The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1945-07-17
. BEHIND THE SCENES
IN WASHINGTON .

COIIlc OH OlliCcE III the herman
army of World War II he had
first to pass weeks PSYCHOLOGY
ical examination which was in
tended to show his fitness as
officer material. II he passed, he
then spent his first year as a
private, his second as corporal,
then eight months in an officers
candidate general service school
and six months in the school Of
the army for whichshe was best
fitted. After this training of over
three years he was a second lieu
tenant.
TOUGH EXAM TO HURDLE
When he rose to the rank Of
captain he could become eligible
for the General Staff. First, how
ever, he had to pass COMPETE
tive examination which was a
terror. Many candidates failed
and went back to the line.
If he passed, the young cap
tain went to General Staff
school in the Institute of Tech
nology at Berlin Charlottenburg.
Here his courses were highly
specialized. His classes were
small. There was one instructor
detailed to every 10 men and
this instructor stayed with his
charges all through a stiff two
year course, coaching them,
examining them, making out
their efficiency reports. Those
who passed became members of
the select General Staff Corps
for life, entitled to wear a red
stripe down their pants legs and
be the envy of all the army.
First assignment Of a General
Staff officer, however, was with
troops. Two out of every six
years of the staff officers life
had to be spent in command of
troops, and his efficiency rating
and advancement, though on
promotion lists separate from
those of the line officers, were
rated on ability to command in
the field. The theory was that if
staff officer could not COM
mand, he could not plan for
others to command.
Weak spot in the German Gen.
eral Staff set-up, according to
U. S. military authorities, was
that it was never able to keep
ahead of Hitler. The German
General Staff took Hitler to its
bosom when he became political
leader of the Reich, but there
after it was never able to keep
him in control. He moved into
Austria before the General Staff
was ready. He moved against
France before the General Staff
was ready for the next logical
step, an invasion of England.
RED-STRIPERS HARD
TO LOCATE
To find where the once-proud
wearers of the red-striped pants
are now will take some search
ing. Some are in Russia, British
and French hands. Those taken
prisoner by the u. S. are kept
segregated in Germany, can
easily be tried and treated as
they deserve.
What their potential is for
making another war is unknown.
Some U. S. staff officers con-
slider this potential nil. The war
ministry has been bombed to
dust. Many of its records were
destroyed. Some moved to Sile-
STA have been captured. And
German in dustry has been
wrecked.
The one possibility for Ger
man comeback in war will be for
some other government to create
IT. That is what happened the
last time. u. s. loans helped Ger
many finance a new start after
World War I and Great Britain
and France sold Germany many
of the raw materials they need
ed. All three - and Russia
helped German industry to pre-
pare for a new war. AS long as
one remnant of the German
General Staff Corps personnel
OF spirit Is kept alive and free to
plan such a comeback, it can