REPORT TO THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
OF THE
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
ON
NON-MILITARY INSTRUCTION

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A. **SCOPE OF REPORT:**

1. Responsive to the request of the Secretary of Defense, this report undertakes to review what is now being done in the Armed Forces with regard to a type of instruction in a wide variety of subjects that for the purpose of this Committee have been called "Non-Military." Some of this instruction is in subjects common to all four Services, such as democracy, communism and national policies. Instruction in other subject areas is peculiar to each Service and concerns its particular Service customs, traditions, roles and missions.

2. The Secretary of Defense asked for recommendations concerning the appropriate objectives and goals of this type of instruction, the appropriate subjects to be included, the practical mechanics and criteria for measuring its effectiveness and, finally, the changes, if any, which should be made in present assignments of responsibility within the Department of Defense.

B. **PREMISES:**

The inquiry of the Committee has proceeded on three general and related premises:

1. The leadership of the free world has been thrust upon the United States in a time of great and rapid economic, technological, political, and military change. In consequence, the American people have shouldered a wide range of new responsibilities. In particular we bear the major burden in the defense of the free world against the encroachments of communist imperialism. While all the troubles in the world are not created by communism itself, it does try to exploit them all in its attempts to establish global totalitarianism against the will of the free world. The American people have always judged imperialistic totalitarianism to be in basic conflict with the American ideal of the free society, based on the doctrine of the freedom and dignity of the individual under a constitutional government. In consequence of this conflict between two irreconcilable concepts of society, we have been obliged to take upon ourselves a new, historic mission in the world.

2. The struggle in which we are presently engaged has many dimensions. Important among these is the military dimension. The threat and use of armed force in support of its aggressive intentions are part of communist doctrine and practice.
Consequently, our government has had to create a vast military establishment; in particular it has been obliged to deploy

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more than half a million American troops in many countries
around the world. The role of the military in today's
protracted conflict is both essential and complex and
includes a great deal more than actual combat. In ad-
dition to their well-recognized mission of repelling aggres-
sion, they also serve as a deterrent to aggression, as a
symbol of our determination to defend freedom, and as an arm
of our diplomacy.

3. The training of the officer and the serviceman has gained a new complexity as a consequence of the expanded mission of the military. Combat readiness continues to be our essential military requirement. But the traditional concept now includes elements of heightened understanding, motivation, commitment, and stamina, as the notions both of "combat" and of "readiness" have come to be enlarged as a result of the peculiar character of the military aspect of today's protracted conflict. The President has said, "Pure military skill is not enough. A full spectrum of military, para-military, and civil action must be blended to produce success. The enemy uses economic and political warfare, propaganda and naked military aggression in an endless combination to oppose a free choice of government, and suppress the rights of the individual by terror, by subversion and by force of arms. To win in this

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struggle, our officers and men must understand and combine
the political, economic and civil actions with skilled
military efforts in the execution of this mission." Finally,
the only face of America which countless foreigners see is
a military face; by it they tend to judge our nation.

### C. THE PRESENT SITUATION:

1. We have found that the average serviceman shares the general attitudes and values of the American public of which he is a part. This is true of his devotion to his country and his opposition to communism. There is little evidence to support the view expressed in some quarters that the serviceman lacks an awareness of the communist threat. The fearful, the confused and the pessimistic do not populate the Armed Forces. These conclusions are in contrast to impressions stemming from distorted and exaggerated views of the conduct of United States servicemen who were prisoners of war during the Korean conflict. We subscribe in this regard to the report of the Defense Advisory Committee on Prisoners of War which found that, with notorious exceptions, the prisoner of war performed in a manner which did credit to his Service and his country.

2. The Armed Forces cannot and should not be expected to correct all the shortcomings there may be in the serviceman's pre-military educational experience. The scope and function of instruction within the Armed Forces must be tailored to the

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primary needs of the military Services. Blanket criticisms
of non-military instruction based on a failure to appreciate
the foregoing points are not justified. Yet it is fair to
say that this instruction has varied greatly in concept and
quality of execution between and within the Services. More-
over, the sense of excellence which is essential to all educa-
tional effort and which characterizes more strictly technical
military training is too frequently absent.

3. We are convinced that substantial progress can be made only if certain basic defects that touch upon the whole rationale of such instruction are identified and corrected.

