Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-22

First-hand information as to what the
Regular Army inspectors will look for
at the annual inspections of the Ma
tional Guard of the District of Column
bia to be held shortly after the begin
ming Of the new year has been impaired
to the various commands by Regular
Army officers on duty with the local
guard. These inspections are the annual
ones of the War Department to deter
mine, among other things, the general
preparedness of the Guard for field serV-
ice, how well they are drilled, what IA
cilities for training the troops have and
whether proper storage facilities are
available for the protection of the Fed
eral Government property loaned to the
troops for drilling.
With the information impaired by the
local inspector, the local troop COM
manders are armed with sufficient data
to go ahead and correct any defects
which they now have, If any. There is
still plenty of time in which to make
improvement on any of the items noted
IN the circular to be the subject of spe-
cial marks.
With the drills suspended during the
holiday season, it is expected that the
militiamen will return to their regular
drills soon in the new year to begin
active preparation for their inspections.
the citizen soldiers will have their train
ing schedule mapped out with a view to
passing high marks.
However, there is certainty that the
local Guard will not get perfect mark,
no matter how hard its personnel works
to that end. The armory facilities have
not improved in the past year; in fact
they have become worse, because one OF
the buildings available and used last
year has been taken away from the
Guard and all of the troop activities
confined to one building on the Union
Station Plaza. For years the inspectors
have reported most unfavorably on the
armory situation, but these reports have
just gone into the files and been for
gotten along with other things. The
criticism OF the Army inspectors has had
absolutely no effect on Congress, OF
any other Government agency with
power to aid the local militia, so far
as improving the facilities is concerned
The same unfavorable report is expected
next year. although there is possibility
that the Guard may be transferred
from its North Capitol street quarters
But it is doubtful that if they will be
much better, from a strictly military
training standpoint that is unless it is
possible to get the Pension Office Build
ing. This, however, seems very remote al
this time, as other Government agencies
are seeking the building as soon as it is
vacated by the General Accounting Of
fee. And judging by past experiences, il
is very likely that the Public Buildings
Commission will consider other agencies
before it considers the Guard, as ap-
pears to have been the practice in the
past. This, in spite of the fact that the
Department of Justice has ruled the
local Guard is such a Federal activity
as to require the Public Buildings Com
mission to allocate quarters to it the
same as it does for the Federal depart
ments and independent governmental
| institutions here.
! The armory inspection information
| which has been given to the local or.
| CARNATIONS by the Army instructor fol
! lows:
Scope of the Inspection.-It is the
desire of the Militia Bureau that the
! inspection be confined to administra-
ton, care and storage of Federal prop.
erty and equipment, adequacy of armory
| facilities and to those phases of basic
training which can actually be demon
/ strated in the armory and which have
been included in the training program;
and schedules of the organization OF
unit undergoing inspection. In further.
ance of this idea, the Militia Bureau
policy will be to have considered at the
annual field inspection the more ad.
vanced phases of training and to ratt
the unit at that time upon its combat
efficiency.
Standardization of Inspections-It i
| desired that the inspections within each
corps area be made rs uniform as pos
sible. To this end, corps area com
manderS have been requested to set III
a guide for the use of officers making
the inspections in their corps areas.
Features of Particular Note.-It L
desired that inspectors note particularly
the following features during the con
duct of their inspections and give then
careful consideration before finally rat
ing the unit: Initiative of both com
mlssioned and nom commissioned Off
GERS; leadership of both commissioned
and non commissioned officers ade
quacy of instruction in schools of non
| commissioned officers and selected Ike,
men; adequacy, suitability, neatness ant
cleanliness of supply and orderly rooms
general condition of armory other thar
above; neatness Of both officers and en-
| listed men; smartneSS of enlisted per
sonnet in standing at attention and sa
luting; general atmosphere and morale
within the unit as military organiza
ton. Deficiencies of previous yea
should be noted and the inspecto
should determine whether or not the.
have been corrected.
The following suggestions have beer
offered with the idea that they may b,
of some aid: Completeness Of armor.
drill schedules approved by higher au
thority; does the state of training a