The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-17
HEAD OF FRENCH
 ARMY OUTLINES
 PLANS FOR U. s.
Says Americans Could Be Quickly Trained by Of
 ficers of France.

ncerS Of France.
 Paris, May 17.-Gen. Petain, the man responsible for the armies, of France, looks to America for speedy help in the trenches. The French Commander-inChief thinks volun- teers could be sent to France in a few months and be in the fighting line in six months.
 In an interview with an American here Gen. Petain expressed his views as follows:
 There must be raised, equipped. armed, instructed, vast number of recruits sufficient to form a great i number of divisions. Superior and subaltern officers must be chosen, trained, and stffs and other innumer able services organized. It Is well | known America is capable of this herchlean effort, but 1t must also be remembered that once these great l armies are transported to France, 1 they must again go through a period of training before they can be sent l into battle or even hold a quiet por- I tion of the front
 I Witness the experience of the English when divisions of Kitchener arrived, The British staff sent them l IO LlG IIOuL bdltdllCu py pdlldllOus then by brigade. In only one or two instances were masses allowed to move and then the result was very | poor and the losses tremendous.
 Think of the immense amount of organization necessary before your men can even embark. The service of food and food distribution, artil- lery and it's services of munitions of all calibres, workshops to repair and guns to replace, the engineers with their materials for roads. bridges, railways, telegraph, water and light installation; the aviation service with it's machines, its balloons, it's work shops; the medical service, not to speak of the transport serv1ce by horse and motor. All these difficult ties present themselves mt only to one but to every division. Imagine the delay necessary before such diff culties can be overcome and, above | all, before they can operate under the I conditions necessary. True, all this will be realized later, It must be.
 "But what is imperative now is men. What France needs most ia | lmen-infantry. We fully believe that | of all nations America can do most and in the least time, but in order to move quickly the staff must be ready with its men. What we look to from America is quick action in or der to relieve the nations which have | already suffered so much. We look also to America to see things big. that it's, to create organizations capable of developing and utilizing the immense resources of your country and, above all, to send volunteers immediately.
 3"These volunteers would at first be organized with French units. but still respecting the autonomy of America It is understood that it is a moral ne- cessity that they fight under their own I flag, but there is also necessity for a period of transition or instruction when quicker and better results could be obtained by the above method, Therefore, in order as soon as poA- sible to get them in line it is impera- tive to chrge the French with their mediately into the French army it. self SO they in turn can train your troops arriving later and be ready to take the place of officers and petty officers
 "Your volunteer units. who for the moment would be organized with French units, could also be used later as skeleton organizations for the ar I.riving American armies. Therefore, as soon as volunteers arrive they should be incorporated according to their arm of service in the French army--under the Stars and Stripes naturally. This will Insure intensive l training and shortly furnish monitors for the regular army of conscription.
 "The foundation of American vol unteer units will comprise two per licds: First, constitution and equip ment in America; second, intensive instruction in France.
 t"The instruction and formation of officers is all-important and Is es- pecially what was lacking in the case of the English.
 Officers should be very numerous I-enough for at least a hundred di- visions They should be taken from your regular army or militia, from among regular soldiers and capable of furnishing the lower grades and from young men who have certain amount of education. The mode of training would be as follows:
 Send at once as many colonels majors and captains as possible. who would immediately be stationed with French officers of like rank at the fmme ediate- front. The lower grades would be confined to correspondine grades here. Thus would be formed a number Of very efficient officers iu the shortest possible time Youns men of education capable of speaking French would be immediately turned into the school at St. Cyr, where they would get the same training as their French comrades. Then after a short time at the front they in turn would be used as instructors and officers ot liaison. Those not speaking French would be turned into the same school but in classes directed by our officers hwo speak English. The under off, cers also should have a short period at the front. If possible they should be chosen from the best of the rank and file of the different arms-infan. try, artillery, cavalry, and engineers This would be the wisest course, anl virtually the same in each case.
 '"The troops on arrival would be di. rected to a camp ready for occupancy where they would be trained by American officers. assisted by French if need be.
 eff no further time is lost in calling for volunteers 1t is calculated the frs
 troops can arrive in France in thre,
 months with their equipment ant
 three months later they would hay,
 sufficient instruction to enter the lin,
 of combat. The artillery would b,
 little longer but in eight month
 they also might be in line. This i