[PLATE I. CAMP GREENLEAF AND CAMP FORREST, CHICKAMAUGA NATIONAL PARK, GEORGIA]
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CHAPTER II
MEDICAL OFFICERS’ TRAINING CAMPS
CAMP GREENLEAF, GA.
CAMP SITE AND BUILDINGS
In May, 1917, it was ordered that a training camp for medical officers, to be known as Camp Greenleaf, be established at Fort Oglethorpe, Chickamauga Park, Ga., to be ready for occupancy on June 1.1 The commanding officer reported for duty two weeks later.2 Certain buildings had been authorized for the camp, 3 but up to the time of the arrival of the commanding officer no steps had been taken to even locate the future site of the camp.3 It was found that the only unoccupied ground to which water could be piped within a period of three or four weeks was a low spot east of the post of Fort Oglethorpe, in the center of which two ridges offered a fairly high and dry location upon which could be placed a few buildings.3 These hills were surrounded by what was practically swamp land, incompletely drained by a ditch. After heavy rains these swamps were sometimes covered with from 2 to 5 feet of water. It was discovered that this ditch could be widened sufficiently to provide adequate drainage for reclaiming all this land and making it suitable for building sites. To have accomplished this by hired labor would have involved a prohibitive expenditure of money.
In the light of all these facts a telegram was sent to the War Department requesting that students be not ordered to the camp until June 15.3 It was too late, however, and the student officers began to arrive June 1. The process of making this swamp land available for occupation furnished valuable experience in sanitation, and the project was completed as part of the instruction in sanitation and hygiene.3
The lumber for construction work was on the ground, but three days before the date set for the arrival of the first student officers (60 in number) no buildings were completed.3 No tentage was available, but a large force of carpenters of the Quartermaster Department so expedited the building operations that by the night of June 1 a floor with a roof but no side walls was provided.3 Eventually the entire area of low ground was covered with buildings and became fairly well adapted to the purposes of a camp site.3
Very shortly after June 1 a supposedly sufficient number of barracks with mess halls and lavatories were constructed to house 1,000 officers but their actual capacity was 650.3 Barracks for 150 men were erected for regimental detachments and others with a capacity of 800 men were provided for the prospective ambulance companies and field hospital companies.3 Later a comparatively level spot along the completed ditch was used as a parade ground for the training group, and special buildings, such as McLean Auditorium, the hostess house, and the camp library, were built along the ditch opposite the parade ground.4
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ORGANIZATION
GROUP SYSTEM
The student officers were divided into companies and, wherever possible, company officers selected from among those who had received some previous training were assigned in excess of the normal requirements. The object of this was to have a cadet officer for every four cadets, so that these officers could conduct small quizzes within their companies.3
The formal course of instruction for student officers was inaugurated June 15. At that time there were present for duty 75 Medical Reserve Corps officers and 25 medical officers of the National Guard. Six officers of the Regular Medical Corps and one of the National Guard were available as instructors. At first instruction was given by Regular officers, hut within a short time the most promising of the student officers were utilized as instructors.3 In the beginning they were employed largely as company officers, drill instructors, and quiz masters, but later they did excellent work as junior instructors. 2
On arrival of enlisted men, who in the main were raw recruits, facilities for administrative work had to be provided for the proper and rapid training of these men.5 As this training, of course, was distinct from that of the officer, and as they were at that time not organized, a separate system had to he devised. This was called the group system, in which the camp was divided into groups; at first only two, the medical officers’ group and the enlisted men ‘s group.5 Each of these groups had more or less administrative independence and handled their affairs in a manner similar to a regiment in any of the cantonments for line officers.5
As the camp increased in size and as organizations were formed from these enlisted men and officered from the training companies, the number of groups increased and gradually the details of their administration were entrusted to them, with the camp headquarters exercising only general supervision. The camp increased very gradually up to the 1st of June, 1918, and, with this system, notwithstanding the defects which developed in the course of time, the situation could be satisfactorily handled.5
The group system was adopted because of its elasticity and because it allowed organizations requiring different forms of training to be separated.6 It permitted the training of an unlimited number of men in the various phases of the medico-military activities under one general control. As many groups as were warranted by the number of men to be trained could he formed; and when one became so large as to be unwieldy, it was broken up into two or more groups. Likewise, when a certain class of training was no longer desirable, the group could be enlarged readily to take up other training. This system of administration also relieved the general headquarters of nearly all specialized and routine administration and allowed the general policies of the camp to receive undivided attention.6
Within the groups the battalion, as the administration unit, was found preferable to the company, and nearly all organization work was done at the several battalion headquarters.6
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In March, 1918, the group system having become unwieldy, to a certain extent, the groups containing motor field units, mule-drawn units, evacuation hospitals, and base hospitals were combined into what was called the division of hospitals and sanitary trains, with the division commander exercising tactical control, hut with all administrative control still vested in the group itself, or the camp headquarters. 6 In July, 1918, it was found that the group system, as then in vogue and as had been developed since the beginning of the camp, had grown to such an extent that the individual groups were almost entirely free of the vested authority of the camp commander, and a great deal of friction occurred between different sections of the camp for that reason. This being thoroughly understood, steps were taken hy the headquarters of the division of hospitals and sanitary trains to coordinate the camp activities in that section and to weld these different groups together in such a way that, while interdependent, they would still have their proper amount of local autonomy, and the division commander was required to exercise very complete control of these separate units.5
In September, 1918, when the camp had attained its greatest size and potentiality for efficient work, the division headquarters was done away with, and each group was then distinctly dependent upon camp headquarters without any intervening authority.5 Camp headquarters was then to a certain extent reorganized, with a chief of staff, exercising the duties of his office; a camp adjutant, as had been constituted from the beginning; a camp personnel adjutant, with a distinct development of personnel activities and a concentration of these activities in the one office; the camp inspector, who, though not an officer from the Inspector General’s Department, still acted in that manner for camp headquarters in the inspection of all matters arising; a camp surgeon, who had been in the original camp administration, but who had no control over sanitary trains, and other units, being concerned only with the health of the command and having direct supervision over the infirmaries in the several groups; a camp judge advocate, who was also the insurance officer, and who, though this camp had no court-martial jurisdiction, investigated all court-martial cases before they were sent forward; a camp supply officer, a discussion of whose duties will he taken up later.5
Effort was made in the final development of the groups to concentrate certain units in the groups which were best qualified to handle their training. For example, all motor units were concentrated in the motor group, where the school for drivers arid mechanics was located.5 Though each group had its own administrative entity and was related to the camp headquarters in the same way as the individual regiments in the line cantonments, still great care was exercised in the final development of the camp to see that their independence was not such as to jeopardize the proper handling of the general policy of the camp.5 By careful instruction and supervision by the commanding officer and the staff of the camp, the relations among the several groups were made so strong that administrative control was simplified and made very effective.
At the time of the armistice these groups consisted of the following: 5
(1) Medical officers’ training group, containing all of the officers’ training companies and the special schools for professional instruction for medical
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officers; the dental school, for officers and enlisted men; the veterinary school, for officers and enlisted nien. All officers reporting for instruction were assigned to the medical officers’ training group, which was finally composed of nine battalions of four companies each, but this group could expand to any number of battalions if occasion demanded. (2) The sanitary units group (field hospitals amid ambulance companies) for administrative purposes, which was divided at first into two battalions of four field hospitals and four ambulance companies. (3) The detention group, to which all drafted men were sent on arrival for their regular detention of two weeks. This was the same as the detention camp in the regular line cantonments, and was first designated the recruit camp. (4) The motor group, containing all of the motor units and the motor school (on account of a certain amount of crowding, some replacement units were formed in this group). (5) The noncommissioned officers’ group, for the training of noncommissioned officers. (6) The replacement group, which, in general, acted in the same manner as the depot brigade of the regular line cantonments. Replacements units for overseas service were formed in this group. The development battalion was also under the commanding officer of this group. (7) The evacuation group, in which all evacuation hospitals and trains were consolidated. (8) The hospital group, in which were formed the base hospitals and convalescent camps.
In addition to the foregoing groups, the service company attached to headquarters carried in its personnel all the general clerical force, cooks, and janitors for the training companies, and men detailed for special instruction, as laboratory and X-ray technicians; the cooks’ and bakers’ school, where cooks and bakers were trained for the different organizations; the guard company, which guarded the camp and handled all prisoners confined therein; and the military police, exercising strictly military police functions.5
Recruits were first assigned to the detention group and remained there during their period of isolation and until their records were completed by the personnel office.6 On leaving the detention group, they were sent to the replacement group, and from there they were assigned to the other groups according to their occupational and physical qualifications.6 The most promising material was selected for possible noncommissioned officers and was assigned to the noncommissioned officers’ group. Motor drivers, motor mechanics, and men of kindred trades were transferred to the motor group. Men who had received previous training as cooks, or those who desired this instruction, were assigned to the school for cooks and bakers. Those experienced in pharmacy, nursing, or similar occupations were sent to the hospital group. The remainder were divided, according to their physical qualifications, into general service or domestic service men, and held for training. Many men without special qualifications were necessarily assigned to organizations, but the system followed assured that all men who had any special qualifications would be assigned where these qualifications would be of the most benefit to the service. This system was frequently interfered with by a lack of sufficient time between the date on which men were received and that on which it was necessary to send them out in order to fill requisitions; also by organizations being ordered formed and sent out without sufficient time elapsing to properly train the
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personnel; and frequently by calls for unqualified men in such numbers that those trained or partially trained for special service had to be called upon to fill them; but as near an approach to the system as outlined, as circumstances permitted, was made.
ADMINISTRATION
As finally constituted the administrative control of the camp was excellent, the machinery ran very smoothly, and an immense amount of business was transacted with a camp administrative force much smaller than was usually allotted to the regular divisional cantonments of about equal size.5 There were several administrative defects, the source of which was not within the jurisdiction of the commandant, and which were not easily eliminated.5 All court-martial cases had to be sent to headquarters, Southeastern Department, and the delay in trial amounted at times to as long a period as six weeks to two months. This caused the guardhouse to be constantly crowded with prisoners awaiting trial or awaiting sentence, which added a great deal to the administrative difficulties and to the duties of the guard company. It also caused constant complaint from friends and relatives of prisoners on account of the delay in disposition of these cases.5
Efforts were made constantly to assign the drafted personnel to units according to the approved trade classifications issued by the civilian committee on personnel.5 This distribution of personnel could not be followed as completely as desired, for the demands on the camp for replacement and other units for overseas service were so great that very few men were able to remain in camp long enough to be properly classified and disposed of. After the 1st of October, 1918, this classification was more thoroughly carried out, as the influenza epidemic cut short the rapid shipments overseas. In camps of this size organized for technical troops it was not considered that a central personnel office would make the proper assignments according to trade classifications, but a branch office established in the replacement group acted much more efficiently in the assignment of men, particularly as it was found that reclassification had to be made constantly.5
One difficulty in administrative control, which was more annoying than of great moment, arose in consequence of the continuance of the post of Fort Oglethorpe, surrounded by Camp Greenleaf. At this post, in cantonment barracks, there were souse 3 to 5 troops of Cavalry, and the command of the post was vested in the commanding officer, Fort Oglethorpe, while the post headquarters and a few officers’ quarters, as the remainder of the post proper, had been turned over to General Hospital No. 14.5
The administrative defect of greatest importance was the complete separation of the supply department from the control of the camp commander. No camp supply officer was provided by orders from the War Department, and the camp supply service was under the control of the subdepot of the Quartermaster Corps, located at Lytle, Ga., 4 miles distant. A great deal of friction was caused by a lack of cooperation on the part of the supply department with the camp headquarters, and frequently supplies requisitioned by the units of. the camp were disposed of in a way which was not to the best
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interest of the service.5 A great deal of delay was caused in proper shipment of troops overseas by the fact that clothing and other equipment was handled too slowly and sufficient supplies were not kept on hand to properly equip troops when called for. Every effort was made by camp headquarters to overcome this defect, but without success, amid when cases of lack of cooperation were reported to the War Department weeks elapsed before these could be corrected. A change in the officer in command of the subdepot, in September, 1918, assisted materially in the better handling of this work, as the officer put in command was more willing to do what was right and proper in the equipment of the units shipped out; but his lack of experience in the service still caused considerable friction.
There was no utilities department at Camp Greenleaf until October of 1918, and that department never really became properly organized, so the camp supply officer, who was an officer of the Quartermaster Corps detailed at the station, by camp orders, handled the utilities work in the main very successfully. 5
Though the proper functioning of the camp as a whole suffered constant setbacks, owing to the inevitable lack of knowledge of its size and construction on the part of higher authority, there was nevertheless attained a smoothness and efficiency of local administration. With the exception of group commanders, most of the officers were either reserve officers or young Regulars of a few months’ service. 5
On July 1 Field Hospital Companies and Ambulance Companies Nos. 21, 22, 23, and 24 were organized, but these numbers were changed later to 20, 22, 23, 25. The commissioned personnel of these companies came from the student body.3 The enlisted personnel were drawn from the recruit camp.3 A personnel sufficient to form nuclei for the sanitary trains and regimental detachments of the 78th Division, Camp Dix; 79th Division, Camp Meade; 88th Division, Camp Lee; 87th Division, Camp Gordon; and the 81st Division, Camp, Jackson, were sent out August 25 and 26, 1917.3
The enlisted personnel for these units was taken from the companies which were organized in July, and when they departed provisional companies were immediately organized from recruits.3 Assistance was rendered during the organization period by officers of the National Guard stationed in this camp.3
September 7 and 8 an ambulance company and field hospital company were sent to the 77th Division at Camp Upton.3 Ambulance Company No. 23 and Field Hospital Company No. 23 were sent to the port of embarkation, Hoboken, N. J., the last of October, for service overseas.3 During October a camp was maintained at Catoosa Springs, Ga., a few miles away, where the ambulance companies went into camp for varying periods.3 On November 1 the field hospitals, ambulance companies, and the base hospital group were combined to form the sanitary units battalion.3 In November, 1917, after the closure of the Medical Officers’ Training Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, a number of the officers who were instructors at that camp came to Camp Greenleaf for duty.6 About this time six Cavalry stables in the post of Fort Oglethorpe were converted into barracks for 100 men each; storehouses, ambulance
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sheds, and sheds for animals were also built.3 An officers’ building to furnish quarters for instructors was constructed, and later a building for a mess, with servants’ quarters attached.3 All other personnel for some time were quartered in tents. No central heating plant was constructed, but all barracks and other buildings were heated by small stoves.7
Throughout the life of the camp the housing problem was a serious one. All available shelter, such as stables and sheds, was used, hut at no time were there sufficient accommodations for the number of men sent to this camp 6
Part of the reserve officers’ training camp, Camp Warden McLean, Ga., with a capacity of 1,500, was turned over to Camp Greenleaf November 27, 1917, and was occupied by motor field units. 6
Up to January, 1918, the camp remained comparatively small, having contained a maximum of 1,087 officers and 3,757 enlisted men at any one time.6
During the period between the opening of the camp and January 1, 1918, 11,916 officers and men had been received and 7,072 sent out. Ten ambulance companies, ten field hospital companies, one evacuation hospital, and forty-five regimental detachments were ordered from the camp during this perod. 6
The winter of 1917-18 was the most severe on record in this latitude. The thermometer was frequently down to zero and there were many heavy rain and snow storms. Housing conditions were quite inadequate, and what accommodations existed were very poorly adapted to weather of such severity. Clothing for the enlisted men was very scarce, and woolen clothing and raincoats were unobtainable. Even wood for fuel was difficult to obtain. The result was that the troops suffered considerably; bust with all these discomforts, the health of the camp was extremely good.6
Means of communication with the city of Chattanooga were very inadequate in the early days, especially after the advent of severe weather. The road was almost impassable at times, and during a part of the winter the electric line leading to the city was entirely paralyzed on account of a street-car strike, combined with a rise in the Tennessee River. As Chattanooga, 8 miles distant, was the nearest railroad station, except a small branch line at Lytle, Ga., 5 miles from the camp, the situation was quite uncomfortable. These conditions naturally interfered with the administration of the camp to a great extent. Communication was later greatly improved by the construction of a concrete road from Chickamauga Park to Chattanooga.6
In February, 1918, the cantonments formerly occupied by the 80th and 81st Field Artillery Regiments were turned over to Camp Greenleaf. These cantonments had a capacity of 1,760 men each.8 Up to this time the number of student officers present filled not more than five battalions, but the strength of the department steadily increased, and in this month two more battalions were organized. The 7th Battalion was filled with Veterinary and Sanitary Corps officers. Later the dental officers were placed in this unit.8 In February, 1918, the McLean Auditorium was completed. This provided a much-needed lecture hall, as all instruction had previously been given either in the open or in small rooms. The funds needed for the erection of this building were derived from private sources.9 The early part of 1918 marked a continuation of the growth
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of the camp, which more than doubled during the first three months, the commisioned and enlisted personnel amounting to 10,469 on March 31.6 The training of medical officers received a definite stimulus when General Hospital No. 14 was put under the command of the camp commander March 15, 1918. The hospital had formerly been the post hospital, but by War Department orders was designated General Hospital No. 14, and the commandant, Camp Green-leaf, was designated as commanding officer.10, 6 It was also enlarged to a considerable extent, and thereby played an invaluable part in the training of medical officers in the special schools, and enabled the instructors to combine practical clinical work with theoretical instruction. After that time General Hospital No. 14 was the center of instruction in most of these courses, and by maintaining an excess staff composed of student officers, much valuable training along practical lines was possible. Clinical material was always abundant, as all cases requiring hospital treatment arising in Camp Greenleaf or the other adjacent camps were treated there.6
In March the first draft of 7,747 men was received. Prior to this time increments to the camp had been in small numbers and had come either from recruit depots or by transfer from other camps. The arrival of these men from civil life necessitated that the physical examination and other work connected with the draft be carefully organized.6
For some time there had been great difficulty in obtaining a sufficient number of officers for the various field details, principally on account of the fact that the specialists divisions of the Surgeon General’s Office would not permit officers reserved for these specialties to be detailed to other work, regardless of their qualifications.11 This condition necessitated considerable correspondence between the commandant of the camp and the heads of divisions in the Surgeon General’s Office.11 A satisfactory arrangement was finally made, and the following instructions were issued by the commandant to the commanding officer, student officers’ group, on April 17, 1918:12
1. No officer will be noted as held as a specialist without such instruction from the Office of the Surgeon General. When information is received from one of the divisions in the Office of the Surgeon General that an officer is to be held for some specialty, he will be immediately examined as to his qualifications in that specialty, and the recommendation made to these headquarters. This will be forwarded to the Surgeon General for decision, pending which the officer will be held for the specialty as first indicated.
