The War Department was created by Congress to assist the President in executing the laws passed by it to provide for the common defense. It is responsible to the President and he to the people for doing this in an efficient and adequate way. For this purpose it may make plans and develop policies. Congress, however, decides what the military policy shall be and how much money shall be spent for that purpose.

Our history shows that unpreparedness at the beginning of each war necessitated the reckless expenditure of money and materials. The organization of the War Department had to be enlarged each time to provide for the army of untrained men in the best way it could. At the beginning of these emergencies, the cost was no item. "Win the war" was the primary purpose, and all other purposes were subsidiary to this. But at the close of the war, when the storm had passed and in the calm of peace, the costs of this reckless but necessary expenditure loomed so large on the horizon that the other extreme was practiced. Under the guise of economy the Army has always been reduced below the point of peace-time efficiency and the department crippled from lack of adequate appropriations. This history has repeated itself with each war.

The national defense act of 1916, as amended June 4, 1920, was an attempt to profit by these experiences of the past. But strict economy has again appeared and with reduced appropriations the department is asked to accomplish the terms of the act with 125,000 men and 12,000 officers, when the act calls for 280,000 men and 18,000 officers.

CHAPTER III.

WORK OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT.

The primary purpose of all the work of the War Department is to provide for national defense. In carrying out this purpose it has piloted the country successfully through six major wars. More than 100 other disturbances, only less serious because the foe was less powerful, have engaged its efforts. On an average of once in every year and a half of our national existence the Army has been called into service.

Prior to 1916 the War Department was unable to pursue a progressive military program for defense. It could do little more in peace time than to keep the small Regular Army at a high level of efficiency. By the terms of the new defense act, however, the War Department is now charged with the additional responsibility of making plans and preparing for a great National Army for use in time of a national emergency. In meeting this responsibility it must so organize the Regular Army-now composed of 12,000 officers and 125,000 enlisted men-that the national resources, both men and material, may be utilized speedily, economically, and effectively.

More specifically, the Army must provide an adequate organized, balanced; and effective mobile force which shall be ready and available for emergencies within the continental limits of the United States or elsewhere; which must patrol the 1,500 miles of Mexican border; and which must constitute a nucleus for a complete and immediate mobilization for the national defense in the event of an emergency declared by Congress. It must provide adequate defense for our coasts and oversea possessions. To this end, garrisons are stationed in Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippines, Panama, Porto Rico, and China, both as a safeguard for Americans who have settled there and as an added protection for the continental United States and for its commercial and political interests in the Far East.

The task of keeping the Army fit is greater because its personnel is constantly changing. Under the three-year term of enlistment now in use an average of about 60,000 men leave the Army annually. To replace these withdrawals it is necessary to maintain recruiting stations all over the country and to devote the time and energy of a large number of officers and enlisted men to this activity.

These 60,000 recruits must be developed into efficient soldiers. They must be so assimilated into the Army that its efficiency is main

tained always at a high level. This requires an elaborate system of training, which shall be both thorough and speedy. They must so thoroughly acquire self-discipline and skill in the performance of all functions needed in the Army that they will react quickly and effectively under the excitement and stress of an emergency.

All soldiers are given physical training to develop bodily power, endurance, and resistance to disease. They are all instructed in such matters as drill regulations, signaling, marching, care of equipment, tent pitching, first aid, and the customs and courtesies of the service. They must learn to do perfect teamwork in carrying out maneuvers. They must be trained to think and act for themselves when separated from their commands. Above all else there must be developed in them that soldierly character, that pioneer spirit and that sense of service which are the foundation of national strength. Much of the training in the Army is of a technical nature. Nearly half of the enlisted men need some form of technical skill in order properly to perform their functions in the team. To provide training in all these lines, post schools, unit schools, and special service schools are maintained. Each school or group of schools is presided over by a commandant selected for the purpose, who is assisted by a competent staff of officer instructors. The following are some of the many types of skilled workers needed in the Army: Tractor drivers, chauffeurs, auto mechanics, battery repairmen, tire repairers, ignition and carburetion experts, teamsters, wagon masters, wheelwrights, shoemakers, saddlers, blacksmiths, horseshoers, cargadors, highway and construction men, bridge builders, dynamo tenders, steam-engine tenders, firemen, sheet metal workers, concrete workers, canvas workers, brick masons, stone masons, painters, carpenters of all kinds, plumbers, pipe fitters, welders, interior wiremen, radio electricians, telephone electricians, telegraph electricians, riggers, instrument repairers, linemen, switchboard operators, clerks, stenographers, typists, bookkeepers, draftsmen, photographers, motion picture operators, lithographers, printers, topographers, surveyors, machinists, foundrymen, pattern makers, shoemakers, pharmacists' assistants, X-ray operators, farriers, buglers, bandsmen, bakers, cooks, butchers, laundrymen, storekeepers, and tailors.

