Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 184, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 August 1917 — SELF HELPS for the NEW SOLDIER [ARTICLE]

SELF HELPS for the NEW SOLDIER

By a United States Army Officer

(Copyright, 1917, by the Wheeler Syndicate, Inc.) TURNING THE SQUAD COMPLETELY ABOUT. i We now return to the squad for further instruction therein. “Squad, right,” which was explained in the thirteenth article of this series, is at once a movement so difficult and so important —important as the basis for changing the front of a platoon or company —that it would be beneficial to go overit again in preparation for “squad right about.” In “squad right,” the right man on the front rank, at the command “MARCH!" faces to the right in marching and marks time. He must cease absolutely to advance until the movement is completed. If he inches forward, he then ceases to be a “fixed pivotand unless “squad right” is performed upon a fixed pivot, the squads will not fit together properly when a column of squads swings into a company front. If, however, the pivot man turns upon the fixed spot and marks time, as he should, the various squads in company front will slip into place like boards with tongues and grooves. At the command of execution, “MARCH,” the three other front-rank men oblique to the right, place themselves abreast of the pivot man, and mark time. They do not stumble into position in loose and sagging circles. Each of these movements should be precise and military. Otherwise, the squad formation will be as slack as the movement of the slackest man. In the rear rank, the third man from the right (No. 3, in the “count off”), followed in column by ,Nos. 2 and 1, moves straight to the front until he finds himself immediately to the rear of his front rank man. Nos. 2 and 1 place themselves behind their froht rank men likewise. Then all face to'the right in marching and mark time. The other man of the rear rank —No. 4 —moves straight to the front, at the side of No. 3 for four paces and places himself abreast of the man on his right. Each man, as he reaches the new line, glances toward the marching flank —that is, those still to come on to the' new line—while he marks time, and when the last man arrives on the line, both ranks proceed with “forward march” without further commana. For the guidance of the squad members, the movement has been worked out in six counts —at the quick time cadence of 120 steps a minute — from the command “MARCH.” tn other words, if each man will perform his appointed task while counting six, Including the marking time, the squad will be ready to advance in the new direction Upon the sixth count. “Squads left” is, of course, executed as above with the fourth man in the front rank as the fixed pivot. Now, in order completely to reverse the front of a company and the direction of march, “squads right” (left) about” is executed. At this command, the pivot man (No. 1, front rank) executes “squad right” twice. He does not, however, make this a sloppy merger of the two, but starts the second “squad right” when the last man in the front rank on the first “squad right” has arrived abreast of the rank. They execute the movement in two distinct counts of six. The front rank moves then, as in “squad right.” The movement of the rear rank, however, is somewhat different from the same rank’s task in “squad right,” and this difference should be carefully noted. in the rear rank, the third man from the right—No. 3 followed by No. 2 and No. 1 in column, moves straight to the front until on the prolongation of the line (40 inches in the rear of the front rank) to be occupied by the rear rank; changes direction to the right; moves in the new direction until he, and Nos. 2 and 1 also, are each in rear of his respective front rank man, when all face toward the right in marching, mark time, and glance toward the marching flank. The fourth man marches on the left of the third man to his new position, and, as he arrives on the line, both ranks execute “forward march”—on the second count of six—without further command.

EXTENDED ORDER. Everything we have taken up bo far from “the school of the squad” except “take interval” and “take distance,” has been “close order” drill. Close order is necessary for marching, parade and disciplinary purposes, but in modern warfare—that is, outside of a trench —a squad fights in extended order. Even in a trench, the principle of the extended order is maintained ; that is to say, the distance between rifles is approximately the same as when deployed on its skirmish line. Of all the great armies in Europe, the Germans alone at the present time send troops Into battle in close order, lor “massed formation,” with the result ithat their casualties are appalling. Extended order, on the bther hand, a characteristic of American troops, is also uniformly practiced by the allied armies. The purpose of extended order is so to distribute the men of a squad that they may work in unison and without serious reduction of the amount of fire which can be delivered from a single section of the line, but, which at the same time leaves sufficient space between them to minimize the chances of their being hit. — Even a machine gun would not annihilate a squad In extended order

