s for the British won the attention of U.S. Navy where he was at last commissioned in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1941.In June of 1943 at Fort Pierce, Florida, the first class arrived and assembled for training. The personnel were drawn from three sources, primarily because it was reasonably expected that men from the Construction Battalions, the Bomb Disposal School and the Mine Disposal School would already be familiar with explosives and basic demolitions. The site was chosen because it offered natural swimming beaches and desirable temperatures for year round swimming. Too, it was at a base where demolitions could be carried out and problems could be worked out with the rest of the Amphibious Forces that were already in training at the base.However, conditions were not as desirable there as they appeared. In the first place there was no training program set up; no one had any idea as to what the mission might be. No one had the slightest knowledge of what sort of obstacles might be encountered, what pattern they might follow or the best method of destroying them, nor the conditions under which demolition personnel might be called on to work. No provision had been made for the construction of obstacles, supplying of explosives, housing for the men or training facilities for the unit. Clothing, obstacles, training, program, facilities and explosives were therefore non-existant, yet the men were there and training did go on. Until steps could be taken to get all of these problems settled, the first class spent from eight to twelve hours per day in physical training and rubber boat drill and primacord knot tying. The heat, sand-flies and mosquitoes, food and living conditions were intolerable. From this first class came four of the Naval Combat Demolition Units that were the beginning of the demolition force of the Atlantic Theatre. A Naval Combat Demolition Unit was arbitrarily set as one officer and five men, primarily because it was de...
