The Washington times., 1926-03-08
! rllssianized Army Is
Slapped By Mitchell
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/
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taught what is known as discipline
that is, the un'hesitating obedience
Of subordinate to the will of his
superior. In them the spirit OF
initiative is largely subordinated tc
The question OF individual thinking
is entirely a secondary matter. a
system OF this, kind Is quite proper
in a ground army, provided it Is
not pushed to extremes. In the
upper grades, officers are supposed
to exercise judgment and iHitiatiye
h but after many years Of service,
ltfey are usually incapable of de.
veloping any new matters on &C.
count Of the routine character Of
their service.
4 Men Made Into Machines
The training given at West Point
has a tendency to turn men into
machines, more or less. along lines
4 similar to what we in this country
Il designate as the ,Prussian system. Z
lit is their chief tenet that armies
are the arbiters OF nations des-
i tiny, and that wars cannot be won
except by armies: that in the army.
:
1 dominating element, and the proper
i use of sumh troops In combat Is in
attack at close quarters with the
bayonet.
They bark back to wars long
lgone and draw their examples from
i the great captains who have passed.
NATURALLY, when q young man
4 emerges from four years OF this
4 acadenfcaI training, he has little
knowledge OF what modern national
defense really means. However,
Il they are an excellent lot Of young
i men with great regard for the Con-
i stitutions and profound respect for
superior authority, all of which is
proper and necessary in body OF
/ this kind. They join various or
ganizat ions-the Infantry, Cavalry
ARTILLERY and serve in our island
/ possessions. alopg our frontiers and
in the garrisons of the regular
Army. They are quite removed
from the people and indeed know
s little Of what is going on outside
their immediate surroundings. and
the affairs Of their little world.
System Breeds Laziness
The regular army Is in no sense
/ war army Our war armies come
from the National Guard and other
ORGANIZATIONS and are gotten to-
gether hastily at the threat of pos
sibie hostilities. The longer the
average person stays In the regular
army the narrower his viewpoint
becomes. Gradually he gets to be
creature Of regulations and fol-
! lows the book IN all his activities.
IL one distinguishes himself be-
yoi1d his fellows. he begins to dis
turb the existing order of things,
makes more work for the others
and possibly does something that
cannot be covered by d regulation
or order. Such a system as this
breeds laziness, trifling, incom-
l,petence: initiative ceases, and an
officer, although he maybe an ex-
ceIlent public servant according to
the established code. is q incapable
Iaof bringing about any Improvement
or change in the system when the
necessity arises.
Eventually, the regular army
officer is selected to go to one Of
| the service, or finishing. schools.
There he il judged very largely on
book knowledge. Any action on the
| part Of an individual to institute q
system different from the old official
established ways OF doing things Is
met with restraint, no matter what
the Improvement may be. Thoss who
attain 10 the highest grades. there
fore. are as rule the ones who
Routine is Stuff that Counts
Finally. they are selected for
duty on the general staff and are
made generals. During this time
they may or may not have dis
tinguished themselves jfn> the hand
ling OF troops. Under the system
in vogue today, this Is becoming
Tess and less important, and routine
and scholastic attainments are the
things that count in an officers
record.
Having been made a general, the
officer Is in a position par excel
| ience to help carry on the bureau
cratic system. He is now a mem
Der OF the Army board that indi-
Gates what. officers should be
recommended to the President for
appointment as general officers.
Our laws have been SC. manipulated
since the war that the power of
| the President to appoint in time Of
y
| be a general officer has been taken
away from him and turned over
to the board of general officers.
These must select individuals of
the rank of colonel for this posi-
ton.
The old description of boards is
that they are long, narrow and
wooden. This particular board is
no exception. to the rule. The final
result of the system is that tire
Army officer selected to be d gen.
era1 is the most perfect adherent
of the dyed-in-the-wool system
| which those in power desire to per
petuate. Thus, the general officers
OF our Army become a setf-per-
petuating oligarchy which even
the President. as COMMANDMENTS
Chief. really cannot control.
Presidents Power Limited
a general staff is to the Army
what a board OF directors Is to
a business. In our Army this board
{ of directors also is chosen by ire
generals. but is supposed IL change
from time to time SO as 10 bring
In new blood in order that ;ae ac-
tual troops may be adequately rep
resented on the body. What really
happers, according to the present
scheme, is that the genera. staff
officers are merely sent away for
about a year and then are returned
to the identical pos tons they had
before This completes the oil
garchical system in the War De.
partment. The actual troops