Air Force the Official Service Journal - Air Force Historical Studies ...

The "milk run" is a good antidote for com hat fatignc and gin's
all corners :1 chance to leam the practical aspects of dairv fanning"
N D.VE M B E R. 19 U
Anyone in a combat zone may be a casualty. Anyone in the AAF can
have an accident. If you're one of the unlucky ones, with a long
period of recovery ahead, here's what probably will happen to you
weeks he must stay at Albuquerque to learn Spanish by the
latest couvcrsationul methods"
This is tvpical: yom llledieal officer orders considerable
exercise for those stiHelled fingers. You 'vc alwuvx wanted
to pL1Y the piano, but vouvc never had time to learn. This
is a chance for \OU to do both at the x.uuc time, and have
a lot of fun in' thc bargain. Or if the piano class doesn't
appeal to you, you em elect typing iuvtcad. If you have
lost some Engers in combat, that needn't stop you. An instructor
at Ft. Log.m, for iust.mcc. can rattle out 100 words
a minute through a s:"stelll of his own which uses only a
few of his fingers. lIe has taught the svstcm to several A1\f
men who have lost fingers and they are becoming nearly as
proficient as he.
Where possible, this same principle holds
with recreation. "It's much better to have a
man ride a bike around the PO\t than it is to
confine him to a bike-machine in a gnll," says
the CO of one convalescent hospital. "We'd
rather have him row a boat on one of our lakes
here than make him spend a couple of hours on
the rm\ing machine."
\\'hat do you h.ivc to do at the convalescent
hospitals once you land there? \\Tell, there's vcrv little you
lizvc to do, and therein lies OllC of the important rules that
go\ern the program's operation. But you ma:', if you wish,
climb mountains, paint landscapes, brush up on yom radio
code, operate lathes, learn the inside workings of a propeller,
take courses in navigation, play golf, milk cows, go fishing,
or train pigeons,
Added up, it spells thcrap\", It means faster recoveries,
physical and mental stimulation, overall fitness. It docs not
mean job-training, for that is not the purpose of the program;
what it docs mean, however, is that the convalescent
can usc the wccks-i--usuallv six to ten-he's at the center in
work and studv that can i)e useful to him when he returns
to the Armv or to civilian life.
The program is not "fixed" in any sense of the word, nor
arc its supervisors smug about any of their accomplishments.
Training in manv types of mach inc work speeds convalcsrcut time
and equips paticnts with valuable skills thcv may be ahle to usc later.
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