you. You we responsible for all equipment issued to you. Lost or damaged articles will be charged to you and collection made on the payroll. Be especially careful not to tear or otherwise damage blankets or other equipment BE NEAT IN APPEARANCE AT ALL TIMES. Ping-pong tables, pool tables, magazines, book, radio, letter writing facilities, soft drink machines, and the like will be found in the recreation hall located in each battalion area, pool is 5 cents a game while all other facilities are free. Several battalion theaters we scattered throughout the camp where various units can stage amateur productions. Free motion pictures and outdoor entertainment are presented from time to time. The
American Red Cross is the agent of the American People chartered by
Congress to render Through the Field Director in Camp, assistance is rendered the soldier and through the Red Cross Chapter in your home community assistance is rendered to the folks at home. No problem is too large or too small for your Red Cross to assist you in solving and you are urged to call at the Field Director's office when in need of information, counsel or assistance. What you tell the Red Cross is held confidential. The Red Cross Office in Camp Wolters is located between Area 3 and 4 just east of the Sports Arena. The office hours are from 8:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. on weekdays. On Sunday from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. For emergency calls after regular office hours just call the office - phone 267 - 269 - 271 as there is a worker on duty in the building 24 hours a day. Your Red Cross is here to serve you - don't hesitate to take your problem to the Field Director. Camp Wolters’ Housing Office is located on the second floor of the Post Office Building in Mineral Wells, telephone 154, and in Chamber of Commerce in Weatherford. Office hours are 8:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. Other than leading hotels, accommodations are very limited, especially on week ends and holidays. Because of this, trainees should contact the Camp Wolters'& Housing Office prior to the arrival of friends or relatives and engage housing accommodations in advance. Trainees should keep in mind that they are not permitted to be in Mineral Wells later than 11:30 P. M., nor stay out of Camp during the week later than 12:00 Midnight, and must have passes for a week-end. Prior to obtaining a pass for more than a week-end, the housing accommodations engaged must be approved in writing by the Camp Wolters Housing Officer. (This includes rooms). For accommodations occupied for more than a week-end, the following must be complied with: Rental price must be approved by the Camp Wolters’ Housing Office prior to occupancy and unnumbered Memorandum filled out for the Camp Wolters’ Housing Office within 24 hours after occupancy. The
question of locating a job in Mineral Wells is found, in many cases, to
be difficult and this USO Club, 607 North Oak Street, is a modem new club built and furnished for you by the Government and is maintained by the United Service Organizations. It has a large auditorium, lounges, reading and writing rooms, telephones, a soda fountain. ping-pong tables, radios, pianos, newspapers. and magazines. Dances are held every Saturday night with bingo parties, musicals and special entertainments scheduled for other nights. The USO
Club, 200 W. Hubbard is operated by the National Catholic
Community Service. USO Club, 316 Southeast First Street - Women’s center operated by the United Service Organizations is for wives of soldiers. Helps to spend their leisure time and aids in finding jobs and sleeping quarters. USO Club. South East Sixth Avenue and Fourteenth Street This club is for the non-commissioned officers and has an auditorium, ping-pong tables, reading room, radio, piano, and numerous games. Convention Hall, North Oak Avenue - This building is open to soldiers and has a basketball court, stage, badminton and volleyball courts, and various games. Variety shows are presented on Tuesdays, folk and square dancing classes are held on Thursdays and dances me held on Saturday nights. The Colored USO Club, 700 South Oak Avenue - This club is for the Colored soldiers and has the same facilities as USO Club, 607 North Oak Avenue. From Bataan a letter was received from a soldier who, not so many months before, had been in training in an infantry training center. When he was in camp, he growled and groused about everything, he didn't like getting up early in the morning, he didn't like K.P., he didn't like the constant repetition of certain basic principles with which the non-coms and officers were perpetually bombarding him. On Bataan - he learned . That Lieutenant who had harped constantly on the use of cover and concealment had known its importance. The soldier discovered that the nips weren't playing games - unless the game was tag and he was "It". He learned - fast. He had to. In camp he had memorized the table of stoppages because the company commander had promised a few extra shots to men who could demonstrate their knowledge and he liked to hear the machine gun chatter. That saved his life once when his gun jammed. He hadn't learned the correct way to dig a foxhole - and lost the tip of his right ear when he started to dig from a kneeling position. There were plenty of old timers on Bataan who could have taught him - but they were somewhat preoccupied. And a fox hole is a rather cramped space in which to read a field Manual - if there had been any handy. Which all added up to one thing: this man realized late what he had missed and his advice was - when the platoon leader or senior instructor starts talking, soak it up like a blotter - and pick up a little information on the side as well. The more you learn, the better you're able to take care of yourself - and the other boys aren't going to have time to take care of you. And those men to the right and left of you - don't let 'em down.. |
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