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

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lf THE STORY OF THE CAMPS K nf N Q t 4 f i The significance of the Citizens' Military Training Camps cannot be fully appreciated by any one. Those young men know it best, perhaps, who have attended the camps during the past five years, one hundred and twenty-five thousand of them in forty training centers from Maine to California and from the Canadian border to the Gulf. These young men went from home and school, from farm, office and factory. Many went to training points well-known in the days of ,I7 and ,IS-DCVCHS, Meade, Plattsburg, McClellan, Knox, Custer and Lewis. Others gathered at regular army posts, Mc- Kinley, DuPont, Benjamin Harrison, Snelling, Des Moines, Leavenworth, Jefferson Barracks, Sam Hous- ton, Bliss, Crockett, Logan, Douglas, Wright and Del Monte. Some journeyed for special training in the Artillery to Madison Barracks, Bragg and Sill, in the Cavalry to Ethan Allen, Oglethorpe, Russell and Huachuca, in the Signal Corps to Camp Vail or for coast defense work to many s-tations from Fort Adams to Fort Scott. They remember their emotions when enrolling, they remember the varied experiences of camp life, but only by the introspection which comes with years will they realize the full value of the lessons there received. Fathers and mothers whose sons went to the CMTC welcomed them back more vigorous in THE STORY OP THE CAMPS 'T THE BUGLE CALL never fails to give the new boy a thrill. mind and body, but they are hardly conscious of the years during which army officers and civilians joined in thought and work for the success of the Citizens' Camps. A great vision filled the mind of Leonard Wood, when as Major General and Chief-of- Staff, he proposed and directed the first camps in the summer of IQI3 at Gettysburg and Monterey. These were college camps intended primarily to arouse an interest in the sub- ject of National Defense. President Wilson endorsed them for their contribution also to physical health and character. The first Business and Professional men's camps, organized THE GATES OF OPPORTUNITY-Beyond lies a world full of new experiences. What thrills of antici- pation possess these young men from office and factory, home and school! Pngr Nfur' . . I . I . 1 1.1-1-I-VaI.'n'4U.14BVaUeV.'.lIuU-51-51. .Vg - V494 I

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Wy N THE STORY POPITTTHE CAMPS . in 1915 and 1916 at B f W: ff 1 , il Plattsburg and a dozen other training points from New York to p California, were the fore- runners of the Officers, Training Camps of 1917 and 1918. After the Armistice there was revived the thought, cherished by Leonard VVood at Platts- burg, of voluntary camps which would train young men to the obligations and privileges of citizen- ship. Graduates of the Plattsburg,' camps had organized the Military Training Camps Associa- tion in 1916 and thus established an agency which performed during the World War effective work in co-operation with the War Department. Mindful of the benefits which they received through their voluntary training and wishing to pass this opportunity on to a younger generation, the members of the As- sociation suggested in 1920 the establishment of Citizens, Military gl Training Camps. Con- T T - gressional appropriation was secured sufficient to enable the War Depart- ' 'tl an enrollment of nearly II,OOO men. ment to open ten camps in 1921 wi 1 ' l' t o ular approval. In agreement The great success of these camps won immet ia e p p 'd d for the training of 2o,ooo young men in 1922, for with public opinion Congress provi e 25,000 in IQ23, for 33,ooo in 1924 and for 35,ooo in 1925. The Secretary of War has recom- mended increased attendance year by year as Congress may provide the means. He says, ' ' - oufnf man'in the country will look ul hope that the time is not far distant when every y g l' attendance at this institution for the molding of forward seriously and expectantly to ns lonn W. WEEKS Sfcremry of War menf, President Harding did not live to realize the hope which he expressed in 1920, Hto see established, during my administration, a comprehensive system of voluntary military training for at least one hundred thousand men each yearf' The Citizens, Camps continue to receive notable support from the Vifhite House. President Coolidge declares them an essential in the plan of national security, and says, I hope that each year an increasing number of young men will take advantage of the opportunity which is afforded themf, ' l ount during several years General Pershing In his insp ection of the camps throughout t ie c rry fa r Tru vvvvvvvvvvvv 'VV' V-V' V Y Y 7 0 b . . . .4 . . . 1 . . . .vm1.1.v.v.v.v.v.v.y.vsm!-I-' I ' - e - - ' - 4 - - 1 - - , I Y u