US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Eustis, VA)

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SEVEN YEARS OF 'THE CMTC Camps space that could not have been pur- chased for commercial purposes for less than many hundreds of thousands of dollars. They have given publicity to the camps because they recognized popular interest in voluntary training, just as Congress for the same reason has granted the necessary appropriations for the CMTC. Indeed, no other Governmental activity has won in recent years such unqualified approval as the Citizens' Camps. The Amer- ican Federation of Labor sent a committee last year to inspect the training at Plattsburg and afterwards in its national convention at Detroit unanimously declared, f'We believe that it would be advantageous to all the boys of our country to take advantage of the opportunity afforded them in the Citizens, Military Training Camps. They benefit by i . THE CMTC MESS is one reason why the men show an average gain of several pounds within the thirty days of the training period. the discipline. It stimulates their patriotic spirit and teaches them the principles of citizen- ship. Our investigation disclosed the fact that the boys who are taking advantage of this course are enthusiastic in their praise of the benefit they derive from this training. It is remarkable what benefits accrue to a boy after spending one month in camp. The Chair- man ofthe United States Steel Corporation believes that our young men should be trained in such regular and intelligent courses of study and practice as are afforded by the Citizen's Military Training Camps . These words express the feeling of employers throughout the country, who have given them substantialbacking by the allowance of two weeks' extra vacation with pay to such of their young men as are reckoned best qualified for this training. Corporations have largely profited by this action thru the better morale of thousands of their young employees who are striving by faithful and intelligent service to' show themselves worthy of such recognition. In religious denominations there has been from time to time some dissentient voice or query, but even thosegroupswhich have doubted the propriety of compulsory military in- struction in colleges supported by public taxation have not found a legitimate argument IN OCEAN, LAKE OR ARIVER or in pools like this, swimming is everywhere a favorite sport. Page F zflren ' 'i ------ VV .v... .v.v.v.v.v.vv ' l

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'ibgpx lf SEVEN YEARS OF THE CMTC Lutz VVAIH, Major Gmznal, U. S. flrmy 'l'he Adjutant General in response to public opinion and the camps have grown by reason only of their proved re- sults in better health and citizenship for the young men who attend. lflven the Military Training Camps Association, the recognized civilian agency of the War De- partment, has done no more than to help make the opportunity known year by year to young men as they reach the proper age for enroll- ment. Thisworkisdone by the voluntary efforts of county chairmen and committees throughout the country and at a minimum cost in organi- zation. However, the area and population of the country are so great that it is no simple task merely to announce the Citizcn's Camps so that young men everywhere may be informed of what they offer. This could not have been done if it had not been for the unfailing cooperation of the public press. News- papers have devoted each year to the Citizens' ,fri Page Fourtufn EARLY TO RISE -Group calisthenics are the first exercises of the day. .v.v.v.v.v.v. v v v v. mv v. .v.v v.v.v v. . v r.v.v.v.v.v.v-v.v.v v v v v.v.v.v-v-v v v v vv v v.

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519 f 1 x V SEVEN YEARS OF THE CMTC ' against the voluntary training of the camps. The Roman Catholic Church has declared, in the words of an eminent prelate, that a valuable and permanent contribution is made by the citizen graduates of these camps to our beloved country, in the way of more virile patriotism and a keener interest in the need, in peace as well as in war, of a wise policy of national defense and sccurityn. The Jewish Welfare Board has registered its con- viction that the purpose of the Citizens' Camps is an epitome of all that is best in our American ideals: equality, citizenship, patriotism and clean out-door lifeu. The Episcopal Bishop of New York, speaking for another great denomination, has writ- ten of camp training that it will benefit young men both physically and mentally, it will deepen in them the spirit of democratic fellowship and of service to their country, and will prepare them to perform more fully and effectively their duties as men and as citizens . The General Secretary of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America visited certain training centers last year and reported: I am quite convinced that the camps have a wholesome influence on the boys who attend them, that their effect in inculcating discipline is good, and that any 'militarizing' influence on the boys is prac- tically negligible . ' The judgment of educators on the value of the CMTC is strikingly manifest in the offer of scholarships for competition and award at many camps. Fifty leading colleges and universities have made available these prizes, which carry free tuition and are often valid to the winners through the succeeding years of the academic course. These insti- tutions are both public and private, many of them under denominational control, Catholic or Protestant, some were established in colonial days, others within recent decadesg they are l found in every section of the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico. Whatever their origin, control or location, they are as unanimous in their approval of the CMTC as are the military schools of private foundation. Mention should also be made of the significant action by State Boards of Education in either directing, or recommending to :local authorities, the granting of high school credit for camp attendance. The number of CMT Camps has grown in seven years from the orig- inal ten to the present fifty-two. This increase is due in part to the ARMY SERGEANTS have won the respect and friend- ship of young men at every camp. A-' A BASEBALL is just one of many sports. Page' S ixlft' n I . .v.v.v. 1 . . . v.v.v. . - . . . .mv V- . . . . .v.v.v.v.v.v-7.7.77 vv.v.V.v-v.v.vv.v.v.v1.1. 1