Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-10-17
Mobilizing Our
Student Army
BY Frederic J. Haskin

Army, Navy and Marine Corps. About
| one third as many are attending the
vocational schools under the same status.
Thus the Students Army Training Corps
Is in successful operation and u has
already contributed material TO the
Training Camps which is the chief plir-
pose il was organized TO serve.
This purpose does not seem to be
fully understood by the American p bli
The Training Corps is criticized by
some who gee it as n refuge from the
harder uses of war for those who have
certain qualification OF education and
| intelligence II is hailed with Joy by
certain equally deluded persons who
believe il is intended primarily as steps
toward free higher education
The men who have organized and are
directing the Students Army Trimming
Corps are anxious 10 correct both Of
| those impressions They point out that
the Corps will not keep any considerable
number of men out Of the ranks who
would otherwise go into them. and that
many OF those who are lnducted into II
will reach the front sooner than If they
had let the draft law take its course.
NEED oFFICFRs.
They further point ont that since the
need for officer material Is much greater
than could possibly be supplied from
the ranks, the Students Army Training
Corps IL necessary supplementary
source of supply Neither is the chance
for commission denied TO the nan who
enters the vocational rather than the
| collegiate section The fact Of the matter
is that every man who has il in him to
| make an officer will have q wide oppor-
tunity 70 do so before the new draft
I H.I.x 4
demand for officer material IS sure to
exceed the supply.
The Students ARMY Training Corps
| is not designed 10 favor the educated
or any other class Neither IS IL pri-
marilv an educational measure. H. is
military measure made necessary IN
| the inpos5ibility Of obtaining an adequate
supply of officers without some such
means of asserting and shaping the
| heterogeneous mass Of human material
which must be organized into au amy
between now and spring.
THREE MONTH PERIODS.
! The courses of the Students Army
| Training Corps are divided into periods
| Of three months, called quarters When
i man enters ono Of the units, the pre-
/ sumption il that he will remain at least
| one quarter, If he Is twenty years old
| IF nineteen he will probably remain two
! quarters, and if eighteen years old he will
| probably remain three. But nothing
| IL promised II he shows the proper
| qualifications a man may be sent to an
| officers training camp, or if he proves
| unmi stakably unfit for a commission,
may be sent To a depot brigade within
short time
The shortage of officer materials
has already made 1T necessary 70 send
soIEe students 10 fficers training camps.
On the other hand man having training
or aptitude in certain technical lines
needed By the army and navy may De
retained in college for several quarters
The number Of thcse will necessarily
be very small
In general. the man who enters a
unit of the Students Army Training
Corps is taking the shortest route to the
front
FILLIN- VACANCIES.
1t il evident at the end of every quarter
a number OF vacancies will occur in the
institutions The method Of filing these
vacancies Is just now being worked out,
and cannot vet be presented in detail.
Some of the units are not vet full and
As the period of induction which began
October first has been extended until
October 2l~t. there Is still an opDor-
tunitv for induction. Most of the large
universities are enrolled to capasIfv
and have been turning away applicants,
but some of the smaller and less yell
known ones have not vet obtained all
the men they can accommodate. The m4I
who wishes to enroll in one of these can
obtain all information about them from
the nearest District Educational Director.
The fact that the large universities
have had more applicants than they
needed while the small ones have IN
some cases had difficulty in obtaining
the required one hundred seems to be due
to a general belief that better oppor-
tunities are offered by the large uni
yersities But the standard of instruction
offered will be approximately the same
in all. since it must come up to certain
The same is true of the accomu odations
for students.
The VOCATIONAL SECTION.
The institutions which have units Of
the vocational section Of the Students
Army Training Corps number about one
hundred and fifty. They have q capacity
Of about fifty-five thousand students
and the course occupies u period Of two
mOuLHS- t1eTe again 4 man may De
assigned to other duty after q shorter
perod, or he may be retained for a longer
one to undergo special training The
students in the vocational schools viii
also be observed for the purpose of picking
out officer material 4 four-vear high
school course IS b. no means necessary
10 get a commission.
Is the vocational section viii train
men 1T the rate Of about hfty-tive thou
sand every two months large plumbers
OF men will be recruited for it every month
The man wishing 70 enter this section
must apply. rs heretofore. 70 his local
draft board When quota from 4
certain section is needed, the local boards
are notified to receive such applications
Some confusion has resulted in the past
from the fact that some local boards
had not received such notices, and hence
refused to receive applications Most
of the local boards viii not receive appli-
cations In case Of refusal the applicant
may apply 10 the nearest institution
having vocational unit
Every man entering unit Of The
Students Army Training Corps should
realize that he thereby becomes a member
OF the United States Army. Navy or
Marine Corps for service in whatever
place he is best qualified to fill as soon
as he can be trained 10 fill it.
A WAR JINGLE.