Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 217, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1917 — SELF HELPS for the NEW SOLDIER [ARTICLE]

SELF HELPS for the NEW SOLDIER

By a United Stales Army Officer

(Copyright, 19X7, by the Wheeler Syndicate, lac.) THE CORPORAL'S IMPORTANCE IN EXTENDED ORDER. We have seen that, as the squad Is Initiated into extended order the mention of the corporal becomes more frequent. In the same degree, his Importance increases. For, while a corporal commands a squad In close order to a limited extent, he exercises more authority and discretion when It is deployed in a line of skirmishers. He then has the responsibility for the conduct and safety of his men under varying conditions and rules far less minutely prescribed. If the new soldier, In verdant ignorance, has been lncllr.ed to resent the corporal and his exercise of authority heretofore, he will appreciate it distinctly now. For, exactly as the rules for extended order work are less cut add dried than In close order, generally speaking, the new soldier now feels the need for encouragement and guidance. The function of a corporal is to encourage and instruct as well as command his men.

The basis of the resentment which the new soldier may at first develop against a corporal or a sergeant lies In the fact that the noncommissioned officer, save for two or three stripes on the arm, shoulders his gun and plugs along in the line Just like a private. The “rookie” therefore dislikes to be ‘‘bossed around,” as he would express It, by a man with whom he rubs elbows. As soon as he finds himself In extended order, however, and loses the sense of mutual support that comes frpm standing shoulder to shoulder as in close order, the new soldier becomes exceedingly grateful for constant admonition, instruction and command from the corporal. These act as a prop. They do a vast amount toward filling up the 15 inches of vacancy to either side of him. When a squad is deployed on the firing line with a platoon or company, the corporal transmits to his men commands and signals from the officers when necessary. Even when it Is not, at all times he observes the conduct of

his squad and by talking In a cheerful, encouraging manner^—verbal pats on tflte back —abates the excitement “The best troops,” says the Drill Regulations, “are those that submit longest to fire control. Loss of control is an evil which robs success of Its greatest result. To avoid or delay such loss should be the constant aim of all.” In everyday, unmilitary English, this means that the last troops to “blow up” In a fight will win. Therefore, never blow up. It Is the corporal’s Job to see that the new soldier does not blow up. And the new soldier, after a skirmish exercise, even against blank cartridges, will find that he is extravagantly grateful for every word with which the corporal has helped to keep him firmly anchored to the ground. The experience of citizen soldiers on the Mexican border and, in a more important degree, in the new armies of England, has shown that obedience to the corporal and the sergeant, carried still a step further to obedience to the senior private, then to the next in length of service, rather than making men servile, has an effect quite the opposite. For each mah thereby learns automatically to command the next man below him, and in a battle, if his noncommissioned officer or seniors are put out of action, he assumes their authority without a hitch. ,