The Washington herald., 1918-03-18
MILITARY DUTY
WILL REPLACE
OFFICE SNAPS
War Department to Force
All Uniformed Men Into
Army Camps.
CHANGE In 3 WEEKS
All Office Help Will Be Per-
formed by Civilian Help
In Future.

War Department soft snaps" will
be a thing Of the past after the next
three weeks
In a sweeping spring houseclean-
ing affecting hundreds of reserve Of
ficers and enlisted men the system of
employing the military in subordinate
clerical and administrative positions
in the War Department will be
thrown into the discard
Enlisted soldiers now performing
office work in the War Department
will be assigned to military duty
in various camps and arsenals with
in the next few weeks.
Most OF the enlisted men on duty
in the War Department had expect
ed to continue in their present
places throughout the war. Their
assignment to military duty with
the prospect Of being sent to France
comes as q real surprise to many
of them.
Reserve officers, who IL in the draft
would come under classes ] and Ia,
will be given the option" of entering
units which will probably leave for
France within the next few months.
1t has been the practice in some
branches of the War Department, par
ticularly the ordnance office, for en-
ployes about to be drafted TO be in
Quoted into the service and assigned
to duty in the War Department, per-
forming the same duties they had be-
fore their entrance into the service.
Clerks CommisxiOaed.
Many clerks have also received Of
ficers' commissions within a short time
after their employment in the depart
ment- In what appeared to be the
natural course OF things these officers
would have held executive positions in
the War Department While they are
said to have the option" of choosing
whether or not they will leave the
War Department, n is known that
some of them are endeavoring to
prove that they have dependents
enough to keep them out of draft
classes and la.
In commenting on the new order,
Adjt. Gen. Mccain said:
Enlisted men will not be employed
in the War Department, because il is a
civil organization. Those now on duty
there will be removed. Occasionally
an enlisted man may receive a brief
training for some special work at the
War Department. but he will not re-
main for any length of time" The
general did not comment on the work
ings of the rule as applied to officers.
Hundreds of Officers and privates
will be affected by the order. Prob
ably more officers than men change
their place of employment, since
several Thousand reserve officers
have entered the War Department
since the outbreak of the war. while
enlisted men serving in the capacity
of clerks will not exceed a few hun
dreds. 1t is not known definitely,
however, how many of the officers
will fall within the classes which
will probably leave the War De-
partment.
Promotions Rapid.
1t is certain. though, that many
of the millionaire reserve officers"
who came to Washington to serve
their country in an executive ca
pacity will instead serve in the
field. Many of these young men
served as $500 clerks for a few
weeks pending the granting of their
commissions. Their duties as offi-
GERS were precisely of the same ma
ture as those they performed in
their clerical capacity.
Promotions among the reserve Off
GERS have been exceedingly rapid, a
number OF lieutenants having attained
the rank of major in a few months.
while it is quite the usual thing for a
lieutenant to receive a promotion 10
captain within four or five months
service. The duties of War Depart
ment officers are purely of an admin
istrative nature.
Duties of enlisted men assigned to
duty in the War Department have
been the same as those of army field
clerks. such as typewriting, fling and
other clerical work. Lately they have
been taught the rudiments of drill and
prepared for real military life to some
extent. Although some of them have
been in the service for months. they
have not been drilled for more than a
few times.