Evening star., 1943-03-07
BY Walter McCallurn.

II
Simplicity in strategical conception;
perfection In technique: hrmness in exc
cution."
That Is the concept Of war Of German
born 1t. Gen. Walter Kruger, now COM
manding the 9Th United States Army In
Australia under Gen. Douglas NacAr-
thur. Graduate Of many Of the Army's
schools, soldier who worked up from
the ranks, specialist in field operations
and disciple Of strategical simplicity,
Gen. Kruger is the soldiers soldier. The
dogfaces (don't call 'em that to their
faces see In him-A man who came up
the hard way, who knows their problems,
and will not needlessly sacrifice lives in
battle.
Gen. Kruger believes that every move
ment or action Of every soldier on the
field Of battle is worthy Of the critical
concern Of the highest commanding
otdcer. A life uselessly sacrificed, he
feels, is . crime chargeable to faulty
leadership. He holds that lives are saved
by the perfection Of methods and prac-
tices through which soldiers accomplish
missions assigned them. He insists that
anything less than perfection is not good
enough.
The middle sized, flrm-talking, clear
eyed commander OF an Army that soon
will be speaking authoritatively to the
Japs in the Pacific battle area unoncially
is listed in the Army's big four Of Army
commanders. But Kruger projected
himself close to the top Of the heap last
year and in 1941 when he directed field
maneuvers of the Sd Army in the Lolisi-
ana-Texas area. Opponents were the I'd
Army, commanded by 1t. Gen. Ben Lear
of "Yoo-hoo" fame, and the story In the
Army is that Kruger and his men did
all right.
Concentrated Training
A firm believer in concentrated train-
Ing Of small battle units, the squad.
platoon, company and patrols, and Of
the Junior officers commanding these
units, Gen. Kruger In 1o41 directed the
establishment Of I Sd Army Junior Of
flcers' Training Center ct Camp Bulbs,
near San Antonio, Tex.
What he told the members Of . grad
uating class is indicative Of the driving
spirit Of the man. Gentlemen" he
said, you've ended today six weeks Of
very hard work. I know it has been
hard because I've made 1t my business
to see that 1t was. II 1t was humanity
possible. this course would be even
harder.
"But remember that battle Is . thou
sand times harder, and there is going
to be Z great amount Of battle before
we win this war. Soldering Is .
serious business, and 1t will take every
bit Of character. stamina, courage and
knowledge that you possess. Duty must
come frst. Take your pleasure In Z
hard Job well done. There is no greater
pleasure"
The words sound like those Of 1t.
Gen. Lesley J. McNair. commanding the
Army Ground Forces, In his kill or
be killed" speech Of last November. The
two three generals are Of the same
school Of thought. Both believe in
complete and thorough training under
conditions as near those Of battle as
can be had.
Krueger's All-Out Battles
Only live ammunition was missing
in Louisiana maneuvers last year and
those now going on in the Sabine River
area. They were called "war games,
but these field exercises under Kruger
developed into all-out battles in which
everything up to bursting shells and
droning bullets were used. Realism
strict discipline and offensive tactic,
were insistsd upon hg Krusger, who