quite so expeditiously as it could dispose of one in close order. For not only does the extended order separate the men, but in that degree increases their chances of escaping bullets, but it also affords them infinitely better chances of finding cover while advancing. . ’ To deploy “as skirmishers,” which is the descriptive command for extended order drill, the corporal at the command of execution, “mar<sh,‘” springs in front of the squad, if hb does not occupy that position already. At a run, the other members of the squad place themselves abreast of the corporal at Jialf pace Intervals. Since a ■pace Is 30 Inches, “there is 15 Inches of space between men so deployed, instead of the four inches of close order. No. 2 of the front rank springs to the corporal’s immediate right. No. 2 of the rear rank takes station to the iipmediate right of No. 2 front rank. TffdTT.lSdnt~FMaKTg bn the Immediate right of No. 2 rear rank, and No- 1 rear rank on the right of Nd. 1 front rank. On the corporal’s immediate left Ls No. 3 rear rank, who has No. 3, front rank, on his left, while on No. 3 front rank’s left is the remaining member of the squad. No. 4 rear rank. In other words, with the exception of No. 4 rear rank, in extended order the rear rank men all place themselves on tJie right of their respective file leaders, and each front rank man, in springing to the side of the corporal, leaves room for the rear rank man of the same number to step into his proper position in the skirmish line. If there are any extra men in the squad (which sometimes happens), they fall in at the left of No. 4 rear rank, or at the extreme left of the skirmish line. In moving, the entire line conforms to the corporal’s gait, whether that be route step, double time, or still faster running. Deployed as skirmishers, a squad does not keep step; but it must take pains to see that a space of 15 inches is maintained between each man. A common error is for the men to bunch after a few steps forward have been taken. Inasmuch as the normal Interval between skirmishers is one-half pace, or 15 inches, each man has practically one yard of front. The front of a squad thus deployed is ten paces, or 25 feet.

WHEN X THE SQUAD IS ACTING ALONE IN EXTENDED ORDER. The squad in combat drill is what might be called a subsidiary first unit. The squad is not the regulation first unit—this is the platoon (one-fourth of a company roughly speaking), as will be explained later.’ But within a platoon, a closer fire control is often necessary, and to this the squad organization is adapted. Particularly is this essential to “firing by squads” which is, under certain circumstances, the most effective way in which the fire can be delivered. In addition, the squad is a most practicable unit for patrol and outpost duty, since it places a small and flexible body of men in charge of a noncommissioned officer for work which requires discretion and concealment. This is not to say that patrol or outpost duty is confined to squads, but it Is often subdivided finally upon the squad basis. In any event, the squad in extended order work of all kinds has many occasions to work independently, and it is then that the discipline and sense of unity acquired in close order drill will Justify Itself, as well as obedience and attention to the corporal. When the squad is deployed with other squads, the front and rear rank men place themselves abreast the corporal at half-pace intervals, as we have seen, but when the squad is acting alone, the skirmish line is formed in the same way upon No. 2 of the front rank. No. 2 stands fast in his place or continues the march, as the case may be. Meanwhile, the corporal places himself in front of the squad when advancing, and in the rear when halted. When he is in line, the corporal is the guide; when he is not in line —that is, when he advances la front of the squad as its commander— No. 2 front rank is the guide of the line, and it is the duty of No. 2 front rank to follow in the tracks of the corporal, with the rest of the squad guiding on No. 2. The command for assembling the squad may be given either as “Assembly, MARCH,” or by the corporal’s waving his arm in short circles above his head. At the command, the men move toward the corporal, wherever he has taken his station as a base, and form upon him, in their proper places, in close order. If the corporal continues to advance, they move in double time, form, and follow him. The assembly, while marching to the rear, is not executed. It will be seen that in deploying as the precise form of movement prescribed for close order drill is not adhered to.' A man has more ease and .latitude in carrying out the movements. This is to make speed. While men in close order arlK. compelled to turn corners sharply) and maneuver, so to speak, in angles, fti extended order it would be inefficient for a man to turn on an angle to reach his position when he could make a straight cut for it Yet this in no sense nullifies the need for precision in close order drill, without it troops would become hopelessly tangled up, and without it also there would not be the uniformity of movement which would cause members of a squad in extended order instinctively to choose the most direct—and in that sense, precise—short-cuts in the r least possible time. In fact, without the close order, they could make no short cuts at all, forthey would not know where to turn in order to find theii places in the squad.