Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 112, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 May 1911 — The UNITED STATES ARMY in ACTION [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The UNITED STATES ARMY in ACTION

rHE rapidity and perfection of working arrangements with which there was recently carried out the mqbilization of onefourth of the American standing army on the Mexican frontier proved a revelation to all but the very, limited number of people who have been in a position to keep in touch with the military progress of the nation during the past few years. Incidentally, this object lesson under virtual war conditions has answered not a few of the criticisms recently made against Uncle Sam’s military establishment in speeches in congress. Indeed, this hasty rendezvous in Texas discounted to a great extent, as nothing could, the chief bug-a-boo of the recent alarmist utterances, —namely the alleged handicap sustained in having our fighting forces scattered

all over the country at widely separated mill-., tary posts. Extreme mobility, which in the case of the American army has been so strikingly put to the test by the double quick advance on the Rio Grande, Is the one attribute above all others for which our military experts have been working ever since the Spanish-American war." The United States needs a mobile armed force as does no other nation on the globe. Indeed, It Is absolutely imperative. The explanation is found, of course, in the immense extent of the republic and our farflung coast line. To protect so extensive a territory needs arf*hrmed force that can move with extreme rapidity from place to place. The fact that broad oceans separate us from the nations that, In the event of trouble, would prove our most formidable foes, presumably insures us reasonable warning of attempted invasion but even with this leeway it needs quick-moving soldiery to rush at short notice to any threatened point of attack. The circumstance that the rushing of troops to our southern boundary left the Atlantic coast virtually unprotected is being made an argument for a larger regular army by the advocates of such an organization. However, our military experts have not waited upon a larger army to perfect a state of military preparedness. But whatever the merits of this question of a large standing army the military experts have not waited upon Its solution. They have gone right ahead, bending every energy to make a force of considerably less than 100,000 men equal in emergency to a body of soldiery several times as numerous. To that end Uncle Sam’s soldiery, with due acknowledgement of the modern tendency of specialization, have been rendered as versatile as possible in the arts of warfare. And, best of all, there has been cultivated the “Cre alarm” propensity to cut and run for a scene of trouble at the shortest warning. In their part of the preparations, too, the administrative officials In every branch of the army have kept constantly in mind this aim and purpose. Of all the preparations for war which have gone forward under a clear sky perhaps the most wonderful have had to do with the transportation arrangements. Our military experts have awakened to the fact that the United States is the greatest railroad country in the world and that even in the event of the most serious conflict it Is unlikely that many of these communicative lines would be l seriously interfered with. Why not then, make these annihilators of time *■ —'•r •• set. Indeed It Is imperative to do so if the army is to be rendered a mobile force, for no other utility can serve as the twentieth century substitute for the forced marches of other days. Consequently, whereas European na tions, with their circumscribed areas and perfect highways have been experimenting with military automobiles and other innovations our war department officials have been wrestling with the problems of the make-up and handling of troop trains, and designing special kitchen cars and hospital cars and the like. The first try-out of the plans that have been in the making these past dozen years has come In the case»of the recent hurried advance to Texas. If a chance visitor could have been in Washington in the early days of the Spanish war and then again when the recent hurry call to th 4 Gulf coast was given he could not fail to bd impressed with, the contrast, —the turmoil and confusion of 1908 with the well-oiled precision of the present execution of prearranged plans. That 20,000 men could be moved a distance of thousands of miles along a score of different arteries of traffic without apparently

d e ranging in the s 1i g h test degree the o rd i n ary routine at the war dep art ment h e a dquart e r s in Washington is a tribute, first of all, of course, to the re-

o r g anized army with its general staff or board of directors, but in even greater degree is it evidence of the value of that comparatively new institution, the U. S. Army War College. The news-paper-reading public has been told repeatedly these past few years that it is the special province of the officers detailed to duty in the great red brick building, overlooking the Potomac i in Washington, to have on hand and to keep constantly up to date detailed plans of campaign for use in the event of war with any other nation. However, the present instance affords the country at large its first real examplification of the practical value of the information that is kept under such close guard in the plan vault and the map rooms of the War College. It was shown by the rapidity with which orders were formulated and issued for this sudden movement of the largest body of troops that has been handled at any one time since the Spanish war that the War College has dependable information as to just what can be expected of the railroads in an emergency. This showed, too, the wisdom of Uncle Sam’s policy of keeping his war plans up to the minute by revising them every time there is a change of railroad schedules for, in this instance, most of the troops traveled by regular trains instead of by special trains and the latter would presumably be resorted to only in the case of extreme emergency. Another feature of the plans for the army in action for which the big trek to Texas has proven a most beneficial dress rehearsal is that which contemplates reliance upon the telegraph system of the country in the movement of troops. The use of the network of wires covering the continent, in the event of war, has been the subject of study on the part of the military experts that has gone hand in hand with the investigation as to how the railroad arrangements could be made to promote the mobility of the military force. This worked out just as anticipated the day orders were issued for the advance to Texas and there poured into the department a continual stream of telegrams that kept the officials advised in detail as to the movement of every body of troops headed for the rendezvous in the Lone Star State. It may be a trifle early to talk about the lessons to be drawn from this taste of war but one is already apparent. It emphasizes that field artillery yet has a very Important place in our military paraphernalia. There has been a disposition on the part of some people, of late years, to regard any considerable amount of field artilery as not the most useful equipment for the American army. Such advocates took the view that Uncle Sam ought to put his money into heavy coast defense guns just as he is concentrating his naval expenditure upon battleships of the heaviest class. However, the unexpected call to Texas, emphasizing as it did, vistas of trouble that had been completely overlooked in contemplation of the “yellow peril,** called attention to the possible sore need for ample field artillery under cer-

