Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

The campaign against the old-fashioned
methods of the National Guard, that have
impeded it's progress and INSTRUCTED all eff
forts to bring the organization up to the
high state of efficiency 1t should main
tain, has been going actively forward dur
ing the past week 1t has been found by
the army officers, detailed as instructors,
that the District Guardsmen lack many OF
the elementary principles of military ex-
cellence; that the men have been permit
ted to proceed in confined lines toward the
attainment of a standard of efficiency
the methods used made almost impossi-
ble and that both officers and men need.
ed thorough instruction in the very B Z
of the science they are supposed to com
pletely grasp. 1t has been the custom in
the local militia to go about the tnstruc-
ton of enlisted men in the most haphaz-
ard fashion with the result that the men
had little real knowledge of what they
were supposed to do and that, while being
able to arrive DIT the completion of a ma
neuver in some fashion, the steps between
the first movement and the final evolution
were made in so crude a fashion as to
leave the men and officers open to the
most severe criticism
AS has been previously stated in The
Star, all military evolutions are carefully
explained. step by step, in the drill regu-
lations and the method of doing them Is
set forth in detail. The men are supposed
to follow the rules laid down without de-
parture therefrom, as ii is expressly stated
in the drill book that orders not cited
therein are prohibited. 1t was little dis
appointing to those in charge to find al
most as many interpretations of the Vari-
GUS movements set forth in the book as
there were commanding officers in the
Guard, and when, under the new order or
things inaugurated by Adjutant General
Brett enlisted men were called upon to
explain things, some startling discoveries
o. ignorance were MADE.
Schools for Enlisted Men.
Last week the non-commissioned officers
and selected privates We're given an OPP
portunity to show the regular officers de-
tailed as instructors what they could do.
The 1st Regiment turned out its non-coms
and selected privates on Tuesday night,
the I'd Regiment on Thursday night and
the LIST Separate Battalion Friday night.
The I'd Regiment turned out about dou-
BILE the number Of men that attended the
Tuesday night meeting. At each of the
meetings the work was satisfactory to the
officers in charge. 1t would not have been
satisfactory several months ago, 1t might
be stated, because then the extreme ignor-
ance that existed throughout the Guard
was not such a well-known quantity. Had
the instructors gone to work without pre-
vious knowledge of what to expect the
work this week would have been very
disappointing. But they knew just what
they We're going against and brought with
them a large supply of patience and kind
Illness.
The result was that the enlisted men
who attended the two meetings learned
more in the short time they received the
attentions of the instructors than in any
similar length of time during their entire
period of service In the Guard. And the
instruction given was based on the very
first principles of military duty.
Nothing beyond the most elementary ex-
ercises were taken up and these In very
limited numbers Each man present at
each of the meetings was called on to give
practical demonstration of what he knew.
He was expected to know the things he
was asked to explain, because he had been
given the book and told to study 1t out.
It was found that some OF the men had
not received the books. But their show
ing was creditable all things considered
and the instructors feel encouraged for
the first time since the new order of things
was established. The officers schools are
progressing finely and 1t Is the hope of
the commanding general and his assist
ants that the entire brigade will be In bet
ter condition as a result Of the work that
is now going forward
Non-Attendance at Drill
eve have been sadly handicapped in our
work with the National Guard by the nom