During May, 1918, the cantonments previously occupied by the 6th and 11th Infantry and the remainder of the Reserve Officers’ Training Camp, Camp Warden McLean, were occupied.6
During the remainder of the life of the camp it absorbed all the cantonments formerly occupied by the line troops, except what was known as the Viniard and Wilder section, and all of the cantonments previously occupied by the 11th Cavalry, excepting space necessary for the housing of one squadron. This latter cantonment was turned over to the camp in September. The recruit cantonments immediately north of General Hospital No. 14 were also turned over to the hospital in September, 1918, and were used by it thereafter as barracks for the permanent enlisted personnel on duty at the hospital, thereby giving more bed space for sick in the hospital proper.6
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Up to the latter part of May, 1918, the flow of medical officers through the camp was comparatively regular, an average of 585 per month reporting and 513 departing.6
The movement of enlisted men and completed organizations showed little increased activity during this period (April and May), only 8,629 men being received in addition to the March draft. During this time 4 base hospitals, 3 evacuation hospitals, 1 field hospital, 8 hospital trains, 1 ambulance company, 1 evacuation ambulance company, 3 convalescent camps, and 6 sanitary squads departed, and each month a replacement draft of approximately 200 men was called for. The increasing size of the camp requiring a proportionate increase in the permanent cadre, together with the number who were in training as specialists in hospitals and other organizations, made it extremely difficult to supply the men required for replacement units and untabulated detachments.6 Many trained units which had been organized had to be stripped to supply the men. This was a decided disadvantage and necessarily told against the efficiency of the completed organizations.6
With all the demands for officers and enlisted men to fill these requisitions, there was, in June, 1918, no definite pronouncement in regard to the expansion of the camp.13
The increasing need for additional personnel in the permanent cadre of the camp is shown very clearly by a description of the constitution and duties of the service company which was organized May 6, 1918.14 The service company, which was the largest single organization of enlisted men in Camp Greenleaf, was formed by a merger of Headquarters Company No. 1, Sanitary Company No. 1, and the infirmary detachment, with a personnel of 4 officers and 569 enlisted men. It was expanded by 127 men and was augmented by transfers to and from the command until it had 3 officers and 696 enlisted men.14 The chief reason for the gain was due to the rapidly developing activities of Camp Greenleaf and the constantly increasing demand for service. The company supplied men to operate the camp headquarters, the camp infirmary, personnel office, quartermaster office, quartermaster storeroom, quartermaster shops, 6 post exchanges, 16 mess halls, the commissary, Camp Greenleaf post office--also the military post office at Lytle--25 men for military police duty in Chattanooga, Tenn., and the post, and also had the entire sanitary work for the training group.
During the month of July, 1918, the long contemplated merger of the Medical Officers’ Training Camp at Fort Riley with Camp Greenleaf was consummated by the transfer to Camp Greenleaf of 65 medical officers and 322 enlisted men, including the excellent Fort Riley band.6 The greater number of these officers were detailed as instructors. The remainder were assigned to administrative duties.6 During the latter part of August and the 1st of September large numbers of enlisted men were received from the post, and when the need for space became very acute a special investigation of the situation was made by the General Staff, and it was proposed to acquire a tract of land to the south of Chickamauga Park and thereon erect a cantonment with a capacity of 10,000 men.14 This was approved throughout until considered by the War Labor Board, which disapproved the project on account of the difficulty in obtaining sufficient labor to construct the cantonment.15
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The influenza epidemic made its first appearance at Camp Greenleaf September 25, 1918, 26 cases being reported that day.6 During the month of October the epidemic reached its height and disappeared completely by the 26th of the month. During this time there were 2,353 cases of influenza and 1,200 cases of pneumonia admitted to the hospital. Most of the latter entered as influenza cases. The deaths numbered 325. Approximately 25 per cent of the pneumonia cases terminated fatally. The epidemic greatly interfered with the activities of the camp; few men were received during the period and few organizations departed.
During the period June 1, 1917, to November 30, 1918, 6,640 officers and 31,138 enlisted men were received and 4, 318 officers and 22,161 enlisted men departed during the same period.6 The average monthly strength was 2,619 officers and 17,441 enlisted men. During this period the following organizations were completed, equipped, and most of them departed from camp: 63 base hospitals, 37 evacuation hospitals, 5 field hospitals, 13 hospital trains, 5 ambulance companies, 21 evacuation ambulance companies, 9 convalescent camps, 10 replacement units.6 In addition to these, numerous detachments were also sent out.
The latter half of the year 1918 was an era of progressive growth in extent, activities, and usefulness of the camp. This abundantly filled the hopes and exceeded the expectations of those who had shared in its development. During the latter half of this period the influenza epidemic seriously curtailed activities, but except for the temporary check the business of training officers and enlisted men, forming organizations, and filling War Department requisitions for troops was carried on with a maximum of efficiency and achievement.6 Many factors contributed to this result. The intelligent and willing cooperation of officers and men was probably the chief contributing feature. The administrative system developed and perfected through 12 months of experiment had finally become clearly defined and was being carried out with considerable success. During this period the system proved itself capable of absorbing thousands of men within very short periods of time and assimilating them without effort; also of dispatching equal numbers of trained soldiers and organizations without in any way disrupting the training and other activities of the camp.6
TERMINATION
The middle of Novemher, 1918, practically terminated the activities of Camp Greenleaf, as far as its original purpose was concerned, although a few more officers and enlisted men were received and some ordered out, and the training program was continued throughout the month.6 The end was approaching, however, and demobilization was the growing consideration. During the latter part of November and all of December demobilization was carried out as rapidly as facilities would permit, and it was completed early in January, 1919. Camp Greenleaf had been designated in War Department orders as a general demobilization camp,6, 16 and on December 18, 1918, command for this purpose was assumed, which event may be taken as the definite termination of the activities of the camp as a medical training camp.6
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HEALTH
The health of Camp Greenleaf was universally good, despite rather trying conditions, caused by poor housing and overcrowding, as may be judged from the following tabulation: 17
[Enlisted men only, 1918]
| Number | Rate |
Admissions | 8,271 | 699.15 |
Deaths | 134 | 11.33 |
Discharges | 273 | 23.07 |
Noneffective | 68,732 | 15.92 |
TRAINING GROUPS
MEDICAL OFFICERS’ TRAINING GROUP
All officers reporting for the curse of instruction were assigned the medical officers’ training group, which was composed of 9 battalions of 4 companies each, hut which, when occasion demanded, could be increased to any number. 6
The group was an administrative entity and had disciplinary control of all student officers. Though professional examinations of all strudent officers had been held for some time in this group, this examination was made official by the Surgeon General in April, 1918, and a regular report was rendered monthly.11 The following is an example of such a report amid shows the general professional distribution of the officers reporting for instruction: 18
The following is the report of the classification of incoming student officers for the month of October, 1918, with their respective grades.
[table]
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[table continued]
SANITARY UNITS GROUP
On November 1, 1917, the field hospitals, ambulance companies, and base hospital group were combined to form the sanitary units group.19 For administrative purposes this was considered as 2 battalions of 4 companies each. The 4 ambulance company units and the 4 field hospitals had each a provisional director. Each company had its full complement of student officers and under the direction of the provisional director, performed every function required of a company in the field. Mess accounts, clothing requisitions, sick reports, etc., were made in each company under the guidance of the director. The group commander, in turn, served as a mentor of the directors and prepared, by correction or by consolidation of requisitions, reports, and returns, all papers that left the group for forwarding to the camp commander.19
Instruction, other than practical work within companies, was conducted under the regulation of the group commander, whose relation to the various organizations was identical with that assumed by the commandant to the various groups of the camp. The unit group, therefore, was largely independent. Indeed, effort was made to increase in every way the responsibility of the group commander, who was judged by this output rather than by the methods he employed.19
While the group commander had full charge of the instruction of his officers, the commandant required him to see that all of his officers kept up with the central basic course. Usually one or more officers of the group attended these lectures, and they instructed the other officers of the group by night quizzes. The special courses given by the group commander and his staff therefore, were, extra and additional to the main basic course taken by all student officers. The programs adopted for these courses were examined and approved by the commandant before they were put into effect. Thus the commandant was able to unify and coordinate special and basic courses.19
The student officers in this group were under the direct control of the group commander and the assignments made to the group were considered as permanent. The numbers assigned were always in excess of requirements, so
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that when a company left, its place could be filled immediately by a fairly well trained personnel of officers and noncommissioned officers.19
This group remained intact only one month, when it was divided into two groups, one containing the motorized companies and the other the animal-drawn companies.3
HOSPITAL GROUP
The first base and evacuation hospitals at Camp Greenleaf were formed in Battalion No. 14, located in the medical officers’ training camp. Later, Battalion No. 14 was moved to the southern end of Chickamauga Park, occupying barracks and quarters vacated by line troops, and became known as the hospital group of the division of hospitals and sanitary trains.20 In July, 1918, the group was divided into the base hospital group and the evacuation hospital group, each having its own camp site. Fifteen evacuation hospitals and several hospitals trains were formed in Battalion No. 14 and the hospital group prior to this date.20
The base hospital group organized base hospitals, convalescent camps, and convalescent depots, and also furnished a large overseas replacement unit. There were organized and forwarded from the group 63 base hospitals and ii convalescent camps; 14 base hospitals and 6 convalescent depot sections were formed but did not leave camp.20 The organization of the group consisted of: Headquarters; supply department; mess department; camp infirmary; sanitary inspector; recruit section; hospital section. 20
Headquarters . - The commanding officer, adjutant, personnel adjutant, and three headquarters companies, to which the permanent cadre and casuals were assigned, constituted headquarters. When the group was divided, Headquarters Company No. 3 was transferred to the evacuation hospital group together with the evacuation hospitals and hospital trains already formed. 6
The personnel adjutant had an assistant, and a relatively large office force was found necessary to handle promptly the records of the men who passed through the group. During its most active week 37 different organizations entrained and left the group. 6 The paper work incident to this movement was very great, and was accomplished in a satisfactory manner.20 An especial effort was made to have the service records and pay cards complete and accurate before they were forwarded. From various causes they were often defective when received, and this was a source of much trouble.20
Supply department . - The group supply officer was accountable for the local camp property; issued clothing and equipment to the different organizations; paid the troops, and cooperated with the Camp Greenleaf troop-movement officer in arranging transportation for outgoing organizations. Several warehouses were used to store the necessary clothing and equipment. A special room was devoted to fitting shoes.20 Motor trucks were assigned to the group and reported from the motor group when needed. Animal-drawn transportation and a number of saddle horses were kept in the group stables.
Mess department. - A group mess officer was appointed from the permanent cadre, with supervision of all messes and purchase and issue of stores. Subsistence stores were drawn from the central depot on a consolidated ration return for the group, or purchased in open market, kept in a special storehouse and
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issued to the local messes.20 A number of well-qualified cooks were part of the permanent cadre of the group. When a new organization was formed, two of these cooks were temporarily assigned to it, and they trained and assisted the cooks of the unit, which also furnished the kitchen police. The same bill of fare was served in all messes. Organizations which were designated to complete their training at Camp Greenleaf were required to operate their messes and manage their mess funds. All mess funds were audited monthly by a board of officers appointed from the group headquarters. Organizations leaving the group were given their pro rata share of the general mess fund, and were required to certify that they had no outstanding debts.20 The group surgeon had charge of the infirmary and held sick call. All hospital cases were transferred to General Hospital No. 14, Fort Oglethorpe. The physical examinations of the men, which were frequently made, were made by the officers of the different organizations. The influenza epidemic of the fall of 1918 called into being a large tent isolation camp, which was set up adjacent to the group camp, and operated by officers and men detailed from the group. From this hospital only the severe cases were transferred to General Hospital No. 14, and there were no local deaths.20 The sanitary inspector supervised the sanitation and police of the camp and the operation of refuse incinerators. Garbage was hauled away by a contractor. Extensive work in ditching, filling, and oiling was done for mosquito control. The commanding officer of each organization was made responsible for the sanitation and police of the barracks occupied by his men and also the mess hall and kitchen. Food waste was rigidly controlled by checking the amount of food issued to the mess and the amount of garbage. An examination for carriers was made of cooks and other handlers of food, and a hookworm survey was made of men coming from infected districts. With the exception of the influenza epidemic of October, 1918, the general health of the command was excellent.20 All cases of contagious disease were promptly removed and isolated, and the men in the barracks from which t-he case was taken were quarantined as a unit, drilling and messing apart from the rest of the command.
Recruit section. - The administrative organization of the group was developed and modified to meet the changes which occurred in the camp at large, and the duties devolving on the group. At first a recruit section was maintained at which recruits were held and outfitted before being assigned to their organizations. Later, when the detention camps and replacement group at Camp Greenleaf handled all of the inducted men, the recruit section functioned, with a reduced personnel, as a receiving section, and enlisted personnel for the formation of new units was requisitioned from the replacement group.20 A permanent cadre of officers and enlisted men was maintained and furnished the staff of the group and instructors for newly formed units.
