Manual of Military Training.

by James A. Moss.

NOTE

In order to learn thoroughly the contents of this manual it is suggested that you use in connection with your study of the book the pamphlet, "QUESTIONS ON MANUAL OF MILITARY TRAINING," which, by means of questions, brings out and emphasizes every point mentioned in the manual.

"QUESTIONS ON MANUAL OF MILITARY TRAINING" is especially useful to students of schools and colleges using the manual, as it enables them, as nothing else will, to prepare for recitations and examinations.

The pamphlet can be gotten from the publishers, Geo. Banta Publishing Co., Menasha, Wis., or from any of the distributers of "MANUAL OF MILITARY TRAINING." Price 50 cts., postpaid.

PREFATORY

Not only does this manual cover all the subjects prescribed by War Department orders for the Junior Division, and the Basic Course, Senior Division, of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, but it also contains considerable additional material which broadens its scope, rounding it out and making it answer the purpose of a general, all-around book, complete in itself, for training and instruction in the fundamentals of the art of war.

The Company is the _basic fighting tactical unit_--it is the foundation rock upon which an army is built--and the fighting efficiency of a COMPANY is based on systematic and thorough training.

This manual is a presentation of MILITARY TRAINING as manifested in the training and instruction of a COMPANY. The book contains all the essentials pertaining to the training and instruction of COMPANY officers, noncommissioned officers and privates, and the officer who masters its contents and who makes his COMPANY proficient in the subjects embodied herein, will be in every way qualified, _without the a.s.sistance of a single other book_, to command with credit and satisfaction, in peace and in war, a COMPANY that will be an _efficient fighting weapon_.

This manual, as indicated below, is divided into a Prelude and nine Parts, subjects of a similar or correlative nature being thus grouped together.

PRELUDE. THE OBJECT AND ADVANTAGES OF MILITARY TRAINING.

PART I. DRILLS, EXERCISES, CEREMONIES, AND INSPECTIONS.

PART II. COMPANY COMMAND.

PART III. MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS PERTAINING TO COMPANY TRAINING AND INSTRUCTION.

PART IV. RIFLE TRAINING AND INSTRUCTION.

PART V. HEALTH AND KINDRED SUBJECTS.

PART VI. MILITARY COURTESY AND KINDRED SUBJECTS.

PART VII. GUARD DUTY.

PART VIII. MILITARY ORGANIZATION.

PART IX. MAP READING AND SKETCHING.

A schedule of training and instruction covering a given period and suitable to the local conditions that obtain in any given school or command, can be readily arranged by looking over the TABLE OF CONTENTS, and selecting therefrom such subjects as it is desired to use, the number and kind, and the time to be devoted to each, depending upon the time available, and climatic and other conditions.

It is suggested that, for the sake of variety, in drawing up a program of instruction and training, when practicable a part of each day or a part of each drill time, be devoted to theoretical work and a part to practical work, theoretical work, when possible, being followed by corresponding practical work, the practice (the _doing_ of a thing) thus putting a clincher, as it were, on the theory (the explaining of a thing). The theoretical work, for example, could be carried on in the forenoon and the practical work in the afternoon, or the theoretical work could be carried on from, say, 8 to 9:30 a. m., and the practical work from 9:30 to 10:30 or 11 a. m.

Attention is invited to the completeness of the Index, whereby one is enabled to locate at once any point covered in the book.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The author wishes to acknowledge the a.s.sistance received in the revision of this Manual in the form of suggestions from a large number of officers on duty at our military schools and colleges, suggestions that enabled him not only to improve the Manual in subject-matter as well as in arrangement, but that have also enabled him to give our military schools and colleges a textbook which, in a way, may be said to represent the consensus of opinion of our Professors of Military Science and Tactics as to what such a book should embody in both subject-matter and arrangement.

Suggestions received from a number of Professors of Military Science and Tactics show conclusively that local conditions as to average age and apt.i.tude of students, interest taken in military training by the student body, support given by the school authorities, etc., are so different in different schools that it would be impossible to write a book for general use that would, in amount of material, arrangement and otherwise, just exactly fit, in toto, the conditions, and meet the requirements of each particular school.

Therefore, the only practical, satisfactory solution of the problem is to produce a book that meets _all_ the requirements of the strictly military schools, where the conditions for military training and instruction are the most favorable, and the requirements the greatest, and then let other schools take only such parts of the book as are necessary to meet their own particular local needs and requirements.

"MANUAL OF MILITARY TRAINING" is such a book.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (Signature) Jas. A. Moss]

Camp Gaillard, C. Z., March 4, 1917.

PRELUDE

THE OBJECT AND ADVANTAGES OF MILITARY TRAINING

=1. Prelude.= We will first consider the object and advantages of military training, as they are the natural and logical prelude to the subject of military training and instruction.

Object

=2. The object of all military training is to win battles.=

Everything that you do in military training is done with some immediate object in view, which, in turn, has in view the _final_ object of winning battles. For example:

=3. Setting-up exercises.= The object of the setting-up exercises, as the name indicates, is to give the new men the _set-up_,--the bearing and carriage,--of the military man.

In addition these exercises serve to loosen up his muscles and prepare them for his later experiences and development.

=4. Calisthenics.= Calisthenics may be called the big brother, the grown-up form, of the setting-up exercise.

The object of calisthenics is to develop and strengthen all parts and muscles of the human body,--the back, the legs, the arms, the lungs, the heart and all other parts of the body.

First and foremost a fighting man's work depends upon his physical fitness.

To begin with, a soldier's mind must always be on the alert and equal to any strain, and no man's mind can be at its best when he is handicapped by a weak or ailing body.

The work of the fighting man makes harsh demands on his body. It must be strong enough to undergo the strain of marching when every muscle cries out for rest; strong enough to hold a rifle steady under fatigue and excitement; strong enough to withstand all sorts of weather, and the terrible nervous and physical strain of modern battle; and more, it must be strong enough to resist those diseases of campaign which kill more men than do the bullets of the enemy.

Hence the necessity of developing and strengthening every part and muscle of the body.

=5. Facings and Marchings.= The object of the facings and marchings is to give the soldier complete control of his body in drills, so that he can get around with ease and promptness at every command.

The marchings,--the military walk and run,--also teach the soldier how to get from one place to another in campaign with the least amount of physical exertion.