Evening star., 1919-05-04

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that the very first need was men quail
flied to effect an organization. The
, head of the War Department had not
| been chosen for his knowledge OF
military matters, and there were
!, available. including newly graduated
| cadets. not more than 5000 officers of
the military establishment. The ad-
ministration had taken no steps what
ever to convert national resources
into military resources, and for that
purpose it gradually drew upon citi-
zens of the best business capacity to
CO. ordinate tardy efforts for produc-
tlon. But for the fighting machine
proper 5i!e number of officers was alb
surdly small to cope with the raising
and organizing of an army eventually
to be five millions strong. 1t had
neither material, personnel nor or
eanization. In fact. men of peculiar
mental processes had every reason for
pride and satisfaction in the results of
their neglect.
The nearest approach to any form
of training for citizen officers. outside
of the National Guard, was that insti-
tuted by Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood, en-
couraged by former Secretary Garri-
SON. anu KNOW IL as lHe SS -
tenn. In 1913, in conjunction with an
advisory board ~of university presi-
dents he had started two small camps
for the instruction of college students
and had met with highly encouraging
results. Four such camps held in
1914 had an attendance of 763 stu
dents, and the next year they had an
enrolment of more than 5000.
Under this encouragement and more
int w o.
GREETED the processes of watchful
waiting. during the following year
19l6-more of these camps were es-
tablished and thrown open to civilians
other than college students. They
! became popular at once and had an
attendance of more than 5000. The
courses. however covered a period of
only thirty days, in which time little
practical training can be accom-
plished, and only fifty-six out of the
fed to hold commissions in any vol
! unteer force that might be au-
lhoriZed
The training was of small direct
value in making officers fit for the
coming struggle. but the idea was
of supreme Importance. If it accom-
plshed nothing more. it did make
pla in to 16, 900 citizens that the United
States was wholly unprepared for
war. and that an Army without Of
f1cerS would be failure.
/ Some time after the outbreak of the
war, and when good legislation had
produced the selective draft act. the
War Department instituted officers
training camps along the line OF the
Plattsburg camps for the purpose
of training and selecting line Of
f1cers for the new armies to be Great
ed-the increased Regular. the Ma
tional Guard and the National. At
that time there were not more than
10000 officers Of any degree of train
ing in the United States. and more
perience of militia officers. So 1t
| will be seen that the job of the per-
sonnel officers of the Armv was to
select and train 10000 officers for
its line and staff.
The abandonment Of the old-time
method of giving commissions to men
capable of raising units without re-
gard to their fitness to lead them was
made possible by the conscription act;
and this led to the adoption Of train
ing camps for candidates for COM
missions. These camps. although not
organized-at least at the be ginning
on the basis recomm ended by the Of
f1cers in charge of the personnel sec
ton. gave a three month intensive
course to young men who were select
ed to enter them. but at the end of
l that time the graduates were far
| from being finished officers. In fact.
Il at least one in every four completing
! the course was found to be not quail
fed to receive commission. That
officers with no better preparation
than this short course accomplished
all that they did is proof of the ex-
cellent selection made with the aid Of
the Military Training Camps Asso-
ciation-the body which had fathered
the Plattsburg idea, and without
/ which the procurement Of such ma
| terial would have been an impossi-
bility. The first Of these camps was
for the purpose Of securing officers
for sixteen National Army divisions
| organized from the first drafted men
who reported in September. 1917.
Two training camps followed the
first, as the Army grew in size above
the number first contemplated. The
three camps turned out a product Of
23.346 second 1ieutenants to two COL
onels. With the third camp, the rule
| was adopted that 80 per cent of the
candidates should be taken from the
men already enlisted in the armies,
and this rule was followed in the
fourth camp. With the starting OF the
fifth camp. 80 many divisions had
! been sent overseas that fewer men
were available from the camps and
the rule was amended to admit civil
ture age. as the draft age was to be
| extended.
In addition to the stan schools, 1t
was found that the special branches
such as the field artillery, the coast
artillery, aviation companies and
many others-were not getting I'm
ished officers; and then. following the
system advised by training officers in
the first instance. central schools were
created for the training of officers for
these branches. The new plan began
with three central schools for infan-
try officers. one for machine gunners.
one for field artillery and another for
coast artillery. Each of these schools
was organized on the basis of grad
uating classes every week. and their
numbers were increased. They were
doing excellent work and wore turn
ing out graduates we'll ahead Of the
call when the collapse of the German
empire ended their activities.
These camps turned out a total of
1852 officers. the remainder Of tho
grand total being taken from civil