The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1917-07-31
ARMY MUST HAVE
$4,000 PHYSICIANS
10000 Enlisted Men Will Also be
Required For The Medical Corps
Half Are Needed by October lSt.

10000 Enlisted Men Will Also be
Required For The Medical Corps
HaH,fre Needed by October ISt.
Washington, July 29.-AnnOuHce-
ment was made tonight that within
the next year the medical service OF
the army would require the services
of 144 900 men, of whom 1900
must he trained physicians and the
other l20, 600 enlisted men in the
Medical Corps. Half ot these are
wanted by October /, and plans are
well under way for obtaining them.
Already commissions have been is
sued TO about 5000 medical officers
in the Reserve Corps of the army.
Between now and Oct. / enough 9th
er' commissions will be issued to
raise the total number OF medical Of
licers 10 10000. TGo out of every
nine physicians of military age thru
out the United States and its princi-
pal possessions will be required for
war service. This is probably the
heaviest demand made by the war
upon any profession. but the medical
men Of the country are meeting it
readiiy.
There are in the United States APP
proxilaately 10000 physicians OF
military age-22 to 55 years-and
fully $4,000 of this number will be
needed, perhaps more.
These professional men will be
modified through system of selec-
tion which will operate in Alaska,
Porto Rico, and Hawaii, as we'll as
in th, continental United States, and
will traw from each community d
contri button proportiona'e to the
number of available physicians, but
will not strip any city, town, OF vii
lage If all of its physicians, however
anXioIs they may be to engage in
war york.
So:f~-'" 9o0 medical officers and
g. 60,0lSOD9ted men in the Medical
and Sanitary Corps will be needed by
October / when the national army,
the National Guard, and the regular
army will all be in camp and at war
strength. These men will be trained
and Aadywhen wanted. A detach
ment for each national arIly regi-
ment will reach the cantonments
ahead of the troops to supervise pre-
parations necessary for safeguarding
health.
These numbers-12, 1000 medical
officers and $4,000 enlisted men
must be approximately doubled TO
meet the demands which will be
made upon their service when troops
are overseas for battle. The order
will be filled, too, as the men are re-
quired. In other words, before all
the troops are abroad a total of
,
10000 enlisted men for medical
department work must be ready. On
ly trained men will be sent with
the troops. Selection for each con-
tingeht about to sail for France will
be made from those medical officers
and men who are best fitted to go.
This is measure of the task of
training men which the war put up
on Surgeon General Gorgas and the
Medical Department of the Army of
whic- ne is head. The first 10000
trairk medical officers already are
IN slsnt. and Work7Is beng pushed
now TO bring the second $4,000 un-
der training. AS fast as shelter is
ready to prospective medical officers
are going into training camps-at !
present at the rate of 200 a day.
The training camps are at Fort Ri !
ley, Kan; Fort Benjamin Harrison, |
Ind, and Fort Oglethorpe, Ga, each I
with a capacity of 1000 student /
medical officers and 1,S00 enlisted !
men, and in addition there are four !
companies, four field hos /
pitals, one evacuation hospital at
each camp. There is also a smaller |
training camp for negro medical Off !
GERS and negro sanitary detachments |
to serve with negro troops. This is F!
at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, where $50 |
officers and men are under training. /
1t is being operated as a part of the |
camp there for negro Off !
GERS of the line. A training camp
for the United States Ambulance |
Service is located at Allentown. Pa,
where about 4,500 officers and men |
are taking instruction. About 49,
500 officers and men are now under |
at all these camps, and this !
summer is rapidly being increased to !
the full training camp capacity of
about $4,000.
In addition to all this a course of |
has been arranged for the
sanitary personnel not able to attend |
training camps. Those serving at
posts, garrisons, with troops in the
field, at large hospitals, etc, come
under this head. For this large class
a systematic course has been provid- |
ed which is pursued at times not ia
ken up with other duties. All these
men will u Soubtedly be called soon
er or later foT duties different from
those in which they are now engaged
and are being prepared to handle
them to best advantage.
A course at a training camp is in
tended to cover three periods of one
month each. During the first month
of training the medical officers time
is largely devoted to familiariZing
himself with the duties of the enlis-
ted man-not that the officer himself
is to do an enlisted mans work, such
as carrying wounded off the field, but
he must be prepared to instruct the
recruits who will shortly come under
his command.
The second month of the training
camp course takes up the students
duties as an officer; the third month
continues and extends this work A
large part of the third months work
is given over to practical application
under field conditions of what has
already been learned in theory. Off
GERS are tried out under simulated
war conditions in command of large
of enlisted men. The hand
ling of men assumed to be wounded
is included in this period of the
training.
AS a general rule, medical officers
are sent to the training camps with
a view to preparing them to serve
the fighting troops. Officers too old
for such service are held in reserve
for specialists in the rear of the
fighting zone.
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