Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1917-11-21

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that the corporal is lucky whose squad
does not have two or three slips in Its
arrangement. Also the corporal must
| quickly learn the pet point OF each
| inspecting officer. With one 1t 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 rife.
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 battle
at least once a week and keep their
clothes and persons neat. The last
thing ut night. as taps Is blowing. he
reports his squad as present II each
one is 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 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 real
value.
Discipiinins His Men.
There are many of these pieces of
work which do not call for = complete
squad. and there are jobs done under
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. as well as those of cleaning up
the tent each morning.
Most men learn after they have
spent 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 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 RICH;
and right turn.
Many period Of company drill be
gins with the captains command
| ''Corporals. take your squads for IF
/ teen minutes In the school Of the sol
der and school Of the squad: and II
/ is there that individual attention car
! 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" fol
he will find his squad moving at RICH,
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 corpora
/ becomes the leader whom the squaf
must obey. follow and stick to. Her,
! he is usually under the supervision o.
sergeant. but 1t Is to him that the
squad looks for orders. and the ordel
which can properly be used only by {
corporal and which is the simplest II
the Infantry Drill Regulations" FOL
low mel" Is the one which takes tn,
squad away from the column In which
1t has been marching, arranges 1t il
its proper position on the firing line
advances ii by rushes and finally lead
1t to the bayonet charge.
Guard Duty.
1t Is the squad leader who is givei
the target designation and range b,
the platoon leader. and who Is re
sponsible for the volume and accurac,
of the fire. The Infantry Drill Regu
lations" say that ''in battle officer
and sergeants endeavor to preserve tn
integrity of squads; they designate
new leaders to replace those disabled
organize new squads when necessar.
and see that every man is placed In
squad. Men are taught the necessit
of remaining with the squad to whicl
they belong. and In case it be broker
up or they become separated there
from to attach themselves to the near
est squad"
A distinct form Of the military dut
of corporal is the guard duty. Thl
may be In rhe nature of police duty
such as having charge of the mel
known as the military police. detaile,
to preserve order in towns near