1930s search for stars, Amelia
Needing a big open space for cadets to practice large formations, the ASUC and the campus in 1930 purchase three blocks of then off-campus land where a track, men’s gym and baseball field will be built. The extensive outfield of the baseball stadium is used for military drills, and the gym doubles as an armory. The outfield today is the site of the Recreational Sports Facility.
Training also occurs at the Golden Bear, a wooden platform built atop Observatory Hill to resemble the bridge of a ship. There, naval cadets learn celestial navigation. They also go on regular Navy cruises as training exercises, and in the summer of 1937, participate in the massive, but unsuccessful, air and sea search across the South Pacific for Amelia Earhart, who vanished on her attempt to fly around the world.