NOTE:Publication of the Occupation Diary, First Cavalry Division (1945-1950) will appear, as installments, on the Historian Corner on a continuing basis as time and space permits. Each installment will be subsequently moved to the History Annex Page when a new installment is published. Therefore, if an installment is missed during the period it was published, it may be viewed on the History Annex Page.

Continued: Installment 12:

One of the most used Special Services facilities is the Camp Drake Theater. Formerly an auditorium for Japanese troops, the modern building can accommodate 1839 cavalrymen and their dependents at the nightly showing.

The division continued to carry out the dual mission of occupation while emphasizing the training mission. Liaison detachments within the division zone of responsibility were withdrawn during the month. However, the division continued to maintain occupational guard detachments at the Bank of Japan, Civil Property Custodian warehouse, Tokyo Quartermaster Depot and to escort war criminals from Sugamo Prison to Eighth Army Headquarters for trial. More and more, the emphasis fell upon training and an effort to increase combat effectiveness.

The month of September, 1949, saw Major General Hobart R. Gay take command of the First Cavalry Division. Assuming command on September 24th from Brigadier General Henry I. Hodes, who resumed his duties as assistant division commander, General Gay's new assignment marked his return to the same branch in which he began his military career, dating back to August 15th, 1917, when he was appointed a second lieutenant, Cavalry Reserve.

The division continued training in Phase I and II while squad and platoon tests were administered to the 5th Cavalry Regiment which was on a training mission at Camp McNair.

During the month, the Far East Command Small Arms Tournament was conducted at Camp Drake. Personnel from First Cavalry Division units functioned in all capacities for efficient operation of the tournament. The division won first place honors in the pistol shoot.

Light reconnaissance aircraft of the First Cavalry Division's "airforce" rest on the flight line in front of this huge hanger at the Camp Drew Air Field. Planes of this type are used for artillery gunfire control, reconnaissance patrols, and emergency evacuation work.

In October 1949, the division continued training in Phase I and II. Phase I Mobilization Training Program tests' were administered to all major units in the division. IX Corps battalion tests were given to the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 5th Cavalry Regiment in both attack and defense phases. Results of tests were satisfactory. The Heavy Mortar Company, 7th Cavalry Regiment moved to Camp McNair on October 22 for company tests. The 7th Cavalry Regiment concentrated upon individual small arms qualification firing at Camp Palmer and Camp Drake. The 8th Cavalry Regiment continued small arms qualification firing and concentrated on small unit problems in the vicinity of Camp Palmer. This regiment moved to the Camp McNair maneuver area during the last week of the month to participate in field exercises and to complete platoon and battalion tests.

Occupational duties had diminished to a point where the only occupation mission requiring the employment of units of company size was that of guarding the Tokyo Quartermaster Depot, a responsibility of the 5th Cavalry Regiment.

A total of 344 flights were recorded by the division air liaison section during the month, and tragedy stalked the air section when Major Clarence J. Bayne, division air officer, was killed in an operational flight on October 9.

The division public information office conducted the yearly Army Emergency Relief Fund Drive, netting 12,100 dollars in contributions from all members of the division.

The Army commissary store at Camp Drew has well supplied shelves for the shopping convenience of artillerymen with dependents and Department of the Army workers who live at this post. Camp Drew is artillery headquarters for the First Cavalry Division.

During November, training activity continued progressively, as in previous months. A total of 622 Military Police patrols were dispatched, and word was received that the division guard at the Tokyo Quartermaster Depot would be discontinued on December 1.

Extra-curricular troop activities for the month included the finals in the division boxing tournament, which was held at the Cornelius Field House, Camp Drake on November 29. The commanding general personally presented awards to the champions and runners-up before an enthusiastic audience of occupation personnel. All units of the division had participated and fight cards had been staged at Camps McGill, Drew and Drake. The inter-division football schedule was also completed, with the 8th Cavalry Regiment team winning the championship laurels with an undefeated season.

Plans for helping deserving indigenous children to a greater appreciation of the Christmas season were well under way with the contemplated entertaining of some 10,000 Japanese school children between the age of six and 10 at seven different locations throughout the division. Funds were collected in the form of voluntary contributions from all military personnel of the division to purchase small gifts for distributions among the children.

With the establishment of the replacement company at Camp Drake, it became possible to operate a more efficient basic education training program for the division. As the replacements were processed, those whose records indicated that basic education was required were sent to the Camp Drake Education Center to be tested. Those men who failed to pass the test were held in the replacement company and sent to the Army Education Center for class instruction until they were either able to meet army requirements or be recommended for discharge.

Army Service Club #34 at First Calvary Division Artillery headquarters entertains approximately 8,000 artillerymen monthly. Featuring a game room, record bar, billiard room, snack bar and reading hall, the club is the largest of the three recreation centers of its type in the Camp Drew area.

The personnel strength of the First Cavalry Division remained close to the authorized figure during the month of December 1949. Training within the division was directed towards completing the Phase I qualification of all newly arrived personnel. It was also directed toward those who joined the division during the summer and fall, and went directly to Camp McNair to join their units for field training. Included on the training agenda for the month was the qualification of individuals in Phase II where their advanced state of training permitted.

On December 3rd, Major General Hobart R. Gay, the division commander, attended graduation exercises of the first class of enlisted men to complete the division's Non-Commissioned Officers' Leadership School held at Camp McGill. Forty-one students were presented with certificates of completion by the general. Three days later, on December 6th, Lieutenant General Edward H. Brooks, Department of Army's Chief of Personnel and Administration, inspected Camp McGill and the 5th Cavalry Regiment, accompanied on his tour by General Gay and General Hodes. On December 14, General Brooks traveled north to inspect the Division Artillery.

Further accent on combat-effectiveness and training, as opposed to occupational duties, was quietly marked on December 15, when the division was relieved of the guard responsibility for the Bank of Japan. This relief and the discontinuance of the Tokyo Quartermaster Depot guard, affected on December 1, released three companies for training duties.

Men of the Division Artillery Battalions are proud of their Post Chapel at Camp Drew. Like many similar places of warship at the various camps of units of the First Cavalry Division, this chapel is warmly inviting to those who attend daily and Sunday church services.

The 8th Engineer Combat Battalion remained at Camp McNair, on the slopes of Mount Fuji, in spite of the late seasonal difficulties of training at high altitudes during winter. They completed their scheduled work and left for Camp Drake on December 18. On December 15, 16, and 17, a division command post exercise was held, during which a battalion size combat team of the 5th Cavalry Regiment and a battery of artillery was moved on a 12 hour notice. Division forward set up a field command post near Camp Drake and then moved 17 miles to Murayama for the later phase. Division rear also moved out into the field for a part in the exercise, while the Judge Advocate's Section added oddity to the maneuver when they conducted a scheduled General Courts Martial in the field.

The end of December and the year 1949 showed a marked change in the division. Combat efficiency had risen sharply over that of the previous year, and the huge training program conducted by the division was netting the desired result. By the last day of 1949, it was quite apparent that occupational duties had fallen into the category of "in addition to your other duties" for the First Cavalry Division, as the general plans for 1950 called for an ever-increasing degree of combat effectiveness - the keynote of the First Team's future.

To Be Continued...