Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1917-11-16
CORPORAL IS VITAL COG
in ARMY'S VAST MACHINE

| inspecting officer. With one il may
be the size 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
lie Is supposed To see that they battle
AT least once week and keep their
| clothes and persons neat. The last
| thlng at night, as taps is blowing. he
reports his squad as present If each
one is on his cot, or names such I'M
| tortunates as may have misjudged the
| length of time required to return to
| camp or the amount of liquor they
| could consume safely.
Such are the routine matters the
corporal has in charge. The question
may arise as to how he enfOrces his
authority III these matters The rules
I are all so framed for Il soldiers bene-
mt that. however much he may have
! been without standards of order and
ncatneSs before enlisting, corporal
with force and tact can usually carry
| The man along with the rest with little
necessity for discipline. The means
of discipline are not lacking, however,
| and here the details above have Il real
value.
Discipiinns His Men.
There are many of these pieces of
work which do not call for complete
squad. and there are Jobs done under
a sergeants oversight with IA man from
each squad. The corporal can always
assign the man who was last out at
! drill call or whose rifle was denounced
as unclean at inspection to these de-
tails, as well as those of cleaning up
the tent each morning.
Most men learn after they have
spent Il few of their spare hours chop
ping wood or cleaning pans to obey
| the orders of the corporal. Some there
are, of course. who have to be re-
! ported to the first sergeant for con-
finement tn the company street, or
| whose repeated OffenSes lead to the
SuardhOuse. The corporal who proper
ly enfOrces his authority knows that
the whole iron system of discipline of
the army is behind him.
In the more purely military matters
the corporal is equally important. We
hear much of the recruit and the drill
sergeant. If company has efficient
cOrpOrals, ii is more often the latter
who introduce the recruits to right
dress and port arms and explain the
nice distinction between squads right
and right turn.
Many period Of company drill be-
gins with the captains command:
"Corporals, take your squads for fif-
teen minutes in the school of the SOL
der and school of the squad" and it
is there that individual attention can
be given. Close order drill is of course
in larger units, but even there the
proper execution of company move
ment frequently depends on the cor
pOral, and woe be TO the one who fails
TO distinguish between "On right into
line" and fright front into line" for
he will find his squad moving at right
angles to the rest of the company.
In open or deplOyed order, such rs
would always be used under battle
conditions. the squad becomes the
smallest fighting unit and the corporal
becomes the leader whom the squad
must obey, follow and stick To. Here
he is usually under the supervision of
Il sergeant, but it is to him that the
squad looks for orders. and the order
which can properly be used only by Il
corporal and which Is the simplest in
the Infantry Drill Regulations" Fol
low me-" is the one which takes the
squad away from the column in which
it has been marching, arranges it in
its proper position on the firing line,
advances it by ruShes and finally leads
it To the bayonet charge.
Guard Duty.