Imperial Valley press., 1918-06-07
CHAPLAIN SCHOOL
FOR us. FORCES
IS IN LOUISVILLE
-W.S.S.-

!SSiiool loI CIdpldlIlS ever IldiIltdlHeu
by the United States Army soon will
graduate its second class at Camp
Zachary Taylor. There are ninety
students in the class, which is made
up of ministers of many denomina-
tions, some of whom until recently
served as pastors of big city churches.
Some of the graduates already have
been commissioned as chaplains, while
others aer approved candidate for
chaplain awaiting appointment"
No instruction on theological sub
jects is attempted at the school, The
whole effort is centered upon fitting
clergymen, fresh from civil life and
the problems of civil life, into the
military scheme of things.
! If Private Bill Jones gets what he
considers "raw deal" from his chap
lain, ten chances to one he will find
it convenient to talk the matter over
with his chaplain, for it is to the
chaplain the "buddy" goes in time OF
, trouble. When Bill Jones appears
with his tale of woe, he must get g
sympathetic hearing, and then, if he
injury is but fancied, the chaplain
: must know enough Of military law
!; and military regulations to tell him
! definitely just how and why what was
done to Bill was the right thing
= Therefore, the School for Chaplains
bears down hard on instruction in mil
itary law and army regulations.
If Bill is in the right, the chaplain
if he is polite, will not tell Bill So
but will lsuggest that he see him
again. In the meantime the chaplain
has sSen his commanding officer and
asked that such unintentional injus-
tice as may have been done be rec
titled before Bill comes lack. How
it was done Bill may never exactly
know, but if the chaplain had lacked
the knowledge of just how to go about
the thing the injustice under which
he suffered might have gone uncor-
!rected
In the words of one of the instruc-
tors at the school this is not intend
ed to make the chaplain "guard
house lawyer" but merely to fit him
to give intelligent advice to soldiers
If the men in the army are to look
up to a chaplain, it is necessary that
he have their confidence to the small
lest detail. And, as the men of the
, national army are rapidly becoming
experts, there must be no risk of
their coming to regard the chaplain
with the half-contemptuous amuse-
ment the expert feels for the amateur
because of any lack of knowledge of
military custom on the chaplains
, part. For this reason great atten-
tion is paid also to instructions in
military etiquette.
The chaplains' class is also taught
the very highest of high spots in in
ternational law. In addition, there is
instruction in equitation, in the care
of person and clothing in the field
for the chaplain follows the men with
whom he serves into the trenches, and
may frequently Ego over the top with
them.\ If not, he will be found as
sisting in the care of wounded men
on the field under fire Under such
conditions, he, like everyone else con-
nected with an army in the field, must
shift for himself, and must know how.
Y While attending the School of Chap
lains, the students are quartered in
barracks originally built for enlisted
men; they get government straight"
to eat three timese day, and they
wash up the mess kits from which
they eat just as would anv enlisted
men. In addition, thew sleep on the
same straw-filled mattresses to be
found on the beds on enlisted men.
In this way, they are learning some
thing of the conditions under which
an enlisted man lives and works, and
most of them are finding the expert
ences really enjoyable Their attitude
is summarized in the answer to a
querv given by one of them. who said:
"Oh. boy! This bunch of preachers
never knew how good real food could
taste or how soft a straw tick could
be until they started putting us
through this course of sprouts eleven
and one-half hours every day.
The school is in charge of Major
\. A, Pruden. regular army chap
lain, and he is assisted by four IN
tructors, al drawn from the regular
/ rmy.