The Elk Mountain pilot., 1917-11-08
CORPORAL Is VITAL COG
IN ARMY'S VAST MACHINE

or the minute particle Of dirt that col
iects 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 bathe
at least once a week and keep their
clothes and persons neat. The last
thing at night. as taps is blowing, he
reports his squad MS present II each
one II on his cot, or names such un-
fortunates 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 in these matters. The rules
are all so framed for soldiers bene
fit that, however much he may have
been without standards of order and
neatness before enllsting, a 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 real
value
oiscipiInino His Men.
There are many of these pieces of
work which do not call for complete
squad. and there are Jobs done under
n sergeant's oversight with 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. us well us those of cleaning up
the tent each morning.
Most men learn after they hnve
spent few of their spare hours chop
ping wood or cleaning pans to obey
the orders of the corporal. Some there
are, of cOnrse, who have to be re-
ported to the first sergeant for con-
finement to the company street, or
whose repeated offenses lead to the
guardhOuse. 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. II company has efficient
corporals, 1t 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:
"Corpornls. take your squads for If
teen minutes in the school Of the SOL
der and school OF the squad; and 1t
Is there that individual attention can.
be given. Close order drill Is of course
In larger units. but even there the
proper execution of n company move
ment frequently depends on the cor
poral. and woe be to the one who falls
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 as
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
a sergeant. but 1t is to him that the
squad looks for orders, and the order
which can properly be used only by n
corporal and which is the simplest In
the Infantry Drill Regulations" Fol
low mel is the one which takes the
squad away from the column in which
1t has been marching. arranges it in
its proper position on the firing line,
advances it by rushes and finally leads
1t to the bayonet charge.
Guard Duty.
1t Is the squad leader who is given
the target designation and range by
the platoon leader, and who Is re-
sponsible for the volume and accuracy
OF the fire. The Infantry Drill Regu-
lations" say that 'in battle officers
and sergeants endeavor to preserve the
integrity of squads; they designate
new leaders to replace those disabled
organize new squads when necessary
and see that every man is placed in n
squad. Men are taught the necessity
OF remaining with the squad to which
they belong, and in case 1t be broken
up or they become separated there
from to attach themselves to the near-
est SOUND"
A distinct form of the military duty
OF n corporal is the guard duty. This
may be In the nature Of police duty.
such as having charge of the men
known as the military police, detailed
to preserve order in towns near
camp. This work frequently requires
high degree of ability to size up n
situation and act promptly.
More familiar In time of peace as
well as time of war is what is known
rs interior guard duty used Sin camp
or garrison to preserve order. protect
property and to enforce order. regula-
tons" To the duties of the corporal