Hospital section . - Base hospitals, convalescent camps, and convalescent depots were organized in compliance with orders from the War Department, which gave their numerical designation, prescribed their strength, and assigned the commissioned personnel.20 Most of the units were organized at reduced strength and then sent to general hospitals about the country to complete their complement of men and receive practical training in hospital work. The
31
additional personnel required to bring them to full strength was obtained from the general hospital to which they were attached, or, in several instances, forwarded from Camp Greenleaf.20 Delay in appointing the commanding officer and administrative sta-if of a new organization, and their absence when the unit was formed, was a handicap frequently encountered. These officers were appointed but often did not join their organization until after it had left Camp Greenleaf.20 When the group received orders to form a new unit, the enlisted personnel was requisitioned from the replacement group, a provisional staff of officers, noncommissioned officers, and cooks was detailed from the permanent cadre of t-he group, and intensive training was begun immediately. Due to the fact that units left the group at irregular intervals, and often very quickly after they were organized, no set schedule could be maintained. In general, however, the forenoon was devoted to drill and one lecture and the afternoon to a hike, during which practical work wa-s done in litter hearing and first aid and instruction given in sanitation and personal hygiene. Officers and noncommissioned officers were instructed in the preparation of records, official correspondence, supply, and mess management.20 A guard was mounted daily, and the fire apparatus was manned by a special detail.20 Athletics were encouraged, and physical training under a special instructor given daily. Numerous baseball and football games were played between teams in the group and teams from other groups. A large covered stage was built, and in the evenings boxing and wrestling matches were held, and vaudeville acts put on by local talent or teams from Camp Greenleaf.20
The group ceased to function in December, 1918, preceding which date large detachments were forwarded to man three newly formed general hospitals.20
The following base hospitals were organized at Camp Greenleaf: 21 Base Hospitals Nos. 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 69, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 91, 92, 98, 100, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, and 161.
MOTOR GROUP
On July 1, 1917, 800 enlisted men and 40 medical officers were assigned by orders from camp headquarters of the Medical Officers’ Training Camp, Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., for the formation of ambulance companies and field hospitals.22 The instructions directed the formation of animal-drawn and motor companies in equal numbers, and six ambulance companies were organized and equipped in six weeks. At the termination of the first- six weeks period, orders were received to send the companies already organized to the various camps, where divisions were being formed, retaining a small percentage of the officers and men as a nucleus for additional companies. The original number of officers and men had been reinforced by additional allotments. Six additional field hospitals and six additional ambulance companies were begun at once on the basis of two animal-drawn to four motor vehicles. 22
On November 1, 1917, the field hospitals and ambulance companies were combined to form a sanitary units battalion.19
32
About this date, a number of the companies of the second group organized, were sent to camps, as a basis for the formation of divisional sanitary trains, and on November 25, 1917, several ambulance companies and field hospitals joined the camp from Fort Benjamin Harrison.22 At this date, the command was separated, so that the animal-drawn units, which constituted one-third of the command, became a separate section of the camp, and the motor units formed a section which was called the motor camp, Camp Greenleaf.22 At this same time the motor units moved to another part of Chickamauga Park, taking over one-half of the reserve officers’ training camp, Camp Forrest. There were then 12 field hospitals and 12 ambulance companies, motorized, and 4 evacuation ambulance companies, motorized, in this group.22
On January 7, a department of transportation was organized and divided into three parts: First, a school of motor instruction; second, a repair shop; and, third, a service department.23 A permanent working force of noncommissioned officers and mechanics was transferred from the various companies for duty in the motor department. Truck, ambulance, motor car, and motor cycle drivers were detailed semimonthly from the various companies for four weeks’ duty in the motor department. These men took care of the routine work of Camp Greenleaf and Camp Greenleaf annex, and constituted the service department.23 The repair department and the school for motor instruction jointly did the repair work for the transportation assigned to this command.23 The school of motor instruction was intended to instruct truck drivers who had graduated from the service department in handling the trucks assigned to their organizations. The school also instructed ambulance and truck repair men in making minor repairs, replacing broken parts, and locating trouble in unserviceable cars. The purpose of this school was to insure that every motor company leaving the comma-nd would have its full quota of repair men and chauffeurs. Special instruction was given motor-cycle operators and repair men.
At this time the field hospitals and evacuation ambulance companies battalion, consisting of 8 field hospitals and 2 evacuation ambulance companies, were in training.24 These companies were taught proficiency in the school of the soldier, litter bearer drill, tent pitching and striking, individual cooking, transmission of messages, first aid, and the establishment and operation of complete field hospitals and stations for slightly wounded. Practice marches were also held. In addition, schools were conducted for instruction in operating-room technique, pharmacy, ward management and nursing, the administration of drugs, truck and ambulance driving, including the care of equipment and making repairs.
Schools for noncommissioned officers were in operation for instruction in administration, property, mess management, and sick and wounded report.24 Evening talks and demonstrations were given to the enlisted men. Interesting articles were read to them and effort made to direct their minds in proper channels. French classes were conducted for both officers and enlisted men.
An advanced school for officers was conducted by this group, and two hours each day were devoted to lectures.
A camp infirmary was operated under the direction of the field hospitals.24 A ward was connected with the infirmary for the care of the sick in quarters,
33
where the men were taught the principles of ward nursing. Two officers were assigned by roster each day to assist the camp surgeon in taking sick call. These officers were taught t-he management of sick call amid details of the sick and wounded reports.
To secure the necessary flexibility of schedule, to permit the necessary preparation for exercises, and to provide against waste of time, 165 hours were assigned to the ambulance companies, as follows: 25
Hours
Alloted to drill and field work.----------------------------------120
Alloted to demonstration and deductive teaching.------------------------------45
Total.----------------165
Each company which had more than its tabular quota of officers detailed one personnel officer whose duty it was to attend all didactic lectures and assist-in all demonstrations and practical class work. He reported to the company commander upon the work of the class and upon individuals who attracted attention for any reason. In the absence of such an officer, the sanitary officer of each company assumed these duties.
An informal written quiz was given at the close of each week covering the subjects taught during the week.25
The company commander was responsible for the use of all available time, adapting instruction to conditions as they arose.25 He assigned the drills and subjects of instruction at least one week in advance in order that no officer would be obliged to conduct a lecture, drill, or demonstration without ample preparation. He was responsible for maintaining a proper sequence and balance of instruction, and to this end kept a daily log of instruction and drill, which was open to inspection at any time. The company commander also kept an individual record of (a) previous education, (b) special qualifications, (c) ability, (d) class work, besides any special data which he might wish to compile. This record was made in consultation with juinior officers and first sergeant.
Drills: 25
Hours
1. Setting-up exercises..........................................................12
2. Foot drill (school of the soldier, school of the squad, company drill)..................30
3. Field exercises (route marching, camp pitching, battle service)...........................27
4. Litter bearer and ambulance drill.......................................................................10
5. Shelter-tent drill..............................................................................10
6. Pyramidal and wall-tent drill................................................................................8
Total....................................................................................120
Didactic and demonstrations: 23
1. Articles of War..........................................................................1
2. Military discipline and courtesy...........................................1
3. Camp regulations...........................................................1
4. Personal hygiene and care of the feet................................1
5. Venereal prophylaxis..........................................................1
6. Infection and disinfection........................................................1
7. Means of transmission and prevention of disease...................1
8. Camp and field sanitation.....................................................1
9. Water, air, and ventilation......................................................1
10. Outline of sanitary service in war and functions of an ambulance company .........1
11. Equipment of a sanitary soldier.......................................................1
34
Didactic and demonstrations—Continued.
Hours
12. Care of equipment and Property........................................................1
13. The skeleton, muscles, skin..........................................................1
14. Nervous system and special senses...........................................................1
15. Digestive apparatus..........................................................1
16. Blood and circulation (lymph system)......................................................1
17. Respiratory and excretory apparatus....................................................1
18. Principles of first-aid; emergencies, contusions, wounds..............................1
19. Hemorrhage.........................................................1
20. Dislocations and sprains............................................................1
21. Fractures..........................................................1
22. Insensibility......................................................1
23. Asphyxia and resuscitation.......................................................1
24. Gas.................................................................1
25. Bandaging and nursing.............................................................8
26. Improvised splints and litters.............................................................1
27. Allen’s methods.............................................................1
28. Field cooking.............................................................1
29. Guard duty................................................................1
30. Messages............................................................1
31. Semaphore signals..............................................................3
32. Weekly written quiz (1/2 hour)................................................................3
Total................................................................45
Early in February, unfortunately for training, it was necessary to send many men from this camp, the command losing about 40 per cent of its enlisted personnel. Numerous details made necessary by road construction, the hauling of fuel, and the construction of a new tent camp for a prospective influx of recruits, brought formal company instruction of these companies to a standstill.25
In April, 1918, the question of the large number of motor drivers and mechanics required for the Medical Department was very carefully considered,25 and brought forth the following correspondence: 26
HEADQUARTERS MOTOR SANITARY UNITS,
Camp Greenleaf Annex, Chickamauga Park, Ga., April 18, 1918.
From: Commanding officer.
To: Surgeon General, United States Army, Washington, D. C.
(Attention Colonel Munson, through the Commandant, Camp Greenleaf).
Subject: Motormen required for Medical Department
1. Complying with verbal instructions of the officers addressed, an estimate of the number of motormen required for the Medical Department is hereby submitted. This estimate is based upon a proposed strength of 200,000 enlisted men in the Medical Department, and is computed with the view to the needs of all Army extending from the firing line to base:
(1) Ambulance drivers..........................................10,000
(2) Truck drivers....................................................8,000
(3) Mechanics...........................................................200
(4) Motor-cycle drivers..........................................3,400
M. ASHFORD,
Lieutenant Colonel, Medical Corps, N. A.
35
[First indorsement]
HEADQUARTERS CAMP GREENLEAF,
Chickamauga Park, Ga., April 24, 1918.
To the SURGEON GENERAL OF THE ARMY
(Attention Colonel Munson).
1. Forwarded, approved. It is believed that this estimate is as accurate as can be determined at the present time.
H. P. BIRMINGHAM,
Colonel, Retired, Commandant.
[Second indorsement]
WAR DEPARTMENT, SURGEON GENERAL’S OFFICE,
April 29, 1918.
To Colonel WOLFE, Su pply Division.
1. Referred with request that he comment on the above estimate. This estimate was made as a result of a request by me to the officers at Fort Oglethorpe who have charge of motor work, that they make suggestions as to the number of men who, in their opinion, should be trained in gas engine and chauffeur work for service in the Medical Department.
2. Based on our wishes in the matter, we desire to establish at the M. O. T. C., Fort Oglethorpe. such facilities as will produce in a given time such proportion of total required as may be necessary to meet current needs.
By direction of the Surgeon General:
E.L. MUNSON, Colonel, Medical Corps.
[Third indorsement]
WAR DEPARTMENT, SURGEON GENERAL’S OFFICE,
May 13, 1918.
To Col. E. L. MUNSON, Medical Department.
1. Returned.
2. The Medical Department will have in operation by June 30, 1919, according to the proposed expansion of the Army, tentative strength table, serial No. 10-D, compiled March 19, 1918, by R. W. T., approved, M. C. L., March 19, 1918: 5,808 ambulances, 3,473 motor cycles, 1,700 motor trucks, 500 touring cars.
3. In order to provide a sufficient number of drivers for these vehicles, there should be available by that time 15,000 ambulance drivers, 8,000 motor-cycle drivers, 7,000 truck drivers, 500 touring-car drivers.
4. This will require the training of 1,200 ambulance drivers, 650 motor-cycle drivers, 600 truck drivers, arid 40 touring-car drivers per month from June 1, 1918, to June 30, 1919. This gives a total of approximately 2,500 to be trained each month.
5. Allowing two mechanicians for each motorized ambulance compariy and each motorized field hospital, will require approximately 500 during the same period for duty with the respective companies. There should be available at least 200 additional to care for motor vehicles of base and evacuation hospitals, regimental and other organizations whose machines are not kept in repair by ambulance company and field hospital company mechanics.
EDWIN P. WOLFE.
[Fourth indorsement]
WAR DEPARTMENT, SURGEON GENERAL’S OFFICE,
May 14, 1918.
To Col. E. L. MUNSON, M. C.,
M. O. T. C., Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.
1. For comment and suggestions.
[Fifth indorsement]
HEADQUARTERS CAMP GREENLEAF,
Chickamauga Park, Ga., May 18, 1918.
To Col. HENRY PAGE, M. C., U. S. Army. and! to Lieut. Col. MAHLON ASHFORD, M. C., N. A,
1. Forwarded in turn for comment and return to these headquarters.
36
[Sixth indorsement]
HEADQUARTERS MOTOR SANITARY UNITS,
Camp Greenleaf Annex. Chickamauga Park, Ga., May 20, 1918.
To Col. HENRY PAGE, M. C., U. S. Army.
1. That portion of Camp Greenleaf, formerly reserve officers’ training camp and now designated as Warden McLean division, medical officers’ camp, is now assigned to motor sanitary units. These cantonments, together with outlying tent camp, have an approximate capacity of 4,000 men, which is ample to supply the Medical Department with the quota indicated by Colonel Wolfe, provided the requests from this office are granted.
2. The purpose of this special portion of Camp Greenleaf is considered by me to be the following:
To receive all enlisted personnel intended for motor training; uniform, examine, equip, vaccinate, classify said personnel; give a preliminary training during period of equipment and classification; and send out men under one of the following classes: (a) For base machine shops or base repair work, (b) field repair men, (c) competent drivers and emergency repair men, (d) exigency drivers, (e) men unfit for motor department or overseas for any reason whatsoever.
3. I am in favor of sending all Medical Department enlisted men who are intended for motor work to this camp for the preliminary training outlined above. When this has been given, the men will then be available for transfer to the base shops; for filling the proper percentage of motormen on replacement drafts overseas; for supplying motormen to motorized sanitary units and for the necessary motor service and repair work in this large camp. The decision as to the location and conduct of base repair schools and shops is conditional upon a number of factors which do not concern me, and I therefore make no recommendation except that the men for this department could well be sent through this camp prior to assignment to base shops and, further, that the base shops could well be run as an independent unit whether they are placed here or elsewhere.
4. Attention is again invited to recommendations from this office which may briefly he summarized as follows:
(a) That this command receive all men having any knowledge of motor vehicles, as soon as they have entered Camp Greenleaf.
(b) That the commanding officer of this camp be permitted to retain and instruct the men thus received for a definite period, not less than four weeks in any case.
(c) That future requests from the War Department for transfer of enlisted men show specifically the percentage of automobile field mechanics, truck drivers, ambulance drivers, and motorcyclists desired, and that this department furnish only such specified porion of said draft.
(d) That the supply department be enabled to secure its supplies in the most direct manner possible and root by requisition through tedious channels.
(e) That the estimates for expansion of this department previously forwarded be acted upon favorably.
5. This department will not be able to meet the requirements indicated by paragraph 4 of the third indorsement unless prompt consideration is given to the above recommendations and former requests for expansion. The strongest argument in my opinion for a separate establishment for the motor department is that its personnel would not be subject to indiscriminate draft as it has of necessity been in the past.
M. ASHFORD,
Lieutenant Colonel, Medical Corps, N. A.
[Seventh indorsement]
HEADQUARTERS, CAMP GREENLEAF,
Chickamauga Park, Ga., May 23, 1918.
To the SURGEON GENERAL OF THE ARMY.-
(Attention Colonel Ashburn.)
1. Returned. Attention invited to the sixth indorsement, which is concurred in, other than the examinations referred to in paragraph 2, fourth line, will be made under the general service of physical examinations for Camp Greenleaf as a whole.
37
2. Instructions will be given to assign to the automobile and gas-engine school, motor group, all recruits claiming any knowledge of motor vehicles, as requested in paragraph 4 (a) The request made in paragraph 4 (b) is important, hut can not be carried out, unless an adequate inflow of recruits is assured this camp.
The request made in paragraph 4 (c) is reasonable, and it is requested that it be complied with as far as possible.
