Evening star., 1920-02-29
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
BASIS OF PEACE ARMY
Modern Recruiting Poster Shows Soldier
In School, Not in Tropical Surround.
ines-Post-War Development.

sion, Camp Pike, Arkansas: 4th Dlvi-
sion, Camp Dodge. Iowa: 9th Division.
Camp Gordon. Georgia: 9Th Division.
Camp Grant, Illinois: 9TH Division.
Camp Funston. Kansas. At present the
courses are much the same in these
several camps. but within the next
few months = plan will be worked out
| whereby each division will specialize
in teaching certain courses, making
for larger classes and more advanced
instruction.
A typical camp is that at Camp
Meade Md. where five departments
have been opened for the enlisted
men. The subjects taught in these de-
partmentS include civil service prepa-
ration. English branches. modern Ian
guages. mathematical courses, jour-
nalism. clerical training, commercial
training. typewriting and shorthand;
blacksmithing. carpentry, theatrical
staging. plumbing, machine shop
work. drafting. motor transport. mu-
sic. radio and telegraphy. applied cleo
tricity, chemistry, preliminary oen-
tistry and pharmacy.
400 Men in Glasses.
At Camp Eustis, Va, whore the coast
artillery maintains one of its numer-
Gus schools no soldier has ever been
refused training in the trade he want
ed to study, regardless OF Whetner
that trade happened to be listed in the
Saturdays and Sundays. 400 men at
tend the vocational training school
there, no military duty being allowed
to interfere.
The school at Camp Funston. near
Fort Riley. Kan. speciailzes on
agriculture. and an elementary course
in the study of farm animals is taught
there being divided into five terms
Of six weeks each. AS the Army
schools develop it is the expectation
that they will attain a uniform pro-
ficiency, which will be recognized by
War Department certificates attesting
the proficiency of discharged soldler
in whatever subject he has completed
In the meantime local commanding
officers are authorized to issue GER
tificates to men who have mace a
satisfactory grade.
Before the sun had set on the event
full day of November II, 1918, some
1000. 900 men overseas had asked the
question. when do We go home
The old system of drills and
in whose ears the thunder of guns
still echoed. The officers were no less
war weary than the men, and had
little heart to prod them on. The
number of "a. w. o. LIS" began to
mount rapidly and something had to
fact, to save the situation. One was
the organization of a Transforming
troup" in practically every regiment.
and the other was the opening OF
numerous schools, which the men
were encouraged to attend
Response Of Soldiers Good.
Competent instructors were not all
ways easy to find, and text books
were sometimes unobtainable, but the
response of the soldiers was all that
could be hoped for and the expert
ence gained, while marking time in
France and Germany has been of
great value in establishing the
schools on a permanent basis in the
United States.
Peace-time recruiting was resumed
by the War Department a little more
than eleven months ago. In that
ments, two-thirds of them being re-
enlistments at rehabilitation camps.
OF the total. $4,000 enlisted for one
year and $4,000 for three years. Only
$4,000 are foreign-born and all but
10000 are white.
In the old days the recruiting sta
tion was too often regarded as the
forlorn hope Of the man who had
tried everything else. 1t is the pur-
pose of the War Department today
to make its threshold the door of
opportunity. The recruiting posters
Of fifteen years ago showed soldier
in blue pants standing at attention
under a palm tree. with Manila or
Havana in the background: The
poster Of today shows him in fatigue
clothes, assembling the power plant
of a motor truck. And recruiting fig
Lres indicate that as between palms
and piston rings young America pre-
fers tfe latter.