Training for Peace-Time Leadership

Left: Vern Owen, Peterson, Utah; Center: Justus Stevens, Logan, Utah; Right: Francis Hayes, Salt Lake City. The first three young men in Utah to receive commissions in the Reserve Officers? Corps of the Army of the United States. These men were commissioned as second lieutenants at the regular commencement exercises held at the Utah Agricultural College last June. Training for Peace-Time Leadership By D. E. Robinson, Professor of Marketing, Utah Agricultural College I watched him come sidling into the office of the College Commandant as a tramp might approach a police captain — half hoping that he might be thrown in a warm jail for the winter — half afraid there might be a job of rock breaking to do. With shuffling feet and awkward pose he mumbled, "Is this where you got to take drill?" Following a significant look from the Commandant, he removed his shapeless hat, and dis- closed a shock of black hair in which I almost imagined I could see burrs sticking. "Yes, sir," rapped out the Commandant. And in less than five minutes the applicant had been registered for military work, had been given a few fundamental instructions concern- ing soldierly bearing, and, most significant of all, had even caught so much of the spirit and snap of military training that when he left the room his hat was on straight, his knees straight- ened out as he walked, and his shoulders were nearly erect. I turned to Major Sullivan, the Commandant in charge of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, at the Utah Agricultural College, Logan. "What's the use, Major?" I asked, "you don't hope ever to make a soldier out of that fellow?" "More than that," answered the Major. "We are going to

S98 IMPROVEMENT ERA make officer material out of him, if we can have him through- out his entire schooling." Within a year I had occasion to recall the Major's promise. A young man in uniform, erect of carriage, firm of step, with a clear voice trained to give commands, was taking a platoon through a snappy drill. The Major at my side said, "There's the young grizzly I promised to turn into an officer. He's de- The work in the Motor Transport Unit is "intensely practical and makes of the student a traitied mechanic veloping more quickly than I thought. He loves the work and is aiming for a captaincy." Only after a private interview, fol- lowing the drill, could I convince myself that this was actually the same young man. Right then and there, I decided that the Reserve Officers' Training Corps is one of the biggest factors in building young manhood in our schools today. And I asked Major Sullivan,

TRAINING FOR PEACE-TIME LEADERSHIP 599 One of the two Browning machine guns in the Coast Artillery laboratory. The cadets learn the mathematical and mechanical principles underlying the operation of these guns in charge of the Coast Artillery unit, at the U. A. C, and Cap- tain Challice, in charge of the Motor Transport unit, to talk to me about the aims and ideals of the work. Said Major Sullivan : The progress of military training in our schools and colleges is already most encouraging. Figures given out by the Secretary of War show that, at the close of the past academic year, the total enrollment in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps was 90,811. There were 227 senior units with 5,025 students enrolled in the advanced courses and 39,228 students en- rolled in the basic courses. There were 116 junior units with an enrollment of 46,558. Of these junior units, 51, with an enrollment of 34,472 were organized in the high schools of the country. Of the 5,025 students in the advanced courses, 1,069 qualified for commissions in the Officers' Reserve Corps, at the close of the academic year. The work offered at the U. A. C. is typical of that given throughout the country. Our purpose is not to make soldiers of our students. We are training the future officers of a nation. In time of war a good soldier can be made

