K=D8HB wrote:
"cl" wrote in message
o.verio.net...

I hope someone from the military can step in to tell us how
much time they were given to get the code down. I think
they had to "Cram".

Navy RM "A" School, the basic school which trained Navy Radiomen, was
13-weeks
long. Morse practice was 3 hours per day, 4 days per week, but
students could
come in after-hours for additional practice. Graduation requirement
was to be
able to copy 5-letter coded groups at 18WPM for 10 minutes, with 3
uncorrected
errors allowed.

156 hours worth of in-class code parctice and a pretty stiff exam.
Sounds familaiar. I didn't clock it but the 156 hours total is probably
in the realm I needed to get from zero to 20WPM. Which in my case was
stretched out over years between the 5/13/20 WPM exams.

I've heard some weird tales about how the Signal Corps used Draconian
methods to quickly pound Morse into the heads of their WW2 radio ops.
Stories about eight-hours-per-day seven days per weeks drills for 2-4
weeks or some such, nasty punishments for those who "didn't get it",
etc. Have you ever heard any of these tales?
=20
73, de Hans, K0HB

w3rv