The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1917-11-10
CORPORAL IS VITAL COG
In ARMY'S VAST MACHINE,

} inspecting officer. With one Il ma,
De the size of the cake of soap: will
another the darn on the pair of sock
or the minute particle of dirt that col
Iects under the movable slide of tn,
sight leaf Of the rifle.
! 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
nj least once week and keep their
clothes and persons neat The last
thlng at night, as taps Is blowing, he
reports his squad as present If each
one Is on his cot, or names such I'M
tortunates 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-
MT that, however much he may have
Deen without standards of order and
hcatness before erlisting, 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.
ana here the details above have a real
value.
DiscipIining His Men.
Ihere are many of these pieces of
work which do rot call for a complete
squad, and there are jobs done under |
sergeants oversight with a man from
each squad. The corporal can always
assign the man who was last ont at |
drill call or whose rifle was denounced /
as unclean at inspection to these de-
tails. as well as those of cleaning III
the tent each morning.
Most men learn after they have
spent a 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.
hnement 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
near much of the recruit and the drill
sergeant. If a company has efficient
corp0rals, 1t Is more often the latter
VINO Introduce the recruits TO right
dress and port arms and explain the
nice distinction between squads right
and right turn.
Many period of company drill be- !
gins with the captains command.
Corporais, take your squads for fif-
-een minutes In the school of the SOL
Her and school of the squad; and II !.
S there that individual attention can
'e gwen. Close order drill is of course
n larger units. but even there the
proper execution of a company move
hent frequently depends on the cor
'oral, and woe be to the one who fails d
o distinguish between "On right into Il
lne' and fright front into line" for
$50 ''"" ms squstu IlONlDG at right |
ngles to the rest of the company. II
In open or deployed order. such rs =
'ouid always be used under battle "
ohditions, the squad becomes the :,
mallest fighting unit and the corporol u
ecoines the leader whom the squad
lust obey, follow and stick to. Her. W
e Is usually under the supervision of =
sergeant but it is to him that tbe ,'
quad looks for orders, and the order -
MICH can properly be used only by n Il,
orporal and which is the simplest in -
lie Infantry Drill Regulations" "FoI. VI
w mel" Is the one which takes the u
luad away from the column in which :"
mas been marching, arranges II in g
proper position on the firing line iie
ivances it by rushes and finally leads "
to the bayOnet charge.
Guard nufv ="