D. BASIC DEFECTS:

1. The primary defect has not hitherto been specifically identi-
fied in prior studies. It arises from the fact that the Troop
Information and Education program has generally been considered
an end in itself. It has been given separate status apart from
other military training, and it is not presently supervised
and administered by the same staff agencies charged with super-
vision over all other military training. Thus administered,
such instruction is required to stand alone and does not compete
favorably with technical military subjects from the standpoint
of command interest and quality of instructional effort.
Significant progress cannot be made until this primary defect

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is remedied. It is, we found, at the root of the following

two weaknesses, both of which have been noted in prior

studies.

a. First, despite Service efforts the degree of command interest and understanding of this training is still inadequate. Although there is agreement that this instruction, like other types of instruction, is a function of command, the Services have not effectively made it a duty of command, as it must be.

b. Second, there is a lack of adequate qualification in many of the commissioned and noncommissioned officers who conduct this instruction. Moreover, the best resources and most competent personnel, even when available, are not always used for this instruction.

2. A further defect is inadequate mutual understanding between the Services and the Department of Defense concerning the duties and responsibilities of each in the planning and preparation of materials.

3. Another weakness has been in the instructional materials themselves. There has been no lack of quantity; in fact, too many materials are being produced annually. Their quality, however, has often been inferior. Insufficient attention has been paid to diversifying the material for different unit missions and for various levels of experience of military audiences served.

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4. We have found a further basic weakness in the failure to distinguish between two quite different areas. The first is the instruction of troops for which commanders are responsible. The second is the provision of general information and news for which various communication media are the distribution agencies.

E. TWO DISTINCT ACTIVITIES:

1. The first step towards substantial progress is to distinguish between the formal instruction of troops and the provision of general information to them. To make this distinction clear, new terminology is required. Confusing titles, such as troop information, internal information, information and education, and non-military instruction should be deleted in Department of Defense and Service documents wherever they occur. The following titles should be adopted in their stead:

a. **General Military Training.** This is concerned with topics, other than technical military training, which will best enable the serviceman and his unit to fulfill their expanded military roles and missions. As a premise for our later suggestions for reassignment of responsibilities, we here emphasize that there are two categories of subject areas. The first category comprises subjects that are common to all four Services: The American Political Tradition; Communism-in-Action; National Policies; and

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**Area Orientation.** The second category embraces subjects which are unique to each of the four Services such as: Traditions and Customs of the Services, Code of Conduct, Moral Leadership, Character Guidance, and Roles and Missions of Services and their Units.

b. **Informational Services.** These include current events, public affairs programs, and certain programs of motivational value which are provided principally through Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS), Stars and Stripes, Service publications, and unit newspapers.

2. These activities should be distinguished for two reasons. First, the Informational Services are offered principally by special agencies to a voluntary military audience, whereas General Military Training is a command function and is scheduled as obligatory. Second, in the area of Informational Services, centralized responsibility and supervision by technically trained personnel are required; in contrast, in the area of General Military Training a due measure of decentralization of responsibility is required. Our report will deal in distinct sections with these two activities.

## II

### GENERAL MILITARY TRAINING

#### A. THE RATIONALE:

1. The major contribution to the development of the resolute serviceman is necessarily made by instruction in subjects

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proper to his Service. At the same time instruction in the
common subject areas, defined above, is a necessity in conse-
quence of today's broadened concept of the total military
mission. It is an integral part of military training essen-
tial to the enlarged requirement of combat readiness in
present circumstances. It is not a needless exercise, nor is
it an end in itself. Above all, it should not be given a
status apart from other training.

2. It follows that General Military Training is a duty of command-
ers and that the same command and staff elements which are
charged with the responsibility for other types of military
training should be made responsible for this type. Moreover,
commanders are responsible for seeing that instruction in
these subjects is effectively given in a way suited to the
deployment and mission of the particular unit.

3. Officers and noncommissioned officers should be as highly qualified for the conduct of General Military Training as in-STRUCTORS in other types of military training are required to be.

4. In fidelity to our military tradition and practice, this in-
struction should continue to be politically non-partisan in
content and in tone as befits military instruction.

5. Along with the contribution made by formally presented hours of instruction on general military subjects, a less obvious

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but highly significant contribution to the effectiveness of
the serviceman is made by commanders in their exercise of
military leadership and in the normal practice of keeping
the troops informed.