3. It is believed that following the assignment here for duty of an officer representing the automobile section, supply division, Surgeon General’s Office, no material difficulty will occur in producing such number of trained chauffeurs and gas-engine men as the Medical Department may require, subject, of course, to assignment to this camp of a sufficient number of recruits for training.
E.L. MUNSON,
Colonel, M. C., United States Army, Commandant.
To carry out these recommendations, in the early summer of 1918 motor specialists were sent to Camp Greenleaf and every effort was made to furnish these needed drivers and mechanics.22
The motor group, in addition to forming ambulance companies, field hospitals, and evacuation ambulance companies, all strictly motor units, formed two convalescent hospital units, and one convalescent depot. Also many hundred recruits were received and organized into replacement units of 250 men each and sent overseas as such.22
As the summer of 1918 progressed, the work in the motor group became much more varied, and several distinct activities were carried on. The first function of the motor group was to receive, examine, and classify, as they were sent to Camp Greenleaf, all enlisted men having knowledge of motor equipment. Highly trained specialists in the repair and operation of motor equipment were placed on duty as instructors in the motor school, and from their number requisitions for men of this type were filled. Pending assignment, these men served as instructors and as specialists in the repair and upkeep of the motor equipment of the camp. Highly skilled, chauffeurs were classified and utilized in the same manner as already described for mechanics. Average mechanics and chauffeurs were given special training in the motor school and upon graduation were assigned to outgoing units, according to their needs. The supply of men with some knowledge of motor equipment never fell below the requisition made.
The second function of the motor group was to operate a school for motor-men. This school was organized in January, 1918.22 In the early summer of 1918, the War Department sent three specialists (Sanitary Corps officers) to operate this school. These men were highly trained specialists in motor equipment, of whom one had been instructor in that work at the University of Michigan. Through their efforts the work of instruction was coordinated and improved, so that a very excellent motor school was operated. From this school highly trained mechanics and specialists in every phase of motor equipment were graduated. Large classes of trained chauffeurs and motor-cycle operators were also instructed. Mechanics were classified “A” and “B,” “A” class being men who could do any form of base work, and “B” men who were qualified to do field repair work on the standard trucks, ambulances, and motor cycles used by the Army. Drivers were trained to operate trucks, ambulances, and motor cycles. The officers assigned to motor units were similarly trained. This school succeeded in graduating a sufficient personnel to meet requests received at camp headquarters.
38
The third function was to operate all motor equipment for the medical officers’ training camp and to supply, in emergency, additional equipment for the line camp, which was at the same station.22 The medical officers’ training camp gradually rose in numbers from a few thousand to approximately 30,000 men. The line camp gradually receded from approximately 25,000 men to approximately 10,000 men. With this increase in the troops, the motor equipment rose, so that the motor group operated approximately 50 motor cycles, 12 touring cars, 60 ambulances, and 100 trucks. In October, 1918, an inspector of the Motor Transport Corps inspected the equipment of the camp and reported that the motor equipment was in the best condition of any camp in the United States which he had visited.22 Less than 4 per cent of the equipment was in need of repair and not operating at the time of his unannounced visit. At this time only 60 per cent of the trucks of an adjacent camp were operating.
The fourth function was to send out trained motor units, such as motor ambulance companies, field hospitals, and evacuation ambulance companies.22 After the departure of the six motor companies assigned to the 7th Division, in the early summer of 1918, 20 evacuation ambulance companies, 2 ambulance companies, and 2 field hospitals were formed and sent out. A complete sanitary train was also formed and was ready for departure at the time of the signing of the armistice.22
The fifth function was the formation of replacement units.22 This became a major function of the camp in the summer of 1918. The units were formed and sent out on an average time of five weeks after drafted men reached the camp in their civilian clothes. These men were organized into units of 250 men, with a specified number of men of each trade or calling. They were examined medically and physically, vaccinated, equipped, and given elementary military instruction. On the average, four such units were sent out from camp each month during the summer and early fall of 1918. 22
The sixth function was to receive and care for all soldiers received at Camp Greenleaf in whom hookworm was discovered. A group of about 800 of these men was maintained, so that during the spring and summer of 1918 several thousand hookworm infected men were received and cared for. The majority of these men were cured, organized into units, and sent overseas.22
The seventh function was developed in the summer of 1918, when all venereals received in Camp Greenleaf were accepted by the motor group.22 These men were segregated, treated, and, when cured, placed in outgoing units.
The eighth function was to receive colored men and organize them into labor companies for the Medical Department, of which approximately six companies were sent overseas as replacement units of 250 men each.22
The ninth and last function was the training of emergency officers.22 These officers were received after a few weeks training at the medical officers’ training camp and were assigned to the various units of the motor group, for active experience in handling troops under field conditions. The number of officers under training at no time exceeded 200.
The motor group rose in strength, from 400 men in July, 1917, to approximately 8,000 men in the summer of 1918. 22 The organization at that time was
39
well perfected for the training of officers, noncommissioned officers, and enlisted men; for the receipt of large bodies of drafted men and their classification, equipment, and organization into military bodies.
The following schedules graphically illustrate the instruction carried out for the different units of the group:
SCHEDULE A27 [Designed for first two weeks' instruction of recuits assigned to motor companies]
40
SCHEDULE B 28 [Designed for second two weeks' instruction of recruits assigned to motor companies]
41
SCHEDULE C 29 [Replacement and similar units]
SCHEDULE D 30 [For reservists]
42
SCHEDULE E 21 [Provisional ambulance companies, provisional hospital companies, evacuation ambulance companies.]
ANIMAL-DRAWN REPLACEMENT GROUP
At first all ambulance companies and field hospital companies were grouped together, but in November, 1917, the animal-drawn units were combined into what was called the animal-drawn group.19 Special training was commenced, and these units were for a short time stabilized to such a degree that by January 31, 1918, their training was estimated as 93 per cent complete.32
On January 6, 1918, a stable company was organized on the basis of a troop of Cavalry to care for the horses and horse equipments (about 300 in number) used by the student officers.33 These men also received instruction along the general lines for mounted sanitary soldiers. During the month of February, 1918, schools for farriers, saddlers, and horseshoers and blacksmiths were established. The abundance of clinical and other practical material contributed to the success of these schools. The purpose of these schools was to train as many men as possible to be sent outside of the camp, and to fill any of the above positions in organizations formed in the camp. In February, 1918, most of the organizations lost a large part of their trained personnel by transfer to replacement and other units.
When the group was first formed the men were quartered in that part of the camp formerly occupied by the 80th and 81st Artillery on a hill at the rear the original medical officers’ training camp.34 On April 29, 1918, the group was transferred to the camp recently occupied by the 11th Infantry, just back of the Dyer House, near Lytle, Ga.35
The stable company of this group was disbanded on May 13, and the horses and equipment were taken over by Veterinary Company No. 1. 25
During April, 1918, men from the draft were received in this group and the organizations were temporarily filled to their proper quota. The demand for
43
replacements was so great that this condition did not continue long, and large numbers of men were sent out during May, 1918. 35
In August, 1918, the animal-drawn group wa-s again reorganized and became the replacement group.36
The cooperative functioning of the detention group and the replacement group made the handling of the large number of new recruits much simpler and more efficient than previously.37 The work of the replacement group was primarily the assimilation and distribution of the enlisted personnel released from the detention group, and was expanded to include their further classification into groups adapted to meet the requirements of the various sanitary units constantly in process of organization. The men, newly accepted into this section, were classified into six divisions, determined by their occupational and physical qualifications. Promising material was first selected for the Noncommissioned Officers’ School; motor drivers, mechanics, and men of kindred trades were transferred to the motor group; men who had had the proper training or desired such instruction were assigned to the School for Cooks and Bakers; those experienced in clerical work, pharmacy, nursing, or similar occupations were sent to the hospital group; the remainder were divided according to their physical qualifications into general service men and domestic service men, and were held for training. This system facilitated the selection of the specially qualified men required by the various sanitary units and conserved man power by placing each man in the position where he could be of greatest value to the service.
The reorganized replacement group consisted of 4 training battalions, 2 provisional field hospitals, 2 provisional ambulance companies, 1 development battalion.36
The scheme of organization can be best shown by the following diagram: 3
[chart]
The men in the training battalions usually came direct from Battalion No. 15, where they had spent two or three weeks after joining camp.35 In some instances, however, as when more inducted men came to camp than could he accommodated in Battalion No. 15, they had to be taken right into the training battalions without- any preliminary training. The men were organized
44
into companies and battalions, and were instructed in the duties of the soldier, school of the squad, sanitary drill, personal hygiene, and, as far as practicable, in the important Articles of War, Army Regulations, and Mason’s Handbook. The length of time the men remained in the battalions varied greatly and depended directly upon the exigencies of the service. The scheme was that the men should receive never less than one month of training here and if practicable more. Not infrequently many of the men were assigned to an organization within two weeks after joining a training battalion; obviously such men were imperfectly trained.
At first, when called upon for a number of men to be sent to some other camp for overseas service, the headquarters of the group would send to each company and direct them to furnish so many men. It was found, however, that this did not allow a balanced group to go out, as the company commanders would hold good men, and sometimes one group would go out consisting, for example, mostly of stenographers, another of carpenters, etc. After this was found out the following scheme was adopted:40 Qualification cards of all the men were carefully gone over and grouped according to their qualifications; when replacement was asked for the personnel office of the headquarters of the replacement group would go over the cards and try to pick out a balanced number of men--so many clerks, so many carpenters, so many motormen, so many men for general or other duty. Later, when base hospitals, evacuation hospitals, and other units were being formed, the tables of organization as devised by the commanding officer at Fort Riley were used, and if the group was ordered to send four or five evacuation hospitals out the personfiel office used the tables for these organizations, went through the classification cards and picked the men as to their classification. Of course, it was impossible at times to furnish all classifications as called for, but as soon as this scheme was started better organizations were sent out.40 The training of the men went on daily from 6 a.m. until 5 p.m., with lectures and entertainments in the evening. The average stay of the men in the group was about 10 days; some men stayed only 2 days, while others stayed several months. Before leaving the men were given a very rigid physical examination and a very rigid examination of the equipment that was prescribed in orders. A scheme for laying out this equipment on their cots was devised, and the equipment of several hundred men could be examined in an hour by this method.
DEVELOPMENT BATTALION
This battalion was organized in July, 1918, 41 pursuant to orders received from The Adjutant General of the Army.42 It was placed under the command of the commanding officer of the replacement group.6 It was first quartered in a tent area to the west of the main camp of the replacement group, but on account of the difficulty experienced in the feeding of these more or less disabled men the battalion was moved to a small cantonment situated on a hill overlooking the replacement group.43 The latter location was ideal and, though the buildings provided did not furnish sufficient quarters for the men assigned to this unit, ample shelter was obtained by the establishment of a tent area in close proximity. These tents were floored and framed. As soon as the battalion
45
was formed all men in the camp coming under this classification were transferred to it.6 The commanding officer of the battalion instituted an excellent system of classification of these men, and the records kept were very complete.44 Men were sent to the battalion by the various medical examining boards in the camp and on arrival they were immediately classified and placed under appropriate treatment.45 At first most of the men were venereal and orthopedic cases, but. later all types of men suitable for development work were received.46 The total number under instruction at any one time was approximately 800. 44
On account of the great variety of cases undergoing development and the close personal supervision required, the commissioned personnel on duty with the battalion was never sufficient; 47 nevertheless the work done was excellent in character.44 In spite of the large numbers of inducted men arriving at camp the passage of the developmental case through the battalion was sufficiently rapid to keep the strength of the battalion within reasonable limits.44 The school of urology and the school of military orthopedics handled the venereal and orthopedic cases respectively and all other cases were taken care of by the permanent medical staff of the battalion.46
The entire personnel was divided into two sections to facilitate the proper treatment of the cases. These sections were Company A, which included all of the orthopedic cases, and Company B, in which were all of the remaining men.44
Considerable delay in obtaining proper shoes for the orthopedic cases was experienced at first but this was obviated by the establishment of a cobbler’s shop at the battalion camp.47
DETENTION GROUP
The detention group was first an integral part of the enlisted men ‘s section of Camp Greenleaf, but a short time after the organization of the camp a separate section known as the recruit camp was started.19 All recruits were sent to this section and a regular administrative plan was worked out to handle these men as they arrived. Each recruit, on joining, was seen personally, and his qualifications were taken. He was then carded and assigned to a company as a private, private first class, or noncommissioned officer. The companies were made up of 100 men, consisting of 4 platoons of 25 men each. Each company had an acting first sergeant and four platoon leaders, picked from recruits or from men who had been retained and trained in camp. These men acted as drillmasters and instructors in discipline and duties of the soldier. 19 Each company received from 7 1/2 to 8 hours’ training daily, and the prospective noncommissioned officers devoted 3 hours to paper work and the balance of the time to drill, privates and privates first class, to first aid and drill. Recruits who joined without a full outfit of clothing were issued additional clothing as quickly as it could be obtained, to bring them up to the requirements of equipment “C.” Their typhoid inoculations and smallpox vaccinations were also completed when necessary.
When the camp first started, noncommissioned officers from the militia detachment in camp were assigned as drillmasters and instructors.19 Regimental detachments were formed later, men having been picked according to qualifications after a certain amount of training. They were drilled, instructed,
46
and disciplined by officers assigned to this camp for training as regimental medical officers and by prospective noncommissioned officers of detachments. The prospective noncommissioned officers attended school two hours daily with the regimental medical officers.
On October 31, 1917, the recruit camp numbered 937 men, present and absent, formed into 3 battalions of 4 companies each; it was officered by commanding officer, 1 officer as assistant and supply officer, and 3 battalion commanders.19 One of these, in addition, acted as police and sanitary officer and surgeon, and one as mess officer.
Officers ordered to this camp from the medical officers’ training camp for instruction in paper work, administration, and the general duties of regimental surgeons, were assigned as company officers, attending lectures with prospective noncommissioned officers, for whom they acted as quiz masters; they instructed their respective companies in first aid and drill, and were responsible for reports, returns, and discipline of their companies.19
The administrative, supply, and teaching forces, as well as kitchen and office forces, were organized and trained from reserve officers and recruits, except one officer of the Medical Corps and one sergeant first class, Medical Department.19
The name of this group was changed, later in the year, to the Noncommissioned Officers’ School group.48 In addition to receiving and training recruits this group also trained noncommissioned officers and organized such small units as sanitary squads, convalescent camps, and mobile operating units.49
A detention camp was organized on February 14, 1918, by the direction of the director of the hospital train group, to which organization the detention camp, was added as a subsidiary organization.50 The plan was that the detention camp should receive the incoming recruits, largely voluntarily inducted into the service, with some Veterinary Corps men and a few regular Medical Department men, and to hold them during the period of incubation of the commoner epidemic infectious diseases. It was further planned that, while in camp, they should receive the elements of military training--school of soldier and school of detachment--together with some instruction in camp and personal hygiene. The very large amount of emergency road construction required in and about camp had necessitated large drafts upon the personnel of the companies, and the training, while it progressed in a very favorable manner, fell short of that which was originally designed. The average size of each company was approximately 187 men, with an average of 2.75 officers. The normal strength of the companies as planned was 200 men, with 4 officers.
In the spring of 1918 all of the recruit work, including the handling of the draft and the detention of recruits for the specified period of two weeks, was performed in what was known as the 15th Battalion.51 The name was changed later to the detention group. The work of this group is shown more fully later, in the description of the general training of enlisted men at Camp Greenleaf. The order organizing this section of the camp and outlining its duties follows:
47
General Orders, No. 52.
HEADQUARTERS CAMP GREENLEAF,
Chickamauga Park, Ga., June 3, 1919.
1. A detention camp will be operated hereafter as part of the Camp Greenleaf recruit brigade.
2. The detention camp will be divided into sections, one or more of which will be successively occupied for the purpose as need may require.
3. For the present, the section to be first used includes the original corrals and stables of Camp Greenleaf, the present tent camps now occupied by Battalion 15, and the barracks formerly occupied by the 81st Field Artillery.
