Evening star., 1923-05-27
Army.


The Army general staff has vir-
tually completed it's major postwar
task, the preparation of general
mobilization plan which will be the
key to the carrying out of the ma
tional defense policy to which the
country is committed by act of Con-
gress. The final draft of the plan.
with appendices providing for its ap-
plication in the various corps areas
ply and equipment divisions. will be
placed in Gen. Pershings hands for
approval and submission to Secre-
tary Weeks before the end of the
current month.
In brief, the plan provides for a
basic system of mobilizing the full
strength of the fighting manhood of
the country or any proportion of that
full strength necessary to meet a par
ticular emergency. The theory ap-
piled is that of decentralization as
worked out under Maj. Gen. William
Lassiter and the officers of the opera
tions and training division (G-D of
the War Department general staff. 1t
contemplates filling up to war
strength the three -in-one Army of
six field armies, which is the theo-
retical maximum emergency force.
through localized recruiting under
the volunteer system until such time
as a draft act shall have been passed
by Congress, when the flow of man
power through the same machinery
OF mobilization would continue.
Another vital feature of the mobili-
zation plan is that 1t provides for
simultaneous three-way recruiting
for each major component of the
Army of the United States-the
Regulars. the National Guard and the
organized Reserves. 1t also sets
aside a special pool or allotment to
be filled up at the same time and
drawn upon for requirements neces-
sary for active divisions at the front.
Failure to provide for such an organ
lied replacement system necessitated
the complete disintegration of several
divisions Immediately upon their ar
rival in France in order that units
actively engaged in the Meuse-
Argonne operations could be kept at
even fairly efficient fighting
strength.
To carry out the mobilization
project, each unit TO be created or
filled up has been assigned to Il city
subdivision, town or village. Re
serve officers and non-commissioned
officers are In process of being assign
ed to these company or smaller units.
which the unit would be built in the
beginning by voluntary enlistments.
but subsequently, through application
of wartime draft act.
BY personal invitation OF Cen
PerShfng, newspaper correspondents
In Washington were taken on a per-
Sonally conducted tour through all
the branches Of the Army's general
staff this week. in order that they
standing of the staff machinery in
writing dispatches dealing with
Army matters. Careful preparations
had been made by the staff officers in
each branch to see that a brief, and
in some cases confidential. survey of
the work of each section was pro-
Nided with appropriate illustrations
In the way of maps, charts and dia-
grams for such features of staff work
as lend themselves to visual demon
stration.
In extending his invitation to the
newspaper men Gen. Pershing was
emphatic in declaring his own opin-
ion, and that of military experts
generally. that the present American
general staff system is second to that
of no other country in efficiency. He
pointed out that in building the gem
eral staff for the American Expedi-
tionary Forces in France the methods
followed in the French, British and
German armies were carefully studied d
and those portions of each system
which seemed most adaptable to
Anne rican Army traditions and the
habit of thought of the American peo-
pie were welded together to create
an. indepedendent staff system. This
American EXpeditionary Force staff
organization was brought back from
France and subjected to review at
the War Department.. in the course of
which such changes were made as
were required by conditions at home
or as had been proven necessary
through the actual experience of the
Army in France. For two years Cen
Pershing and the men who were his
chief aids in France have been de-
voting themselves to establishment
of a sound and constructive staff sys-
tenn centering in Washington and
adapted from all of the experiences
now available to the Army.
The American EXpeditionary Force
staff system, In Gen. Pershings opin-
ion, stood the acid test of practical
application to field operations first
in the preparations for the battle of
St. Mihiel and second. in the almost
Army to the Meuse- -Argonne front in
blow could be struck within twelve
days after the thrust had been deliv-
cred at st. Mihiel.
The purpose of the tour which in
GUIDED the War College and the in
uuetrial mobilization division of the
War Department. headed by Acting