Trench and camp. [volume] (Augusta, Ga.) 1917-1919, 1918-09-25

|
permitted to turn aside and do that thing
/ would do 1t so much better" It's
the same spirit as when me are playing
checke :. The ystander is quite sure
he knt ~ how to win the game. 1t is
| the occupation we see over the fence and
not that in which we are absorbed that
seems to US the true field for our en-
dedvors. So that in making an army we
are not in a position to accept man
own estimation Of rs fitness. And no
matter If man has set his heart on tho
JOB, that Is no assurance Of his fitness.
And so we com down now to the things
you gentlemen are TO do. Here we are
/ making a cross-section or series Of cross
sections Of the United states. We are
northwest and the cotton fields Of the
South, from every trade and occupation,
| from every economic and social status
Of life and grouping them advantageous
". We are not getting the men Of the
same size In the same pace, but all
sizes IN all places We are getting this
lagglomerate of men, selected vicartously
and by chance as It were, into great
groups. We have no time for men to
grow up into those groups evolved by
association, but we have to have Sc
leetive process by which we viii get the
round men for the round place, the
strong men for the strong tasks and the
delicate men for the delicate tasks. We
have got TO evolve q process by which
that sort Of assortment viii take place
| Always heretofore in armies that has
been A matter Of chance, it has been a
matter Of Individual judgment Of com
manding officers. Even when command
ment, humanity speaking most dispas-
sionately it is quite impossible for them
not to be affected by elements which do
not enter into the accounting.
If one were to select, for instance,
general to command an expedition he
would be quite likely to select man
whom he liked as a man and not with
any relation whatever to his capacity to
command the expedition. And this is
| true generally. so that some system Of
/ selection of talents which is not affect
ed by immaterial principles or virtues.
no matter how splendd something more
scientific than the haphazard choice Of
man, something more systematic than
| preference or first IMPRESSION is neces-
sary to be devised. When Dr. Scott
presented to the war department the
question OF calling IN psychology in this
work we all realized that that science had
a particularly unfortunate name; II
/ sounds very high faluting and cloud
stepping as II were. It Is the styscrap-
er. so far as its name is concerned, Of
| modern science, and there is a certain
/ revulsion in the ordinary mans mind
! when you speak to him about thing
| that sounds as pretentious as that L
| commend to my good friend DR. Scott
| that he try to whether they can't
change that term to the study Of human
action or something with popular APP
peal | am sure the impediment would
be so much less If that could be done
| But when you come down to it the psy-
chology which DR. Scott has applied in
| the methods OF the committee on classi-
/ Ilcation OF personnel in the army Is Simp-
/ ly applied common sense, and those Of us
who are familiar with the work Of this
| conmittee-with the thorough interview
| the trade tests the intelligence ratings
! the use Of Trade Specifications, the Ia
| bes of Occupational Needs--yYe all real
! ne that we have in this scientific pro-
cedure an Hnrivalcd and effective suhsti-
fnF hA 4gal tas.rf .1rfrg
sonal Judgment which up to recent times
had obtained.
| Now we have this great mass Of men
| these millions of our fellow citizens, each
one Of them filled with the patriotic de-
sire to do the things which he can do
! best but each one inhibited from find
] ing that place by reason of his previous
inexperienee or by some lack Of stand
ard of comparison between himself and
someone else. Commanding officers prob
ably have no natural uniformity OF iudg-
ment in the mere matter of personal
| judgment Of men, and the problem is to
weld those millions dot merely into an
army which VIII fight-any American
American army win fight we have dis
! covered that; not merely into an army
/ which Is willing to die If necessary in
order to maintain its position and up
/ hold its tTaditions~-we have discovered
now that this Is true Of Americans every
where; but an army which win fight
with the least WastaHe the most eff
| fective execution, the most intelligent
| cooperation the most complete because
nv most uhuerstahdths subordination,
anu thal sort OF an army comes only
M'leu tleh are uulhs the thlugS lor which
tiief are y nature ana training best
| au'i'tSN NOW that - a very hlgh task,
| y itsh OF continuing the tihish-
| ttis opuChcS VI efficiency 10 thiS great
| Aiheti c@h army
| have myself been tremendously slim
ulated not only by the care and wisdom
employed in assigning each enlisted man
/ but also by the result which pr Scott
and his assocites hive obtined in the Of
lfieer selecting tests which they have de-
Vised The Rating Scale has been en-
| Enthusiastically received by the army but
| am told officers have occasionally OBJ
jected to answering some Of the Binet
/ test questions the doctor has put up to
them, ! have been rather afraid to take
| a Binet test myself but when YOU final
| ly come down TO it, the Rating Scale and
tests for mental alertness are the applf-
cation of a perfectly rational method to
| the great problem OF putting a man in
the position where he can be of the most
| service to the country and TO the com
mon couse Now that is a perfect parallel
! to the story about the boys of the Y NJ
| c. A. l told you at the beginning: thew
/ have a new set of virtues. a new outlook
| on life. The soldier must be helped and
guided into the right place for the best
use of his talents And that is the task
which is set before you in the various
organizations to which YOU belong
II is wonderful army, ',ya h,,.o ~, .t,o
otber ei1a W. ~, - I ". - -