The sections to be later used will be specified hereafter.
4. As far as possible, recruits admitted to the detention camp will be quartered in tents, in order to break them into small groups and reduce the number of direct contacts. Every measure will be taken to keep groups in detention separate from each other, amod to limit their association through messing, bathing, and latrine facilities.
5. All recruits will, on arrival, he admitted to detention camp.
6. The period of detention will be 14 days, during which time each man will be carefully inspected by a medical officer to determine the presence of any communicable disease. No soldier will be assigned to an organization or transferred from this camp prior to the termination of the detention period. Any recruit found to have a temperature of 1010 will invariably be isolated pending further diagnosis.
7. While in the detention camp, each recruit will have a survey made in his case, by officers of the Dental Corps under instruction in the dental school, as to the condition of his teeth and the probably amount of dental work necessary. Recruits urgently in need of dental work will he given appropriate dental treatment while in detention camp.
8. Special microscopic examination of stools will be made in the case of recruits who present any appearance of hookworm infestation and who admit of having resided in a known hookworm district. As soon as laboratory facilities permit, the stool of every recruit coming from a known bookworm district will be microscopically examined as a routine measure.
9.To assist in carrying out the necessary physical inspections, a sufficient number of student officers will be assigned, under the school of hygiene, as aids to the commanding officer of the detention camp for the purpose of making inspections concerning, and records of, cases of communicable disease.
10. Assignment of recruits will be made from the detention camp to organizations, units, and detachments; the commanders of which will call upon the commanding officer of the recruit brigade for the number of memo needed and will specify the qualifications and number of men in each class thereof, which are desired.
11. During the detention period, recruits will receive as much instruction as practicable, but will not be subjected to severe physical exercise while undergoing reactions from inoculations against smallpox, typhoid and paratyphoid fevers.
By order of Colonel Munson:
E. S. SLEDGE,
Major, M. R. C., Adjutant.
The Noncommissioned Officers’ School, as part of the 15th Battalion, was discontinued on the 1st of August.53 The reconstruction company had been discontinued, and those cases that had not completed treatment were transferred to the development battalion in the animal-drawn group.
The sole work of the organization at this time was the handling of recruits from the draft.53 All men joining Camp Greenleaf passed through this battal-
48
ion, which was known as the detention camp, as directed in the above order, where they remained for a two weeks’ period, were examined under direction of the’ camp surgeon, Camp Greenleaf, and were vaccinated, equipped, and given elementary training in the duties of a soldier. Thirty-two companies were organized. During the summer and fall of 1917, recruits were received from recruit depots, partially clothed and equipped. These were voluntarily enlisted men, some of whom had had former military training. It was rare to receive more than 200 daily, and the maximum number dumring this time never exceeded 1,000 men on the morning report. The selective-service men began to arrive in March, 1918. The size of the group gradually increased, and by July it included 7,500. The largest number on any morning report was: Officers, 80; enlisted men, 7,300. The total number joining in the month of July was something over 9,000. About 3,500 were quartered in tents and about 4,000 in horse sheds.
It was originally believed, and later proved to be correct, that centralization of all paper work, official records, clothing and equipment, and mess management was essential to efficiency, owing to the lack of properly trained commissioned and enlisted personnel and to the shortage of supplies.53 The organization, as adopted in the fall of 1917, and expanded as the detention group increased in numbers and requirements, included the following: 53 Headquarters, central record office; supply department; mess department; the surgeon; section No. 1, Companies 1 to 16; section No. 2, Companies 17 to 32.
At the headquarters office all correspondence, reports, returns, and other paper work for the command were attended to, under the direction of the commanding officer, personnel adjutant, and assistants.53 Officially, the unassigned recruit was a member of Battalion No. 15, the official designation of the Organization, without the company to which he was assigned being designated. The commanding officer signed all correspondence and other papers, as would a soldier’s company officer. The service records, pay cards, etc., were prepared and signed by the personnel adjutant or his assistant. One consolidated morning report for the command was rendered, made up from the individual company morning reports.
Group headquarters assigned all men to companies and designated what men would be transferred out of camp.53 Muster and pay rolls were prepared, one for each company, and marked “Detachment roll No. 1, No. 2, No. 3,” etc. A card index, containing all necessary data in regard to pay, muster, admission to sick report or return therefrom, and availability for transfer, was kept for all men, alphabetically arranged by companies. The cards representing losses were filed alphabetically for the monthly period in which they occurred, under appropriate headings, as transferred, deserted, died, the cause of the loss being stated on the card. A second card index giving each soldier ‘s name, company to which assigned, and other data, was arranged alphabetically for the entire command. This was found essential for the purpose of locating men at given times. Service records, pay cards, and all other records pertaining to the soldier, except the equipment record, after completion were filed alphabetically for the entire command.
49
SUPPLY DEPARTMENT
The group supply officer was accountable for all property in the group.53 Each company commander was responsible to him for his tentage, cots, bed sacks, and other company property. The mess officer was responsible for all mess equipment used in the organization. The supply officer, after fitting the recruit, made all issues of clothing and other personal equipment, when it could be obtained. He completed the equipment records and retained them until the soldier was transferred. The company commander verified the fitting and issue of clothing and equipment to his company.
MESS DEPARTMENT
All messes in the organization were run as one.53 There was one mess fund and one company fund, for which the mess officer was responsible. The ration allowance was drawn on the consolidated morning report. The mess storehouses were established, one centrally located in each section of the camp, from which the daily supplies were issued to each kitchen. The mess officer, with one commissioned assistant, did all the buying, superintended the issues, was responsible, as stated above, for all mess equipment used, and was responsible for the preparation and serving of all meals. Each company had its own mess hall and kitchen, many of which were temporary, using field ranges. Three cooks were assigned to each kitchen, with a mess sergeant to every three messes, all directly under the mess officer.
The company commander detailed all necessary kitchen police and inspected the mess daily.53 The mess officer was responsible for the police in the kitchen and mess hall. Food waste was stopped by placing one of the kitchen police on guard over the garbage can, allowing nothing to be thrown away that was edible. Mess kits, after being washed by the soldier in hot soapsuds, were dipped into boiling water and were thus sterilized and dried. Three camp kettles of boiling water, kept- boiling during the meal hour, were located at each kitchen. Burned-out boiling plates from discarded field ranges were reinforced with strips cut from old steel escort-wagon tires and set up with a Sibley stove at one end. A fire was kindled underneath and three camp kettles kept boiling on the top. The same menu was served in each of the 33 messes daily.
THE SURGEON
The company officers were medical officers. Every recruit was daily inspected for infectious diseases during his first two weeks in camp, by one of his company officers.53 All suspects were sent at once to the surgeon. When a case of infectious disease occurred, the patient was transferred to General Hospital No. 14. The contacts, those quartered in the tent with him, were removed, bag and baggage, to another tent in a section of the camp set aside for isolation, and were held there during the incubation period of the disease. While in isolation the soldier continued his training and was under the direct supervision of the surgeon. A hookworm survey was made on all men arriving from that part of the country where the disease was known to be endemic, necessary specimens being collected under the supervision of the surgeon and sent to the general hospital laboratory. All venereal cases arriving, or devel-
50
oping later, were assigned to one company and treated under the surgeon’s direction. Only very acute or complicated cases were transferred to the hospital. The surgeon completed the smallpox, typhoid, and paratyphoid vaccinations, the companies being marched to the infirmary at the appointed time. He completed and filed all vaccination records, reporting the results, as completed, to the headquarters office for entry on service records. He held sick call for the command and prepared the sick and wounded and sanitary reports and rendered daily to the headquarters office the surgeons consolidated morning report of sick. The company officers made the semimonthly physical inspections of their individual companies.
COMPANY ORGANIZATION
The companies were grouped into two sections, with an officer designated as the tactical director in charge of each, acting as would a battalion commander. The tactical director represented the commanding officer and was directly responsible to him for all the training, discipline, sanitation, and police of the companies in his section. He kept no office of record.
COMPANY ADMINISTRATION
The strength of the companies varied from day to day.53 The maximum strength, depending upon the housing capacity, ranged from 200 to 250 men. The officers were assigned from the medical officers’ training group, and unfortunately were frequently changed and lacked training as company commanders. Two officers, when available, were assigned to each company. The company was divided into platoons of 50 men each, with a platoon leader belonging to the permanent training cadre assigned to each platoon. One platoon leader acted as first sergeant of the company. The company commander kept a morning report and roster of his company. No other paper work was done in the company. The brunt of the training of the recruit fell upon the platoon leader. These men were given warrants and promoted as rapidly as they showed their ability to train others. None was promoted to fill vacancies. Promotion was given only for proved merit; demotion, therefore, was very rare.
The following was the routine devised and carried out on the arrival of men for training.53
Prior to arrival, lists were received showing date of expected arrival of trains, with routing, and number of men from each local draft board traveling on each train. The assignment of men to companies was so made as to keep each local board’s group intact, so far as possible. The companies receiving men were depleted of all men except the training cadre. Tentage, cots, and bedding were made ready for occupancy the day prior to the arrival of new men.
The train was met by the tactical director of the section and by the company officers and noncommissioned officers of the companies to which the men had been assigned. The men were detrained, and the recruit from each local boa-rd designated as captain was directed to collect the men of his local board. The men as assigned to a company were lined up in column of fours, counted and marched past an empty truck, in which they placed their baggage. The company and truck then proceeded to camp. In this manner all men were
51
formed into companies, counted, and the nuniber of men received from each local board verified. One truck was used for each company.
The company was marched in single file by the supply house on its way in to camp. Each man was given a bundle which had been previously prepared, containing one mess kit complete, toilet articles, slicker, and blankets. In front of headquarters another check was made, and the induction papers, sent from each local board with the recruit designated as captain, were taken along, with any report the captain had to make. The company fell out, each man securing his baggage from the pile belonging to his company, fell in again, and marched to its company street. The men were then taken to their mess hall, to find a hot meal awaiting them regardless of the time of arrival. The company was later reformed, alphabetically, by local boards, at the headquarters office. The recruit’s name was verified, compared with its spelling on the induction papers, and lists prepared for each local board group, showing the date of induction, date of joining, and the company to which assigned. Three copies of lists were sent with the induction papers to the physical examining office; one to the company commander for his official roster; one to the supply officer, who at once prepared the individual equipment records; one to the surgeon, for preparation of vaccination records; one to the post office; one retained, from which the index cards were begun. These cards were completed on m-eceipt of the service record following the physical examination of the recruit.
Each recruit was then tagged. On one side of the tag a verse was printed telling what was expected of him as a soldier, the other gave his company number and post-office address. An hour’s talk of welcome and general instructions was then given the company by the chaplain and company commander. The company was marched to one of the Young Men’s Christian Association buildings, each man furnished with writing material and encouraged to write a letter home. A mimeographed letter prepared by the morale officer and signed by the commanding officer was inclosed, assuring the family of his safe arrival and asking their support.
The company was bathed and that afternoon or the following morning reported for physical examination. The men examined and rejected during the morning were discharged from the draft that same afternoon and sent to the quartermaster for pay and transportation home. Those rejected in the afternoon were discharged the following morning. The men accepted in the morning were clothed and equipped in the afternoon by the supply officer. Those accepted in the afternoon were clothed the following morning. All civilian clothing, handbags, and grips were then packed, tagged, and shipped home by express for the recruit, or otherwise disposed of by him. He was allowed to retain nothing except his uniform clothing and equipment. He now ceased to be a civilian and his military life commenced.
All men were required to keep their hair cut shorter than 2 inches. Hair clippers were furnished each company and practically every man in the company received a free hair cut the afternoon he donned his uniform. The recruit was then ready to begin his training.
52
Until the replacement group at Camp Greenleaf was organized, to which the recruit was transferred after his quarantine period, to continue his training and be classified and assigned according to his qualifications, men were transferred directly to various medical detachments throughout the country and to overseas replacement units. The recruits longest in camp were transferred first, an attempt being made to transfer whole companies as far as practicable, except the sick and those held for one reason or another. Lists were prepared at the group headquarters office, designating, by companies, the names of men, date, and hour of departure. This office received the individual equipment records from the supply office, the vaccination cards from the surgeon, completed indorsements on service records, pay cards etc., and had, at the time of transfer, all papers ready to be forwarded with the men. The company commanders assembled and reported to headquarters all men ordered transferred. Each man had his personal effects in his barrack bag and the bag was tagged, giving his name and destination. No other baggage was transported. If the men were traveling by train, each was issued a muslin bag in which to carry his mess equipment for use en route. These bags were purchased in lots of 5,000, out of the company fund, having been made up by civilian firms.
As each recruit’s name was called from the final transfer roster, he deposited his barrack bag in a waiting truck and fell in line beyond. When all had thus been checked, the detachment moved off. Thus, by standardizing and systematizing the receiving and transfer of recruits, 2,000 men daily could be handled without confusion or error, the whole work being performed in a machinelike manner.
EVACUATION HOSPITAL GROUP
In 1917, the evacuation hospitals and hospital trains were formed in what was known as Battalion No. 14, which designation was later changed to the hospital group.20 Evacuation Hospital No. 3 was the first to be organized. All the personnel, except the commanding officer, was selected by the camp commander and assigned to this unit. Not only was the hospital organized completely, but after organization its personnel was used to conduct a subsidiary course, so as to relieve the regular instruction companies of some of the special instruction. A class of 20 officers was assigned to duty with the evacuation hospital to take the course in the duties of a regimental surgeon. This course lasted about two weeks and covered administrative duties of regimental surgeons and assistant regimental surgeons. The work in the above class was so arranged that the student officers attended lectures and quizzes of the basic course at the medical officers’ training camp.
School for enlisted men, privates first class, and privates, Evacuation Hospital No. 3, consisted of daily lectures by officers of the evacuation hospital, on duties of soldiers, Medical Department.19 These lectures were followed by a quiz, conducted by squad leaders. In addition to this, the enlisted men were divided into groups of from 12 to 15 men each, and one officer-instructor was assigned to each group. The work outlined in Mason’s Handbook was completely covered in detail by lecture and quiz by these officer-instructors, and special work peculiar to evacuation hospitals was given. All enlisted men of
53
this command were required to take this course; approximately 90 privates first class and privates completed the course of instruction and were sent out as regimental detachments. About 12 of such detachments were formed, using these men as the nucleus for the enlisted personnel.
Later, Evacuation Hospitals Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 8 were organized, but these units had the entire officer personnel assigned to them by orders from Washington.20 The officers of these units received thorough general instruction, and a number of the enlisted men received instruction at the post hospital in addition to the regular military training given at camp.54
During the early part of 1918, the demand for the rapid organization of base and evacuation hospitals was so pressing and the shortage of men was so acute that the commandant wrote the following letter:55
HEADQUARTERS CAMP GREENLEAF,
Chickamauga Park, Ga., April 8, 1918.
From: The Commandant.
To: The Surgeon General of the Army, Washington, D. C. (Attention Colonel Munson).
Subject: Base and evacuation hospitals.
These base and evacuation hospitals are being organized as rapidly as time and personnel will permit. However, at the present time there are about 1,200 men available for this purpose; these are only available because they have been held intact for this purpose; the result being a shortage of about 800 men to fill assignments in other camps, with new orders coming in daily.
2. It is obvious that this camp can not meet the demands for organization and replacement troops and send detachments to the various home stations, when there is a present shortage here of something over 6,000 men.
3. The rapidity with which the last draft quota is being ordered from this camp (especially calls for N. C. O.’s), the correspondence from different divisions as to forming new units, the reservations by the specialists in the Surgeon General’s Office, and the demands for officers for general service show an apparent lack of coordination between the officers directing the income and outgo of this camp in the matter of personnel which results in demands that are manifestly impossible under the present allowance as to time anti men.
4. Attention is also invited to the fact that a considerable number of the drafted men are afflicted with venereal disease, hernia, and other disabilities that are acceptable under existing selective service regulations, but are not available for transfer according to instructions from The Adjutant General. This fact is causing an increasing number of temporary ineligibles.
