Birney's Officer/NCO School

All,

Here is a detailed outline of the schedule for the school. The command staff has put a lot of thought and work into getting this offering ready for our member units. Please forward this to your NCOs / Sgts and Corporals and of course company commanders are invited. Please poll them as to who will be attending. We need your list of participants by Jan 27th that is one week from today. This school looks like it will be very interesting and informative. We look forward to seeing you there.

Birney's Division Officer / NCO School
Perryopolis, PA
March 31 April 1, 2007

Saturday, March 31, 2007

9:00-9:15 Welcome, Overview of School, Intro. of Instructors (General Kelley)
9:15-9:45 Leadership (Col Baltzer)
9:45-10:15 Grand Tactics and the Principles of War ( Lt Col Smith)
10:15-10:45 Bugle Calls (Lt Col Rorbaugh)
10: 45-11:05 Break
11:05-11:35 Duties of NCOs (Col Baltzer)
11:35-12:05 Duties of the Company Officer (Lt Mike Murphy)
12:05-1:00 Lunch
1:00-2:15 Small Group Training

Station 1 Infantry Camp Layout (Lt Col Smith)
Station 2 Manual of the Sword (Lt Col Rorbaugh)
Station 3 Use of Front /Rear guards and flankers on the march (Col Baltzer)
Station 4 Small Arms Safety on the Field (Maj Jon Sever)
Station 5 Color Guard / Color Company (Lt Mike Murphy)
2:15-2:45 Duties of the Battalion Sergeant Major (Col Maefi, Sgt Maj Donahue)
2:45-3:05 Break
3:05-3:35 Duties of the Battalion Adjutant (Lt Mike Murphy)
3:35-4:05 Military Planning and Orders (Lt Col Smith)
4:05-4:35 Artillery Safety for the infantry commander (Artillery Officer)
4:35-5:05 Formation of the Battalion / Dress Parade (Col Baltzer)
3:50-4:20 Civil War Reconnaissance (Lt Col Smith)
4:20-4:50 Field Music- "Straw blowers and Sheepskin Fiddlers" (Lt Col Rorbaugh)

Sunday, April 1, 2007

9:00-9:30 Medical emergencies, burns and accidental discharges (Col Maefi)
9:30-10:00 Field Engineering (Col Baltzer)
10:00-10:20 Break
10:20-10:50 Police Guard/ Grand Guard (Lt Col Rorbaugh)
10:50-11:20 *****Topic to be determined ***** (Lt Mike Murphy)
11:20-11:50 Closing thoughts / Survey of Officer / NCO School (General Kelley)

Your Servant,
Edward L. Kelley Sr. Major General
Birney's Division
Commanding

Birney's Drill Info

The annual School of the Company and Battalion for the 2d Battalion of Birney's Division will be held on March 17-18, 2007, at Camp Workman.

Please CLICK HERE to download the information and registration form.

Feel free to forward this message and/or form to members in your unit, as well as other interested parties.

Beaver Creek info and photos

We very excited about the opportunity for Birney's and PACS to work on developing a new reenactment here in Ohio. The Beaver Creek Civil War event will be held May 4-6, 2007. Click here to get the latest info, download the registration form, and view photos of the event site.

Hale Farm pic for your desktop

This just in from Ken Hillegass. The unit photo from the 2006 Hale Farm came out great! I have created three differed hi-res versions. If you want to make this picture the background image on your computer desktop, click on the version below and then right click on the photo when it opens. Then choose "set as background" from the popup menu.


5th OVI Hale 2006 color photograph

Black and White version

Watercolor painting style version

Wool Blankets

I know what you are going to say... We are going to Virginia in July. What do I need a blanket for?

It can't be hot forever!

I just landed a source for really nice brown French 100% wool blankets that are perfect for reenacting. I put some up on my Ebay Store if you would like to see it, but if anyone in the unit would like one, let me know and I will make sure to get ahold of what we need.

Cheers,
Chris

Old Bedford Billeting

Be advised that on the subject of Cabin allotments to the winning units of the earlier drawing that, especially if you haven't been to Old Bedford Village before that the sizes of the cabins vary some are big and some are smaller some have fireplaces some don't. Keep in mind that the cabins are intended as previously stated your companies Headquarters although some of your men can stay in them .

There has been some misunderstanding by some that they are large enough to be a barracks to hold ALL of your attendees. This is NOT the case you need to advise your members to all bring camping equipment, sleeping gear, if desired, tents to play it safe, heaters if desired, food etc. Some of your members will have to tent it regardless. Advise those folks to bring cold weather gear just in case. The registration indicates some units will not be able to house their entire unit the attendance looks larger than anticipated. It is expected that all commanders alert their people and get them prepared properly, in other words better safe than sorry. We will make every effort to accommodate as many as possible.

Remember your units has a cabin for a headquarters if you were informed you are a winner but beyond that "NO PROMISES ".

Your Servant,
General Kelley

NCO Training

Gentlemen,

Hard to believe that NCO training is now only 6 weeks away. We have a date (Fri - Sat, Apr 21-22), but we still have a choice of two locations:

Gary Spang's property near Mt Liberty (Mt Vernon area)

Jim Workman's property between Ravenna and Rootstown

Both of these are good locations. Spang's has a large open meadow for field exercises, while Workman's has a beautiful recreation of a period tavern for the classroom work.

What I need to know is:

Who is coming

Your first choice of location

Whether you would be able to make the other location

Please reply ASAP to me and Sgt Maj Buker (jwb7592@msn.com). Officers, please circulate among your people. The sooner we have a decision, the sooner we can finish planning.

Thanks,
Jim Ruley