The Washington herald., 1917-06-20
REAL WARFARE
At FORT MYER.
Students to Learn Trench
Methods Here Before
Going Abroad.

oOiiiR EhbtSoA'
Actual, sulphurous, bayonet-dashing
warfare, such as Is going on IN Eu-
rope today, will be waged In the Of
ficers' reserve training camps at Fort
Myer this week. The student officers
will capture deep-dug trenches, charBe
barbed-wire entanglements, hurl hand
grenades until their marksmanshlp Is
perfect, and engage in all the other
modern fighting methods which have
revolutionfzed the science of warfare.
1t Is the purpose of the onicers In
charge of the students to train them
SO thoroughly that when they eVentu-
ally reach Europe no time and no un-
dered effort to adjust themselves to
unfamiliar conditions. When these
young officers arriver on the bat,
tlefield, 1t Is intended that they shah
find themselves in the midst OF con-
ditions which they have learned 10
The camp has already been divided
into units of infantry, cavalry, coast
artillery, field artillery and the en-
cheering corps Those who qualified
for the engineers corps have aITsady
been detached and are engaged in
study at Fort Belvoir. Va. The coast
artillery detachment left for Fortress
Monroe, Va, on Monday. The other
branches of the service are still at
Fort Myer engaged in the drills OF
lntIT
When the trenches are entered the
infantry will charge lines of life
sized figures with fixed bayonets,
while the cavalry will charge, mount
ed, with drawn sabers. Throughout
the whole course the instructors pro-
pose 10 make the procedure as
realistic and as near what will be ex-
perienced in Europe as possible.
Next Monday morning ten Of the
attendants at the camp will leave for
Columbus, Ohio. where they will be
trained for the aviation section Of the
army. More. who are able to meet
the exacting physical requirements,
may leave at a later date. although
the camp headquarters has not as
yet received such instructions from
the War Department.
The officers in charge OF the camp
were very much surprised when but
l9S OF the 200 students responded to
the call for volunteers for the aero
service. OF this small band many
failed to pass the rigid physical ex-
animation, and the result is that but
ten men leave Monday.
The men at the camp when paid on
Monday seemed to express but two
desires. These were for the regulation
army trunks and for ice cream cones.
1t was but a short time after the
pay was received before the supply
department was completely cleaned
out of the two articles. Ten extra
man had to aid in the service of the
ice cream cones TO the hot and dusty
soldiers.
The work OF the supply department
was greatly simplfied Monday when
a regular schedule OF meals for all
the companies was prepared for the
week. Heretofore the quartermasters
of each company has been ordering
whatever food he desired and great
confusion resulted where the supplies
were purchased.
All OF the officers in charge of the
camp agree in the statement that the
, short of wonderful They claim that
there Is not single National Guard
unit In the country, even though IL
has been to the Mexican border. that
can compare with these men in drills
and general efficiency.
Although a gradual elimination has
heCn in progress since the camp was
founded. less than forty have, SO far,
failed TO meet the eNacting require
ments OF their officers.
The War Department has not yet
announced the exact number from
this camp who will receive commits
slons in the army August Is. when
the course ends. However there is
a uerstsIent re~Ort in and about the
camp headquarters to the effect that
NJ more than one-third will be ac-
! cepted. None o fthe officers has
| the slightest idea what will be done
with those whe-are not included in
. TINS hIgmCst section. This is matter
tnat the War Department will de-
, termine in the near future.
Fully 80 per cent of the men at
j tending the camp have qualified in
their first branches of signal practice
and are now engaged in a study of
the wig-wag system. The percentage
Of those who failed to qualify on the
rifle ranges is exceedingly small, so
much so that the officers in charge
, are all agreeably surprised.
Capt Keeler. the former chief
physical director at West Point, who
has been supervising the physical de-
velopment of the candidates at Fort
Myer, left Monday to take up the
same work. in the camp at PLatts-
He made such wonderful progress
at the Virginia enCampment that ILL
ness there is almost an unknown
quantity. What sickness there was
consisted merely of headaches and
other minor ailments developed by
the strenuous work.
The men at the camp, especially
those who occupy the upper beds,
have felt the heat a great deal the
past few nights. At a result Carpen-
| ters were put to wok yesterday after
noon installing ventilators in the
roofs Of the sleeping quarters.