July 5th 1943, Marcel went to Newport, RI, to join company 696 in basic training. Until the end of August, he shared a quonset hut with 11 other guys with whom he participated in conditioning, close order drills etc. While there, he declined to become a radioman and was offered submarine service, but in the end was going to be trained as a gunner's mate.

Mac talks about basic training & gunnery school: 

Between basic training and gunnery school he had enough of a break to attend his sister's wedding in Boston, after which it was back to Newport for about 8 weeks of gunnery training.
He took classes on a variety of calibers of Navy weaponry, and ended up second in his class, earning him a promotion to Gunner's Mate 3rd class.

Mac talks about advanced gunnery school: 

After gunnery school Mac attended Advanced Gunnery School in Dearborn and Pontiac, MI. While there he was made proficient in the mechanics of the 40mm and 20mm guns. Training took place in the River Rouge Ford plant in Dearborn and the Pontiac plant in Pontiac. Room and board took place in the Ford facilities in Dearborn.

Single mount 20mm Oerlikon		Quad mount 40mm Bofors