B. OBJECTIVES:

The supreme purpose of all military training is to prepare the
serviceman to fulfill the obligations of his oath of military
service to "bear true faith and allegiance to the United States
of America" and to "serve them honestly and faithfully against
all their enemies whomsoever." The bedrock of the serviceman's
true faith and allegiance to his country and of his honest and
faithful service is a fierce pride in his country, his unit, and
himself as a soldier of the United States. This pride is a basic
value in military life. It is, therefore, an essential aim of
all types of military training. It will always be built chiefly
by the Services themselves through all the training that they
administer, including instruction in general military subjects
unique to each of them.

The specific objective of General Military Training is to
contribute to this supreme purpose by instilling in the serviceman:

1. An understanding of and a profound belief in the fundamental principles of our American free society.

2. A keen awareness of the aims, tactics, and activities of the communist forces that threaten the free world.

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3. A knowledge of national policies and of current issues in national and international affairs, especially as they relate to the military.

4. An appreciation of the role of the military in support of national policy, including its role in combating communist imperialism, and of the particular part his Service and unit play therein.

5. A knowledge of the foreign countries in which he is called on to serve, both in defense of freedom and also as a representative of his own country.

6. A thorough grounding in the American military tradition and in the serviceman's Code of Conduct.

### C. SUBJECTS:

1. There are many subjects requisite to the attainment of these objectives which may be included on unit training schedules. Some of these are peculiar to each of the four Services, and their contribution to building pride of Service and of unit is, as we have stated above, major and decisive. These include:

a. Moral Leadership and Character Guidance.

b. Traditions and Customs of the Service.

c. Roles and Missions of the Service.

d. Code of Conduct.

2. In addition, it is essential to the achievement of the objectives stated in Section B that the Services be required to conduct

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training at appropriate times in four broad subject areas
common to all:

a. <u>The American Political Tradition</u>

Instruction in this subject is defined as that which is
directed to a sufficient knowledge of the basic values
in the American constitutional tradition; of the expres-
sion of these values in our institutions of free govern-
ment; of the rights and duties of citizenship, and of
the soldier voting procedures. We place this subject
first in order to signalize our conviction that it is
more important for the serviceman to know what he is for
and why than it is to know what he is against, important
as that is.

b. <u>Communism-in-Action</u>

Instruction in this subject is defined as that which is
directed to a sufficient knowledge of the aggressive
intentions of the communist power apparatus; of its will
and capability to employ both military force and political
subversion in pursuit of these aims; of ways in which
communism-in-action operates at different times in various
places; of propaganda efforts to destroy the effectiveness
of American troops in host countries; and of the potential
opponents in the communist armed forces of all kinds,
regular, guerrilla, and insurgent. We believe that in-
struction in these aspects of communist aggression is

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absolutely essential to the soldier and accordingly, with-
in the limited time available in the training schedules
of military units, should take precedence over instruction
in the ideological aspects of communism. On the other
hand, commanders should, as a matter of professional duty
and consequent on their instructional and leadership func-
tion, acquire a more advanced knowledge of communism in
all its various aspects, including its ideological base.

c. <u>National Policies</u>

Instruction in this subject is defined as that which is
directed to sufficient understanding of the objectives of
United States foreign and military policy, of these policies
and their development in changing circumstances and of
United States commitments throughout the world. The focus
of instruction should be on the manner in which these
policies affect the individual serviceman and the military
in general. This instruction should utilize statements by
the President, as Commander-in-Chief, and by the Secretary
of Defense directed particularly to the Armed Forces. It
should also utilize statements to the nation as a whole
on foreign and military policy by appropriate officials
of the Federal Government.

d. <u>Area Orientation</u>

Instruction in this subject is defined as that which is
directed to an adequate knowledge of the geography,

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customs, institutions, and way of life in the various
foreign lands in which the soldier is required to serve.

D. INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS:

1. Materials for the four specified subject areas should be of uniform content for three reasons:

a. The nature of the subjects makes them common to all four Services.

b. The attainment of the military training objectives requires that all personnel have a common motivation and understanding.

c. There is need to avoid duplication of effort and expense in preparation.

2. All instructional materials for General Military Training should be prepared in keeping with the following standards:

a. They should be suitable for the various military audiences
and readily teachable under field conditions.

b. Emphasis should be on quality rather than quantity.

c. They should be timely.

d. They should be scrupulously non-partisan.

3. Recognizing the special instructional difficulties in General Military Training, the Committee is of the opinion that high grade, professionally prepared motion pictures constitute one of the most effective media for such instruction and particularly so in the four specified subject areas.

