Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-07-20

J. w. Fisher, 1924 Second street,
who has enlisted in the navy, will
leave Monday evening for the Great
Lakes Naval Training station.
Dan K. Brennan, formerly of
The Rock Island Argus, writes an
interesting letter from Camp Sher-
idan, Ala, where he is stationed
with a number OF other Rock Is
land men. Private Brennan was in
charge of the draft quota which
left Rock Island for Camp Shelby,
Hattiesburg, Miss.
His letter in part is appended:
Enjoying army life very much
at Camp Sheridan, Ala. All the
Rock Island boys stationed here
are in the best of health and feel
ing fine.
Il am the only one from Rock
Island signed to the machine gun
school. which is attached to the
United States infantry. l am acting
as an instructor in the machine gun
school
About five hundred new recruits
are arriving here daily from the
northern states, and what a sight
it is to see themt A great majority
of the new men have had absolute
ly no military training. To them
a military encampment is an IN
discovered country. AS they arrive
here they are placed in the depot
brigade for three weeks, where they
receive their NEGOTIATIONS and pre-
| liminary drills. After three weeks
in the depot brigade they are as
| signed to some company.
During the first few days the
novelty of Surroundings and the
succession of new experiences keep
the raw recruits minds actively
| engaged But in the next few weeks
there will be times of physical
WEAKNESS and mental distress. In
| the quiet of the squad tent, too tired
/ to sleep, for there is such condi-
/ ton, a recruit questions the wis
/ dom of this intensive training.
Whether he can give adequate eX-
preston to the thought or not, he
| feels that the army is the slave OF
| a system, that much of the routine
might be eliminated. A new re-
cruit not only feels that all this
preliminary training is unneces-
sary, but that it actually makes
him sense a danger of what an ath-
/ lete calls going stale
| "One of the first lessons the new
( conner to the military must learn is
/ the military precision. He learns
it through infantry drill, through
I the manual of arms. In the mill
tary there is no choice. There must
/ be absolute precision. In fact, the
/ term military precision has grown
out of the army's insistence upon
clOckwork obedience.
| when an eXasperated officer de-
nounces the careless soldier, the
awkward man reSents the officer s
display of spleen. Perhaps it is I'M
becoming, perhaps an officer should
/ have himself better in hand, but the
/ officer knows. Back of the platoon
/ he sees the regiment; back of the
regiment. the brigade and the di-
vision. Back of all that he sees the
! huge problem of the army trans
port. The man in the awkward
squad has not come to see these
| things. A division is merely unit
to him and he knows nothing of the
difficulties in maneuvern:g $4,000
men.
THE men who direct the train
| ing know. They are aiming to con-
serve the lives of their men. In a
word, they are teaching their men
| to move with such clockwork pre-
cision that they all move together;
/ that the army moves as one man.
Not only minutes, but seconds,
count. Every day the officers Of a
regiment go to regimental head
quarters to have their watche. ad
! justed All must read alike. When
an order is given to be executed at
a certain minute it means that the
| hands of every officers watch will
point then to that minute, not to a
! few seconds off the minute, but eX-
actly that minute. This is what the
| Europeans call the synchroniZing
watch system.
"Bugles cannot be sounded;
whistles must not be blown; the
enemy would have the advantage of
advance knowledge of an impend-
! ing troop movement. The silent
/ sentinel-the synchronized watch
must give the order.
/ The drill regulations and field
| service regulations used by the gov
eminent are the result of years of
experience in the handling of
| troops So with the raw recruit.
| AS l went through ii myself it be
| comes rather discouraging the first
! few weeks on account of so many
new things to learn, but soon they
are crazy about it.
! TT is wonderful how Uncle
! Sans machinery is making fine
soldiers out Of youths who a few
weeks ago were taken from peace
| full pursuits OF civil life Most of
my duties now are attending lee
lures, going to school and assisting
| in the instruction of the new men
as they arrive
We'll, l will have to bring this
| letter to a close now as I hear
| taps, which means lights out and
time to be in bed"
Among those who enlisted at the
Davenport navy recruiting station
and departed yesterday morning
for further examination at Des
Moines. Iowa, was Henry August
Eckstrand, who gave Rock Island
as his place OF residence. He was
assigned as machinist.
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