Coffee cups in hand, smiling sweetly at each other across crossed legs and the crowded desk, we were nonetheless locked in mortal combat. I was a mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper. Age: 22. Sex: Female. Object: To find out anything I could about women's training at Fort McClellan, Alabama, home of the Women's Army Corps. She is Post Information Officer for the same Fort McClellan. Age: Forty-ish. Sex: Female. Object: To help me in any way she possibly could. In other words, we were deadly enemies.

We set out the terms of our battle. I: "You understand, Colonel Merriweather, that I am certainly not in any way trying to do an expose. I just want to determine women's attitudes towards the Army as a way of life." She: "Of course, Miss Bennett. I'm here to help you in any way I can. [confidentially] You know people around here are sometimes very secretive and sensitive about the press. [professionally] But of course, we in the journalism business know how important it is to get the facts. So if anyone gives you an answer to your questions that you think is not sufficient, why, you just come back to me. And to help answer any of your questions on the way, I'm going to assign Sergeant Brownwen to assist you."

Every person in the army, male and female, is given extensive training in the field of his or her specialty. This training ranges from the simple (a six-week clerical course, for example) to the complex (training in medical technology that takes almost a year). Whatever training Sgt. Bronwen had received had obviously been thorough and complete. She knew the key phrase for dealings with the press and she knew when to use it: "Miss Bennett, do you mind if I sit in on this interview?"

*****

Fort McClellan is a very large and convoluted place. The installation covers 46,374 acres in northwestern Alabama, and is home for over 6000 people. In nearby Anniston, Alabama, the streets are arranged in a convenient grillwork pattern, and numbered accordingly. But the military in this instance is less regular than its civilian neighbors. Every street merges into a tangle of other streets. Each building resembles the next; there are no outstanding landmarks to help the visitor find his or her way around the post. A post information officer could be a valuable assistant to a confused reporter, supplying road maps, directions, schedules of training activities and names of commanding officers.

Instead, silent and dutiful, Sgt. Bronwen followed in my footsteps, a sheepdog in army clothing, her sergeants' stripes shining in the eyes of trainees I tried to interview. The army must have felt particularly sensitive that week: The first stop on the five-page, single-spaced typed itinerary of the visit of A. Bennett, Reporter, was WAC center information office where we picked up two more people to follow me. Specialist Joe Burke, information specialist for WAC center, watched Sgt. Bronwen, information specialist for Fort McClellan, who watched me. And Sgt. Laura Hurlbut, senior in rank to both of them, observed us all.

I glanced over Sgt. Hurlbut's shoulder at the schedule. 0800-0815, Courtesy Call, Commanding Officer; 0815-0830, Coffee; 0830-0900, observe physical training; 0900-0915, observe first-aid training; 0915-0930, observe weapons class; 1000-1100, observe WAC museum; 1100-1130, lunch.....

"You know, I've been to a lot of army bases already, and I already know a lot about how training works. I don't think I need to do any observing. What I'd really like to do is find some trainees and some young first lieutenants and just sit down and talk to them," I said brightly at the outset.

Sgts. Bronwen and Hurlbut exchanged glances. "We'll have to arrange that," Sgt. Bronwen said. "We'd better go, we'll be late for our first appointment," Sgt. Hurlbut said.

The courtesy call to the commander's office turned out to be a reporters' briefing, designed to prevent errors in reporting. A large artist's easel in the corner of a carpeted room held about ten posterboard diagrams, each bearing at the top the official seal of the WACS. The commanding officer, pointer in hand, whipped through the structure of the army, the structure of the base, the format of training, and the mission of the army. My notes for that briefing include: "WAC basic training: 1) battalion--basic training brigade--company--unit...." The rest went by too fast for me to catch.

"I hope you have a profitable stay," the commanding officer told me on the way out.

We moved summarily to the physical training field. The four of us got out of the Pinto and moved across the field to observe training. My notes from this part of the morning include: "Trainees, physical training, 0900, jumping jacks, green PT uniforms, looked tired." At 9:14 Sgt. Brownwen turned to me. Do you want to interview a trainee? She motioned to one of the girls who was picking up her ground cover. "Soldier--over here. Here's a trainee, Miss Bennett. Do you have any questions for the trainee?"

"Hi," I said to the trainee.

"Hi," she said to me.

"It's 9:15," Sgt. Brownwen said. "We'd better go to our next appointment."