Evening star., 1940-07-25
BY MAJ. 6. FIELDING ELIOT.

IN q place ON 3 olrecClOn-nnder team.
But unit training, which Is the Sc
cret Of the German success, must
follow. Units must be trained in
the variant missions that may fall
to their lot in the field in conjunc-
ton with other units Of all types.
This cannot be accomplished unless
the men who are to compose our
Regular Army have at least two
years training.
The duties Of our Regular Army
are, principally, the garrisoning Of
our overseas possessions and the
provision Of . highly-trained, in
stantly ready expeditionary force
within the United States for fire.
alarm duties with the Western Hem
isphere. This cannot be done BY
haH-trained men nor by unseasoned
men. The Air Corps Of the Regular
Army must provide proper forces for
the overseas possessions, for expe-
dictionary service and for long-range
striking power which will be the
basis Of immediate defensive meas
ures against a sudden danger aris-
ing In the ocean In which our fleet,
for the time being, happens not to be.
Must Create Reserve.
As to immediate readiness, either
all organizations Of the Regular
Army must be maintained at full
war strength or there must be
promtly available q sufficient num-
ber of fully trained reservists to
bring them to war strength within
q few hours-not a few weeks or
months. This means that whatever
military policy We now adopt should
include, as one Of its features, the
creation Of such reserve.
But aside from the creation Of q
lighting Army, universal service may
be said to have second objective,
connected with national morale and
spirit. The youth Of our country
could learn many useful lessons from
brief period Of military service.
They need those lessons.
It ought to be possible to combine
these objectives in q single system,
provided we keep them separated in
thought, provided we do not allow
ourselves to drift away on any tide
Of illusion.
If the present Burke-Wadsworth
bill is passed, there will be q very
large registration; indeed, all men
between 18 and 64. This will provide
useful information as to available
man power. But it should be made
abundantly clear that this is regis
tration only, that it has little II
anything to do with available mill
tary power, that the registration of
say, 1900 900 men does not mean
that we can ever hope to raise an
Army anything like that size.
Let us be quite clear just how
many we need, and for what specific
purposes. Let us first of all, Of
course, have plan for the national
defense as whole. Let US see what
part the Army has to play in that
plan; how much money will be
available, how much in the way of
resources; how much ought to be
allotted to the Army and to the
Navy and to other measures condu-
Give to the national safety. We do
not have unlimited funds. We can
spend too much on one thing to the
detriment Of others, If we are not
careful.
Primarily = Sea Power.
Let us not forget that we are pri-
marily a sea power; that the instru-
ments Of sea power-a fleet, q long
range air force, defended bases, q
highly trained expeditionary army
are our first considerations.
There may be other ways of i'm
proving the national morale besides
spending more than is necessary on
an Army which, if it passes the size
needful for hemisphere missions,
may well become an instrument use-
ful only for overseas adventures
perhaps for ghastly holocaust in
Europe In case the British German
duel fights itself down to Q stand-
still.
Train Youth in Morale.
IT, after examining the situation
from every angle, 1t seems advisable
to have certain amount of mill
tary training for larger numbers Of
our youth than are required for the
Regular Army and the National
Guard, let this by all means be