Definite figures on this matter are being compiled.
H.P. BIRMINGHAM, Colonel, Retired.
[First indorsement]
WAR DEPARTMENT, SURGEON GENERAL’S OFFICE,
April 15, 1918.
To the COMMANDANT, M. O. T. C.,
Camp Greenleaf, Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.
1. Returned, inviting attention to confidential letter from this office of April 11, and memorandum to Colonel Munson of April 13.
2. It is desired that, in the absence of sufficient enlisted men to complete the units authorized, at least the skeleton organization be found.
3. It is the intention to request assignment of Sanitary Corps and quartermaster officers to base and evacuation hospitals as soon as they are authorized.
By direction of the Surgeon General:
W. L. HART,
Lieutenant Colonel, Medical Corps.
54
During this time a number of hospital trains were organized and received training. This training was mostly general in character, for at that time there were no regular hospital trains at camp on which special instruction could be given.56
In June, 1918, the shortage of enlisted men at the camp was still so acute as to call forth the following letter and reply thereto.37
JUNE 3, 1918.
From: The Commandant
To: Col. P. M. Ashburn, Surgeon General’s Office, Washington, D. C.
Subject: Base and evacuation hospitals.
1. Referring to the following memorandum just received:
1. The overseas section desires that all base and evacuation hospitals now in your camp, that are ordered to other camps or posts, be sent without delay and that the enlisted strength of each be brought up to at least 50 men.
It is required that the same requirements apply to units to be ordered away iii the future, unless the orders be for overseas service, when they should be filled to capacity.
2. I have already written you regarding the situation as to base and evacuation hospitals loere.
We can, of course, take 50 men from the recruits just arrived and not yet in uniform and send them away to the other camps and posts to which they are ordered. They will have no training in basic work, will probably be put directly in the hospitals for training and ward work, and it seems to me the results would not be satisfactory to the hospital division.
3. As I have already written you, these organizations would love long since been created and long since sent away, if the enlisted personnel for them had been provided. The best way out of an unsatisfactory situation would seem to me to have these outfits stay here six weeks and let us fill them up so that they will go away, not with 50 men, but with their full quota, and drilled and disciplined into some semblance of soldiers. We can do this, provided we are not called upon to meet small calls for the United States, which in the aggregate make heavy drains.
As I wrote you the other day, none of the base or evacuation hospitals which are ordered to other camps and posts, outside the ones that are held complete and intact, and which are already trained, other than Base Hospital No. 47, which is recruiting up, can be filled up with men with more than a week’s service. It would seem to me very unsatisfactory to send them out under such conditions. I believe their training here for six weeks should he considered as indispensable.
Will you please take the matter up with the hospital division and let me know what their decision is in the matter.
E. L. MUNSON,
Colonel, M. C., United States Army.
JUNE 8, 1918.
From: Col. P. M. Ashburn, M. C.
To: Commandant, M. O. T. C., Camp Greenleaf, Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.
Subject: Base and evacuation hospitals.
1. Referring to your letter of June 3, on the above subject, I have tried to obtain a conference in regard to it with General Noble, but thus far unsuccessfully. I therefore referred the letter to the hospital division for comment, and it is today back with the following memorandum signed by Lieutenant Colonel Hart.
JUNE 7, 1918.
Memorandum for Colonel Ashburn:
With reference to attached letter, we desire that the units which have been or mray hereafter be ordered organized in medical officers’ training camps, and which are ordered without delay, and that the enlisted strength of each be brought up to at least 50 men. The nearer the unit can be brought up to its normal enlisted strength the better, but the compliance with the order should not be delayed to this end: At least 50 men should be assigned to the organization under any condition.
This does not apply to those ordered from camp for overseas service, in which event the unit should be brought up to its full capacity.
W. L. HART,
One inclosure.
Lieutenant Colonel, Medical Corps.
*** * * *
55
3. In further conversation, Lieutenant Colonel Hart tells me that the units now ordered away and to go over in the third phase, should have gone to various camps on April 16, and that they must now get hospital training whether they have any other or not.
******
By direction of the Surgeon General:
P.M. ASHBURN, Colonel, Medical Corps.
During July, 1918, the organization of evacuation hospitals became exclusively a part of the general program of Camp Greenleaf.58 The plan contemplated producing, by intensive drill and instruction in various professional and special schools, a more or less adequate supply of standardized commissioned and noncommissioned personnel for use in making up standard units in the shortest possible time. In accordance with this plan, a group was created for the organization of evacuation hospitals. This was known as the evacuation hospital group. Its personnel was composed entirely of temporary officers and men. Its administrative machinery consisted of a headquarters, a headquarters company, and 12 hospital cadres. The headquarters officers and personnel were about such as would obtain in a regimental organization. The hospital cadres were about such as would obtain in the cadre-company organizations of a recruit depot--that is, 3 commissioned and 24 to 36 noncommissioned officers each. Their functions, likewise, were analogous to those of recruit depot companies. These cadre men were especially selected for their aptitude and qualifications in company administration, clerical work, property handling, mess management, drilling, and instructing.
The organization of a given hospital was initiated by the assignment of a contingent of recruits to a hospital cadre. The drill and instruction scheduled and carried out were designed with the chief aim of producing hospital commands of men of high grade, physical fitness, discipline, and morale.59 By repeated physical and mental surveys, the unfit were discovered and eliminated, the fit reclassified and improved. Instruction in the duties of a soldier was given by members of the hospital cadres --by precept, lecture talks, and demonstrations.
Instruction in hospital administration, including all paper work, and in nursing and ward management was given by cadre officers and men and by chiefs of hospital services in lecture talks and demonstrations. Drill methods of both Infantry and Medical Department were used, Infantry foot drill being used for the greater portion of the time. The importance of drill in achieving discipline was emphasized, and the routine schedule was made as elaborate and thorough as possible. Fully one-half of each duty day was profitably taken up with drill formations, interspersed with short periods of instruction. For the purpose of promoting efficiency in administration and the handling of men, the camp command was organized after the manner of a regiment--into battalions--and hospital officers were rotated in the offices of company, battalion, and regimental commanders.58
The outstanding importance of morale was emphasized, and morale was promoted by a judicious mixing of work and recreation; by a headquarters morale office; by a somewhat extravagant outlay for outdoor entertainments-theatrical, athletic, and social; and by a constantly preached, practiced, and enforced policy of unit independence, originality, and self-sufficiency. The group’s motto was Like your job.” 58
56
Technical training at the camp was not undertaken except as above mentioned--through lectures and elementary demonstrations--but the practice of sending completed hospital units to base, camp, or general hospitals, where they were temporarily attached for duty prior to departure for overseas, served the purpose.
The actual time consumed in organizing standard evacuation hospital units was about two months; that is, the camp could, and did, produce 12 evacuation hospital organizations every two months; or, from July, 1918, to November, 1918, it produced Hospitals No. 25 to No. 49, inclusive.58 In forming so many units of this character it was considered of great importance that the instruction should be standardized so as to be able to give as much instruction as possible in a short time. To accomplish this the following group order was issued:
General Orders, No. 1.
HEADQUARTERS EVACUATION HOSPITAL GROUP,
Camp Greenleaf, Ga., July 24, 1918.
*****
1. The evacuation hospitals and hospital trains in this camp constitute the units of this group. The staff of the commanding officer will consist of an adjutant, a personnel adjutant, a supply officer, a mess officer, and a sanitary inspector. There will be a headquarters company. The adjutant, the personnel officer, and the commanding officer, headquarters company, have been designated. The evacuation hospitals will constitute a section and the hospital trains another, each with a field officer or the senior officer on duty therewith as section commander.
2. In view of the limited periods of time that members, both commissioned and enlisted, of any units have or in all probability will remain on duty here, it will be the policy of this command, in so far as practicable, to aim at standardization in all matters pertaining to administration, drill, and instruction.
3. Standardization of drill methods. - In order that drill methods in practice among various units may be further perfected and standardized, one drill period daily will be taken up by section commanders in drilling the officers of their units. The period selected will be that now given over to physical drill, and the drill subject or movements f or each day will be those to be carried out later on the same day at company drill. The efficiency of unit drill methods will be perfected by drill and instruction of drillmasters, subalterns, and N. C. 0’s., to be given in the case of each organization by the unit commander.
4. Standardization of instruction. - What has just been said relative to drill methods will apply in the case of instruction methods. It is desired that schedules, (1) for officers, (2) for men, be made for use throughout and be based upon a study of what is considered most essential that can be covered in the limited period of time, that is, three weeks. In preparing these schedules, it will be necessary to take into consideration not only the limited time available, but the fact that all the members are raw and inexperienced, and that the prime purpose of their training is to fit them for service in the units to which they belong.
5. Standardization of administrative methods. - It is desired that section commanders make a study of company administration so that uniform methods may he in practice in company offices (records, messes, property handling, police, care of barracks, grounds, etc.). Orders will be issued shortly prescribing the method to be followed in organizing units.
6. The sanitary inspector will submit a study recommending methods to be followed in physical and sanitary instruction and other hygiene measures.
By order of Colonel Rutherford:
W.W. HOYT, Captain, M. R. C., Adjutant.
The instruction for the officers and men of this group was outlined in specially prepared schedules, as follows: 60, 61
58
The following evacuation hospitals were organized at Camp Greenleaf: Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 13, 14, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53. 2l
Evacuation Hospitals No. 25 to No. 53, inclusive, were organized in the specially constituted evacuation hospital group. 58
NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS’ GROUP
When the camp was first organized each small unit or group trained its own noncommissioned officers.19 These small schools existed in Battalion No. 14 (hospital group), Battalion No. 15 (recruit camp), field hospital group, and ambulance company group.54
The course of instruction in these smiiall schools averaged seven weeks, and the output was sufficient for the needs of the then small camp.
As the camp became larger a distinct noncommissioned officers’ school was organized in Battalion No. 15 and a small group, known as the noncommissioned officers’ school group, was formed. In this group was not only the noncommissioned officers’ school, but the sanitary squads, convalescent camps, convalescent depots, mobile operating units, and cooks’ school.62
The curriculum for the noncommissioned officers’ school was arranged to cover as completely as possible the military duties of noncommissioned officers of the Medical Department, requirements of paper work necessary in all sanitary detachments, and the handling of men; the object being to have on hand and to supply on demand well-trained personnel ready for promotion to corporals and sergeants.63 It had been worked out so that any number of officers might be sent to this school and trained for the specific duties of various units, such as convalescent camps, their training being in part separate from and in part conjointly with the men who were to become their enlisted personnel.
After such units had been designated to be trained here and their enlisted men selected, they were advanced to this specific training, the remaining men attending the regular school duties until they were designated for special organizations.
The regular curriculum of the school consisted of 24 hours per week of didactic lectures on paper work, selected portions of Army Regulations and the Manual for the Medical Department, and the solution of practical problems; 7 hours per week on Mason’s Handbook and Sanitation, and several hours’ instruction each day in the school of the soldier, platoon, and detachment, litter and shelter-tent drill.63
At that time, even though a special school was organized, each of the larger groups continued to have schools for noncommissioned officers.36
The regular noncommissioned officers’ school continued steadily under this plan up to late spring of 1918, as is shown by the May report of the school: 64
On May 1, the total strength, enlisted personnel, of this command was 206. Seventy-five of this number, including 21 sergeants, 24 corporals, and 16 cooks, as the headquarters detachment of this command, were the permanent detail for the internal administration of all the units of Battalion 15. The balance (131) were enrolled in the school proper.
The regular course of didactic lectures, practical work on papers, and drills was carried out, and during the month 67 of these 131 men qualified for promotion, warrants being given to 52 as sergeants and 15 as corporals.
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At the end of this school period there remained 64 men, about half of whom would have qualified for warrants after about a week’s further instruction. These men were sent out to fill orders as having the qualifications for prospective noncommissioned officers. About 30 of the 64 men who were not recommended for warrants were sent out to fill orders as privates, they having shown no qualifications to support the belief that they would at any time rise above their present status.
During the month there was concluded a two weeks’ special course on venereal prophylaxis, to a few selected men from this school. These men are now being held to fill orders in furtherance of this work. That is, to go out among different camps as missionaries in the prevention of venereal diseases.
At the end of the month the headquarters detachment for the administration of the units of Battalion 15 was intact. The enlisted personnel of the school proper consisted of 6 privates and 1 sergeant.
A special noncommissioned officers’ group was formed in July, 1918 65 The personnel was at first recruited from the better elements of the various groups of the camp. After these early days, however, the men were selected upon their arrival at the replacement group after an initial two weeks training in the detention group. Thus it will be noted that noncommissioned officers were created from absolutely green material, with a very short period of instruct-ion. All candidates before being sent to the noncommissioned officers’ group were passed upon by a board of officers who considered the following qualifications: Education, practical training, recommendation of immediate commander, personality, and psychological rating. Candidates were received in groups, several hundred in number, at intervals of approximately two weeks. The school grouped each draft into a battalion, composed of 4 companies and numbering about 400 men. The entire school consisted of 3 battalions, as a rule, of approximately 1,200 men. The number grew steadily with the increase in size of the camp, and had not the armistice cut short this work, this school would soon have enrolled 3,000 picked young men.
The course was of six weeks’ duration.65 The first day was consumed in facilitating the adjustment of the candidates to their new surroundings, and in the selection of acting noncommissioned officers from among their number to fill the majority of the company details. Each company was commanded by a commissioned officer, who was assisted by a first sergeant and a duty sergeant of the permanent cadre of the noncommissioned officers’ group. Companies were made as nearly self-supporting as possible from the first day. The men in training got out all the required daily, special, and routine reports, thus familiarizing themselves with the ordinary company reports. They formed the platoons, assembled the company, and acted as squad leaders. They were detailed in turn as acting mess sergeants. Details were changed by roster, so that before graduation each man had served through all the company grades.65 Individual performance was closely scrutinized and daily rating kept by the company commander so that most company commanders by the time of the conclusion of the course were able to appraise their men very justly. Each day opened with first call, at 5.20 a. m., and formally closed with retreat at 4.30 p. m. It was very rare that men were granted or requested a pass. Occasional exceptions were made to this rule when an entire battalion or the entire command were given passes as a reward for unusually good general showing. Special classes were frequently held in the evening.
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Efforts were centered on making direct appeals to the individual.65 Each man wore his name in large print on a white muslin strip over the pocket on the left side of his shirt, as was done in some of the officers’ training camps. Each man knew he was being watched, not only by his company commander and other commissioned officers, but by noncommissioned officers, and by those of more concern to him than all others, his comrades. A typical cadet spirit was soon developed. The companies were formed at reveille and kept at work all day. They first completed a brisk general police of camp, then policed their tents, arid attended to personal hygiene. The companies were next formed and double-timed to breakfast, one-quarter mile. This formation was repeated on return from breakfast in order to bring the men together with a snap early in the day. A short respite was then allowed. The companies were double-timed to drill field at 7.30 a.m. At the conclusion of drill at 9 a.m. they were returned in the same way, except that intervals were scheduled between battalions in order that all men could be given time to bathe. This saved time, freshened the men after the morning’s physical stress, and put-them in a receptive mood for class work, which followed immediately thereafter, in two 50-minute periods. The afternoon afforded two more 50-minute periods for class work, and at 3.30 the battalions were again on their way to the drill field, where they remained until 4.30 p. m. Twice weekly during this hour the entire command was formally paraded. Class work was made as practical as possible, much time being given to interrogation and preparation of forms, which, when handed in, were corrected and returned.
During the month of October, 1917, a change in the system of obtaining instructors for the school was inaugurated.66 The basis of the entire scheme was practical instruction, to be carried on in groups of not more than 10 men, preferably 5. In order to carry this out, it was necessary to obtain a large force of men who were competent to teach. Medical officers in such numbers were not available. It was then decided to use the graduates of the school for adjutants, registrars, and mess officers for this purpose.66
The school for adjutants, registrars, and mess officers, which was a part of the noncommissioned officers’ group, trained men for commissions in the Sanitary Corps.66 Its course consisted of two parts--first, four weeks of didactic teaching entirely similar to the course in this school; second, at the end of that time those who had qualified were given a subsequent course of practical instruction of at least four weeks. If then it was found that suitable progress had been made, these men appeared before a special board for examination for commission in the Sanitary Corps.
