Medical Officers Training Camp - Yearbook (Fort Riley, KS)

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yi A --X - Y . , . .. .V -. . ' -. v v,,f .-,..g...illiiZl..':i:f?l.f, Qig.ii.l.255N'5-..l.W?t,l,IlllHi.:s.l1!3Nll cultivarUIIIIINWIOO'ISD''JUDOllwllw'www0nllwnnmmoolmvwdlliwnillvsqunomzuwwfmluvoluanodqnoxuwommlvnilioqllvniamlb! l Ui. i I-'ll VY I-QANSAH ,,, X . structed in epidemiology, the handling of 'evacuation hospitals, hospital trains, evacuation ambulance companies and all other units of a special character with a division and also along the lines of communi- cation. ' In November it was decided that the professional instruction of officers of the Medical Department would be better carried out at these camps, and, acting upon this decision, schools for the intensive instruction in Orthopedics, X-Ray, Surgery, and Internal Medicine were inaugurated. At the present time this instruction is of extreme importance: its expansion is noted daily. In addition to the instruc- tion of the officers in special lines, it was also found necessary to give special instruction to the enlisted men, therefore, not only thoroughly training them in the duties of the soldier, per se, but also these men are receiving instruction in the duties of clerks, chauffeurs, automobile mechanics, drivers, nurses, cooks and all other special details for which enlisted men of the Medical Department are available. In a summary of this character, attention should be called to the fact that on the expansion of this camp to its full capacity, and by the relief of five of our regular officers who were instructors in lthe early days of the camp, the major portion of the instruction came upon the shoulders of the Reserve OfHcers. Most of these officers knew nothing of army service except in an academic way before june lst, 1917, and it is with a great deal of pleasure that the statement can be made that these officers hagze acquitted themselves in a most thorough manner and that their instruction has been of the highest or er. In conclusion, it must be stated that both ofhcers and enlisted men who have been on duty at this camp have shown the greatest desire to learn their duties and also to become as thoroughly instructed as the time of training would permit. All officers and men sent from this camp for detail elsewhere have given excellent service, and it has been recognized by those in authority that these men were not only well grounded in the principles of sanitary service, but also carried with them an esprit and desire to give their full ability and services to their country. qmlmn.-Q-. -WQQWQHUWHQQQDDQOQCQOHQQ mvu qgq 1 . 10 , A

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MEDICAL OFFlClil2Sg'liI2AlNlNC CAMP '1 '9 'llO3l:'o in T oioioioioioioqhoioioioioio ITD ITT Dil .l7,Y, KAN SAS g Toreworo T 5 T the outbreak of the present war, the expansion of the Regular Medi- . I cal Corps, which consisted of approximately 500 medical officers . A l iid 13000 Enlisted men, to a number sufiicient to properly officer ,ummm ,S Segojgger Bree t?hat. this Ceountry was to. raise, brought up a very p o em or imme iate consideration. X It has been frequentl stated b ersons 0 ' I that a doctor needs no furifher trainlhgg than hii l edge to immediately step into the work of a military medical officer. wg., This 1S a fallacy that has caused.this country much sorrow and . A-f trouble. and a reference to the medical history of the Civil War and Y' the war with Spain tells many sad stories of suffering in the armies of this country, due to this lack of militar instruction a '- cal officers. This was thoroughly understood in the Surgeon Generals' Office at the otlifblfgakheolfwtclife present war and immediate steps were taken to organize training camps to prepare the medical Officers for their duties with the troops in the field. This department was put under the control of Colonel E L Munson, M. C., who, by training and his profound knowledge of the problems presented, was eminentl l fitted for the work which, to say the least, was monumental in character. y The plan as developed consisted of the establishment of training camps at Fort Riley Kansas Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and Fort Benjamin I-larrison, Indiana, with the smaller camp for coldred Officqers at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. To these camps were to be sent all officers of the Reserve 'Corps who were called into active service, except those whose services as examiners of recruits were needed for immediate duty. A course of three -months' intensive instruction was outlined. This course was only intended to give ground work upon which was to be built the thorough instruction of the officers before the went to the battle front, it being recognized by the authorities that three months of even intensive i y struction was not sufficient to make of them finished products. H' In the organization of these camps for this purpose, the following plan was pursued A Commanda t and a staff of regular medical officers who by their previous training and study were especiall u fied, were selected to instruct in the different branches of the work. In addition to this it vga? aal 1- provided that the training of the enlisted men of the Medical Department was to be carried out To these camps. This was done for a double purposeg not only to train the men themselves but also bn their presence, to provide organizations for the training of the medical officer in his special' duties l y The camp at Fort Riley, Kansas, was established on june lst, 1917, the staff of instructors h ' - arrived shortly before this date. Temporary barracks and, stables were constructed and seventavfing officers started in to receive their training. Shortly after this, other officers arrived but unfortu y- ie the full capacity of the camp was notyreached until about the last of August whenq 1100 officersnatey in training. Shortly after the first officers arrived, enlisted recruits were sent fo the camp and s were organized working force was present and the camp took on an appearance of actual war conditionsooqfan training for the first officers and enlisted men continued until August 25th, when officers and men I ' S for the five National Army Cantonments in this district were sent to their divisions These require ments were Camp Funston, Kansasg Camp Dodge, Iowa: Camp Lewis, Washingtong Camp 9122335- Texas and Camp Pike, Arkansas. , By this time a large number of officers and men were sent to the camp and itswfull ca 't reached. From that time until the present. intensive instruction of these men has continued wlfhci y was ing ,success, and officers from this camp have been sent, not only to the divisions in this countr fo mcreis' and special details but also an appreciable number have been sent abroad. y F regu ar In addition to the basic course, it was early recognized that the training of officers in s e ' 1 1' of work must be attempted, and special instruction in camp sanitation, and the duties of a sanitarp entles was inaugurated. From this beginning, a number of special departments have been built lh adI?:l'f'Or to the training of officers for regimental and sanitary train duties, they have also been specially: 152 9

