Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-02-15
MAY CHANGE SYSTEM
AT army CANTONNENTS
Camp Meade Will Probably Be
Made Replacement Depot Ac-
cording To Reports
GENERAL STAFF Has PLAN
Full Divisions to be Ready For Move
ment As zen Are Needed To
Fill Gaps In The National
Army

A change of National Army admin
istrative routine, which will probably
result in Camp Meade being made a
replacement station rather than an
out and out training plant, is indicat-
ed in dispatches from Washington this
morning.
Uses to which several National
Army cantonments, including that at
Meade, are now put, may be complete
ly changed when with the departure
of troops now under training, as re-
suit of General Staff studies of the
handling of divisions scheduled for
embarkation for Europe and of the
training of replacement troops.
Under the plan, which has met with
general approval among officers ia
miliar with the problem, the whole
system of divisional depot brigades
to handle replacement troops would
be abandoned. Instead full division
each of infantry and artillery, pro-
visionally organized for training pur-
poses, would be assembled at two
cantonments and all drafts of men
to fill gaps in regiments at the front
would go forward from these two
central depots. Similar replacement
forces for all Signal Corps troops,
except the aviation service, would be
organized at another cantonment. A
replacement cantonment for the en-
gineers is now being constructed at
Belvoir, Va.
AS to the embarkation problem it
hot nAI oil
embarkation camps must be provid-
ed. Camps Dix and Lee may be Sc
,lected for this purpose
Under present embarkation ar
rangements an outbreak of disease
at the concentration camps to which
troops are sent before they go abroad
ship might result in quarantine and
a complete tie-up of the flow of men
to France With two additional
camps available there would be lit
tie likelihood of such a difficulty.
In addition, troops could be held
longer at the embarkation camps and
while there, old uniforms and equip
ment could be taken up and replaced
by the outfits to be used in France,
saving the issue departments in Eu-
rope that work.
Creation of replacement divisions
for line troops would overcome one of
the chief obstacles to training Ma
tional Army officers have encountered.
The transfer of National Army troops
from present depot Drigades to regu-
lar divisions and the withdrawal of
many men fitted for assignment to.
technical units for which General
Pershing has called has greatly ham
pered training. In some cases the en-
listed personnel of National Army
units has changed completely two or
three times within the last few
months.
Camp Sheridan, Ill, would be Sc
lected for the artillery replacement
division. There is a new artillery
range in that vicinity and continuous
training with the guns could be car
ried on there 1t has been suggested
that the infantry replacement division
might be located at Camp Meade, al
though that cantonment might be
found more suitable for the Signal
Corps and some other replacement
uulIS. nc Del WV AAAob NOAA
tinue to be filled from the existing %
or more aviation fields and camps,
supplemented by any new fields es-
tablished. The nature of aviation
traiing prevents consolidation in sin
| gle cantonment, it is thought.
The new QUESTIONABLE method of
the selective service obviates the diff
| ficulties heretofore experienced in fill
ling calls for technical units. Such
men are now called out directly by
the Provost Marshal General working
| through the local boards. Where the
/ qualified men fail to enlist voluntarily
| in sufficient numbers, they can be
| drafted without delay.
Drafts of casuals are now sent for
ward regularly to fill gaps in regi-
ments in France caused by casualties,
sickness or transfer. Under the new
plan, replacement detachments would
| be made up at the cantonment of the
| replacement division as needed all
| surplus troops being concentrated
there for training, and thus avoiding
the necessity of sending forward raw