Evening star., 1947-04-24
Fort Knox set-Up for Training Teen-Agers
Would Face Difficulties on National Scale
Army Might Be Unable
To Duplicate Quantity
And QuoIity Of stoff
Second OF Ttro Articles /
By Thomos 6. Buchonon
s,or stoff cofrespondsni

j
ssor stoff Correspondent
FORT KNOX, KY, April 24.-The
new theories of Army discipline be-
ing tested on the Universal Military
Training Experimental Unit here
were outlined in yesterdays articles
on teen-age training problems.
1t remains now to determine the
extent to which this training proceed
ure could be applied to all the
Nations 18-year-olds If universal
military training Is adopted by Con-
gress.
Brig. Gen. John M. Devine's 664
trainees have superior morale and
discipline. This impression, gained
from personal observation during a
three-day visit to Fort Knox, Is con-
firrned by the relatively small num-
Der of court martial, low venereal
disease rate, record church atten-
dance and general interest in vol1n-
tary educational activities.
Conditions Not Typical.
In some aspects of the Fort Knox
experiment, however, the Army Is
clearly working under ideal, rather
than typical conditions.
This is notably true in the quantity
of personnel assigned to assist in
the training. The unit has 482 en-
listed men, rs officers and three war;
rant officers to supervise its 664 re-
cruits. A normal wartime cadre was
70 seasoned non-coms and 35 officers.
While much of the extra cadre is
necessitated by the fact that the
experimental battalion contains pla-
toons which are being trained in diff
ferent branches of the service, the
surplus reduces the time each man
must devote to routine military
duties.
General Devine's recruits receive
the close personal supervision of a
judge advocate, psychiatrist, two
chaplains, three special service off,
GERS and % enlisted men, and three
information education officers with
three enlisted assistants and staff
OF civilian instructors.
Leaders nd-Picked.
Unless the Army Is prepared to
withdraw from civilian service a vast
number of clergymen, lawyers, psy-
chiatrists and teachers, the average
soldier under universal training will
not get comparable supervision.
The quality of Gen. Devine's per-
sonnel must also be considered.
A battalion normally is commanded
by a lieutenant colonel; the ex-
perimental unit has a brigadier gen.
eral who formerly commanded an
entire division and was an instructor
at West Point and Yale.
The plans and training officer is
a lieutenant colonel, the surgeon
and information officer are majors.
Three of the company commanders
are West Pointers, and all the COM
pany officers and non-coms are
hand-picked leaders.
1t must not be overlooked, more
over, that the recruits themselves,
being volunteers, have fewer prob
lens in psychological adjustment to
Army life than draftees might be
expected to encounter.
In the single instance where re-
cruits classified as inferior in their
capacity to learn have been segre-
gated in separate platoon Of the
battalion, results have been poor.
Army Weighs Problem.
Anxious to make the maximum
use of the country's nanpower, the
Army has long debated whether to
leave the subnormal soldier in a
normal unit for training in duties
he is capable of performing, segre-
gate him in a separate unit for
special training, or reject him alto
gether.
A special platoon was set up at
Fort Knox whose members were
below the general standards in edu-
cation, in their intelligence test
scores and in their demonstrated
capacity to learn new facts and
adjust themselves to the Army
routine. s..
This platoon is being given a
separate training course. in which
emphasis is placed on vocational and