New-York tribune., 1918-01-12
Bv Haywood Broun

~ ne Ne'r 1o'S Ifao'''e ana SvNd'cdfe)
Il 's<,.sst, lsls hy TIE Tribune A~ocistion)
grTH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN
r,NCE, Dec. 2s. Radical mistakes
=. been made and are being made
training the American army.
a. have not yet perfected machine
,;.h can turn men out anything like
:. ,ss. as the British or the French.
-. is there any evidence that our men
ne end Of their longer training pc
:. are better than the French or the
s.,l;sh The first mistake was in
wing with the French Probably
ss necessary to send the first di-
.,;on to the French for training, but
4. rest Of the troops should have
A.;,sa with the British until such
as we had complete training
stem Of our own.
u there were no other reason the
ss.renee in language should be suf-
sent to show the mistake from
.G,sry standpoint of training with
:. French The best interpreter in
). world loses something when he
..,s,stes technical subject. He
-;.es the fine points and our men
.ss the fine points. Then, too,
r.nch politeness makes them not the
3ssl teachers for Americans. We will
..vsr learn to get at the kernel of
| tho Eror ~, h,,rfoa
s...sth his compliments.
The hospitality and good will of the
french have been a handicap in train
M. Even Lafayette has been handi-
IN Speeches and dinners took up too
5cch of the time of the first division
,.a are taking up too much time Of
~ this: but. as Presiden Wilson said.
usis is no time for compliment. Our
rmv needs the direct training which
can Get from English-s speaking Of
.,srs II needs the blunt criticism Of
r English. There is something more
ssn language and manner in the mat
~ .aH The French army undoubtedly
,ss the best army in Europe. 1t may
eil be the best army in Europe. But
is to-day an army whose theory of
|
,-nv is to learn the offensive spirit
must 60 to the British.
Picked the Wrong Place
The second mistake in training the
( american army is geographical. We
nave picked all area in which winter
comes early and stays late. Green
| troops are now kicking their heels in
good many French villages, with moth
inc much TO do but swear at the
weather. We planned and have partly
y built the largest aviation field in Eu-
( rope in a town which has fog and rain
/ ali winter and not little of the time
II spring and autumn. 1t has been SO
muddy for the last three months as to
X practically useless.
Z selecting a northerly training
-und for our troops we heightened
Z, line Of communication to an un
gsldy length. There may be some
nod reason why American troops are
II. being trained in the South of
rance. The only reason I ever heard
a- sending them to the Vosges was
,st there they would be within sound
the guns, and have yet to find that
aere is any particular stimulus in
lat
France should be the finishing school
.g our troops. There is no reason why
lnarcan soldiers should learn rudi-
,snts here which they can ust as well
earn at home. Reserve officers have
nd invaluable experience in being sent
i observers with the British army in
he trenches. but not little of their
lsining in the special schools for re-
arve officers here goes over ground al
( ready we'll covered by Plattsburg and
1.aer camps in America. Or if Platts-
i 1arg does not cover them it should. It
ihot necessary to send man to France
y . study the French automatic rife or
Machine gun. 1t would be just as
i smple to have him make those studies
i, home.
learned More Away from Trenches
The French say that we overtrain ou1
Zen. Men Ike Castelnau assured
'srshlng that his men were ready to be
lied In the trenches early in Septem-
sf, but the American general felt that
aey needed more work. Many Amer
an oihcers. notably one major general
@agreed with him. The almost uni
sSal verdict of the men who went to
quiet sector of the trenches for train
u was that they learned more there
"a week than in two months of felc
'ek
lontrary to general belief, the Amer
On IS far from being an ideal pupil
rs quick at mechanical things, anC
sEes him 70 time at all to learr
wv 10 take machine gun apart anc
~ II together again or to understand
ps as mechanism of the automatic rifle
H.. MS lack Of Imagination makes him
Nv" al all sorts of sham battles. The
Sael'can soldier cannot seem to visual
r. we make believe as the real thing
ms.I ,'e.ca soldiers would go after /
] ;sss'neal attack on practice trenches a:
| n, .lV .i: Pits were full of Boches.' Worl
H. 'nN sort means almost nothing t(
ne average American soldier. saw
NY ny ohee who was supposed to be tax
no cover from machine gun fire dur
;s snam battle. He was leaning OF
"A. eloow, looking around. A French
sl aI Spled hlm and came rushing up
LUX OUT he cried excitedly, "yo,
MA; MA; Keep down. You'll get hit" Th'
uNf m dropped down, but in a minut
MA es peerlng around again. HELL" h.
IN" " the man next him, "there aim
"y bullets"
His Baseball Throw
smnm,. ae american will probably never b.
ong the best of the bombers. II
So - months of training, he will re