Tennessee Military Institute - Radiogram Yearbook (Sweetwater, TN)

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MILITARY Tennessee Military Institute is military in plan, method, and organization for the sake of the permanent values accruing to boys through the military sys- tem. It is the purpose of this school to train for intelligent and successful citi- zenship. A few boys each year may pass on to West Point or Annapolis, and thence become army or navy officers, but an overwhelming majority of our cadets look forward to business or professional life. Hence, the military sys- tem would not be justified if it were of value only to those cadets who are pre- paring for a military career. The reasons for our belief in the value of mil- itary school training for American boys, irrespective of the later work they contemplate, are set forth in the paragraph which follows. WHY MILITARY? We believe that most boys need the lessons in physical fitness resulting from military training-erect carriage of the body, firm, rhythmic step 5 sys- tematic, everyday, outdoor exercise as a means of keeping physically fit, and that they need the character-forming lessons derived from living, working, and playing according to an orderly schedule. In a good military school the boy wakes, dresses, eats, works, plays, studies, sleeps, in accordance with a regular schedule. He learns how to dress neatly without being a dude, how to be dignified in bearing without being stiff, how to act his part as a leader of men without appearing pompous and presumptuous. Orderliness, regular- ity, and systematic procedure are part of the atmosphere in which he lives. To these may be added respect for superiors, respect for government, and the spirit of co-operation and teamwork so much needed in the complex civic life of the present generation. Some one has said that a man's character is the sum total of his habits. Many courses of thought and action become habitual in a military school, and these are desirable habits to build into character. RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS IR.O.T.C.I Since 1918, Tennessee Military Institute has had a unit of the Reserve Officers Training Corps with one commissioned oHicer and one or more non- commissioned assistants detailed from the War Department for instruction in Military Science. Cadets satisfactorily completing the full course of instruc- tion either receive commissions as second lieutenants in the Reserve Corps or certificates of eligibility entitling them to such commissions on reaching their twenty-first birthdays. The school ranks high among schools of this type on the excellence of its military work. Page Fifty-Nine

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GENERAL WEWf OF OUR BACK YARD

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HOW THE MILITARY AFFECTS THE DAY At 6: 15 A.M. the boys awake at the sound of the bugle. They have a brief period in which to dress for the morning setting-up exercises. These exercises are similar to those used at West Point and include the many new exercises used in the training camps during 1917 and 1918 that resulted in such marvelous physical development of the young men in the service. While the notes of Reveille are not considered musical by most boys in the early morning, every cadet has good reason to be thankful the rest of his life for the physical development resulting from these exercises. The reader's atten- tion is invited to the views shown on pages 66 and 67 illustrating this work. CARE OF ROOM Following the setting-up exercises, a brief period is allowed for getting quarters in order for inspection. Most boys need this lesson in orderliness. Every room must be kept in order by the occupants, taking weekly turns. Faculty officers make a careful inspection of rooms on their floors each morn- ing and more exacting inspections occur each Saturday. MEAL AND CLASS FORMATIONS Preceding each meal, the cadets are formed by companies and marched into the mess hall. During the academic part of the day each class forms separately on the outside and is marched to the recitation room by the rank- ing cadet. This requires no more time than the less orderly manner of as- sembling in nonmilitary schools, and gives much experience to officers and noncommissioned ofiicers in handling groups of cadets. FIELD WORK At least one hour a day is devoted to outdoor military drill, this being done just after the academic work of the day is finished. In addition to the value of the training given, exercise in the open is thus guaranteed daily. A VIEW IN SPECIAL WEAPONS ROOM OF THE ARMORY Page Sixty