Evening star., 1945-11-26
Realistic Training
Seen in Leqion Plan
Would Integrate Youth Into Pre-.
paredness Setup, Says Writer
By David Laurence

VOul0 lHteSTdte OuIn Into ffes
paredness Setup, Says Writer
By David Laurence
The American Legion, through It's
| national commander, John Stelle, has
| just come forward with q sensible pro-
| gram for military training that elirni-
mates virtually all the Objectionable
features Of the plan presented by
| President Truman and Gen. George
| Marshall.
Instead Of taking whole year out Of
the life of American boys and giving
| them no further training that could
| be useful or 10 years later, the Legion
| is to present to Congress a bill which
requires only four months Of basic
| training but provides for integration Of
the trained youth into some organiza-
tion which has continuing relations
ship to preparedness.
Under the proposed bill, boy Of 18
who is physically qualified would take
four months of training. Then he could
return to school or college or join a
National Guard unit or Naval Reserve
unit, or, If at college or school, he could
join Civilian Military Training Corps
unit or an ROTC unit. If he were not
going to college, the boy could spend
EIGHT months or the equivalent working
in some industrial plant engaged in
national defense work of a type set
up by the civilian authority"
War Needs Trades.
This is realistic approach. It rec
ognizes that training in modern times
doesn't consist merely of drilling and
marching and saluting but of mobiliz-
ing young men in mechanical pursuits
as well. Training in certain trades Is
just as essential to a mechanized mill
tary service of the future as marching
or drilling. Certainly air power needs
men in ground crews for repair and
maintenance who have had the back.
ground of work in factories and plants.
The Legion's proposal is significant
because 1t offers the first important
depression from the administrators
plan which, incidentally, has no chance
OF passage anyway Another interest
ing proposal is that which comes to
the writer from the Regular Veterans
Association, an organization founded
by but by no means confined to officers
who have served in the Regular Army
and Navy. 1t says:
1--WE are convinced that some form of
military training is a very real must
for this country. =" But we are not
agreed on placing the whole burden on
young men of high school or college age.
These boys, for that Is all they are, have
their lives ahead of them. They are
at the place where an education means
great deal to them, especially the ones
who are choosing careers in medicine,
law, science and many other professions
which require more than the usual four
year course, and year from their lives
at this time would be a very real loss.
Not only that, but they are not yet men
with an adult sense of values and to
train them fully in the art OF killing
would be foolhardy indeed.
Swiss Plan Recommended.
Hitler proved what one can do with
the younger generation by training
them in certain arts. In Germany, the
youth, not the older folks, were the
backbone of his plan Of conquest and
cruelty. Why, then, should we teach
our youngsters this same science and
expect them to return calmly to COM
monplace things without ever having q
chance to practice the lessons thus
learned? Taken at a time when their
minds are pliable, they may wish to
use their knowledge at the slightest
provocation.
I'VE indorse plan, proven by the
Swiss to be workable and which has
kept them at peace for many years,
whereby the adults, who after all are
the ones who should carry the burden
of responsibility, comprise the civilian
army OF defense. We ask that all men
between the ages decided on as being
physically able to fight be given military
training each year until they reach an
age when they no longer need be called
upon to take the training BY this
means no undue hardship is placed on
any one group.
mot only that, but returning yearly
for few weeks training, we will have
male population in better physical
health than ever before. BY spending
few weeks of each year In this way
the men thus taught will not forget the
lessons learned nor will they become
rusty which is what will happen under
plan whereby a man receives q full
years training, then forgets about it
until such time as he may be called ON
suddenly and without warning to use
what was taught to him maybe 10 years
before"
Congress will have before 1t many
plans but the two foregoing proposals
begin to tackle the problem on a prac-
tical basis and out of many ideas may
ultimately come some form of training
that does not establish a militaristic
tradition but accomplishes the main
purpose preparedness for defense.
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