Evening star., 1918-07-07
Army and Navy News

WW country has sent over the
ocean goes the record of
the greatest transportation effort in
history. but 1t must be added that the
transports have taken, In addition to
the troops and their equipment with
gums, horses. motor trucks and other
GIss<4Msess,.a. ..oee than million and
q quarter tons of supplies. which In
clude all the material for building
and operating u railroad with more
miles Of track and more rolling stock
than would supply one of the great
lines between New York and Chi
cago. -.a.-
Up to the present time. with tho
single exception of the Tuscania, not
under Navy convoy at the time Of her
destruction, the U-boats have not
caught a single eastern-bound trans
port. and this has been accomplished
in the face of the generally accepted
condition that 1t 10 impossible to
transport an army of such magnitude
and support 1t at such q distance from
its home source Of supplies. The
Navy protects the transports from
the U-boats and directs all the trans
ports during convoy. and the Army
on schedule time. The office OF naval
operations. under Admiral. Benson. has
directed the naval part Of this great
cooperative movement. Rear Ad-
miral Albert Gleaves commanding the
cruiser squadron of the convoy.
the traf11c division. cleared up the
congested terminal situation SO that
the round trip time of q voyage 10
cut down to one-half Of the last Feb
rurafy's time. Brig. Gen. Frank
Hines. chief of the division Of en-
barkAtiOn. 10 and from the first has
been In direct charge Of tho move
embarkation point. of the mainte-
nance Of transports. in charge Of
those transports handled by the Army
rather than by the Navy. and In max
ing the. schedules for the movement
Of troopa from the camps to the point
of debarkation in France or else
where.
Ono Of the great objects is to keep
the French ports free, to give space
for the continuous flow OF the in
coming vessels. All repairs. II not
imperative. are made on this side.
II repairs that can be delayed are
discovered on the other side. the
nature of the work to be done. and
the ship on the moment of discharge
goes to the yard assigned to her and
hnds everything in readiness to put
her In good condition again. The
authorities bunker all ships at the
home port for the round trip.
u The embarkatton division informs
the divisional commanders when
their commands are to be moved to
tho coast. names the ports and ar
ranges with the railroads to take the
troops either to concentration camps
or sometimes directly to the vessels
that are to take them. In making
these routings the embarkation offi-
GERS observe the needs of the rail-
roads in moving the draft men to
the camps which the outgoing troops
have been occupying, and 1t has been
dificult~ to make the complex sched-
ules work in harmony. Before reach
transport. by wireless. informs the
division when she will reach her
pier, and on arrival finds her return
cargo laid out for her. Within an
hour after she has tied to the dock
she is receiving the load which she
Is to bear back to the support of the
expeditionary force.
So systematically has the work
been conducted that what was con-
sidered impossible has been accom-
plished-ships and trains laden with
troops and supplies are moving in
co-ordination on a fixed schedule. Ks
an illustration of the way things are
done, 1t Is reported quite reliably that
one regiment. with all its impedimenta,
moved from Vancouver to France In
twenty days
The secret Of the efficiency Of this
transatlantic, service is found in two
words-forethought and co-operation--
between the Army and the Navy.
=
~ HE War Department has issued
through the training school di-
vision Of the adjutant generals Of
fice, Of which Col. w. T. Johnston is
chief. special regulations governing
central officers training schools. for
candidates for commissions in in
fantry. neld artillery and machine gun
units. These regulations supercede
special regulations No. 40 Of Febru-
tails the training and education Of
officers for the armies that must be
organised to keep up the flow of troops
from the United States to the scene
of action in France.
cantonments is abandoned and in their
stead there will be three infantry
schools. at Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Ga;
Pike. Little Rock, Ark; and Lee,
Petersburg. Va. machine gun
..-s-a at Hancock, Augusta. Ca. and
Louisville. KY. All these camps are
replacement camps. and men and Of
ficers go thence directly abroad for
the completion of their education be-
fore going into the line. The military
government of the schools is under
school has special officer. usually
with. the rank of colonel, at Its head.
The course at the first four Of these
schools is four months. one more than