Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-29

I ~,
men were taken from the commands
over strength and sent to those which
were below the margin. Under the
present strength requirement for the
local Guard each command must have
a minimum Of 60 men on the rolls.
and of this number so per cent must
be taken to camp.
One OF the results Of this cond-
ton. ii is expected, will be the inaugu-
ration Of recruiting campaign short
ly to bring all OF the cOmpa MES up
to the required strength. and a
strong effort will be made to keep
them at this strength during the
entire year, and particularly to avoid
the taking to camp Of a large num-
Der OF recruits. Under recent orders
Of the War Department.. all recruits
upon reporting into the camp must be
orga niZed into a recruit company and
given eight DAYS Of intensive drilling
in the school of the soldier and squad
and other. preliminary training which
the soldier must have as a. basis for
his later military training.
According to members Of the com
mand, in the early days of field train
! ing camp. if a company has great
number of recruits, it throws much
more work on the veteran members
OF the commands. II the companies
We're kept at their full strength or
nearly SO, with well seasoned men this
! condition would not prevail.
! However, from the viewpoint of the
, veteran soldiers. it also was pointed
! out that eight days was too much
| time for recruits to put in on this pre-
liminary training. 1t was pointed out
! by those who know from long expert
ence in the Army that Il good drill
sergeant could whip these men i'll
such shape as to be able to take their
places in their companies In as short
"A time as three days. But as the War
! DeDa rtment directed that this time he
spent the recruits were kept away
from their commands for this length
Of time, but when they were sent
back to their companies, it was added.
they could stan in their places along
side of any of the men who had been
in the outfits FOR a long time.
One OF the greatest assets in the
| plans to build up the 13fst Regiment
of Engineers in size of personnel and
| quality Of personnel. it is declared by
members of the command, will be the
| Mont Commissioned Officers Club Of
! the l2lst Regiment of Engineers. re-
/ Gently organized. 1t is a club with
out officers, as it was said that its AZ
fairs will Ike directed by the regi-
mental comma nding officer, operating
| through the regimental non-conmis-
| stoned staff.
One of the tasks facing the organ
! ization will be the building up of the
esprit de corps and the morale of the
regiment to such a high standard
that it will be pointed to as model
/ for other Guard units throughout the
country The first regimental dinner.
which is the forerunner of series OF
monthly dinners at which affairs OF
| the regiment will be discussed from
| the viewpoint of improvement. was
attended by all but two of the non
commissioned officers OF the regiment.
which was proudly pointed to by the
! officers as an indication of the spirit
! Of the regiment, for, it was added. as
| its non-commiSSlOned pefsonnel SoeS
so goes the regiment.
The following non-cOlnmiSsloneu
officers formed the committee which
organized the club: Regimental
| Sergt Maj. Blake Coffman. member
Of the Guard for many years; Serst.
+, Mai John V. Berberich. il: SerSt'
! Mai. James j. Shelley. Sergt. Sidney
Hunt. Sergt Henry Cockrell. Sergt.
| Maj. Leo 6. koephe. Sergt. Henry }.
krlImn. ir.: Drum Maj. John j. Nc
Donald and Sergt. W. +. Iightfoot.
HNins close to the men and being
able To xet their viewpoint this or
ga niZation is expected to develop
many suggestions for submission 10
the commanding officer for bringing
the regiment up To high state or
efficiency and is expected to so into
| the matter Of getting from the men
just what they expect in Guard
outfit when they come in and to take
steps to provide for these attractions.
| go far as they do not interfere with
the primary purpose of the regiment
that Of getting military training for
service 10 the country In time or war
The non.coms point out that one OF
the first needs for the local regiment
is an armory and they would like an
armory where this orga niZation can
be segregated from the other units
of the command ana carry on us
own affairs They point out that the
present building is small and entirely
unsuited for such purposes and
very poor attraction with which TO
allure new men to the OrganiZa ton
regardless of the fact that ii provides
most valuable training. rs an engl
neer regiment calls for specialists in
almost every line of endeavor from
sign painters to surveyors. and men
who enlisted are instructed in these
duties. 1t is expected that one of the
first things they will do will be to
discuss and plan ways and means for
getting the need before the people
and Congress. to the end that they
may end fight Of years to obtain
an armory building for the local
Guard in keeping with its dignity
a. the militia Of the Capital City
and the only Federal militia in the
country.
Naval Reserve.
The local branch of the United
States Naval Reserve also will settle
down this week to its Winter schedule
Of armory drills. the lost contingent
having completed it's annual tour Of
sea duty when the L. e destroyer
Allen, assigned here as training ship,
returned to her dock here. to remain
idle until next Summer. The men,
however will be given instruction on
her during the Winter months.
Like the Guard, the local Reserve
also Is handicapped by lack Of armory
facilities. occupying an old building
in the Washington Navy Yard, which
originally did service as private
store It's location is some distance
from the berth Of the ship. whereas
those in charge point out that the
armory should be close To the rivers
edge where the ship could be locked.
The armory formerly occupied by the
local Reserve. was turned over to the
National Guard for the use of the
Coast Artillery. but although it was
originally built for the local naval
militia it nevertheless came under the
jurisdiction of the Guard. as at one
time the naval militia came under
that orga nization. When the Guard
became cramped for armory quarters
the Naval Reserve was ordered to
VAcate 1t iS located on the Wash.
ington Channe at the foot Of o street
southwest and has dock right at
the armory door.