This post continues the Before the Front series, following my dad’s training as his journey took an unexpected turn from the training fields of Camp Hood to the classroom at Hendrix College through the Army Specialized Training Program.
From Classroom to Combat: Hendrix College and the ASTP Program
After weeks of basic training and reassignment through multiple training battalions, my father’s journey took an unexpected turn in the fall of 1943.
According to the morning reports, on November 3, 1943, he and dozens of other soldiers were transferred from North Camp Hood, Texas to Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, as part of the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP).
Instead of heading directly into advanced combat training, these young men were sent to a college campus. There, they became part of ASTP Unit 3889, assigned to the 1st Student Training Company.
The Army Specialized Training Program had been created to develop soldiers with technical and academic skills needed for the war effort. Colleges across the country, including Hendrix College, were transformed into military training sites where enlisted men attended intensive courses while continuing their military discipline.
For a brief time, my father’s wartime experience took on a very different rhythm, one that replaced the training field with the classroom.
At Hendrix College, these soldiers were organized into units just as they would be in the field. My father was assigned to ASTP Unit 3889, 1st Student Training Company, where military discipline remained a constant part of daily life.
The Army Specialized Training Program was designed to prepare soldiers for specialized roles that required technical knowledge. Coursework was often intensive, and the pace was fast. While the classroom replaced the training field for a time, the demands placed on these soldiers were no less rigorous.
In His Own Words
The records provide structure, but my father’s own words offer a much clearer picture of what this period of training was like.
Instead, some of us were shipped off to little Hendrix College for a special Army Training program for what I have no idea. I was there for about 3 months in which we lived in college dormitories and attended class like any civilian student there. Some of the courses we took were mostly in the mathematical fields such as trig, geometry and the toughest course I ever took in my life analytical geometry. I don’t know if it was my stupidity or the ineptness of the instructor who was involved in a government project of weighing sunbeams but had trouble adding two and two on the board. He could come up with the answer on the most difficult mathematical problems, but sure couldn’t explain it so I could understand it.
It was while at Hendrix College that I acquired a couple of bad habits: namely beer and cigarettes. I don’t remember any of my army roommates, but we use to hit the bars on Saturday night and have a few beers, play pool, and table shuffleboard. I never dated while at Hendrix, but it was co-educational and there were a good number of southern belles in attendance. I don’t remember any of the guys dating as there seemed to be a separation of the military students and the civilian students. I don’t think there was any mandate on either party to avoid the other, but it seemed to work-out that way.
A Brief Trip Home
Even within this structured environment, there were moments that connected these soldiers back to home.
In January 1944, my father was granted a seven-day furlough, allowing him to return to Hazel Park, Michigan.
It is a small note in the records, but one that speaks volumes. After months of training and transition, he was able to step away briefly from military life and return home, if only for a short time.
The Program Ends
The Army Specialized Training Program was never meant to last unchanged. By early 1944, the needs of the Army shifted. The demand for infantry replacements grew urgent, and many ASTP soldiers were reassigned.
The classroom phase of his training had come to an end. As the Army’s needs shifted, my dad and others in the program were reassigned, leaving behind the routines of college life for a return to field training. The next stage of his journey would take him to Camp Maxey, Texas, where training intensified and preparation for combat became the focus.
AI Disclosure
AI was used to assist with titles, headings, and grammar, including structuring paragraphs for clarity and flow. AI was also used to create the representative image included in this post. All research, interpretation, and final editing are my own.
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