Evening star., 1941-08-31
Low Army Morale Laid to Lack of Vision of Goals
BY MAI. GEORGE FIELDING
ELIOT.

War is an unpleasant business;
preparation for war, from the eco
nomic point of view and especially
from the point of view OF the young
man with his way to make In this
highly competitive world, is waste
of time-unless he can see its ne
cessity, unless he can be made to
perceive that his way of life and all
the opportunities it affords him, all
indeed that he holds dear, is truly
endangered.
This fact is, at the root of all the
present troubles with the morale OF
the United States Army, or rather,
the morale of the citizen soldiers
thereof. There is nothing the mat
ter with the morale of the Regu-
lars. They are in the Army because
they wanted to be; many of them
hope to make it career. Oppor-
tunities for advancement to high
non- commissioned rank, or to war
rant grades recently made far more
attractive and attainable, are open
to them. The morale difficulty
centers entirely on the temporary
components Of the Army-the Ma
tional Guardsmen, the drafted men,
the Reserve officers,
They want to know why their
civilian careers, their march toward
the future on which their welfare
and that of their families depends,
has been interrupted. And they
have not been told
Better Trumpeting Needed.
The trumpet has given an uncer-
tain sound-indeed, whole series
of uncertain sounds There is con-
sequent reluctance on the part OF
many to prepare themselves to the
battle. 1t is understandable. 1t is
inevitable. The cure is unquestion-
ably an improvement in the
| trumpeting.
This is something in which we
can all take hand. TOR in a sense
we are all responsible for the
| trumpeting. There is no one
trumpeter. The President, the Con-
gress, the administration, the officers
of the armed services: the press,
the radio, the movies. the ordinary
citizen in his daily conversation and
daily correspondence-all do a GER
tain amount. more or less, of the
| national trumpeting on the vital
issues of the hour.
We all have to remember that
the American youth desires to think
that he is going somewhere. that he
is accomplishing something worth
while, in which he has q worth
while part. We have begun. as to
the citizen soldier. with quite the
reverse of this attitude. The very
names that we have applied to him
are unfortunate; they are in the ac-
cusative case-draftee, trainee. Sc
lectee. These are words which in
dicate one to whom something is
being done, not one who is expected
to do something.
Substitute Name Soldier"
Let us begin by forgetting these
words, and substituting another-a
simple, honorable word of long
standing and high renown-soldier
1t is title which is a whole trumpet
call in itself.
AND then what? Instruction and
guidance may be obtained from OBJ
serving the various units of the
Army. Admittedly. in the armored
force morale is high, regardless of
the origin of its soldiers. These
men feel that they are accomplish
ing something. They feel they are
preparing for modern warfare. They
feel they are building the army of
the future. There has, moreover.
been nothing uncertain about the
sounding of their particular trum-
pet: Adna Chaffee may he rest
in peace, his work well done) saw
to that from the beginning, and
the battle call he sounded still
rings in the ears of those whom he
leads now only in spirit.
Nor have there been complaints
about the morale of the Air Corps;
they likewise feel that in their
hands the future lies.
The trouble Is almost wholly in
the infantry divisions. especially the
National Guard divisions and in
units Of corps, army and G. H. Q.
Reserve troops and in the admins
trative units which compose the
vast, essential. but somewhat unin- |
spring overhead" of the Army.
Even with these, low morale is
spotty rather than universal. In
every large command where there
is a tendency to low morale COM
panieS or battalions or regiments |
may be discovered where morale is
high-due to good trumpeting, that |
is, to good, competent, inspiring |
leadership on the part of command |
ers who know their business. There |
will be general tendency to i'm |
provement in morale in proportion |
as the incompetent leaders are |
weeded out, as National Guard and |
Reserve officers begin to learn their |
jobs, as non-commissioned officers,
in particular, begin to acquire from
experience and proper instruction
the delicate art of handling men.
New Equipment Needed.
Morale may likewise be expected |
to improve with the arrival in the
hands of units of new equipment. |
The infantryman who sees nothing |
but rifles and a few machine guns |
may feel that his unit is being |
trained in the warfare of a day |
long past, that it would be helpless |
in the field When he begins to
see anti-tank guns. mortars, tank |
mines, increased allowances of au-
tomato weapons, when he begins
to receive an adequate allowance |
of ammunition for range and field
practices, when he begins to be in
structed, not in caliSthenics and
close-order drill, but in the field |
problems of modern infantry, in |
close cooperation with artillery |
armored troops and aircraft, he will |
begin to think of his unit as an |
essential part of great military |
team, he will realize that he is
accomplished something worth |
while, that without him and his
comrades that team could not func-
ton. His morale will improve i'm |
mensely in the process.
But in the last analysis every SOL
dier. Regular or citizen soldier, must |