The majority of the men coming from that school were of the grade of sergeant, or higher.66 It was thought that this practical instruction could he given these men in necessary paper work, handling of men, mess management, etc. To this end, these men were assigned as cadet officers to the various companies of the school. In this manner they handled the companies as actual commanding officers, getting practical instruction in organization, the handling of men, all the necessary paper work, and mess management, and at the same time they were used as instructors in the various branches taught in the school. Two purposes were thus accomplished--first, the candidates for commission
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received the practical instruction required, and, second, the knowledge these men possessed along special lines was made of use. By using these men, the instruction was divided into small groups with far better results. The amount of work done in the group can be seen by the following table of results covering the period from the inception of the group, July 29, 1918, to October 31, 1918: 67
[table]
MORALE DEPARTMENT
On March 2, 1918, a memorandum was submitted to the Surgeon General by the commandant, Camp Greenleaf, outlining rat-her definite methods for the establishment and maintenance of soldier morale.68 In May the commandant made practical application, in the camp, of the proposed plan. On June 6 a camp morale officer was appointed, with duties as outlined.69
General Orders, No. 57.
HEADQUARTERS CAMP GREENLEAF,
Chickamauga Park, Ga., June 6, 1918.
1. The position of morale officer for Camp Greenleaf is hereby created.
2. The duties of the morale officer relate to tloe psychological uplift of recruits and the early development of a wholesale mental attitude by them toward service in the Army and in the Medical Department. They are especially intended to make the introduction of the recruit into the service as pleasant and instructive an experience as is practicable with due consideration for military requirements.
3. The morale officer will take measures for the provision and operation throughout the camp of an effective organization for the early information of recruits in respect to their personal relation to the military service; the sympathetic understanding of their personal difficulties and of advising therein; the stimulation of patriotism, and inculcation of loyalty to superiors; the allaying of suspicion toward, or opposition against, the military service; the provision of suitable recreation and education; the fostering of ideals of equity and sportsmanship; and the promotion of the spirit of service.
4. To this end he will coordinate and systematize all existing agencies and methods calculated to facilitate the adjustment of the recruit to the military environment, and take such additional measures, not interfering with military duties, as may seem desirable for the purpose.
5. The morale officer will have such representatives and assistants, throughout the various sections and organizations of Camp Greenleaf, as may be necessary.
6. Full advantage will be taken of the services in this respect of the chaplains on duty at Camp Greenleaf.
The personnel and facilities of the Young Men’s Christian Association, Knights of Columbus, Jewish Board of Welfare Workers, and committee on training camp activities will be utilized to the full extent offered for the purpose by those organizations.
By order of Colonel Munson:
W.S. SLEDGE, Major, M. R. C., Adjutant.
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On June 13, in response to a request from the commandant, a memorandum was submitted to him by the department of military psychology, suggesting a detailed program for improving the morale of recruits. These suggestions were criticized and returned, and a revised program was submitted by the newly appointed morale officer.7?
The revised plan as approved and returned to the camp morale officer was put into effect in the 15th Battalion, detention camp, Camp Greenleaf, on June 20.71 A large tent was erected opposite battalion headquarters, near the Young Men’s Christian Association Building, and central with respect to the arrival and departure of troops. The assistant morale officer, with a detachment of 35 enlisted men from the school of military psychology, was detailed to initiate this work. The purpose of the commandant was so to standardize a method in this battalion that it could be made applicable to other sections of this camp, and also be offered to the General Staff as a tested program for the institution of similar organizations in other camps throughout the country.70
The personnel for this work was distributed as follows:71
In each detention camp (2,000 to 5,000 men):
One morale officer. - In general charge of work in camp. In particular, confers with Young Men’s Christian Association and other workers, chaplains, and morale soldiers each day, to arrange program in detail for following day. Program distributed to companies for posting on company bulletin boards. Receives from each morale soldier a formal report of activities during previous 24 hours. Makes daily consolidated report to morale officer, with copies to each company commander and to each section commander.
One chaplain and assistant. - General oversight of religious instruction, instruction in English branches, formal inspirational talks, and mail, for the first three of which he is responsible with respect to program followed. Talks to men upon arrival and departure.
One civilian worker. - Cooperates with chaplain on religious instruction and formal talks.
One civilian worker. - Cooperates with chaplain in English instruction. Furnishes instructors, arranges program of intensive detail. Instructs at least one hour per day.
One civilian worker. - Arranges with company athletic officer with regard t-o athletics and games. Arranges program within each company during week, and between companies Saturday and Sunday.
One civilian worker. - In charge of entertainments; responsible for entertainments to be held every night.
Two civilian workers - Assists in above, and in singing.
One training camp activities officer. - In charge of group singing. Responsible for group singing in camp two nights per week. General oversight of singing in smaller groups.
Two morale soldiers. - In charge of information booth.
One morale soldier for each company. - To act as sick sergeant. Leads in company group singing on all possible occasions. Assists in drill. Gets into touch close with men. Makes formal daily report to morale officer, especially with regards to suggestions for the improvement of morale in the company. Responsible for letter home. Either assists in athletics or aids as instructor in English.
Approximately seven weeks later it was believed by the commandant that the system already instituted in the 15th Battalion had become sufficiently standardized to permit of its extension to other sections of the camp. This extension was accordingly ordered and effected, as outlined below:70
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INTENSIVE MORALE PROGRAM AS APPLIED TO RECRUITS
The morale work is broadly divided into an intensive and extensive phase. The intensive phase is concerned primarily with the stimulation of the morale of the recruit from the time he detrains until he leaves the detention camp--a period normally of two weeks. The extensive phase of the work concerns itself not only with the recruit during his stay in the detention camp, but equally to the later developmental periods of his training.
A. Detrainment. - The troop trains are met by officers and noncommissioned officers, the latter including one noncommissioned officer especially detailed for morale duty with each company, who assemble the men by local boards and march them to the detention camp. They are encouraged to sing and cheer on the march.
B. Upon arrival at camp the men are assigned to companies and taken to the company streets, where the morale sergeant assists them in their primary adjustments. They are shown how to make their beds, instructed in the use of mess kits and the saving of water, and are informed as to the location of company mess halls, latrines, and wash houses. They are given an unusually good first mess and a bath. Instruction is attempted by friendly counsel rather than by the depressing method of trial and error.
C. Primary morale system. - (1) Upon the morning of the recruits’ first full day in camp they are rostered by companies, after which they are turned over to the morale sergeant of their company and marched to the information tent, which serves as the headquarters of morale work in the detention camp. Here they are given a tag, bearing on one side the following paragraph:
You are now a Soldier of the United States; a Soldier Selected by your Country to fight for the Freedom of the World.
WALK like a soldier
THINK like a soldier
ACT like a soldier
BE A SOLDIER!
This is not easy to do at first and there may be things that you do not understand. Never mind; all good soldiers have learned to do the same things that you are learning to do. Remember you follow a flag that has never led in an unjust war. Remember that the American Army has never yet been defeated. Do your part now and it never can be. Keep your head up, your eyes open, and smile!
On the reverse side of this tag is stamped the recruits’ new company and camp address, with a blank space for autograph, which is written in at this time, and the tag is then firmly attached to the clothing. This tag serves, during the first few days, the double purpose of identification and inspiration.
(2) The recruits are now marched in company formation, still under the direction of the morale sergeant, to some open-air amphitheater, or to an auditorium if the weather be inclement, where they each receive a copy of the pamphlet Keeping Fit to Fight, issued by the social hygiene division of the Commission on Training Camp Activities, and given an informational talk by the morale officer or his representative. This talk, which is, of course, informal, nevertheless attempts to cover briefly the following points:
I. Nature of detention camp.
1. Boundaries.
2. Relation to permanent organization.
3. Reasons for detention -
(a) Assurance against introduction of contagious diseases.
(b) Preventives
Vaccination.
Inoculation.
Hookworm.
II. Venereal Diseases and related Army Regulations.
III. Entertainments and athletics:
1. Programs for detention camp.
2. Entertainers report for entertainment duty.
3. Daily detailed athletic period.
4. American Library Association--library privileges.
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IV. Informational system:
1. Tent and headquarters.
2. Sick sergeant “ - company information bureau.
V. Letter-writing:
1. Detailed opportunity.
2. Inclosure (form letter signed by battalion commander).
VI. Clothing - reasonable attitude toward fit.
VII. Food - wholesome not dainty.
VIII. Military qualities of a soldier - discipline.
IX. General qualities of a soldier - manliness, cheerfulness, indifference to hardship, etc.
(3) The recruits are then taught a lively Army song by a morale song leader, and are given a brief inspirational talk by the chaplain or his representative, covering such important points as:
(a) Words of welcome and encouragement.
(b) Character of Army discipline and necessity for absolute obedience.
(c) Friendly attitude of officers.
(d) Aims of the war.
(e) Character of the enemy.
(f) Moral problems of the soldier.
(g) Danger of giving way to homesickness.
(h) Seriousness of going A. W. 0. L.
(i) Personal relations of chaplain and soldier.
(4) This program, from the time the recruits are marched to the information tent until the conclusion of the chaplain’s talk, consumes approximately 45 minutes and sends the men to their company streets with some clearer ideas of what we are fighting for and what soldier discipline means; of what their immediate future training involves, and with something, too, of the spirit of the camp imparted to them.
(5) Either immediately following the program just outlined, or in any event within the first 24 hours, the recruits are detailed to the Young Men’s Christian Association Building, or to some other suitable place, to write and mail a letter home. In this communication they were required to inclose the following letter, giving their address and signed by the battalion commander:
CAMP GREANLEAF,
Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.,......................................
(Date)
................................has safely arrived at this camp. He will remain here for some time, getting used to Army life, and learning the first simple things that our soldiers must know.
The Army supplies him with clothing, shoes, good food, comfortable quarters, and medical attendance. But in another way your help is needed. Give him the support of your confidence and cheer.
Write to him often! Getting mail is a big event in a soldier’s day, and getting none is a real disappointment. If pleasant things happen at home, write him about them. If you are proud of him, tell him so. Let him know that you are back of him.
Don’t be worried if your first letters to him are delayed; that is bound to happen sometimes. Keep writing just the same, and we will see that he gets all you write, even if it takes a little time.
Remember always that you, too, are a part of the American Army--you are the army of encouragement and enthusiasm. Write letters filled with these things to your soldier, and you will help us to help him. His address is: Company, Battalion 15, Camp Greenleaf, Ga.
N.T. KIRK,
Major, M. C., Battalion Commander.
This letter also serves a double purpose: That of promptly informing the people at home of the safe arrival of the soldier at his new address, and that of enlisting civilian support. The replies to these letters received by the battalion commander indicate their value as a stimulus of both civilian and soldier morale.
D. Personal attention. - In each company, as previously indicated, there is a representative of the morale organization, known as the sick sergeant, who performs, among
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other tasks, the duties of that office. In addition, this soldier serves as a source of general information, visiting the tents, giving short informational talks, disseminating notices and programs, leading in mass athletics and company singing, acting as noncommissioned officer in charge of mail, and in general serving in such other less specific ways as may contribute to the upbuilding of soldier morale. He reaches men not only at sick call, but during rest periods in drill and in the evening. He stimulates group athletics, the organization of teams, and intercompany games. He supples the company bulletin boards with programs, cartoons, illust-rations, and other literature of morale value.
E. Group entertainments.--Entertainment programs lasting for from two to two and a half hours each evening are provided at the open air theater or in the huts and tents of the Young Men’s Christian Association, Knights of Columbus, and Jewish Welfare Board, several entertainments sometimes running simultaneously in the same section of the camp. These entertainments comprise vaudeville, boxing, wrestling, hand and orchestra concerts, mass singing, motion pictures, war talks, inspirational addresses, and dramatics.
The talent for these programs is generally selected from among the soldiers themselves. The morale sergeant in each company is constantly and systematically on the alert to discover musical or other entertaining ability. Entertainers so discovered are givers tryouts, and those of professional excellence serve throughout the camp.
F. Information tent service--Each of the six sections into which the medical camp is divided possesses a headquarters tent or building. The original information tent in the detention camp is typical; here there is a desk for the section morale officer, his first sergeant, and the morale song leader. There are also desks at this headquarters, or adjacent thereto, for the section entertainment officer, the section athletic officer, the chaplain, and a representative of the Red Cross Society, together with such stenographers and orderlies as might be necessary for effective paper work. Near this headquarters is located a section bulletin board (to which further reference will be made).
There is a daily meeting of morale sergeants with their section morale officer at a stated tune for the discussion of problems and the submission by each sergeant of a daily written report of activities in his respective company, with such suggestions for the improvement of company morale as may from time to time appear desirable. At these meetings, athletic schedules are arranged, companies are matched in volley ball, baseball, and the like, and conflicting schedules are adjusted.
G. Upon transfer of men from the detention camp to other sections of Camp Greenleaf, they receive a brief farewell talk by the chaplain or by his representative, and are frequently led for a few minutes in singing and cheering.
EXTENSIVE MORALE WORK—ORGANIZATION
A. Headquarters.--The headquarters of the camp morale officer are located in the psychology building. These headquarters serve as an office for the camp morale officer and his immediate assistants, including the publicity and entertainment directors, and in addition provide a desk for the Army song leader and the Army dramatic director. The headquarters of the athletic director, chaplains’ associations, Red Cross, Young Men’s Christian Association, Young Women’s Christian, Association, Knights of Columbus, Board of Jewish Welfare Workers, and American Library Association are easily accessible. The office of the War Camp Community Service in the near-by city of Chattanooga, thorough which all civilian entertainments clear, is in daily communication with this office.
B. Coordination and direction of morale work.--In addition to the intensive work above described, the camp morale officer coordinates and directs all agencies directly or indirectly influencing the morale of soldiers. Chief among such agencies in this camp are the Commission on Training Camp Activities, represented directly by the Army song leader, the Army dramatic director, and the social hygiene division, and indirectly by the Young Men’s Christian Association, the Young Women’s Christian Association, the Knights of Columbus, the Board of Jewish Welfare Workers, the American Library Association, and the War Camps Community Service.
The coordination of these various activities is accomplished by means of frequent conferences of their representatives with the camp morale officer and by weekly reports which are submitted either to the section morale officer or directly to the camp morale officer. These
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reports in turn serve as a partial basis for a general weekly report, covering all phases of morale work, submitted by the camp morale officer to the commandant. These agencies submit schedules and programs weekly in advance to the camp morale officer, in order that camp activities may be systematically directed by his office. These activities are then included in the complete weekly program for the entire camp which is submitted to the commandant and is published in advance in the camp and city newspapers. All of these organizations are offering heartiest cooperation and assistance of a very material and practical sort, making possible the outlining of coordinated and nonconflicting programs throughout Camp Greenleaf.
C. Critical and corrective aspects of morale work.--(1) The civilian relief department of the Red Cross investigates and ameliorates unfavorable conditions discovered through morale agencies in the home life of the soldier.
(2) Investigations are made and reports submitted, either to company commanders, to section commanders, or to the commandant, upon canteen service, unsatisfactory mess, unfavorable conditions, easily avoidable, among guardhouse prisoners, unsanitary latrines, poor washing facilities, overharsh or indifferent treatment of soldiers by noncommissioned officers, and in general all those minor but persistent depressants that unavoidably occur from time to time in any company.
D. Material and equipment.--On the material side, tents, labor, and office supplies are furnished through the military; a monthly allowance of $250 is granted morale headquarters from the canteen fund for general morale purposes other than athletics and set entertainments, which are financed by separate funds. Lumber, moving-picture machines, song sheets, some athletic equipment, musical instruments, and the like, are from time to time generously furnished by the Young Men’s Christian Association and by the Red Cross. Minor athletic equipment is obtained through company funds.
