Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-11-06
BLOW TO OFFICERS
NOW IN TRAINING
Many Of Those Now In Training To
Be Idle For A lime.
NO PAY WHILE UNASSIGNED
All Will Be Needed Sooner Or Later,
But AT First There viii Be No
Units For Them To Command.

Members of the officers training
camps throughout the country have
been semi-ofIicially informed that a
considerable percentage of the gradu-
ates of the second series may, of ne
cessity, be placed upon an unassigned
list after their course is completed
and be kept there for an indefinite
period. This will prove a severe dis
appointment for those young men who
have given up lucrative positions to
seek army commissions, and who are
to remain on an inactive list until
such time as the War Department
can find units for them to command.
1t has been generally intimated in
army circles that such officers will be
given no pay meantime.
Information of this first leaked out
at Fort Myer, where several hundred
Marylanders and Virginians are now
in training for commissions. Later it
was confirmed, in part, at the War
Department, where the explanation is
made that the officers training camps
are turning out commissioned ma
terial faster than units can be organ
lied for them tc command.
On top of all this comes the definite
announcement of third training
camp series which is to be organized
early in December for the benefit of
the enlisted men in the National Army
who have shown special military apti-
tude. This will mean third large
class of officers by the time the sec
ond increment of the National Army
goes into training
The third camp, it is explained, is
not necessary in order to provide the
commissioned personnel for the Sec
ond body of selected men, but it is
necessary to keep faith with men of
the first draft, who were told that
every one of them would be given
fair opportunity to try for commits
sion. This pledge is to be carried In
to effect, and thousands of men have
been working day and night in the
hope of securing the Endorsement of
their unit commanders for the train
ing camps.
But the net result OF the whole pol
icy will be to provide the army with
a very considerable surplus of Off
GERS. This will be true, even though
large percentage of the men now in
the training camps fail to qualify for
commissions. The chances are, how
ever, that there will be no large per-
centage of failures, as the average
age of the present class is much
higher than that of the first camp.
War Department officials, while
realizing that some degree of hardship
and disappointment will be visited
camps who must remain on the mac
tive list, take the position that these
young officers will become reconciled.
Soon or late, all the officers who
may be trained and commissioned at
the three camps will be needed.
Their services will be required first
in the organization of the second in
crement of the National Army and
next in the replacement of "wastage"
due to casualties in the field. A
means may also be found little later
to place the unassigned officers on the
payroll during their inactivity.
The Fort Myer camp is considerably
disturbed by the information which
regular army officers had confided 20
the present class. These candidates
for commissions are further exercised
over the fact that the selection Of
those who will go into the active serv-
ice at once will be by lottery, which
means that nobody now in the camp is
assured of active service for weeks
and perhaps for months.