tain conditions. And incldently it c on v eyed the hint that the m o u n tain batteries, in which guns and ammunition are “packed” on mule back

mlght prove as invaluable in the mountains of Mexico as they have under somewhat similar conditions in the Philippines. Similarly the conditions existing at the scene of the present campaign are such as to emphasize the fact that there is yet a very important sphere for the cavalry in the army. It as though the crisis in this unexpected quarter were a providential answer to the arguments of those persons in and out of official life who have been urging in recent years that the foot-soldier should be practically the whole thing in our military complement It must be apparent to everybody who is even casually conversant with geographical conditions that if Uncle Sam is to keep peace “From the Canal to Canada” he will have need of a considerable cavalry force and a force provided with the best possible class of mounts. There are mountainous localities in the region to the south of us where only cavalry could operate successfully. Neither automobiles nor yet aeroplanes would serve as a substitute. And incidentally It may be noted that conditions on the Mexican border have afforded an opportunity much earlier than was anticipated to test the practical military value of the airship. The servicability of the sky craft for scouting operations ought to be pretty well attested ere the troops return to their home stations. No better theater of war, real or mimic, than the southwest could be chosen for demonstrating the progress made during the past few years, both in the methods and equipment of the U. 8. Signal corps. The general public, with its craving for the spectacular, has beard most regarding the introduction of the aeroplane as a utensil of warfare but as a matter of fact the Signal Corps has recently introduced Innovations far more important from a military standpoint than the aerial scouts, and these communicative utilities and novelties for day and night signaling would obviously prove especially valuable in rough country where there are few existing telephone or telegraph wires and where the erection of such lines would be difficult and expensive. The Signal Corps is fully abreast of the times (and of the military establishment of any other nation) in its experiments with wireless telegraphy and wireless telephony and it has developed some very Ingenious expedients for the use of rapidly moving forces in the field,-—as for instance, the auto-telegraph car or telephone and telegraph station on wheels and the apparatus which enables a mounted trooper to lay or reel in a telephone wire automatically while bis horse is at full gallop, the rider meanwhile continuing telephone conversation over this elastic wire. It is expected that when the joint operations of the army and navy in the south have passed into history the record of operations will afford argument one way or another as to what shall be done with the U. 8. Marine Corps. Our readers will recall that this force, the "soldiers of the navy” has been for some time past a bone of contention in service and official circle*. Many persons have contended for years

past that this body of sea soldiers who are pre* suinably no longer needed on our warships as they were in the days when most of the sailors were foreigners, should be transferred to the army. Some time ago all the marines were taken off the warships, but later by order of congress they had to be restored. Now that hundreds of the marines are scheduled to participate in extensive land operations,—either independently or in conjunction with the soldiery of the regular army—it is hoped that evidence will be forthcoming as to whether or not they would render better service If actually enrolled on the army roster. The “team work” of the army and navy which is a consistent policy with Uncle Sam is being followed along with other up-to-date ideas in the operations on the Gulf coast Co-operation between military and naval forces is, of course, an axiom with all the great powers of the world, but many of the European nations which have no very extensive sea coasts have not given the attention to this that has .been bestowed in the United States. It will be remembered that in most recent war games on the Atlantic coast there was joint responsibility between the two arms of the service. However many persons had little expectation that such concerted action would be advisable when planning operations not in reference to a foe from overseas, but relative to possible disturbance in a neighbor republic on our own continent. In this respect the present activity has proven -something of a revelation. But it has been realized that not only can the warships render a service by a patrol of the Gulf coast but are also a factor in that they can land for shore service thousands of seamen, trained by regular small arms practice for service as infantrymen and light artillerymen. One of the marvels of the recent quick work in the southwest is found in the very creditable manner in which the commissary department has met the responsibilities suddenly thrust upon it. Here again there has been most gratifying contrast to the conditions of the Spanish war period, but it must be remembered that Uncle Sam has made very tangible progress these past few years in the very vital problems of subsisting troops in the field. The army has made most advantageous use of fireless cooking by means of tireless cookers on wheels, designed to cook the food while the military force to which the equipment is attached is on the march and to have the meal, piping hot and ready to serve the minute the force halts for the noonday respite or to pitch camp at night There has been plenty of work too, for the engineer corps .of the army in this “Texas campaign” for there have been big camps to lay out and to lay out such sites in various sizes up to a divisional camp covering 800 acres means an immense amount of work for the surveying corps and the map makers In the field. The engineers are also likely to find some opportunity for their searchlight work, —Including that with their new portable searchlights conveyed by automobile trucks and ere the. “war game” Is conchided they are likely to have more or less practice in bridge building. And finally the operations of 20,000 soldiers in the field cannot fail to afford its share of work for the hospital corps —the more so by reason of the effect upon the health of many of the officers and men of so sudden a change from a cold to a warm climate. And the best part of all this practical try-out of our military preparedness is that not only will the rank and file get experience but the higher officers of the service from Gen. Leonard Wood, down, will personally direct or observe the important movements, thereby learning at first hand the tactical and strategic lessons Involved.