The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1921-03-11
NATIONAL GUARD PLANS
STATEMENT BY COLONEL w.
S. FULTON
Proposed Reorganization Is
Discussed; Interview With
Sergeant Cockreil

Colonel w. S. Fulton, commanding
officer of the Fifth Regiment Infantry
national guard, talked Interestingly
to The Free Press to-day on the
proposed reorganization Of the guard.
He explained that during the world
war there developed an organization
quite little different TO the old or
ganiZation, and that organization Is
now being put into effect in the reg
ular army, where the details are be-
ing worked out. The national guard
units will start In adopting this new
plan sometime this month. The i'm
in the battalion instead of having
four rifle companies, there will be
battalion headquarters company,
three rifle companies and machine
gun company. Instead Of having a
supply company at regimental head
quarters there will be a service
company, and instead Of having a
machine gun company at reg1mentaf
headquarters there will. be howltzer
company. Under the new organtza-
ton, the changes in Mankato will be
a change of the present machine gun
company into a howitzer company,
and the present supply company into
a service company. The regimenta.
band under the present organization
is q member of the headquarters
company, but under the new plan 1t
would be transferred to a section OF
the service company. Tentative plans
for the establishment Of this new
plan are under way, and just as soon
as authority is received the changes
will be made.
People Should Wake Up.
Colonel Fulton said that it is time
that the people wake up to the i'm
portance of the national guard, for
il has now come to be very import
ant part Of the national defense. In
case OF emergency IL Is to the guard
that the people have to look for their
protection from an outside foe. The
present mobilization scheme of the
war department in case OF emergency
would permit OF putting a large army
Immediately into the field. 'If there
said Colonel Fulton, You can bet
that your Uncle Sammy will throw
the national guard right into the thick
of it right of the bat" Colonel Full
ton said that for this reason that
every one should aid in keeping the
national guard companies up to war
strength. Through the efficient work
of the instruction officers the stand
ard Of the guard will be raised TO
about the equal of the regular army.
In order that all national guard reg
iments may have the very best mill
tary instructors possible, officers Of
the various companies throughout the
nations are sent to Camp Benning,
Georgia, which is considered one Of
the best officers training schools in
the world. Soon the Fifth regiments
will be receiving the benefits of In
structions from seven graduates of
that school. In addition to this the
enlisted men are instructed in the
art Of cooking, baking. and various
other occupations which all go to
The Mankato units Of the Fifth
Regiment are indeed fortunate in hav-
ing as a sergeant instructor, George
Cockreil, who saw service in the
world war as a major, and one tin e
provost marshal of the American mil
itary forces in Germany ald made
Coblenz his head quarters. This Of
fcer Is very pleasant nan to meet,
and has much interesting Information
to give out in regard to his expert
ences in Germany as provost marshall
Of the military and civil forces in the
territory around Coblenz. Sergeant
Cockreil went over seas with the
Seventy Sixth division, which he
states did not get into action before
the signing Of the armistice, but was
sent over into the occupied territory
of Germany as the Third Army tor
the invasion of that country if the
call had been necessary.
Coblenz Is the Mecca.
Sergeant Cockreil stated that Cob
LEM is the Mecca for tourists on the
Rhine river. 1t is beautifully located
at the junction Of the Rhine and Mo-
selle rivers. 1t Is surrounded by a
great number of ancient German
Notifications, many of them dating
back to the Roman period. Practic-
ally all of the Notifications arc con-
,nected up with under ground tunnels,
which makes Coblenz rest on a net
work of underground passages. The
city consists Of the old town along
the Moselle, and the new town far
Their up the Rhine. The principal in
dustry of Coblenz is the n.anufa cture
of the sparkling Moselle wine. No
one but a select few of select high
German authorities were ever per-
mitted to enter the Notifications.
Sergeant Cockeriel stated that in a
conversation with Old General Evans,
a former American military attache
to Germany, had stated that while
many trips in company with the for
mer kaiser to Coblenz, but never was
permitted to enter the principal forti-
fications When this officer in 1920
visited the occupied zone, it was with
more than ordinary pleasure he turn
ed to Major Cockereil and pointed to
the large American flag waving from
the ramparts Ehrenbreitstein the
strongest forticfication in the many
strongholds about Coblenz situated
on a height across the Rhine from the
city. Sergeant Cockreil said that the
sight of the Stars and Stripes floating
from the flag staff of this fortification
was hard pill for the Germans to
swallow.
Kids Would Show Up.
While marching into the occupied
territory, when a village was entered,
it had all the appearance of being de-
serted. Pretty soon the kids would
venture out and make a bee line for