US Army Infantry School - Doughboy Yearbook (Fort Benning, GA)

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lr., ,jg ' 1 , 32 '. . r F Il 1 ,Ii ' A 1 iammsuaarik School and the School of Musketry and for the first time in the history of our army there was established an all-Infantry training center. Here was laid the foundation of a plan of progressive training which still remains the guide to the development of our doughboys. The first school buildings were located on the Columbus-Macon Road, some eight miles north of the present school headquarters. This location gradually proving inadequate, it was determined to move the entire plant to another spot on the reservation, a plateau along the Chattahoochee River and Upatoi Creek, nine miles south of Columbus was selected and in June 1919 the school was moved lock, stock and barrel to its present location. Under the original plans, the Secretary of War had authorized the pur- chase of about 115,000 acres of land, the expenditure of approximately 33,600,000 for the project and directed that accomodations be provided for 24,000 troops. These plans were formulated exactly twenty-three days prior to the signing of the Armistice, and concurrent with the ending of the great struggle came a revision of the entire Infantry School scheme to fit peace time requirements. On December 26th, 1918, the construction features were cut down so as to accomodate 10,000 men and this was subjected to a further slice on Jan- uary 20th, 1919, when the War Plans Division directed the Construction Division to prepare estimates for only 5040 men. This estimate was submitted on January 25th, 1919, and on January 27th it was recommended that the area be reduced from 115,000 acres to approximately 98,000 to conform with the reduction of the intended personnel to 5040. On March 8th, 1919, both proposals were approved by the Assistant Secretary of War who directed the construction and purchase of real estate to be resumed so as to provide for approximately 5000 officers and men on 98,000 acres of land. The cost of the land was to be about S2,600,000g the co'st of construction not to exceed S6,600,000, making the total cost not in excess of 59,200,000 The project Went swiftly ahead, lands were acquired and temporary barracks built as rapidly as possible until on june 27th, 1919, when the Secretary of War directed that all purchase of real estate and construction Work cease. The fate of the Infantry School hung in the balance and it was not until nine months later and after great efforts on the part of the War Department that Congress decided to continue theiproject and insure its 'ff' to 5 me 1 'Wt

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Je , 'gif , New f l924- DOUGHBOY ' made to have the school taken over as an Army institution. This was achiev- ed in 1913 and, christened the School of Musketry, it was moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the location of the School of Fire for Field Artillery. While the Fort Sill reservation partially met the increased needs of this important training scheme and provided opportunity for cooperative work with the Artillery, it was never satisfactory from the larger viewpoint of all- round Infantry training. Finally upon our entry in the World War in 1917 the Artillery's need for expansion gradually crowded out the School of Mus- ketry and led to instruction in Infantry tactics and arms being given at three widely separated centers. First, the Small Arms Firing School was established at Camp Perry, Ohio, this was followed by the Machine Gun School at Camp Hancock, Georgia, while the remaining departments of Infantry Instruction continued to function at Fort Sill. From the start this was a very unsatisfactory condition of affairs and ultimately led to the consideration of a site for an Infantry School where would be combined the triple headed training centers of the Infantry arm. In selecting a location for this consolidated school, there were a number of special requirements to be considered in addition to the customary features necessary in a camp site. Chief among these were climatic conditions which would permit uninterrupted work the entire year: a large variety of terrain for unrestricted use as a class B rangeg a location near the center of population and within easy access to a seaport: and finally adequate rail facilities so that the several divisions which might be trained at such a school could be quickly moved. The first steps toward selecting a location were taken in june 1917 and between this date and September 1918, a lapse of sixteen months, a number of sites were considered. In practically every case the present location was first choice and finally the matter was sifted down to a decision between this and a location at Fayetteville, North Carolina. The Artillery already having selected the Fayetteville site for a firing school, a board which convened in September 1918, reached the decision to locate the Infantry School near Columbus, Georgia, and accordingly pro- ceeded eventually to purchase one of the largest tracts of land ever bought by the government of any nation. The Infantry School as it stands to-day, em- braces 97,000 acres and includes a varied terrain ideally suited to Infantry training. Here were moved the Small Arms Firing School, the Machine Gun L V Y v 1 2 3 123 gf 'A 1, ' -' S - if f fiw 2 114 F lg? ,ip ,,-. 14 K I pk S 1

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.1 A Ci -so I 924 DOUGHBOY . Q 5 , x : lv 'l ' permanence. The battle for the survival of the Infantry School was Won after it had apparently been lost a dozen times. The first student classes reported to the Infantry School on December 2nd, 1918 to take a Combined Course, lasting until February 22nd, 1919. This was followed by another class starting on March 15th and graduating September 30th of the same year. These first classes were necessarily small and in the ten months from December 1918 until October 1919 a total of 161 officers of the Regular Army graduated. The majority were junior officers and commissioned dur- ing or after the emergency. In October 1919 the first long class was established, known as the Basic Course. This same year the first National Guard and Reserve Officers' Class was organized. A total of 115 Regular Army Officers and 27 National Guard and Reserve Officers graduated in the term 1919-1920, the student personnel still continuing to be small due to the scanty appropriations, and the fact that the fate of the Infantry School as a permanent institution hung in the balance. It was not until the Spring of 1920, following the bill appropriating 31,000,000 for the completion of the construction started and the purchase of real estate, that a decision was reached making the Infantry School a per- manent service institution. Following this the student classes were increased by leaps and bounds and in 1920-21 were graduated the largest number of men ever turned out at Benning. In that year the first Field Officers' Class and Company Commanders' Class were started. The Basic Class was continued in two sections, due to its large size and the National Guard and Reserve Officers' Classes also showed a large increase in attendance. In all 644 officers were graduated. These same classes were organized for the year 1921-22, with the addition of the General Officers' and Refresher Courses. The name of the Company Commanders' Course was changed to Company Officers' Course, without deviation in the curriculum. For the next year the Basic Course was discontinued, due to the reduc- tion in the commissioned personnel under the elimination act, and no lieu- tenants attended the Company Officers' Course except those who had been reduced from the grade of captain. This policy continued in vogue for the current year. My 1 15: is 'Q ' T , S Y . '41 ts, 1 Y! ll 4 'i I