Evening star., 1942-02-25
DepIores Suspicion
Of military Mind
General Me- cGIuchIin Discusses
Trained FoeuIty' os Asset
To National Services

To the Editor Of The Star:
There are not infrequently seen con-
temptuous references to the military
mind" but there are no differences be-
tween it, If it exists, and the average
civilian mind, II 1t exists, except to the
advantage Of the first. And this is so
whether the term is limited to Army
and Navy or extended to include all uni
formed Government services.
Distinguishing differences are in dis
cipline. in devotion to patriotic ends. in
the risks Of service, and in the lack of
opportunity for high financial reward
No other class Of personnel is selected
from such an enormous pool on the basis
Of physical, mental and moral fitness. No
other is so thoroughly organized for a
chain Of command within strictly limited
bounds of responsibilities and rights and
of obedience with great latitude Of inde-
pendence.
This is not to deny that the frailties
and selfishness and carelessness of hu-
man kind can be found among uniformed
men and women; or to say that others
may not be found superior to them in
intelligence and attainment; or that
they have monopoly of sound and use
full opinions in their special fields. But
preparation for active war and the wag-
ing of war are one of the most important
Of these and they are the almost ex-
elusive concern of a highly competent
and very reliable force.
Brass hats" a derogatory term, does
not include all of high rank. They are only
a few comparatively whose character has
not been high enough for them to retain
humility as part of it under the stress
Of great responsibilities and the custom
Of being obeyed until they accept their
own word as the final law of action.
They occasionally become arbitrary and
conventional martinets. But even so
their word usually is good, based upon
their own trained methods of reflection
or. more frequently, upon the measured
Now, what is martinez? He Is q strict
diSciplinarian; one who insists upon reg
ulations. And what are regulations?
They are codif1ed rules of behavior. In
small part they are the result Of the long
experience OF generations of our own
and Of other peoples. Their purpose is
to accomplish desirable purposes in the
easiest way and with the least friction
within the law. In great part they are
as simple an exposition as seems possible
of the flood of laws flowing from the
Congress. Those arising from expert
ence grow hardly at all in volume and
not at all in complexity. Those coming
from the laws become more and more
lengthy and complex until right now the
index to Army regulations takes much
more space than did the regulations IS
years ago.
The laws are made by the Congress
Many are very constructive, indispen-
sable. But these are cluttered up with a
lot that had their origin in efforts to
correct abuses that were more fancied
than real; to prohibit practices which
never existed or were isolated and easily
corrected administratively; or to 'ad-
vance the interests of particular classes
or even Of individuals; or to put into
effect the special and non-expert ideas of
powerful political personalities. They
could be severely expurgated with great
benefit to business simplicity and to
morale and to do away with the petit
Jogging Interpretations" intended to
evade their restrictions
There ought to be no uncritical sus-
picion of the military mind or even of
"brass hats" There should be grave doubt
of the self-appointed war experts and
strategists among Senators, Representa-
tives, columnists and editorial writer's.
However brilliant these may be, few have
the necessary information or the trained
faculty for its true Interpretation.
EDWARD F. MCLAUGHLIN,
Maj. Gen., U. s. A., Retired.