Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-07-30
SWEEPING CHANGES in MAKEUP
OFU. S. Army PLANNED BY BOARD
Scheme Includes Force of Ten Thousand Men for Oahu with
Large Reserve Composed of Men Who Have Served
Their Tine With the coI0rS

of these forces should be available
for service anywhere
The present land forces of the
United States comprise in the regular
army about $1,000 men out of a total
OF $500 authorized, and in the Ma
tiGnal Guard about 125, 900 men. The
Rational Guard is not liable for duty
OH foreign soil, though it can volun-
teeF for this service.
, Change Enlistment.
In order to raise the compliment of
t:ained men the General Staff proros-
es to augment the standing army by
changing the terms of the present en-
lishment contract to conform to the
practice adopted in sll other modern
al mies
1T is only necessary to provide, =
says the General staff report, that a
mans service shall consist of two per
icds one period with the colors, and
the other a period of war obligation
for limited time after leaving the
service. Under these circumstances
when war is declared the active army
is at once sent into the field anu tll
former soldiers having a war obliga-
ton are assembled in deyots, where
they can be forwarded to the front as
needed The enlistment contract pro-
posed is for six years, divided half
and>half. However, by far the greet
est Et1mber of men required for war
purposes under the plan proposed by
the General STAFF, will have to De
drawn from civil life. Under present
conditions, the General staff points
cut, the only citizen soldiers in the
United States are furnished by the
National Guard, which Is under state
control and owes only incidental sup
pert to the federal government. In
time of peace the National Guard can
be used only for intra-state purposes,
such as the suppression of strikes or
breaches of the peace, unless In the
very Improbable event that it is called
upon by the President to serve in
qlelling disorder in some state. A re-
cent ruling of Attorney General Wick.
ersham declares that under no cir
cumstances can the National Guard
be called upon to serve outside OF the
United States. The General STAFF pro-
poses to give Federal pay to National
GuardsmeD who will comply with fed
eraI standards of soldiership and who
will also agree in time of war to sep
arate themselves from state control
and follow the national coIors to any
ta6aftersof tie globe. This suggestion
will, it is thought, get around the con
stitutional provision which regards the
militia wholly as state force.
Federal yoluntee1A
The second supply of citizen sol
diefs which the General STAFF hopes to
create in time of peace for war purs
poses will be organized as federal
volunteers These men will sign arti-
cses to support the National govern
ment in war, but will not be called
upon to serve in i1tra-State troubles
save as last resource. They are TO
be organized under prearranged plans
when greater forces are required than
can be furnished by the regular army
and the organized. citizen soldiery. Tpe
peace organization of the regular
army with the organized division dis
tricts of the national guard should in
clude the machinery for the recruiting
organization, and mobilization of this
third great line of national defence"
This division of the citizen soldierv
into State and federal volunteers, says
the report, would afford obvious adj
yantages to all concerned: the Ma
tionaI Government would know upon
what forces it could count; the States
could proportion their forces to local
needs and individuals would have the
choice Of the particular kind of SER
vice they preferred: that is, State SER
vice. with limited war liability or war
servive only, under the national gov
eminent"
BY way of increasing the efficiency
of the army, both regular and yolun-
teer, it is recommended that the pres
ent complex of units without regular
grouping be aEsolved. In place of
taking the regiment as a field unit, the
General Staff advocates the creation
of divisions, consisting of nine regi-
ments each of infantry, and brigades
comprising three regiments each of
cavalry. This plan would necessitate.
says the report OF tue UcHSTdl OCdll,
al increase in the number of Brigadier
Generals to seventeen, as against the
present authorized complement of fff-
teen. The number of major generals,
would stay at the present authorize
number of six.
New Divisions.
The organization of the regular
army or the division basis is declar-
&c to be the moving reason for the
proposal to reduce the number of
crmy posts from forty-nine to eight,
step which would replace the present
dispersal of the regular land forces by
a greater concentration. It is propos-
ed to make each of. these eight army
posts a division headquarters under
the new arrangement The rational
and economic way of disposing of our
Troops says the forthcoming report
OF the General STAFF, ''in time of peace
is to quarter them in simple bar sub
stantial buildings in or near large,
towns, where all existing utilities may
be made use of.