The Dolores star., 1917-11-09
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Washington.-The corporal ID known
to most civilians merely ~ the lowest
N rank Of the non-commissioned o.
neers OF the army; his rank II marked
by two stripes On the upper arm Of
his blouse. The familiar phrase -
corpoeal's guard" exemplines this idea,
% It suggests the smallest possible
number Of soldiers. OF him the In
fantry Drill Regulations say briefly.
The corporal II the squad leader,"
and Of the squad 1t says, SOLDIERS are
grouped into squads for purposes Of
instruction, discipline, control and o.
der"
But the corporal Is OF more impor-
tance than this would indicate.
One OF the regular army instructors
ut the last series Of reserve officers
training camps was fond of telling his
company that those OF them who be-
came captains would be fathers Of
their men. the captain being the high
est officer with whom the enlisted man
would In general come into personal
contact. Many captains are like the
Puritan father whose closest contact
with his children was when he dis
dplined them. The leader who lives
with the private and Ii most directly
responsible for his well being ir cnmp
or In battle IL his corporal:
In camp this responsibility is mani.
fold. The squad, seven men and the
corporal. form family living together
in one Of the big pyramidnl OF square
tents that have done much to make
the soldiers life In the field comfort
able. The corporal II often told that
he has power to run that tentful Of
men absolutely; some officers tell him
he's the king bee and others call him
the car. while all Of them blame him
II anything goes wrong.
The FIRST thing In the morning, at
varying hours, but always before six.
he must hear first call and have his
seven men ont for reveiile In fifteen
minutes. He must see that every
natchsfick. cigarette butt and scrap OF
paper is picked up from the floor and
surroundings Of the tent, that every
cot Ii stripped and In order, that every
member called for special duty or de-
r.
tail reports on time. and that his squad
y always on hand for all formations.
Maintaining Discipline.
The corporal must see not only that
the members Of his squad are on
hand for all formations, but that they
arc properly clothed. neat and shaven,
with all buttons sewed ON. shoes
shined and rides cleaned. On Eatur-
days he must be particularly scrupu-
lous In seeing that his squad is spick
and span In every respect of person
and equipment. The latter must be
fully displayed ON every mans cot,
With only one correct arrangement,
one correct way to fold the blankets
at the head of the cot and to place
the shoes under the foot. And most
important 1t Is that the knife, fork
and spoon shall be In the order that
they are displayed on the mess kit.
Every inspecting ofhcer has the cor
rect picture Of that display. from po-
sition Of toothbrush to number OF. shell
ter half pins. 30 clearly In his mind
that the corporal IL lucky whose squad
does not have two or three slips in its
arrangement. Also the corporal must
quickly learn the pet point Of each
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