Citizens Military Training Camp - Sentinel Yearbook (Fort Sheridan, IL)

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IJ EIGHT YEARS OF THE CMTC is f f t A----fs-r 4 ff5 'Yi'5-'? Qv? 5 THE BLU'E COURSE GRADUATES in one of the fifty camps throughout the country age Fo urrrf Il Army to whom is entrusted the welfare of their own sons during the thirty days of training. Nearly live hundred thousand fathers and mothers have sent their boys to the CMTC in these eight years and have found this slogan true, Send your son to camp and swap him for a man . The United States Army is no longer looked upon merely as a professional body for defense of the countryg commis- sioned officers and enlisted person- nel have become almost a part of the family of the nation. The Government offers an out'- door training of thirty days each year with all necessary expenses paid, including transportation, uni- forms, food, quarters, laundry and medical care. There is a four year course, the Basic for beginners and thereafter in sequence the Red, the W'hite and the Blue Courses. The Basic students are limited mostly to infantry instruction, but later each man selects the branch of the Service which he prefers, infantry. cavalry, artillery or signal corps, and his choice is allowed as far as facilities permit in the nearest train- ing center. There are fifty of these distributed in all sections of the country so that transportation costs are held to a minimum. Most camps give infantry drill but some are primarily equipped for instruction in cavalry or in field or coast ar- tillery. These training centers are on government reservations and are supplied with permanent mess halls and kitchens, while the young men are quartered either in barracks or in temporary tent cities. The growth of the CMTC has been phenomenal. ln IQZI Con- gress made provision for only 10,000 men, but the demand was so great that appropriations have been in- creased year by ycar until in IQZS there was room for 35,000. Appli- cations exceeded this nnmber from nearly 25,000 young men who could not be accepted for lack of space. ' V v v 'N v 'M'-vm'M,.,Jmv.,-,.,.,,,',,,,,,,,. 1 ' r.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.vmv.v.v.v.mv.vtv.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.n - o J B 54 i

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EIGHT YEARS OF THE CMTC schedule for thirty days before or after the period .of their own field training each year. Enlisted men are detailed to extra duty not only in the preparation of sites but in the ff 5 , W. 4 xt maintenance of the camps. Every father and mother makes a contribution, sometimes a bit doubtfully, when the son often for the first time leaves home to enroll in a CMTC. livery young man who attends offers his own sacrifice, perhaps of a chance for wage- earning or for a vacation more pleasureable than camp routine and discipline, perhaps merely his preference for a time of doing what he pleases in his own way. In no way is the training month to be construed as idle vacationing. The program represents real Work, though not arduous. Discipline is effective, although never arbitrary or Stern. Physical training comes largely through outdoor games but under expert direction and with a high standard for individual attainment. Recreations are varied in kind and with an ample time allowance but the young man who finishes a CMT Camp remembers longest the hours of drill or sentry duty. He recognizes with satisfaction that the thirty days attendance called upon his responsibility and endurance. ' President Coolidge has called the Citizens' Camps, essentially schools in citizenshipn and perhaps no better description can be given. After the month of training they send young men to their homes with a deeper sense of civic obligation and a greater determin- ation to fulfill the opportunity and responsibility of citizenship. The camps are under the administration of the VVar Department, because it is the only governmental agency fitted to conduct them. We have a small Regular Army, which is called upon to fill many functions aside from its primary duty in national security. Of all its varied activities none commands greater public approval than its management of the summer camps. Through them in all parts of the country parents, voters and tax payers come for the first time into direct touch with the officers of the Unted States SWIMMING POOLS offer healthful recreation at all training centers which are not located on ocean, lake or river. f , Page Tlzirzern . . . . . . . . . . . - -1- - -v- - - - - - - - N-V-' .v.v.v.v.v. .vv.v v.v.v v.v.v.v. . .v. .v.v.v v.v.

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EIGHT YEARS OF THE CMTC f f 5 I Q W4 Years ago President Harding said that he hoped for IO0,000 each year in the training camps and President Coolidge has frequently expressed his desire that there be a greater op- portunity for attendance each summer. The War Depart- ment is responsible for the enrollment of young men in the CMTC. Ap- plications always exceed the number of places available, and these are filed many months be- fore the opening of the camps. All training cen- ters could be filled by young men from one section of the country if such an arrangement seemed fair. Congress has expressed its desire, however, that this op- portunity should be freely open to candi- dates from all parts of the United States. With this in View camps have been located at no great intervals all the way from Maine to Calif- ornia and from the northern border down to the Gulf of Mexico. Moreover, each of the CIr,uu.r:s P. Snmu-1n,u,i. xllujur flvrlfwll, li, S, .-lrnly Chief ul' Stull' CAVALRY TRAINING has its own appeal to the young men of the CMTC. I 'ngr Flftwf II .v.v-v.v.v-v.v.v.v.v-v-v-v-V.v-V-v-1-v-'N-VV-V-V - W ' ' r.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.mv.nv-v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.vv