Citizens Military Training Camp - Full Pack Yearbook (Fort Leavenworth, KS)

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.2.::ml'U LIN' ,0YACK'rav9 bile troops ready for service at any time at home or abroad. This force is strictly lim- ited in numbers in time of peace, but plans are provided for expansion in time of war. The functions of the Regular Army in peace time are many, important and of great economical value to the country. In pioneer days the War Department rendered great service through the building of highways, canals and railroads, mapping new areas and locating titles, developing waterways and protecting the frontiers against the Indians. In a recent address Secretary John W. Weeks briefly mentioned some work which the Army is doing today for the country. Through the Signal Corps and the Air Service it is co-operating with the Weather Bureau in the important service which the latter is rendering the public. In many parts of the country the Signal Corps is overcoming through its radio service the isolation of the farm. The Air Service is assisting the Department of Agriculture in its war against pests, a struggle in which the Chemical Warfare Service is doing good Work quite aside from the varied help it is giving the industries of the coun- try. The spread of forest fires has been largely prevented through the observers of the Air Service and in many other ways the War Department is working with other Govern- mental agencies for public health and prosperity. THE NATIONAL GUARD is the second component of the Army ofthe United States and is by far the greater in time of peace, while in time of war, itwill contribute fully one-third to the force available for national security. It is organized today on a federal basis and its support comes from both national and state appropriations. Upon the Nation- al Guard rests a primary responsibility for domestic quiet, it is a part of every community in proportion to population, and you who have been in the Citizens' Military Training Camp have a moral obligation to consider what you can contribute to its strength. THE ORC-ANIZED RESERVE represents concretely the principle of voluntary train-, ing for national defense, merely a skeleton organization in time of peace,it is planned to be the basis on which can be developed a citizens' army in time of war. Future ofiicers for the Reserve will come from the R. O. T. C. of our colleges and universities and from you graduates of the Citizens' Military Training Camps. They will not be available, how- ever, when need arises unless the youth of the country is filled with the thought of service. You know that no military obligation is involved in Citizens' Military Training Camp attendance during the first two years. For the White Course and for the Blue you are asked to enroll in some 'fcomponent of the Army of the United States and this will probably mean for you the Organized Reserve in case for any reason you cannot join the National Guard. In point of fact to sign your name for the Reserve involves no call to active duty or training, since there are no present appropriations for this purpose, but it should mean for you a solemn recognition of the service you owe your country and must perform in any case under draft legislation in time of need. The real difference for you lies ina better preparation if ever the nation is called to arms, and you have this because of your own desire to get ready for such emergency. The principle of voluntary training underlay the college, business and professional rnen's camps in IQI3, 714, '15 and 'I6. The graduates of these Plattsburg camps, in the spirit of Theodore Roosevelt and Leonard Wood, formed the Military Training Camps Association, which did great work in recruiting for the OHicers' Training Camps and for the different branches of the Service during the World War. After the Armistice this Association suggested to the War Department that civilian camps be conducted through- out the country, thus reviving the thought of Red, White and Blue Camps, so warmly supported by Newton D. Baker when he was Secretary of War. Voluntary training is, indeed, the policy of no one political party, but has received the consistent endorsement of Republicans and Democrats alike. No partisan consideration has ever entered into the training camp movement, which aims simply at good citizenship. When Congressional appropriations were first asked for the Citizens' Military Training Camps, Julius Kahn, Chairman of the Military Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, argued for them on the broad basis of civic advantage: Page Nine W r,,,g

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JOHN W. WEEKS Secrfzfary of War Pagf Eighut

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.ZGQFU LLGLEOTAC KQQED HThe value of this training cannot be es- timated on a financial basis. The physical benefits derived by the participants will be invaluable. It Will add materially to the virility of our young meng it Will teach them self-reliance, re- spect for law and or- der, and obedience to constituted au thor- ity-essentials that are absolutely neces- sary in a Republic like ours. James W. Wads- Worth, Chairman of the Senate Commit- tee, made at the same time a prophetic state- ment, which the last three years have justi- fied: '4The great interest manifested by the country in these Camps will make it clear to everyone con- cerned With military affairs that the prin- ciple upon Which they f are based is a sound one and that young America Welcomes the GENERAL JOHN J. PERSHING idea of voluntary mil- itary training. The same thought of service and the necessary preparation for it Was impressively set forth by Secretary 'Weeks When he said: , I hope that the time is not far distant when every young man in the country will look forward, seriously and expect- antly,to his attendance at this institution for the moulding of men.'7 If you Want to test Whether you have profited -by your summer,as the men hope who started this movement,cornpare the results in yourself with the benefits Which General Pershing sees in voluntary training: It develops the physical vigor and manliness of our youth and sharpens their mentality. It teaches self-discipline and respect for constituted authority. It 'encourages initiative and gives young men confidence in their abilities. The Page Ten