Radar Branches
There were various branches located at Clinton. Some such as administrative business had nothing to do with radar training specifically. There were two main braches that did deal with radar.
The Basics Electronics Branch:
The Basic Electronics Branch was the first step for most people at Clinton. This branch provided a base of understanding of electronics which was needed for both radar and radio.
Students would spend 26 weeks there learning this information through instruction and hands on work and experiments.
Basic electronics taught the basic skills and theory required on topics such as using tools and trouble shooting. The teacher was very important in this branch, to ensure the student had a sturdy foundation.
Once students had completed this introductory branch, they would move onto another one.
The Applied Electronics Branch:
The Applied Electronics Branch was the next step for those who wanted to be technicians (telepgraph, communications, or radar). It was where students drew on the theory they learned in the Basic Electronics Branch.
All of the technicians used experiments as a major method of study. This allowed them to draw on radio theory they had learned and put it into practice and apply it.
Here, radar technicians would learn how to fix and maintain radar. The types of equipment training included: radar ground, radar air, communications ground, communications air, and telegraph technician.
The radar ground section focused its instruction on mechanics who would work on mobile and stationary radar equipment which Fighter Control Operators used.
Radar air would train on equipment important to airborne radar such as altimeters, and Identification Friend or Foe.
Because of the importance of radar equipment in the air and on the ground in air defence, technicians were essential and had to be trained well. Everything was really interconnected and thus all equipment had to be kept working.
Those students who were training to be operators (radio, teletype, or radar) studied in this branch as well. They did not study in Basic Electronics first though.