Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 182, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 August 1917 — HOME-READING COURSE FOR CITIZEN-SOLDIERS [ARTICLE]

HOME-READING COURSE FOR CITIZEN-SOLDIERS

(Issued by the War Department and all rights to reprint reserved.) 1 Thii course of- thirty daily lessons is offered to the men selected for service in the National Army aa a practical help in getting started in the right way. It is informal in tone and does not attempt to give binding rules and directions. These are contained in the various manuals and regulations of the U. S. Army, to which this course is merely introductory. LESSON NO. 4. GETTING READY FOR CAMP

Your real training for your duties as a soldier will begin after you and your comrades are assembled at the training camps. However, there are a few simple things you can do during the next few weeks which will be of decided value in getting you started along the right lines. The simplest thing, and perhaps the most useful of all, is to begin at once to practice correct habits of standing and walking. Even in civilian life a man’s reputation- in his community—yes, and for that matter his own self-respect—is detemined to a surprising extent by his bearing. The man who slouches feels like a slouch. - The man who holds his head up faces the world with confidence and courage. If this is true in civilian life, it is ten times more true in military life. For a soldier must always be strongly marked by his snap, his precision, and his vigor. He can not have these traits unless he carries himself like a soldier. THE BEARING OF A SOLDIER Few people without military training have a correct idea of what is meant by the position and the bearing of a . soldier. They are apt to imagine that it means a strut or an extremely strained attitude. Or, more frequently, they think that the term can properly be applied to any erect position. The truth of the case, however, is that there is a definite procedure to follow in order to place yourself in what is* known in the army as “the position of a soldier,” it is the position which the dismounted soldier always assumes at the command “Attention,” except as it may be slightly modified to enable him to carry properly any arms he may have in his hands. It will be well for you to memorize paragraph 51 of the Infantry Drill Regulations, which gives the complete and accurate description of the position of the soldier. This paragraph is slightly paraphrased and simplified in the description following: Keep in mind that there are ten elements which must be properly adjusted to each other, and check yourself up to see that each one of them is properly placed. 1. Heels —on the same line and as near each other as possible; most meh should be able to stand with heels touching each other. 2. Feet —turned out equally and forming an angle of about 45 degrees. 3. Knees—straight without stiffness. 4. Hips—level and drawn back slightly; body erect and resting.equally on hips. 5. Chest—lifted and arched. 6. Shoulders—square and falling equally. 7. Arms —hanging naturally. 8. Hands hanging naturally, thumb along the seam of the trousers. 9. Head—erect and squarely to the front; chin drawn in so that axis of head and neck is vertical; eyes straight to the front. —lo. —Entire body—weight of body

resting equally upon the heels and balls of the feet. Note especially that you are not required to stand in a strained attitude. You are to be alert but not tense. ' _ _ One of the very best things you can do today is to spend fifteen minutes practising this position, getting it right. Keep this up every day until you report at camp. MAKING YOURSELF FIT If you can devote part of your time to physical exercise you are fortunate and should by all means take advantage of every opportunity. Climbing, jumping, gymnastic exercises, all kinds of competitive games, swimming, rowing, boxing, wrestling, and running, are all recommended as excellent methods of developing the skill, strength*, endurance, grace, courage and self-reliance that every solThere are some simple rules of eating and living which all of us should follow regularly. They will be especially h^ipful *to_ .you H_YQU; put them into practice in preparing fpr camp life. Perhaps the most important of these rules is to use no alcohol of any kind. . .... If you have been in the habit of smoking immoderately, cut down; get your wind, your nerves and your digestion into the best possible condition. ■ Eat and drink moderately. Chew your food well. It is advisable, however, to drink a great deal of cool (not cold) water between meals. Don’t eat between meals. Keep away from soda fountains and soft drink stands. Learn to enjoy simple, nourishing food. Accustom yourself to regular hours for sleeping, eating and the morning functions. Don’t “take a last fling.” It may land you in the hospital. At the .best, it will probably bring you into camp in an unfit condition to take up your new duties with profit and enjoyment. These are strenuous days ahead of you and it will be good sense on your part to make reasonable preparation for them. - LOOK FORWARD WITH CONFIDENCE You will find nothing required of you in the army that i* beyond the powers of the every day American. You will see clearly ahead of you, after you have read this course, the path you are to follow. Look forward with confidence. Enter the service with the firm determination of doing your best at all times, of playing square with your superiors, your associates and yourself, and of taking care always of your assigned duties whatever may happen. You will find that everyone else will treat you with courtesy and fairness—for that is the inflexible rule of the army. Out of that rule grows the comradeship and the attractiveness, even in the face of all dangers and hardships, that are characteristic of American army life.