River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-07-22
MILITARY CAMPS
PROVE POPULAR
1000 College Men Now Get
ting Practical Training.
PRESIDENT PRAISES PLAN.

Army Men Say Problem of Junior
Officers For an Army of 100000 Will
Leading Colleges and Universities
CO. operate In Arousing Interest.
"The camps will tend to disseminate
sound information concerning our mil
itary history and the present policy OF
the government IN military matters IN
addition to giving the young men
themselves a very considerable amount
of military instruction, which would
be useful to them In case their services
should ever be required"
The words quoted are those of Presi-
dent Wilson, and his reference is to
the military camps of instruction for
college men which are to be eStab-
lished in various parts of this country.
The largest OF them is at Plattsburg
barracks, n. ", where more than 500
young men from the universities and
colleges of New England, New York
and New Jersey are assembled for mil
itary instruction under regular army
officers from July to Aug. s.
The camps were first suggested and
organized when Major General Leon
ard Wood was the chief of the general
staff in Washington. General Wood
has taken the liveliest interest in the
movement, and it is his opinion that
the majority of the college men trained
at these camps would be available for
commissioned rank in the junior grades
in the event of national crisis. Last
year between 700 and 800 students at
tended the four camps. This year at
least 1000 are in attendance.
General Wood Praises Camps.
''The work done last year was adj
mirabe," General Wood said recently.
only two men in Ill the camps in the
United States were sent home because
Of failure in'discipline. They made an
excellent shooting record, shooting the
entire militia course. At the end of the
period a board of army officers went
over their work and qualifications and
recommended 100 Of them as fit for
volunteer officers in the lower grades,
captains and lieutenants. | hope that
this system eventually will grow into
general movement embodying, say, a
six months enlistment, broken into
three periods Of two months each, to
be taken during the economic or edu-
cational vacation SO as to interfere as
little as possible with the work or
young men in business and the boys in
college. j,
IF we can do this there will be de-
veloped q very large number Of trained
youngsters as officers Of volunteers
and a still larger number, Of course,
as trained men to form q nucleus Of
volunteer companies In case we are
so unfortunate as to become involved in
war. Some such method as this must
be adopted, because when war comes
it will come suddenly, and unless we
are the aggressOr, which is highly inn
probable, it will come from one who is
wholly prepared and who knows when
he is coming and where he is coming"
In the event the country was called
SDOn to organize large lard force for
defense it is the opinion Of General
Wood that we would need about 1900
additional officers, the estimate being
based on an army Of 100000 men. He
believes that the college camps will
play most important part in the solu-
tlon of this problem Of officers.
The college camp movement, in addi-
ton to it's unqualified Endorsement by
President Wilson, Secretary Garrison,
General Wood and General Scott, the
present chief of the general staff, also
has the Endorsement of a majority of
the heads of the principal universities
and colleges. Among them are Presi-
dents Hadley of Yale, Lowell Of Har-
ward. Hibben Of Princeton, Wheeler Of
California. Drinker of Lehigh, Schur-
man Of Cornell, Hutchins Of Michi-
gan, Kirkland Of Vanderbilt, Denny Of
Alabama and Dr. John II. Finley, COM
missioner of education for the state Of
New York.