Trench and camp. [volume] (Augusta, Ga.) 1917-1919, 1918-02-20
M. PICARD'S ADDRESS
To Officers Training Camp

TWO parts or equal Importance. The
first is the drill, the training, the
technical education, the knowledge
that is necessary and the second is the
spirit, the morale of the troops 1t is
tn spirit Of the men that determines
the successfulness Of their training
that distinguishes between victorious
and beaten troops
And who builds this spirit in the SOL
der? The mother, the wife, the sis
ter, the sweetheart back home-the
women, the officers and the non-com-
missioned officers in charge of the
unit-his leaders. They are respon-
sible for the way in which he re-
spends to his task and the manner in
which he helps to unity the spirit of
his unit and make sure the accom-
plishment Of it's mission Upon one
phrase Centers the success of the ar
mics of today The colonel says to
the captain, Are you ready? The
captain says to you "are you ready?"
and you say to your men, fare you
ready?" Your men may be drilled,
they may have the training and the
knowledge for the task at hand but
they must be ready with the spirit to
carry out that job; and your ability
to lead them will show itself in the
morale with which they respond to
your leadership.
There are certain fundamentals ma
terially true of all armies In the
first place, some of your men will
have the blues. You must know why
that is. Sometimes it will be letter
A letter from home with bad news.
perhaps; or a pessimistic one or one
which makes the soldier homesick-
from his sweetheart perhaps; or a
business letter which makes him worry
about his affairs Sometimes it will
be because he has no letter or it will
be something else. Your mail SER
geant should know and should tell his
lieutenant when a man has been with
out mail for several days, and there is
a job for the officer In my unit
would be going to that man as soon as
/ knew about that and he would be
coming to me at the same time, for he
would know that he could talk over his
troubles with me and find advice and
sympathy. | would know something
of the condition of his affairs at home,
how many children he had or some
thing of his physical description of his
sweetheart. including the color of her
hair. / would say, Whats the trou
bic, JAG, is your little boy sick at
homer" or something to show that I
was thinking of his affairs and ready
to sympathize with him. That all
sounds soft, perhaps. AS someone
remarked to me not long ago, "Is ii
not sissifying the job?" No, not at all
You must know your men and they
must know you. A hard job Is done
better when all pull together and
kindly interest will make your men
more ready to work the harder for
you.v
In the French army a great deal
more attention is paid to the salute
than in the American army The
French soldier is more careful and ex-
act in his saluting. He salutes sharp
ly and he. stands strictly at attention
when he is talking to an officer. That
is as it should be for that is discip-
line and makes for stronger morale.
But when have returned the salute of
one of my men, If I put my hand he
will shake 1t, for we are comrades. 1t
helps him to know that I am ready
to shake his hand and he feels free
to bring his problems or his troubles
to me.
There is another thing: 1t is not ne
cessary to be a German paid agent to
spread German propaganda. There Is
German propaganda being spread ev
erywhere in our armies, everywhere
here in this country 1t is not neces-
sary for the German paid agents to be
everywhere, to be here in this army.
there are always fools to spread that
German stuff" and to spread pessi-
mistic thoughts.
You must catch such men when you
have them in your unit. You must
find them out and stop the spread of
that stuff so that it does not under
mine the spirit Of your men. You can
stop 1t by your own optimism. | do
not mean the kind of optimism which
says. Cheer UP, there is nothing to
worry about, the war will be over in
three months" That is no good. But
instil in that man a knowledge of our
own righteousness. Make him feel
that we do not care how long the war
lasts so long as the right is success
full Make him care simply that we
do all we can do. If we know that We
are right we cannot be beaten and We
must feel that we are doing every
thing in our power for the success of
the right. THERE'S not such thing
as doing ones bit" but it must be
doing ones full share" and that must