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(cc)

### E. EVALUATION:

The effectiveness of General Military Training should be gauged by the commander in the exercise of daily leadership. As in the case of all other military training, evaluation should be accomplished by the normal inspection and supervision procedures (command inspection, staff visits, Inspector General Reports, etc.). The primary criteria for evaluation of this type of training, as in the case of all other military training, are found in terms of determination, of esprit, and of general readiness to serve anywhere, anytime under all conditions.

### F. ASSIGNMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR GENERAL MILITARY TRAINING:

If the Secretary of Defense approves the foregoing, it would follow that:

1. The Secretary of Defense:

a. would prescribe the four broad subject areas for inclusion in training schedules at appropriate times.

b. would retain the exclusive authority (within the Office of the Secretary of Defense) to prescribe specific materials.

c. would direct the Military Departments to integrate responsibility for General Military Training into the same command and staff elements now charged with all other military training.

d. would require that the four Military Services evaluate the effectiveness of General Military Training in the same

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manner as they evaluate all other military training,
as set forth in paragraph E, above.

2. The Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower):

a. should prepare materials of uniform content for the four specified broad subject areas. He should consult with the Services to assure, among other aspects, the practical teachability of such materials in light of particular field conditions.

b. should provide assistance to the Services in the prepara-
tion of materials, on request. In order to avoid duplica-
tion and to assure consistency, he should produce non-
specified General Military Training materials whenever two
or more Services are interested in their preparation. In
so doing, he acts as a service agency fulfilling needs,
within the limits of available funding, of the requesting
Military Services as determined by those Services.

3. The Military Services:

In the conduct of General Military Training, each of the four
Military Services should continue to fulfill those command
functions, duties and responsibilities associated with all
other military training. In accordance with policies and
guidance provided by the Secretary of Defense, each Service
should:

a. Schedule, conduct, and evaluate General Military Training,
utilizing methods and criteria recommended herein.

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b. Prepare training materials peculiar to its needs.

c. Select (unless the Secretary of Defense prescribes otherwise), amplify, and supplement those materials of uniform content prepared by the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower) to insure their appropriateness to command requirements.

d. Report to the Secretary of Defense:

(1) Proposed projects for the preparation of training materials (where such proposed projects do not relate to needs peculiar to the reporting Service) in order to avoid duplication of effort and expense; and

(2) Training materials supplemental to the four specified subjects in order to assure optimum use of new and effective training ideas throughout the military establishment.

e. Develop and conduct special training programs for all personnel who in the course of their duties might be exposed to capture by hostile forces, whether guerrilla, insurgent, regular or other.

f. Make further provisions within the Service educational systems for insuring that all officers, before commissioning and during their continuing education, receive special instruction in the four specified subject areas above mentioned, as well as in the role and importance of General

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Military Training. Further provision should also be
made for similar ongoing education of senior non-
commissioned officers.

III

INFORMATIONAL SERVICES

The Committee was impressed by the favorable impact on our military units serving overseas of informational services as conveyed by newspapers, newsletters, radio and TV. These media play an important role in the over-all motivation and morale of military personnel.

A. NEWS:

1. The availability of news and information is an important and favorable influence on the attitude of the serviceman. Servicemen in overseas units should be provided with daily news and current information paralleling, as closely as is practicable, that which is available to their civilian counterparts at home. We found that the provision of these services is not always adequately made.

2. In some overseas commands we found the availability of the important newspapers, *Stars and Stripes*, to be inadequate. In areas where operational responsibilities approximate those experienced by servicemen during hostilities, as in South Vietnam, *Stars and Stripes* should be made available daily as a subject of free issue.

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3. The component services of overseas commands should see to it that unit and station newspapers and newsletters are published and distributed to their personnel whenever possible.

4. In some of the overseas commands visited, the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service's broadcasting facilities are inadequate to reach all units. In still others, the requisite tapes and records or the low power stations and closed circuit television facilities had not been provided. It is the view of the Committee that these deficiencies can and should be corrected immediately.

### B. SUPPORT FOR GENERAL MILITARY TRAINING:

Such support is provided in a number of ways, principally through Service periodicals and magazines on the one hand and through special radio and television albums of the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service on the other.

Appropriate films of high quality, professionally prepared, also afford important support for General Military Training. Though the audience is voluntary, we found keen interest among overseas Service personnel in these specialized programs.

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