Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1922-08-18
Defense 10 Assured.


Defense 10 Assured.
with such an initial organization as
sured. the additional military units re-
Quired for the full prosecution Of a
serious war can be mobilixed at once
and brought to fun strength without
disturbance or interruption. With th9
territory thus protected against land
ings In force at the start, and with
the machinery for further military ex.
panslon fully organized, the feet Will
be free to deal with the hostile naval
forces without concern as to possible
invasion.
General Pershing says he Is pleased
to report that the plans for the ma
tional Position In Readiness" have
reached a stage where their prac.
ticabllity Is assured. With IS divisions
and appropriate auxiliaries Of the
National Guard, supplemented BY the
regular army prepared for necessary
expansion, and with certain special
units formed in the organized reserves,
the country would be able to cover the
coasts and land frontiers against Sc
rious invasion at the start. Behind
this first line. the remaining units Of
the organized reserves, fully consti.
tuted with framework Of officers and
non-commissioned officers, will be pre-
pared to undertake the training Of
their raw recruits at once.
The country will thus be able de-
liberately to develop Its military. power
to any necessary extent without risk
of serious disaster through surprise at
the outbreak Of wur. and without the
necessity Of maintaining burdensome
military establishment in time Of
pence. Such a military organization
causes no menace to any other nation
but assures the impregnability Of the
continental United States In the event
Of attack by any possible hostile COM
bination, General Pershing says.
What General PershIng Says.
ut Is recognized that the citizen
components of the army Of the Uni
ted States can be only partially
tIHlHcu pTiuE ~ HHOUAiNutiOus Noh-
tinued the general. "While national
defense comprises more than the
preservation Of our continental In
tegrity, the initial accomplishment OF
such security will afford time for the
orderly development Of our great mill.
tary resources. Therefore, the per-
missIble minimum Of peace training
Is that required to prevent invasion
at the outbreak Of war.
For purposes of illustration. let II
be assumed that National Guard
division Is assigned the initial mission
of defending given beach section.
Upon mobilization the combatant ele-
ments of this division at peace
strength would be ordered to a train
ing area within reach of this section.
which would be prepared for defense.
Thereafter 1t would be practicable to
complete the mobilization. equipment
and training Of the division ut war
strength. Continuous development In
the beach position would not be nee.
essary after Its preparation for de-
Tense. The troops could be moved
back to convenient training area
and could rely upon naval and air
reconnaissance to give ample warn
ings Of possible attack. Thus the
initiei mission for this division de-
termines the minimum degree OF
training which must be assured In
time Of peace the extent to which II
must be initially supplied with equip
ment, and the place where 1t will HAYS
| ira original concentration"