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Col. Ballou Praises Work ofNegroes At the Army Post(Continued fj0iH .pa.G0 1,1nationnl arms-- K wa» for the.se that officers* were almost totally lacking.The total number of competent ceis in division its approximately 300. Toiul foi 10 divisions, 12,000.The country was divided fnlo IK [irons of e-cjuu.1 iiojininlloii and in each area one division was to be* conscripted and trained. Therefore the logical thing to do was to first, establish a tmining fschool In each nrcn. for Uie military education of the officer* who .would later he available for the truining or the division. These are the schools now. hi progress with such excellent, results al! over the Unite a Slate*. Forty thouguiul of the cream of American manhood were tfilted and 40,000 more are now pie-paring to respond to the call for the .second series of pffleer's camps.NationalIn addition to the 16 local, training camps,. there was established a seventeenth, nut local, but national* 1 t«i recruits were not drawn iron one rii-vfc£ur»al area, hut from th* entire United Slates, and every one of them Is a negro.The colored race constitutor more limn 10 per cent of our population, and has, since the civil war, furnished more than its quota of fighting men of the. regular army.. Al home or; on foreign soil,.'the ranks of the colored regiments. are always full, while the white regiments' havewith difficulty been maintained *iLpeace’strength. To question the valor of the .colored soldier is to lic-tray ignorance ot' history., .To Prove Fitness But. his opportunities for leadership have been limited to tfie grade of non comm intoned officer, and a few scattering, commissions. This is (he first opportunity* gften in- his history,-to prove on aU\ri.d.ecj.Uate scale )i\a fitness or unfitness for command and leadership. /kt Fort Des Moines, Iowa, on June 1$, 1917/ there assembled tho larg-e*t body of cdiiralert • nesrnjes ever brought together in the world for a single purpose.' They came there Lo strive lo qualify for the higher responsibilities involved in the deleave □f our country, and to thus demonstrate the ‘ fitness of1 their race for • citizenship in the. fullest s^nse of the teruu They were no ordinary lot of men)200 were non-commissioned Officers, sergeants, the pick of the old '’non-com of the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry and the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry*The remainder Was made up of men from almost every profession and vo cation—lawyer, doctors, merchants, teachers, clergy men, all were rcpre sented.‘Their Responsibility . When they were sworn Into the service of the United Stales, they, were briefly reminded that a special responsibility devolved upon Hi cm, en* tirely above .and beyond that involved in securing to the country a few hundred lieutenants and cap-tain?. It developed upon them to prove or disprove the It vni lability of i 1.000,000 of colored people for full participation in the great And re-sponsible work of war. The success or failure of this camp would “be ac* ceplcd by tho world at large as con-elusive evidence in respect to that question.The old non-coms of the regulars were also reminded of tiiei'r special responsibility in helping the work along by being at all times living examples of the highest standards of soldierly deportmenL discipline anl honorT and by working zealously in session and out of session In Imparting the thousand details of a soldier's life and duties that can only be learned by experience, to the candidate from civil life- These old so\dlera wove. distributed equally among the 14 companies composing the training regiment.Men Are l^yn.1 Practically every mant soldier and civilian responded to this presentation of their duty with all the strength there wad fn them, Fortunately their Commander was personally known to many of the old sohlier* and they gave him a complete Confidence that was apparently speedily shared by the entire regiment. The variously army ofrtcfera detailed as instructors were no less loyal ami devoted to the idea of success.In the week preceding the opening ot the camp, all plana were perfected, barraefcs made ready, cooks, waiters, janitors. and other employes secured, programs of instruction made out, supplies and te:t boo^s obtained and, in bYlcf, the machine was Oiled up and ready to start when the bell ring. It did.so start, with w6n« derful smoothness, and has run onAt the end of the first month the candidates’ were able to “take’stuck'* ot the renalts# many misfits had Lean eliminated*4 and returned lo their homes. The remainder began to experience ^bc confidence, elation and just pride incident to having survived thru fitness. Their commander had, in the beg inning, assured t hem that they might expect that no personal sympathy or consideration would deter him from ruthlessly, mercilessly,v eliminating from this eatnp any man that he found fall-lag short of established standards of honesty, morality and military efficiency,” ‘ and he had kept his word, A Vi who remained hud reason to fetil a sense of fitness.* tiiiaiiiy of Work ReiterThe result of eliminations -has been evident in the better quality ut th* work done. A detailed account of this work would be Inopportune and tedious. The end Lu be attained; and the progress toward that , end is tho main thing. This desired end ief in brief, the development of commissioned officers wh« .shall posses the requisite knowledge, character and ability to thresh raw material into sol diers; to teach them the details of their varied duties; to Inteligently and faithfully supervise the procurement, use and, care of clothing-, arms, food, and all other necessary^ supplies; to loot after'the health and general^ wetr fare of their men, and malntnin discipline with a-firm but just Hand; and fastly, to lead troops in conformity with sound tactical principles in battle. 1 ' - * '• Each of the foregoing requirements is an art in itself- the art of the teacher, that of the administrator, and also that of the tactician and natural leader of men. Few men possess all of these arts in a .marked degree, and many 'possess none of them, nor cati * they he developed in them; Men of latter clar* must be eliminated. '\bnSfiinoatvdcvdvPg8nr5r1;sa}vIntensive Training It should be needless to. say that no one can more than get a good start in three months, yet it is to be observed that these three months are spent in intensive training, and that the candidate gets in more actual work in that time than a national guardsman puts in in us many years and'moie than the average regular puts In in one year. Furthermore, tho candidates win survive are men of marked intelligence and ability. They will leave the camp, progressive men—men who at least have a clear idea of the scope ot their tasks, and who will develop much more rapidly than the average man under their command. They have been started out along correct lines, and will have no false Ideas to unlearn. In a year's time these men will he almost unrecognizable, due to tho further progress they will have made, :New Officers Each Day As to progress already made, we must remember that the camp is no; yet two months old. Most of thej candidates didn’t know a rifle from!\ a smooth bore when they carno here. | j Today tliey arc acting as officers Of the guard and officers of the day; rotating in command of companies and battalions in nil man-ner of military exercises; conducting battalions and regimental parades without the presence of a single instructor, and with officers and nob-commissioned officers detailed by dally roster from the candidates, so i that the ceremonies are handled by a complete new set of officers every [iii5n[[iitunnnnmiifiniiim[i[iii[iiinniiiS U. S. GOVER INDIAN LHalf million acres of valiu by U. S. Government on tns until fully paid for. Chance i Uncle Sam’s bargains. Al BELT1 You do not have to 1 II. For INVESTORS as well;Visit the big Pullman E: streets without delay find lea of the Great State of Oklaht1 Admission and Informat| Plat, Blue Prints, Geologicali end Products, etc,, on car, n| plain all conditions. Car open I :) 5 p. m.\ 7 to 9 p. m.I OPEN SIgsi Des Moines,*= ^sagIowaOklahoma E9th andscheduled time, without' scrloUS hiLehlg HCVCK IS IAor friction, evcv since _ 1 11 1 M111I tU tLLmUIHI I11 tinHIl! i IIM11 LI IlinUII
Newspaper Details
Des Moines Daily News
Des Moines, Iowa, US
Sun, Aug 19, 1917
Page 16
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 04 Apr 2020
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