Evening star., 1941-03-08

Jay HhAl' ana LdCtlcS un-
der modern conditions of me-
Chanical warfare. The principle is
making the health. safety and well
fare of the buck private the first
rule of military life.
Officers are instructed TO make
the transition from private life to
Army life as pleasant, easy and
sympathetic as possible. The
hard boiled" methods of the old
A. Z. F. are out much to the be-
Wllderment Of many Regular Army
men. Just as the old-style mass
Slaughters of World War I are now
recognized as criminal examples Of
military inefhciency, so the Army
has suddenly begun to realize that
life is not cheap and that the best
commander is he who does not eX-
pose his troops TO blood baths Of
the sort which shattered the French
at Chemin-des-Dames, the Germans
at Verdun and the British in
Flanders.
New Ideas on Discipline, Too.
Gen. Marshall also has revolu-
tionary ideas on an Army discipline
which shall be based, not on statu-
tory authority but on the respect Of
men for the character and abilities
of their officers. The military
lawyers have so far succeeded in
stopping that one, but Gen. Mar
shall IS a wise and persistent man
and expects to get his way.
Another sign of the times is the
fact that all Of the officers in the
Army Air Corps are now being re-
quired to learn Spanish. This is an
elementary military preCaution for
those who may be required to de-
fend Latin American countries from
overseas attack. 1t is also calcu-
lated to break down the social and
cultural insularity of the Army
itself.
That this is not an idle thought
is evidenced by the new technique
OF Western Hemisphere air defense.
The Army Air Corps now transports
much of its engines,
spare parts. ammunition, guns, etc.
in special a A c. transport
planes. Much Of this material is
now being flown down for assembly
at Panama from San Antonio.
Jungle Equipment.
Much of this flying takes the air
transports over jungle territory. so
they are now supplied with standing
jungle equipment in the form Of
guns. machettes, mosquito nets. sun
helmets. CanteenS and special ra-
tions Thus, in the event of a crash
or forced landing in the Central
American jungleS. the crew would
find themselves with equipment to
make their way back to civilization.
The new defense agreements
made with Mexico and Panama are
part of this picture of wings over
America. except the eagle will pos
sess more of the qualities of the
owl than of the ostrich.
For it all comes back to the reali-
zatiOn that a dead soldier. dead
pilot. dead bOmbardier or dead
tank driver is of no use in the de-
fense of his country. His training
and equipment cost time TO replace
and time may not be available. So
the Army has gone at the matter
of renovating its military policy
with a wisdom and a thoroughnesS
which will amaze those who re-
member the World War days when
a pair of spurs. a parade ground
voice and the idea that enlisted
men should not expect to live for
ever we're considered all that was
needed to build a citizen army.
x
British military authorities in
Washington are privately complain
ing that the State Department can-
not be trusted with confidential in
formation. They say that. again
and again, after secret material has
been communicated to our foreign
office, within a few days it has come
out in full detail in one or another
of the gossip columns. 1t is prob
able that they will try a plant
with the idea of finding which off,
cials are responsible for making the
State Department as leaky as a
sieve when it comes to maintaining
a confidence.