The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-08
Treat 'Em Rough

Eula McClary, Tn IeSl1eS
 That the tank corps is the most dan gerous branch of our fighting service, the least dangerous branch of which is dangerous enough God knows, should rouse the interest of anyone, and I fol- lowed the irresistible call to Camp Colt where they start to Treat Elm Rough
 Two weeks at that beautiful but inac- cessible spot, among those interesting and purposeful men, made me want to my life before.
 They are men of courage, daring, pur- pose, most of them outside the draft age, soldiers of fortune in the big, fine sense 1 of the word. The spirit of adventure, a common interest in motors and gas engines brings them together. Most of them are quiet men with a sense of hu- 1 nor, which seems to be an important
 soldier quality
 | Originally the tank corps was the Six | ty-fifth engineers. But the work of the
 tanks became so important and tremen- i dous factor that it was necessary to | make it separate corps In roman ee
 and danger 1t leads every branch of our
 cumulative service as it's rating plainly
 signifies. So dangerous are the require merits of the tank corps, which Is an 1 offensive arm for fighting forces, that the consensus of opinion among the tankers is that aviation is soft job v 1 Enlisted with the tanks as privates are many men who were privates or officer
 with the aviation when it ranked highest lin our military service. They have left 1 the air service and it's thrills and dan l gers that they may be with the most | dangerous service and get into action soon where good fight is sure.
 I But they will notsremain privates long. I The private in the tank corps is indeed :, a lar,ty. Over 75 per cent of the men
 are npncommssioned or commissioned officers. The heavy tanks, which haze only 60 privates to company. 90 of whom are rated as first class privates "a noncommissiona l rank According to numbers the enlisted pay roll of the tank corps is
 the largest in our army. Chevrons gold
 and silver bars, are the usual finishing
 touches of the tank uniform.
 h the tanks every man with the apii-
 ity to lead men has good chance to earn a commission The officers of the
 tank corps are hand picked from the
 most proved in courage in the army Hereafter the officers will all be chosen from the ranks of the tank corps itse.f A certain type of officer is needed ana he can best be found among the mer Who have qualified Tn the eulis,eu Pei sonnel To prepare such onicers Tor theh task. there has been established at CamT l Colt an officers training camp, repra sentive of the tank corps and it's spirit It is the only student officers train ing camp of the ind in our country The course is one month, of intensive L study and training.
 The officers training camp enrons " men each camp. At the end of a month intensive training the graduate pupil ! amply qualified to assume duties as sec | end lieutenant If he makes good as shave tail, the time to silver oar l ! short. The corps is growing so rapia 1 ly that a captaincy rank is within tn | I legitimate hopes of every man wearinl a gold bar on his collar today Conpan | nfter company is being organized an tie most desirable company commander are men who have qualified in the tan 1 student officers school