Evening star., 1925-06-28
1924 DEFENSE TEST
FIGURES REVEALED
1,215,520 0ne-Day VoIun-
teers Proved Nation Ready
for Major Emergency.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
A detailed analysis of final reports
of the first defense test, September .
last, made public last night by the
War Department. showed that a total
of 1,215,520 one-day volunteers were
enrolled for that day with Regular
National Guard and Organized Re
serve units of the Army, or 2S1 o93
men in excess of the numbe.- that
actual mobilization plans for n ma jor
emergency would call to the colnrs
during the first four months ,f the
mobilization.
The volunteers were exclusive of the
millions of persons who participate ]
in patriotic exercises attending the
test. They brought the Army up 10 a
strength of 1,549,332 men for the day
while the mobilization plans for the
first quarterly period call for a
strength of l,267,639.
Small Towns Lead.
The report showed that the cere
monies last year in small communi
ties exceeded proportionately those III
large population centers and that the
demonstrations were the most uni
formly successful where natural po
litical channels were followed. e.
where the governor appointed super
vising State committee and the may.
ors of the cities appointed the commit
tees which were directly in charge of
the local demonstrations"
The department found that the ma
ture and purposes of the national de.
fense policy was better understood by
tho nnnflln sfrny,, civ
five million Americans" having gone
to some trouble to show their inter.
est. and that it could therefore pro.
ceed with increased confidence in de.
velopment of that policy since its
plans had been proven to be based
on sound principles
"All defects noted are of a minor
character and readily corrected" the
report said.
Success of the decentralized
mobilization plans was found to de.
pend on the high average of intel,
ligence, the common sense, patriotism
and the spirit of cooperation to be
found among our citizens" and it was
added that future tests would assure
the fullest degree of local Co-opera-
tion."
Test Of Real Value.
vi NdIuo was
the fact that the first test brought
about the development of detailed
plans for the local mobilization OF
about IS per cent of the units inactive
in peace times. which was classified
as something definite and tangible
in mobilization plans" permitting a
general revision to bring them nearer
perfection.
"The time and cost that will be
saved and the confusion during an
emergency that will be eliminated by
this revision, cannot be estimated
but will be considerable" the repor,
stated.
One immediate effect of the first
test was the adoption of a policy
under which ranking reserve officers
assigned to command units of the
organized reserve will be held per-
sonally responsible for completion of
local assembly plans for their com
mands. Failure to comply with this
requirement will result in delinquent
reservists being relieved If they can
not give a satisfactory explanation.
While the stress of the July test
will be laid on the patriotic exercises
there still will be opportunity for an
actual review of the work done to
correct deficiencies revealed in the
first tst.