Tennessee Military Institute - Radiogram Yearbook (Sweetwater, TN)

Page 61 text:

aw MILITARY 4644 WHY 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 oflicersg 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. We believe that most boys need the lessons in physical fitness resulting from military training-erect carriage of the bodyg firm, rhythmic step, 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 lR.O.T.C.l Since 1918, Tennessee Military Institute has had a unit of the Reserve Officers Training Corps with one commissioned ofiicer 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 has been designated an Honor Military School every year since 1927. Page Fifty-Seven

Page 60 text:

GENERAL VIEW OE OUR BACK YARD

Page 62 text:

MILITARY INSTRUCTION VALUABLE There was a time when military training in the military schools con- sisted chiefiy of close-order drills, dress parades, and other ceremonies for show purposes, such as is still the case in semimilitary schools. That period is long past in the schools giving the courses of instruction prescribed for units of the Reserve Officers Training Corps. In such schools, there is still sufiicient close-order drill to develop close attention to minor details, to acquire precision in simple and complex movements, and the perfect marching tech- nique so much admired by the crowd. This can be acquired by a group of alert boys in a surprisingly short time. After that, the time allotted to the military-one hour each day-is divided between extended-order drills and field problems in military strategy in which use is made of a large part of our 144-acre campus and golf course rather than the two-acre close-order drill and parade ground. A carefully written textbook on Military Science and Tactics is furnished to each cadet. Several more advanced texts are in the military section of the school library for use as reference texts by cadet officers. The textbook used by cadets embraces chapters treating, among others, the following subjects: Military Discipline and Courtesy, Military Sanitation and First Aid, Leader- ship and Command, The National Defense Act, Map Sketching, Map Read- ing, Field Engineering, Rifle Marksmanship, Mess Management, Care and Operation of Motor Vehicles, Military Law, Military History, Aerial Pho- tography, etc. We have heard T. M. I. graduates make the remark that they had derived more useful general information from the instruction in Military Science than from any other course taught in the school. MILITARY TRAINING VALUABLE The average American boy today is in much greater need of the training derived from his life in a military school than was the case a generation or two ago. At that period, there was still some regular routine to be observed and some regular hours to be kept in most homes. In addition, to most boys in those earlier days certain daily duties and tasks were assigned. In this day when the modern conveniences of the well-appointed home or apartment leave little that teen-age boys can do, and when family government and Page Fifly-Eight