The sun., 1919-10-12

him. He has a sneaking idea that h $
questioner is going to laugh at iir,
so he plunges Immediately into his c.-
PLANTATION.
Major IL. r. Knight, commanding ths
aviation repair depot at Montgomery.
is regular army man who started
his military career twenty years ago
as a private and who understands tho
psychology of doughhoy and officer
Strict disciplnarian though he is he
discusses his hundreds of men pattern.
ally and with whimsical humor
This new, modern army which
Uncle Sam is building up cannot be
compared to any organization in mill
tary history" he remarked. at IL AL
army of apprentices in the mechanics
of a warefare which is designed III
prevent war in the future. 1t is
curious combination Of military spirit,
customs and discipline, with the ind,is-
tries of peace. We live UP TO army
regulations, supply army barracks AMI
clothing. On the surface we are a
military post, but In our daily life
there are, necessarily, many departures
from ordinary post life. And simifnr
CONDITIONS prevail in all posts where
the mechan. cs of modern warfare are
being taught. Men cannot do shop-
work In uniforms, Immediately pp-
'toed' neither can they stop their work
10 salute every time an officer passes
them in the shops. Therefore our
men salute only when off duty, or, IL
they are addressed in the shop by an
officer, they stand at attention.
Officers CLOSE to Men.
IN infantry or artillery service prog
ress depends solely upon tactics and
drill In higher mechanics and train
ing in aviation the appeal must do
made to individual intelligence. nmbi-
ton and Imagination. So ] think the
officers at this post are a tride closer
TO the men than they were in the old
days of infantry. artillery and cavalry.
No man here Is a mere cog in q mon
ster machine. He is a possible fliore--
and we are all keenly alive to the, TO-
nance the thrill of flying. Every
morning at $3.50 l make a practice
flight, knowing that every man in the
hangers or the landing field is saying,
Some day I'll be flying. That's why
I'm here
when the armistice was signed we
had men from every State in the Union
except Idaho and New Hampshire.
Naturally there were many discharges,
but some men who were most eager to
return to civil life have drifted back
and reenlisted. Other men, living
near by, who had ,learned their trades
here secured their discharge, went
back to live with their families but
continued to work in our shops as
mechanics on pay as high as 5000 a
month.
But the men who interest me most
are those who react to army life.
Ninety per cent. of our early reenlist-
ments were men of this immediate
vicinity, mostly from small towns and
farms. Then we began to get men
from distant cities who had read about
the special training for aviation and
mechanicians. These reenlistments
are the vindication OF the educational
and social system followed during the
war. The sceptical did not believe
that soldiers were educated in any
thing except the art of killing. They
pronounced the statements concerning
classes, lectures and libraries in can
comments propaganda They declered
that stories of movies, concerts and
dramatic performances given by war
workers were printed to comfort fam
lilies Of soldiers.
Education in the Army.
AS a fact, despite all the privations,
discomforts and rigur of military
training. certain men enjoyed privi-
leges unknown TO them until they en-
tered the army. For thousands these
privileges included educational oppor-
tunities denied them by poverty or by
ignorant, unthinking parents.
"But I am convinced that large
percentage of our reenlistments was
the result of loneliness. Life in can
tonments and trenches created tho
strongest bonds of human companion
ship. The armistice separated men
who FOR eighteen months or more had
enjoyed common interests under pc
cuiar circumstances. There is no
loneliness TO compare with that suf-
fered by the discharged soldier on
dads farm or his old ballroom. But
in an army post no man can DO