600 IMPROVEMENT ERA in three months. A good officer takes years to train. But while the War Department justifies itself in organizing these military units in the schools on the ground that the greatest country on earth must have a citizenry trained to defend its ideals of liberty, there is even a greater justifica- tion for this work in our educational institutions. We are training leaders for times of peace just as surely as we are training leaders for times of war. Employers of men often come to me for recommendationr concern- ing applicants for positions. If I can tell an employer that the applicant has gone through his military training with credit, he is satisfied to over- look much else. He knows that such a man can both give and take orders — that he can be depended upon to carry a job through — that he has learned to think quickly in emergencies. Various phases of military work are taken up in the dif- ferent schools. One school may have an infantry unit, another a cavalry unit, a third a field artillery unit, a coast artillery unit or a motor transport unit. The Utah Agricultural College is particularly fortunate in that it has two of the most inter- esting units in the entire R. O. T. C, the coast artillery and the motor transport. Each unit is divided into two courses, the basic and the advanced. In the first year of the basic course, the cadets take up the school of the soldier, the school of the squad, the manual of arms, platoon drill, company drill, bat- talion drill, parades and inspection. During the sophomore year, the following subjects form part of the military instruc- tion: military courtesy and discipline, care and handling of arms and equipment, personal hygiene, first aid and sanitation, guard duty, minor tactics, liaison, topography and map read- ing, and signalling. In addition to the above, the sophomore students in each unit receive special instruction in the material pertaining to the particular branch of the service selected. For the motor trans- port students, theoretical and practical instruction is given in automotive and gas engines in general, in the assembling of automobile and truck bodies, in automotive repair work and in the handling of truck convoys on the road. The one hour weekly special instruction for sophomores in the basic coast artillery course comprises practical work with an 8-inch Howitzer and a 155-mm.-G. P. F. gun. Both of these guns represent types that were handled by the coast artillery troops in action in France. In addition, instruction is given in the types of powders, explosives, projectiles, primers and fuses used; instruments used for determining ranges to targets; artil- lery telephones and the different types of devices used for cor- recting ranges to enemy targets. A model plotting room for determining ranges similar to the plotting rooms actually exist- ing in our coast defenses today has been set up at the College.

TRAINING FOR PEACE-TIME LEADER9HIP 601 Students in the basic course who so elect may take the six weeks' course of instruction at a basic camp during the summer following the first or second year of the basic course. Trans- portation to and from the camp, rations, clothing, medical and dental treatment are furnished by the Government. After completing the two years basic course of instruction, students who have successfully qualified are eligible to con- tinue their education in the advanced course of the unit which they selected in the freshman year. To be thus eligible, stu- dents must be considered qualified by the President of the Ag- ricultural College of Utah and by the Professor of Military Studying the cut away model of a gasoline engine. Every working part is plainly shown Science and Tactics. Only the best students are admitted. Students who elect the advanced course and are admitted thereto agree in writing to pursue the course until graduation and to attend the six weeks' course of practical instruction known as the advanced summer camp which starts about the middle of June between the junior and senior years. The student pur- suing the advanced course receives commutation of rations, about 53 cents a day, until graduation. Travel to and from the camp and living expenses at the camp, including medical at- tention, are provided for by the United States Government. In

IMPROVEMENT ERA Students operating the switchboard in the Coast Artillery laboratory. This switchboard controls the tinting mechanisms and other electrical equipment in the laboratory addition, the advanced student receives $1 a day while at camp. During the junior and senior years, the advanced course for both units includes the following subjects; camp sanitation, care of troops in the field, minor tactics, topography and map reading, field engineering, common law, military law, and ad- ministration. The instruction in the junior and senior years of the coast

604 IMPROVEMENT ERA artillery unit also includes the following subjects: gunnery, orientation and surveying, coast artillery drill regulations, ex- terior ballistics, ordnance, organization of the artillery, tactical artillery problems. In the motor transport unit the following subjects are covered : advanced motor vehicle engineering, motor vehicle construction and design, convoy problems, transporta- tion surveys, administration and maintenance, organization op- eration, economics of motor transportation. Upon the satisfactory completion of the advanced course, the student, if he so desires and is so recommended by the President of the Agricultural College of Utah and the Pro- fessor of Military Science and Tactics, will be given a com- mission as second lieutenant in the Officers' Reserve Corps in the branch in which he qualified. Last year, the institution presented commissions to three young men, the first such commissions to be granted in the State of Utah. These men are J. Francis Hayes of Salt Lake City, Vern Owen, of Peterson, Utah, and Justus Stevens, of Logan, Utah. The student who has accepted a commission in the Reserve Corps of the United States Army will be obliged to attend a two weeks camp each summer unless he is excused for urgent reasons. His transportation to and from the camp will be paid by the Government, and while at the camp he will receive the full pay of his rank in the army. The equipment necessary to give such an ambitious course is extensive. It represents an investment worth some $175,000. This material placed at the college shows clearly how import- ant the United States Government considers the work at the institution. The coast artillery unit is equipped with one 37 millimeter gun such as was used by the infantry in going "over the top;" with six Browning automatic rifles; 2 machine guns; one 8-inch howitzer of the type used by the U. S. troops on the western front; one mine case used in mining harbors; one 3-inch Stokes mortar; complete equipment for a plotting room with plotting board, gun deflector board, power switch board, telephones, and radio equipment; and a puff board, representing the field of the battle of Gettysburg, where gun ranges can be ascertained. A 155 millimeter G. P. F. gun is coming to complete the equip- ment of the coast artillery unit. The Motor Transport Unit has in its equipment one 5-ton Mac truck, three 3-ton Riker trucks, two 1^-ton G. M. C. trucks, one \l/2 -ton White truck, one Dodge touring car, two motorcycles, one dismounted truck gas engine for study purposes, one dis-