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' W MEDICAI, L9I l ICIiI25 'l'I2AlNINfi7 QAIVII3 A V W W Q1010330ioioioioioQd:oLoonDoiuioioioioioQingxiodiwioii I-'Ol2'1' l21l.lf.Y, IOXNSAS .444 A 4. 4 ' ILLIAM N. Bispham was born May 22nd, 1875,at Warenton, Virginia. He was educated in the public schools of Baltimore and the Baltimore City College, Balt'more, Maryland. Later he attended the University of Maryland and was graduated from there in 1897, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For some , time previous he had been a member of the Fifth Regiment, Maryland National Guard. He entered the Service of the United States on April 22nd, 1898. During the Spanish-American War, Lieutenant Bispham had service at Chickamauga Park, Georgia, Tampa, Florida and Huntsville, Alabama. All of this service at that time was as Assistant Regimental Surgeon. In December, 1898, he went to Cuba with the Eighth U. S. Infantry as Assistant Surgeon. This regiment on disembarking at Havana, Cuba, was camped at first at Buena Vista, about seven miles west of the city. On the surrender of the city of Havana to the American Troops on January lst, 1899, this regiment was brought into the city and became a part of the acting police force of the city. Lieutenant Bispham was on duty in Havana with this regiment and in February, '99, was placed on duty as assistant to the officer in charge of Cuban Relief-who was the now Major General Greble. Later in the same year he was put on special duty with the Headquarters Department of Havana. In April, 1899, he was placed in charge of the yellow fever preventive work carried out with the troops quartered in the city of Havana. In july, 1899, he was detailed as inspector in the Department of Charities and Hospitals in the city of Havana under Surgeon Ross of the U. S. Navy retired. His duties in this detail were principally the inspection of the hospitals and several charitable institutions in the city of Havana. In january, 1900, he was detailed as Assistant to the Chief Sanitary Officer of Havana under General W. C Gorgas. He continued in that detail until June of that year when he was ordered to Cabana Barracks, Cuba, where he remained as Assistant Surgeon and Surgeon of that station until December of that year, when he was ordered to Columbia Barracks, Cuba, as Assistant Surgeon. He remained there until February, 1901, when he returned to Cabana Barracks as the Surgeon of that station. In April, 1902, he returned to the United States and was detailed as Assistant Surgeon at Fort Totten, Long Island, which had only recently been established as the Torpedo School for the Coast Artillery. He remained there until November of the same year, when he was ordered to Fort McHenry, Maryland, as the Surgeon of that station. While there he took a special course in clinical medicine under Doctor Charles E. Simon. In December, 1903, he was ordered to Fort Logan, Colorado, and remained there as Assistant Surgeon until February, 1907. During that time he attended the maneuvers held on the Pole Mountain Reservation in Wyoming and there commanded Field Hospital No. 4. He also served temporarily as Surgeon at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming, for two months in 1906. In March, 1907, he went to the Phillippine Islands and served successively as Surgeon at Camp Connell, Samar, Borongan, Samar, and Warwick Barracks, Cebu, returning to the United States in 1909 when he was detailed as Surgeon for the Military Prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. While on this detail he attended the first session of the Field Service School for Medical Officers at Fort Leavenworth. In 1912, he was detailed as Director of the Field Service School for Medi- cal Officers at Fort Leavenworth, succeeding Colonel E. L. Munson-who was the first incumbent of that position. In 1915, he was detailed for duty with troops on the Mexican Border and reported at Texas City, Texas, in August of that year. He was assigned to duty with the 28th Infantry, then camped in Galveston. From there he went to Mission Texas, with the 28th Infantry in October of the same year and served as the Surgeon of the 2nd Infantry Patrol District, In june, 1916, he was detailed as District Surgeon of the Brownville District with heaclquarrers at Brownsville, Texasl In july, 1916, he was detailed as General Sanitary Inspector, covering that part of the Border from Laredo to Browns- ville. Included in this district was the New York Division, the llth Provisional Division and troops in and about the city of Brownsville. In August of the same year, he was sent as General Sanitary Inspector for the Western Texas Dis- trict extending from Laredo to El Paso, with headquarters at Eagle Pass. The troops in this district consisted of a divi- sion at Eagle Pass and several separate brigades guarding the Texas Border. In February, 1917, he was ordered to Chicago, Illinois, as Lecturer on Military Hygiene and Army Administration at the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois, Northwestern University, the Chicago College of Medicine, Loyola University and the Hahnemann School of Medicine. In May, 1917, he was ordered to Fort Sheridan, Illinois, as Surgeon for the Reserve Officers Training Camp esrab- shed at that Post. ln the same month, he was relieved from duty at that station and was ordered to Fort Riley Kansas as the Commandant of the Medical Officers Training Camp estalished, at this place. ' ' He is a member of the Association of Military Surgeons and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, ' tiioioioiOioiOioaioioeuuoloioloivoaunnensoauswwb . I'1J Vf?'l.N- ' ll