Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1917-09-18
MAKING GOOD AS A SOLDIER

I
cation, chosen through fair and open
| selection by lot All are brought to-
gether on terms of equality. There has
] been and there will be in this great
national army no favoritiSm and no
pull" The poor man will drill side by
side with the man who has been raised
| in luxury. Each will learn from the
other. The place each man makes for
himself will be determined by his own
work and ability.
The commissioned officers of the first
contingent are picked men who have
voluntarily gone through the hardest
kind of training. The officers OF later
contingents will be drawn largely from
/ fine men enlisted in the first contln-
gents. There is plenty of opportunity
here for every man to use his brains
and his energy and to earn promotion
according to his worth. This does not
mean easy or quick advancement, Ii
means only that you will have your
fair chance-and you would ask for
nothing more-to develop yourself ana
to climb upward step, by step.
In order to make good in the Ma
tional army. you must, first of all, MT
yourself to carry with credit the sim
pie title of American Citizen-Soldier'
one of the proudest titles in the
world. This means that you must de-
velop in yourself the qualities of SOL
der. The more quickly and thorough
ly you cultivate them, the greater VIII
be your satisfaction and success.
There is very little real difference
Of opinion as to soldierly qualities
They have been determined by ages OF
experience. Weapons change, but the
soldiers who handle the weapons re-
main much the same.
There are three basic qualities, with
out which no man can be real sol
der even though he may temporarily
wear a uniform. They are:
Loyalty.
Obedience.
Physical fitness
A man without these qualities is in
the way and is a source of weakness
TO an army both in the camp and on
the field of battle.
The articles of war in the United
States set forth the military crimes
which are punishable by heavy penal
ties. Among these crimes are deser-
ton, cowardice characterization. drunk
enness while on duty, sleeping while
Oh duty as a sentinel, disclosing the
watchwOrd, and giving aid or comfort
to the enemy. Run over this list and
you will see that every one of these
military crimes can result only from
the absence of one or more of the three
basic qualities of soldier.
A soldiers loyalty governs, first of
all, his feelings and actions toward
his country. his government and his
flag. There can be no such thing as
halfway loyalty. The slightest COM
promise opens the door to treason.
But a soldiers loyalty does not stop
here. 1t governs also his feelings and
actions toward the army and toward
all the officers under whom he serves.
1t absolutely fOrbids disobedience
among both officers and enlisted men,
or disrespect toward those in authority.
Going step farther, loyalty gov
ernS also the soldiers feelings and
actions toward his own regiment, his
own company and his own squad.
Without this form of loyalty there can
be no real comradeship :. without it you
will never feel that personal pride and
satisfaction in the service which should
mean so much in your army life.
The second of the soldiers basic
qualities is obedience based on dis
cipline. Without obedience and dis
cipline an army cannot long continue
to exist; it will quickly degenerate into
an armed mob. AS the infantry drill
| regulations put it, discipline is "the
| distinguishing mark of trained troops"
Frequently the recruit, with his in
born dislike of being bosSed makes the
mistake during his first few weeks in
the army of resenting the fact that i'm
mediate and unquestiOning obedience
is required of him. He quickly learns,
| however, that obedience enforced
| throughout the army is in all situa-
| tons the chief safeguard of the rights.
the comfort and the safety of every
man, from the raw recruit to the COM
handing general. 1t is a guarantee
| that the small number of unruly or
| cOwardly men to be found in every
group shall be kept in check and forced
! to comply with rules made for the
benefit of all.
Military discipline is always imper-
sonal. Obedience is required not
merely of you, but of every man in the
army. 1t is required of officers by
their superiors with fully as much
strictness as it is required of you. 1t
will become your duty. whenever you
are given authority over other men. to
demand from them the same full meas
ure of obedience that others will re-
quire of you.
Discipline is not only essential in de-
veloping the army. but also in develop
ing your own character as soldier.
THE soldier who is by nature brave,
will by discipline become braver."
The third basic quality, physical fit
ness, is so essential that a large part
of the time devoted to your training
will be spent in building it up. Physical
fitness includes not only muscular de-
velopment but good health and en-
durance as well. 1t is quality which
every man who passes the physical ex-
aminatiOns can develop in himself by
reasonable care and by obedience to in
structions. This is a subject more
fully discussed in a later lesson.
NyiIiieJe nu,I;E1,4;a.