The evening leader. (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 191?-19??, 1917-11-27
CORPORAL VITAL
COG IN ARMY'S
VAST MACHINE
Much Depends on Officer Who
Holds Lowest Rank in Or
ganization.
ACTS AS PARENT TO SQUAD
On the Efficiency of the Humble Cor
poral Rests Much of the Com
pany's Reputation--Sets the
Moral Tone Among the
Soldiers.

SOl0iefSs
Washington.-The corporal is known
70 most civilians merely as the lowest
In rank of the non-commissioned Of
ficers of the army his rank is marked
by two stripes on the upper arm of
his blouse. The familiar phrase "a
eorporal's guard" exemplifies this idea,
as it suggests the smallest possible
number of soldiers. OF him the In
fantry Drill Regulations say briefly,
seThe corporal is the squad leader"
and of the squad it says, Soldiers are
grouped into squads for purposes of
instruction, discipline, control and or
der"
But the corporal is of more impor-
lance than this would indicate.
One of the regular army instructors
at the last series of reserve officers
training camps was fond of telling his
company that those of them who be-
came captains would be fathers of
their men, the captain being the high
est officer with whom the enlisted man
would in general come into personal
contact. Many captains are like the
Puritan father whose closest contact
with his children was when he dis
ciplined them. The leader who lives
with the private and is most directly
responsible for his well being in camp
or in battle is his corporal.
In camp this responsibility is mani
fold. The squad, seven men and the
corporal, form family living together
in one of the big pyramidal or square
tents that have done much to make
the soldiers life in the field comfort
able. The corporal is often told that
he has power to run that tentful of
men absolutely; some officers tell him
hes the king bee and others call him
the car. while all of them blame him
&c anything goes wrong.
The first thing in the morning. al
varying hours, but always before six
he must hear first call and have his
seven men out for reveilie in fifteer
minutes. He must see that every
matchstick, cigarette butt and Scrap O
paper is picked up from the floor ant
surroundings of the tent, that ever,
: xaE is stripped ana IN order, that ever,
member called for special duty or de
tail reports on time, and that his squat
Is always on hand for all formations
Maintaining Discipline.
The corporal must see not only that
the members of his squad are OF
hand for all formations, but that they
are properly clothed, neat and shaven
with all buttons sewed on, shoes
shined and rifles cleaned On Satur
days he must be particularly scrupu.
lous in seeing that his squad is spick
and span in every respect of person
and equipment. The latter must be
fully displayed on every mans cot
with only one correct arrangement
one correct way to fold the blankets
at the head of the cot and to place
the shoes under the foot. And most
important it is that the Knife, fork
and spoon shall be in the order that
they are displayed on the mess kit.
Every inspecting officer has the cor.
rect picture of that display, from po-
sitiOn of toothbrush to number of shell.
ter half pins, SO clearly in his mind
that the corporal is lucky whose squad
does not have two or three slips in its
arrangement. Also the corporal must
quickly learn the pet point of each
inspecting officer. With one it may
lie theFsize of the cake of soap; with
another the darn on the pair of socks
or the minute particle of dirt that col
.lects under the movable slide of the
sight leaf of the rifle.
During the hours that are free from
drills and duties the corporal must
know where the men in his squad are
He is supposed to see that they battle
at least once week and keep theil
clothes and persons neat. The last
thing at night, as taps is blowing, hi
reports his squad as present if eacf
one is on his cot, or names such un
, fortunates as may have misjudged thu
length of time required to return tt
camp or the amount of liquor the.
could consume safely.
Such are the routine matters tn,
corporal has in charge. The question
may arise as to how he enforces hi
authority in these matters. The rules
are all so framed for a soldiers bene
fit that, however much he may hav,
been without standards of order ant
neatness before enlisting, corpora
with force and tact can usually carr,
the man along with the rest with littl,
necessity for discipline. The means
Of discipline are not lacking, however
and here the details above have rea
value.
Disciplining His Men.
There are many of these pieces O
work which do not call for a complet,
squad, and there are jobs done unde
d sergeant's oversight with man from
each squad. The corporal can Away
assign the man who was last out a
drill call or whose rifle was denouncet