Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1924-09-10
GEN. PERSHING
GIVES PLAN OF
DEFENSE DAY.
Mobilization of Man Power
of Country to be Made
Friday, September IL.

The following article from the pen
| of Gen. John J. Pershing gives the
purpose and plan of Defense Day."
set for Friday Sept. IL:
The primary purpose of the de-
Tense Test" is to enable our people to
visualize the initial processes neces-
sary to muster our forces for National
| Defense as prescribed in the Act of
June 4, 1920, and quoted as follows:
"The organized peace establishment
including the Regular Army, the Ma
tional Guard and the Organized Re-
| serves, shall include all those divis-
| ions and other military organizations
necessary to form the basis for
complete and immediate mobilization
for the National Defense in the event
of national emergency declared by
congress. The army shall at all times
| be organized so far as practical into
| brigades, divisions and army corps,
| and whenever the President may deem
| it eXpedient, into armies. For pur-
poses of administration, training and
tactical control, the continental area
of the United States shall be divided
on basis of military population into
Corps Areas. Each Corps Area shall
contain at least one division of the
National Guard, the Organized Re-
serves, and such other troops as the
President may direct"
The Act further provides that it
shall be the duty of the War depart
ment:
'To prepare plans for National De-
Tense and the use of military forces
for that purpose, both separately and
in conjunction with the Naval Forces,
and for the mobilization of the man
hood of the nation and its material
resources in an emergency"
The Defense Test" will demon
strate and explain what preparation
for national defense means in our
country. 1t is to be a day given to
patriotic gathering by citizens of
every community, during which every
one will learn his place and portion
! in the defense of the country should
our security be threatened.
Our plans are not secret as the me-
thods of organization and the success
of the sytem require the cooperation
of communities and the voluntary ac-
ton of individuals. The Defense
| Test" will be a demonstration of our
military organization and plans, and
our dependence upon the great body
Of citizen soldiers, supported by the
patriotism of every community in the
land.
Units of the Regular establishment
and the National uGard which have
been fitted into appropriate places,
constitute our first line of defense
and are ready to take the field with
out delay Their actual preparation
would consist in recruiting them to
full strength and in arming, equipping
and completing the training needed
for this purpose. The ability and
foresight of both our Regular and Ma
tional Guard contingents to handle
these questions will be observed dur
ing the proposed test"
Behind the first line we have the
great body of reserves which will con-
stitute the bulk of our armies. The
units of this force have been allocated
to sections of the country according
to population and the character or oc-
equations of the people in each COM
munity. Reserve officers have been
assigned to local units or groups of
this skeleton force, and the Defense
Test will be a trial of their knowl-
edge of the duties which will auto
matically devolve upon them to re-
cruit, shelter, equip, supply, train and
| otherwise care for their respective or
CARNATIONS.
While the general requirements to
| be met in each of the nine corps ar
cas- into which the country has been
subdivided have been set forth, the
| fundamental idea of our defensive
plans is founded on the principle of
| local organization. The system fol-
! lows the chain of military response
bility, until the commander of each
company is given his share in the
| task. His plan of action must take
| into consideration the neighborhood
| facilities for recruitment, assembly,
shelter, equipment and training of his
unit. He is in direct contact with his
home people whose interest and spir-
it are invoked in his aid.
We hope by this Defense Test" to
impress upon the individual officer
and soldier his particular function II
war comes. We have never before
undertaken such a step in instruction,
and in the last emergency we found
ourselves in a very serious dilemma.
Now we are trying to educate each
individual in practical way so that
when the time comes, il it should
come, he will not expect some one to
lead him by the hand and point out
what he should do, or perhaps even
do it for him.
Gen. Pershing's article goes on at
some length, but the foregoing will
give the principal points in connec-
ton with Defense Day" to be OBJ
served next Friday.