606 IMPROVEMENT ERA mounted Brill machine shop, one sectionalized Ford motor, and one ten-ton artillery tractor. In addition, the department maintains at the college store rooms where complete uniforms are apportioned out to the stu- dents, and an armory where an indoor target range has been rigged up. An outdoor target range has been established some two miles east of the college, in the mountain side. During the winter the indoor range is the scene of exciting matches, while during the fall and spring the cadets go by truck to the outdoor range where more ambitious contests are staged. "What, in your opinion, are the outstanding benefits to the student who takes military work in an R. O. T. C. unit?" I asked Major Sullivan, following our tour of inspection. "For briefness I will tabulate them," answered the Major: "First, he learns to give and take orders. "Second, he learns the value of an erect carriage — head up, shoulders back. "Third, he improves his health by proper exercise. "Fourth, he develops qualities of leadership. He learns to think quickly and to give commands clearly. "Fifth, he develops a love of country that every true Amer- ican must have. "Sixth, he gets paid for going to school. During his first two years of training he is uniformed at government expense. During his last two years he receives, in addition to clothing, approximately $300 from the government. In an address by the Honorable John W. Weeks, Secretary of War, recently de- livered by Major General James G. Harbord, Deputy Chief of Staff, on behalf of the Secretary of War, before the students of Lehigh University, we have an authoritative statement of the value of the R. O. T. C. I refer you to the following excerpts: " 'Student military training does not involve a sacrifice for the public good without return to the individual. It has a positive educational value for each student. Our most emi- nent educators have agreed that, aside from its physical benefits, time devoted to the military studies in the R. O. T. C. is fully entitled to credit in the general scheme of mental culture. The student of engineering will be a better civil engineer for some knowledge of the military applications of his profession to the nation. In subjecting themselves to the discipline which is es- sential to military teamwork, young men soon learn the real secret of modern civilization which depends upon the com- bined action of human beings to common ends. ' 'There is also a distinct moral advantage in the contem- plation of patriotic service to the nation and in preparing to

TRAINING FOR PEACE-TIME LEADERSHIP 607 meet its obligations. But perhaps the greatest benefit of mili- tary training is found in the opportunity it gives a young man to develop his gift of leadership and to acquire a sense of its responsibility. No man can prepare himself to serve his coun- try in war without making himself more valuable for all of the relations of civil life. The student who avails himself of the opportunity offered by the R. O. T. C. will graduate a better man for himself, for his family and for his country. He will go out better prepared for peace as well as for war. ' 'Today the Government of the United States is deter- mined to take such measures in time of peace as a prudent na- tion should take, not in the interest of, or with the thought of military aggrandizement, or military aggression against other nations, which the sentiment of our people and the fixed policy of our Government forbid, but in the interest of the preserva- tion of peace among the nations of the earth, and the War de- partment appeals to the Universities and Colleges — The Institu- tions of Higher Education in our land — to give effective aid to this and by giving our intelligent educated college-bred men such reasonable means of military training and knowledge as will make better men of them, and prepare them to serve ef- ficiently the country, if need ehould arise.' " The Sunflower I stood in the fields at sunrise On a morn so fair and bright, And saw how gladly the sunflowers! Turned their faces to the light. At midday those selfsame flowers, Still looked at the smiling sun. At even' they faced the glowing west, Whence its last bright rays had come. And thus do we ever find them, With their golden blossoms bright, Looking with hope and constancy To the source of earthly light. O! that we, like the faithful flowers, In life's early morning bright, Might seek for our inspiration At the source of heavenly light. O! that life's midday may find us, With face to its living rays, And may we still be seeking it, At the eve of earthly days. Payson, Utah J. Raymond Huish