Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-07-13
RMY transportation service in
the month Of June reached
the very peak of moving

In france embarked 1Or nome, anu III
the same period $4,000 from France
landed in the United States. In the
history of the world. nothing has ap-
preached this record. With all the de-
mand of our armies for men when the
German drive was at it's height, I'M
der the conditions then prevailing to
hamper the transports, it was not pos
sible to equal the record now made in
returning the troops. Brig. Gen
Frank T. Hines has kept the word he
pledged to the men in the camp at
Brest begging to come home. He said
to them, man to man, Il will get you
back a little faster than l took you
over" and he meant it.
The evidence is positive that, in the
early days of 1918, the malfunctioninS
War Department. the railroads and the
Shipping Board were unequal to the
task of transporting the rapidly grow
ing armies to the scene of action 1nen
the administration turned the job over
to Gen. Cocktails, who. after the initial
work of clearing the port terminals
of congestion. placed Gen. Hines IN
charge of the transportation Job.
Cen Hines moved the troops from
the training camps to the embarkation
camps and placed them on the great
fleet of transports. which in the course
of time he succeeded in assembling.
and sent them to France. ThiS was
not accomplished without the aid OF
the Navy. 1t is the boast of the dlrec-
tor. of transportation that the sister
services worked as one in the common
cause of sending the Army over. Inc
Army secured the ships and put the
men aboard. When the cables were
loosed from the piers the Navy TOOK
charge and handled the ships with
their precious freight of men and sup
plies. took charge of their sailings and
furnished the destroyer and cruiser
convoys, co-operated with the British
and French fleets to conduct the trans
potts through the U-boat-infested
walkers. and saw them over and back
In safety.
1t took time to accomplish this re-
suit and in the interval creating this
transport fleet the number OF men
to he sent over was small; but with
thsi growth of the organization the
men that the Huns called the I'M
trained hordes of America began to ;
pour over the Atlantic carrying with
them the punch that turned the
tide of German onslaught into allied
victory. Then came the day that
brought an end to German hopes and
began the time of her humiliation.
oh that day the Army began a re-
verse movement of the machinery and
the great idea was to return Ameri- |
can troops, the war being over. to
InelF hOmSS. no" wen tnlS mas Dctu
done the whole world knows. From |
now on the transportation service !
WILL with the lessened number of
troops to be returned. gradually re-
duce it's forces. Its greatest pres |
sure is over. The bulk of the Ameri- !
can. Army is on American shores once |
more. The whole world knows that. |
when the Army and the Navy get |
under job. something gives way.
Their joint operation has given a |
new idea OF the power of American
efficiency.
But the work of the Army trans
portation service did not end at the |
points Of debarkation. Responsibility |
continued over the debarkation camps |
and the transfer of the troops by /
rail or otherwise back to their points |
of Rehabilitation. So carefully are |
out that the delay for clearance in !
these camps has been reduced to |
minimum. The detention period |
seldom exceeds two days and often
does not take twenty-four hours. The |
bitterest critic of delay in the dis
clatge of the men from the Army has
no abusive word for the way the men
are sent home from abroad.
The bureau of military affairs. of |
which Ma Gen Jesse Mel Carter is the
NhSi' hhOS
Reconstruction of many new
the National Guard. o,,a
efforts to direct from the federal stand
point the reconstruction Of the National
Guard. AS soon as the President signs
the Army appropriation bill the War
Department will have available all
the funds it requires to restore the
guard to a firm foundation. and to
rebild that depleted organization |
The drafting of the state troops into /
the federal service reduced the guard |
to a handful and but few scattered !
companies and battalons have been |
accepted and equipped since the sign
ing Of the armistice.
II is quite feasible to rebuild the |
organization along the former lines, !
but IL is doubtful whether the states |
or the federal government are willing |
to go back to the old conditions 1t |
now seems possible. with the per-
sonnet which has had actual combat |,
experience or at least excellent train !
ing in camps in this or the other |
side of the water, to cast National
Guard on much stronger lines than |
heretofore. Just what shape this de- |
velopment will take is hard to de- |
termine; for the nation has no mill !
who will thinL that the National
Guard, considered as means of
national defense. in order to meet
that end, and the Regular Army must
be made to harmonize. The national
defesAee act prescribes that the guard
70 become entitled to federal aid,
must conform in drill and equipment
- the organization OF the Regular
ARMY. That is desirable. but alone it
10 not sufficient to secure the co-ordina-
IN a
homogeneous force composed Of reg
ulars and guardsmen.
The national guardsmen made
fine record for fighting ability in
Europe: and they dii Il under OK
tremely adverse circumstances. In
portion of the men who wen. across
wvro volunteers who hal not sea
service until they entered the guard:
and iu<rmany of them an appreciabie
number were drafted men a.so with
out military experience. Mary of the
tinue. with their commands; and new
and frequently inexperienced officers
replaced them. green officers com
handing green men. There was
another serious hindrance &c the de-
velopment of guard divisions. one
commander had to develop many
specially trained troops sucn as;
signalmen, wagoners. electricians,
carpenters. painters. motormen. wood
choppers and sawyers and some hun
dred other specialists. In the earlier
days OF the war there was no per
sonnet section that selected and as
signed such troops to the several
divisions or for early transport to
Gen. Pershing's army. Men were
drawn into the National Guard or
assigned to it from the draftees as
he of he .,,A