In order that the man power of the Army may be utilized to its maximum efficiency, every effort is made to assign each man to duty where his services will count most. Specifications have been prepared defining the requirements of every type of skilled service and the men are rated or graded by means of suitable tests designed to discover their special qualifications for particular assignment.

The process of making an officer is a long and tedious one. There are few professions that demand a higher degree of training. Some of the officers come up from the ranks of the Regular Army, some

from the National Guard, some from reserve officers who had experience during the World War, some from the United States Military Academy, and others from the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and the Citizens' Military Training Camps.

The oldest school for training officers is the United States Military Academy at West Point. It was established in 1802 as an engineering school, but it was soon taken over by the War Department as a school for preparing young men to become officers for all branches of the Regular Army. Cadetships in the academy are allotted to each district of every State and of every Territory in the Union, a certain number to the United States at large, and a certain number to the Regular Army and the National Guard. The students thus represent the whole Nation. Beside a rigid training in technique, the institution sets up a high moral standard for the cadets. The rank of second lieutenant in the Regular Army is granted to the student who satisfactorily completes the four-year course. The maximum authorized strength of the Corps of Cadets is 1,334, plus four Filipinos.

The education of all young officers is continued at an Army post or at the garrison to which they may be sent, by practical training and experience in troop training and in other military duties and by instruction with troops, or in the special service schools. Each of these schools instructs the officers in the special duties of one particular branch of the Army; as the troop school of the unit; the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Ga.; the Cavalry School at Fort Riley, Kans.; the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Okla.; the Coast Artillery School at Fort Monroe, Va.; the Engineer School at Fort Humphreys, Va.; the Signal School at Camp Vail, N. J.; the Medical School at Carlisle Barracks, Pa.; etc.

After finishing the course at the special service schools, officers who have shown special ability are detailed for further training to the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, which was founded through the efforts of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. The training given here is for the combined use of all arms, for high command and for staff duties required in divisions and army corps. This includes training in organization, in tactics, in strategy, and in supply. Graduates from this school who show proper fitness may be placed on the eligible list for General Staff duty.

The Army War College at Washington Barracks, D. C., completes the course of instruction of the officers. It includes the Historical Section. It was established in 1903 chiefly through the efforts of Elihu Root. It teaches by concrete problems how to handle armies and larger units in warfare; functions of high command and staff duties for the same and for corps areas, the zone of the interior and the War Department General Staff. Graduates of this school who show

proper fitness may be selected for duty in the War Department General Staff.

Besides this training of officers within the Regular Army some 600 officers are detailed every year to conduct the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at 225 civilian colleges. In any of these institutions a student may secure a commission in the Reserve Corps while pursuing his regular college course. In addition, the summer training camps offer opportunities to every able-bodied young man to win a commission by taking the necessary training and proving himself worthy of the honor.

All along the line-from the time a cadet enters the Military Academy at West Point or a man joins the Army or a student enrolls in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps or a civilian enters a Citizens' Military Training Camp-the opportunity is thus given for advancement. By this process of selection the best man has a chance to become the head of the Army of the United States.

Not all officers remain in the Army. This training qualifies for leadership in other lines. During the first century of its existence 2,371 of the graduates of West Point returned to civil life, most of them after some years of military experience in the Army. Of this number there were 1 United States President, 1 President of the Confederacy, 5 presidential and vice-presidential candidates, 4 members of the Cabinet, 29 diplomatic representatives, 24 members of Congress, 16 governors of States or Territories, 46 presidents of universities or colleges, 37 presidents of railroads and other corporations, 228 civil engineers, many teachers, clergymen, physicians, bankers, and editors.

The Army must not only be trained; it must also be supplied with up-to-date equipment, cannon, ammunition, arms, horse equipment, tools, machinery, food, clothing, hospital supplies, transportation facilities, housing-an almost endless number of things. Moreover, many kinds of equipment become obsolete as conditions change. Army experts must be constantly at work studying, experimenting, and inventing in order that the Army may keep abreast of advances made in science and art. The department has to examine many thousands of patents each year, determine the ones to be adopted, and provide for their manufacture or procurement.

Fortifications are necessary to protect our seacoast and insular possessions at strategic points, to provide safe anchorage for our fleets, and to protect our naval stations, harbor utilities, and important cities from bombardment. These forts, to be effective, must be continually improved to keep pace with the development of machinery and inventions. New types of batteries have now become necessary because of the recent development of aircraft and guns capable of firing at extreme long ranges. At the present time there are 25 of