Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-01-12

Well INFORMED as to his duties In con-
nection with the. guard and should
satisfy himself, by the necessary
number Of personal inspections, that
every member Of his guard under
stands and II carrying out his orders.
The necessity for frequent inspec--
.tions OF the guard has taken shape In
a recent war department. order which
amends the manual Of guard duty so
as to require both the officer Of the
day and commander Of the guard to
inspect the guard and sentinels at
least once between 10 o'clock mid
night and daylight, and to visit each
relief at least once while it is, on post.
At a large military post the mere
making Of the REQUIRED number Of
inspections entails considerable exer-
ton. While making these inspections
the officer of the day has an oppor-s
tunity to pick UP and correct minor
Irregularities which are apt to creep
in and, If not checked, develop into
lax practices. These, inspections
should be made not only with a view
to keeping the guard on the alert, but
also to instruct individuals and
straighten them out at minor matters
which they frequently have wrong.
Recruits, particularly those of for
eign nationality, are occasionally
found to have committed their gem.
eral orders varbatim while some
times not having the slightest idea
as to the meaning Of some Of the
words used, thus possibly loosing the
intent of a whole regulation. What
is needed in such a case is, first, a lit
tie patient inquiry to put the man at
his ease and find out what he knows,
and then a simple explanation of
what the regulation does mean. Many
humorous stories are told throughout
the service of the misund erstandings
and mistakes of recruits. To the man
new in the service, guard duty un-
doubtedly presents many difficulties:
shall now proceed to a few practi-
cal suggestions as to the best method
Of instructing an infantry company in
the performance Of guard duty. It is
believed that, as with target prac-
tice; some of the preliminary instruc-
tion in guard duty can, with advan-
tage, be given to a company in its
armory. The following scheme is
suggested: 81
Study Of the guard manual should
first be taken up at non-commissioned
officers school and printed or type
written slips containing general or
5ders, s.orders for No. L. = etc, dis.
tributed for study throughout the
company. The exercise can be had in
any armory. Designate certain To-
cality as the guard house" (prefer-
ably a smaller room communicating
by door with the main drill hall)
Have the company marched by de-
tails under the senior non-commis-
stoned officers to another part of the
main drill hall where the ceremony
of guard mounting" can be gone
through with. Then march the new
guard to the guard house and go
through procedure there as pre-
scribed in the guard manual Divide
the men into three reliefs. Designate
the company officers and non-commis-
stoned officers as officer Of the day,
officer and sergeant of the guard, cor
porals of reliefs, etc. Post No. IL:
at the guard house to walk in front
of the door a certain distance each
way and give him some other special
orders (besides the extent of his
post) Distribute the rest of the re-
lief on posts arranged about the arm
DRY, giving different special orders to
each post, according to its location,
etc. Then start out and post and re-
lieve the reliefs, being careful to
have the corporals keep the pres
oSa1OCu gE31$ pOSlGlOllS w lilG s5l 1ldTGQ1IS5
their reliefs to and from the guard
house and see that corporals and sem
tinels take the proper positions while
the sentinels are turning over their
orders. Require scrupulous obsery-
ance Of every small detail and for
mality. Men should know their gem
eral and special orders verbatim and
not only know them like parrot
but also understand what they mean.
The guard should be turned out for
the various persons entitled to the
compliment and inspected. Procedure
at night should also be simulated,
with orders as to challenging, calling
of the hours, ETC., put into effect.
~ 1T will be found that an exercise Of
this kind will cause discussion among
your men and bring ONT many small
points none of which are too unim-
portant to be noticed If it is desired
to have the company perform its
guard duty thoroughly and efficiently.
TT