Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1920-09-02
THE ARMY GOES TO SCHOOL.

stories they had heard about life in the
army camps. These three rustics
drove down through the Old Dominion
IN a Ford. AS this trio made their
way toward the camp il must have been
with the same impressions of army
life which Mr.. Ordinary Citizen car
ries assund with him. When he thinks
OF The Army" he thinks OF men
marching in ranks with guns stuck
cockily over one shoulder, being bark
ed at by ramrod- backed officers, and
then going back to barracks, where.
presumably, they live the rest of their
lives.
But, TO have them come back and
report that the army life as lived TODAY
consists one-half of going to school.
one-fourth of military drill and one
fourth of athletics, gives the folks
back home" a new idea of it.
To glance over a weekly bulletin of
typical camp like Lee, and see Items
such as basket ball games, indood track
meets, bowling tournaments, boxing
matches, baseball leagues, motion pic
ture shows, amateur theatricals, an &C.
caslonal lecture or entertainment by
professional speakers, actors or
actresses, brings home the impression
that army life as a whole is decidedly
attractive, and the army man adds an
emphatic "rll say So"
For young man today who is lust
outgrowing the awkward stage and has
no idea as to what he wants to do or
be the rest Of his life, three-year en-
istment in the army means practically
going to school forothat time, with a
curriculum including military drill, ex-
pert training in some high-wage- earn
ing craft or preparation for college,
athletics, travel if he wants it, and an
opportunity to be at home frequently
if he prefers that.
If the army schools did nothing
more than than to continue to carry on
the great work at Camp Upton, they
would handsomely justify their exist
ence. To Camp Upton and to five
other recruit "centers" are sent all
illiterates and non-English speaking
There are some $50 students enrolled
at Upton who cannot read and write
English, representing As differen ra-
cial groups; Almost one-half OF these
are American-born, and hail from
every State east of the Mississippi.
Here are some of the names appearing
on the rolls: Tataraks, Sarya, Grav-
sky, Kwawnekcz, Antonijevich, Spiro-
pules and Dziedzinski. At these CEN
tiers an intensive course OF instruction
in English is given, hand in hand with
recruit military instruction. The aver
age man requires months to complete
the course. Glasses are graduated
every two weeks. After graduation
each man joins his organization equip
ped to read, write and speak the
English language. The importance OF
this teaching on the quality Of his
morale and his self-respect cannot be
exaggerated.
Men in the army who have finished
elementary education are given in
struction in a variety OF educational
and vocational subjects. These in
clude, among others, clerical, COM
mercial, modern language, and Eng
lfsh courses, and technical subjects
such as automotive engineering. cleo.
tricity, printing, and highway construc.
ton and topography. The courses art
further subdivided, the courses in agri
culture, for example, including truck
farm mechanics, farm economics, econ
omy, entomology and zoology, and ami
NAL husbandry.
Army students in vocational train.
ing courses, as well as in general edu
cation, learn to do by doing. At g
number of camps agriculture and ami.
NAL Industry have been the favorite
subjects, and the success OF these
courses has been thoroughly demon.
strated. At Camp Funston, for ex.
ample, the men are being taught &c
) Judge, feed and care for dairy cattle
how to milk cows and how to market
the milk to local concerns. Every
detail Of instruction is carried on with
view to its practical value to the
student. At Camp Lee, men build
fences, stables, pens, and chicken.
houses. They are taught how to pre-
pare the ground, select seeds, plant
them, cultivate and harvest the crop
and all this by actually performing each
task as its time comes. They are
taught how to live at home. A bunga-
low is built from salyaped lumber: ar