E. Miscellaneous.--For special purposes, such as the Liberty loan drive, the morale organization serves as a convenient agent.
EXTENSIVE MORALE WORK--IN THE FIELD
A. Staff.--(1) The camp morale headquarters staff comprises the following personnel: Morale officer; his assistant; directors, respectively, of entertainments, athletics, music, dramatics, and publicity; two stenographers; a side-car driver; and an orderly. At this central office is held the weekly meeting of the morale officers of each section, who meet for conference. An athletic officer and representative from the chaplains’ association, the Red Cross, and other civilian agencies are free to attend these meetings and usually do so
(2) To these central offices come the weekly reports of the section morale officer and the various departments working under him; requests for music, entertainment, and athletic games; and requests through the office of the War Camps Community Service, as well as offers of entertainment from the citizens of Chattanooga. In this way, the various sections of the park are kept in mutual close relations, and the camp as a whole related to the city of Chattanooga.
(3) Each section of the camp has a morale organization of its own, as has been indicated, based upon that originally established in the detention camp, with such modification of staff and method as its own peculiar conditions make desirable. In general, this section morale organization, while, of course, directly responsible in military matters to the section commander, is otherwise responsible to the camp morale officer, who is in turn directly responsible to the commandant. Thus an organizations exists for the speedy and effective accomplishment of such morale purposes as the commandant may from time to time suggest; and, on the other hand, unfavorable conditions difficult to remedy through the often overcrowded military channels can, by this means, be promptly ameliorated. A similar table or organization could be devised for a divisional camp, in lieu of that which was in force at Camp Greenleaf, where the medical units effect a rather unusual unit grouping. Such a section unit of this camp includes from 2,000 to 8,000 men. B. Entertainment - The entertainers of professional excellence, discovered and selected by the entertainment directors, as previously described, arc segregated in a special entertainment company adjacent to the camp morale office, that their services for rehearsals and entertainment may be readily requisitioned. Transportation for these entertainers is
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furnished on schedule as submitted to the transportation department. These entertainers at present approximately 75 in number, perform regular company duties until 1 o’clock, when their time is placed at the disposal of the dramatic arid song directors for rehearsal and entertainment. All entertainment throughout the camp is requisitioned upon printed forms at least a week in advance, and programs covering these entertainments are similarly scheduled in advance as previously indicated. In addition, a report is made by the section morale officer or his representative upon the morning following any regularly staged entertainment, giving criticisms arid suggestions for its improvement. Card indices are kept of all talent and bookings, so that ineffective entertainers may he weeded out and their places filling by incoming material of higher grade. These records are also kept in order to avoid overworking certain men at the expense of others. No man is held in the company longer than three months, and any man may be sent back to regular duty at any time upon recommendation of the camp morale officer. It is the present intention to group these entertainers from time to time, to be sent overseas as integral parts of base hospital units. In addition to entertainment furnished by the Barnstormers” (professional entertainment company), section morale officers, the Young Men’s Christian Association and the Knights of Columbus provide entertainment furnished by local talent. Motion pictures are supplied by the Young Men’s Christian Association on a regular schedule to the various airdromes and Young Men’s Christian Association buildings, and in addition a number of pictures, secured either by purchase or through the courtesy of film companies, are shown throughout the camp and then returned to the detention camp, where they can he repeated approximately every two weeks to a new group.
Such pictures as “The Unbeliever,” “The Crossbearer,” and “Keeping Fit to Fight” are illustrations of films permanently kept in the camp and primarily designed for rise in the detention camp.
C. Athletics. - (1) Athletic organization:
a. Camp Greenleaf is divided into two tactical units, as follows: Tactical Unit No. 1-- Detention camp, Fort Oglethorpe, medical officers’ training camp, Section A (under the direction of Athletic Director Dennis W. Sullivan, captain, Medical Corps). Tactical Unit No. 2--Section B, Section C, Section D, Section E (under the direction of Athletic Director J. C. Montgomery, first lieutenant, Medical Corps).
b. Tactical unit directors are responsible to the camp morale officer for the athletic program of the camp (athletic program does not include military physical training; e. g., drill, setting-up exercises, etc.). Reports for each week’s activities are submitted to the camp morale officer by Monday 6 p. m. The tactical unit director selects and requests the appointment of an athletic officer for each group under his direction; such athletic officer may be the morale officer for that group himself, where desirable. The tactical unit director exercises supervision over the recreational activities of athletic nature in his unit, and is the deciding authority in case of conflicts within that tactical unit. Intergroup athletics are promoted by the tactical unit director only.
c. Group athletic officers are responsible to their tactical unit director for intragroup recreational athletic organization. Schedules and reports are submitted to the tactical unit director as requested by him. Group athletic officers’ work inn conjunction with athletic officers of the Young Men’s Christian Association, Knights of Columbus, etc., and make the best use possible of available officers and enlisted men in perfecting their group athletic organizations. Group athletic officers further cooperate with entertainment directors in the production of evening entertainment, and submit names of athletic talent with professional qualifications, e. g. boxers, wrestlers, tumblers, etc., to the camp entertainment director, in order that the latter may request the retention of such men in the camp for entertainment purposes.
(2) Athletic games: Regular baseball, volley ball, soccer, and football games are arranged between various units throughout Camp Greenleaf, and during the season a football team will represent the entire camp. Mass games are conducted regularly each day at such times as section commanders may designate. Athletic equipment is supplied by means of funds from the canteen, company funds, and to some extent from the Young Men’s Christian Association.
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(3) Special athletic features:
a. An outdoor gymnasium has been constructed, the field used for this purpose being approximately 600 feet square. The following apparatus and game courts are located on the field: 8 volley ball courts, 5 indoor baseball diamonds, 1 baseball diamond, 1 cage ball court, 2 basket ball courts, 2 soccer fields, 1 wall scale, 1 trench jump, 1 horizontal bar (for 8 men),1 set parallel bars (for 8 men), 1 horse (for 8 men).
This equipment makes it possible for this field to accommodate 5,000 at one time. When organized under the supervision of one man, with the assistance of a bugler, most effective use can be made of limited equipment. Every soldier in section B is detailed to this outdoor gymnasium for one hour and a half on three days each week. For the first half hour, calisthenic drills are given to the men, the remainder of the period being used for mass games.
b. Located near the outdoor gymnasium is a completely equipped football field. A natural amphitheater was selected for this site, and although no benches or stands have been constructed, 7,000 persons may easily view a game played on this field. It is also intended to use this field for interorganization soccer games.
c. Swimming pool, section B: In the spring of 1918, under the supervision of the Army engineers, a depression formed by an old stone quarry in section B of Camp Greenleaf was thoroughly cleaned up and all surface drainage and seepage removed by means of proper sloping of the banks. In addition, the sides and the bottom of the pool were coated with cement, thus avoiding contact with any substance except the original stone of the quarry.
As completed, this pool forms a body of water averaging about 240 feet in length, 75 feet in width, and from 3 to 15 feet in depth. Its capacity is 969,150 gallons and accommodates daily approximately 1,200 memo. The pool is equipped with three spring boards amid sufficient equipment for water polo games. On one side of the pool there is a safety zone of shallow water with a wire-netting partition, where nonswimmers may enjoy themselves without danger. The entire pool, with complete equipment, represents an expenditure of nearly $9,000, which was borne in large part by the local branch of the American Red Cross. Through the generosity of this organization, 600 bathing suits are available for the use of the men of Camp Greenleaf. A bathhouse is located conveniently near the pool. Sterilization of the water is provided for by means of an electric pump which forces the water through a chlorine tank, thence out into the pool by means of a spray from a 6-inch pipe, aeration being thus provided. At intervals, depending on the extent to which the pool is used, chemical and bacterial analyses are made of the water. All men entering the pool are required to take a thoroughly cleansing shower bath, and in addition are at the same time inspected for any sign of skin disease. As a result of these precautionary measures, there has at no time been found any dangerous element in the water.
(4) Athletic entertainment: Instruction is given in swimming, boxing, and wrestling. Swimming meets are held, and such special features as a Wild West show, boxing and wrestling bouts, etc., are staged from one to three times a week in all open-air theaters.
D. Education. - A school for illiterates has been based in most sections of the camp upon that worked out in the detention camp, where it was found highly desirable to have several small schools, held nightly from 6 to 7 p. m. in mess halls adjacent to the several company streets, rather than to attempt to hold a single large school where much valuable time would invariably be lost. In these schools the morale sergeants act as principals, and select other teachers from their respective companies, to give instruction under the guidance of the chaplain and the Young Men’s Christian Association educational secretaries.
E. Publicity. - (1) News bulletins: Beside the information tent in the detentions camp is a large bulletin board labeled, in letters conspicuous from a distance, “Information. A similar board has been or is being constructed near the morale headquarters in each of the other sections of the camp. On this board are posted news bulletins of current events, especially with reference to the favorable progress of the war; entertainment programs; notices of athletic games and scores; and such general material as maps (both local and war maps), letters from the front, war poetry, clippings, etc.
(2) Two or three times a week, in the various airdromes, five-minute talks are delivered, usually by a Young Men ‘s Christian Association secretary, describing the progress of the war
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and illustrated by means of lantern slides. Slides are used also in connection with the motion pictures to make announcements, to teach the camp songs, and to summarize the war news of the day.
(3) A series of posters on morale subjects is being designed, some with reference to the early stages of recruit life, others dealing with the later developmental phases of a military career. Five expert illustrators work under the immediate direction of morale headquarters, having in view a series of art posters for use in connection with the Liberty loan campaign.
(4) A “departure card” of postal-card size has been designed, and is being printed for use when a soldier is transferred to a new organization. A cartoon covering one-half of this card is amplified by means of a legend as follow’s:
Dear ........................
Here we are at the next stopping place on our way to Berlin. We have just been transferred here. You see, we are always moving, amid in the right direction!
Be sure to write me at once. Use the new address given below and your letters will riot be delayed.
As ever yours,
...................................
My new address is:...........................................................
When a soldier is transferred from the detention camp to some other section of Camp Greenleaf, he promptly receives one of these cards and is required to send it home, in order that his people may have prompt notice of his new address. A series of such cards, different in details, but with a general morale purpose, are designed. Whether transferred or not, soldiers in this camp are required to write home at least twice each month, and a roster is kept to see that they do so.
(5) Through the courtesy of the Young Memo’s Christian Association and the local editor of Trench and Camp, one or more pages of this publication are placed at the disposal of the morale organization each week. This space is utilized for the printing of entertainment and athletic programs, for cartoons, and for such literature in prose and verse as may be devised to further the interests of soldier morale. This privilege also enables the morale staff to advertise various features of their work--e. g., the activities of the entertainment company--more widely and more promptly to the soldiers at large than would otherwise have been possible.
(6) A series of talks upon such topics as the following: “Why we are at war,” “Why we are sure to win the war,” “Traditions of the American Army,” “Opportunities for self-improvement in the Army,” “What victory will mean to me,” The necessity for discipline and obedience,” “Ten reasons why we are at war,” “A message to Garcia, by Elbert Hubbard, have been prepared and distributed to company commanders for use in their daily talks to the men of their command, and at present a large number of four-minute talks are being prepared, to be given either by company commanders or by morale sergeants during rest periods at drill or upon other frequent and informal occasions.
(7) Several plans are contemplated for widening the scope and usefulness of this publicity department. For instance, it is proposed that further efforts be encouraged to acquaint the registrant with the sort of conditions which he will meet when he actually enters the Army, giving him information concerning his equipment amid the new life as he will find it, in order to allay foolish and unnecessary but very real fears of anticipation. It is hoped to make contact with civilian news sources, with a view to the minimization of the difference between the civilian and the military attitude. As he becomes better informed the young soldier will become the more readily amenable to Army discipline and will come the more quickly to sympathize with Army ideals.
F. Special work among negro troops. - The negro soldier presents a distinct morale problem, particularly with reference to the organization and conduct of athletics and entertainment. Since he is not permitted to attend the group entertainments or to take part in the general athletics, it is found necessary to develop these morale activities within the negro groups. Special entertainments are staged for the negro troops in a tent furnished for this purpose by the Young Men’s Christian Association. Athletic games and contests are organized within the colored group, and sufficient equipment for this purpose is provided.
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Although the appointment of white morale sergeants for colored units brought good results, it was deemed advisable to select colored soldiers with the proper educational qualifications for this purpose, since they could naturally make more intimate contacts with the men.
G. Mental attitude of recruits. - A questionnaire has been devised and is being printed in order to determine, upon the basis of 15,000 answers from recruits in the forthcoming draft, the mental attitude of the average soldier during his first weeks in the Army. In so far as it may be unfavorable an attempt will be made to offset it by means of specific amid carefully directed propaganda. The questionnaire follows:
Date..............................................
(The name is not to be given.)
Town................................County..........................State...........
How long in the Army................................
Married.........................Single...............................Family.........................How many children...............
Age....................Occupation..................Wages.....................
Where born..............................Education..............................
1. Were you anxious to get into the Army?....................................................................
2. Is the Army life what you expected, or better, or worse?..................................................................
3. Did you leave things at home in good condition? If not, what is the trouble?.............................
4. How often do you hear from home?................................................................
5. How many letters do you write a week?..........................To whom?................................
6. Do you get enough to eat?.................................................................
7. Do you think you are overworked?..........................................................
8. Do you like to drill?.............................; to salute?............................to say “Sir” to officers?..........
9. Do you get all the information you desire about the Army?....................................If not, what is lacking?........
10. From whom have you learned most about what you are to do?................................
11.Do you understand why you are inoculated (“shot”)?..................Did you dread it?...................
12.Do you attend the entertainments regularly?...................................................................
13.What kind of entertainment do you like best?........................................................................
14. Have you learned the Army songs?.............................Which one do you like best?..................
15. How would you prefer to spend your spare time?...........................................................................
16.Are you anxious to get to France?.....................................................
17.Does the uncertainty of what will be done with you bother you?.................................................
18. When the war is over would you prefer to continue in the Army or go back home?................
19. Do you dread the future or look forward to it?.........................................................
20.What bothers you most?.......................................................
21.What has helped you most in the Army?..................................................
22.Do you feel that anyone has been unkind to you or mistreated you Who?...............................
H.Miscellaneous. - (1) Instructions are given to the chaplains and other morale officers that men shall be particularly warned against the offense of A. W. O. L., since it is found in this camp that a very large majority of court-martial cases are of this sort. Criminal offenses are rare.
(2) Acting morale sergeants, when their service justifies it, are promoted to corporals, sergeants, and sergeants first class. It is hoped that the value of morale work might become sufficiently widely recognized that, to the rare man of the type required, in order adequately to exercise the functions of a morale sergeant the open road to promotion may be offered. This will mean that such a man might look forward to an earned commission. Otherwise there is danger that these desirable men, seeing no future, may strive for transfer to other branches of the service, and thus become a loss to morale work at the very time when their experience make them particularly valuable.
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GENERAL INSTRUCTION FOR OFFICERS
While the general course of instruction for officers was prescribed by the Surgeon General, the method of imparting this instruction was left entirely in the hands of the camp commander. After much thought it was decided that the university method of teaching should be adopted and that there should be one basic course of three months’ instruction for the entire camp. Clustered around this basic course a number of special courses were to be added as fast as possible, but the essential feature, the basic course, was not to be disturbed by these additions.6 By this it was meant that even if an officer were assigned to a special course he would still continue to take the basic instruction. These special classes were not meant to be substitutes but additional courses. Lectures in the basic course were given by the best qualified officers and, as far as possible, no officer was to be called upon to instruct in a variety of subjects.
At first all instructors were required to attend all lectures so that they would be familiar with the ground covered by the lecturer.19 After the lecture was given, the student officers were required to carefully study the subject and to recite on the subject the next day. In the beginning the instructors who conducted the recitations were the original Regular and National Guard officers detailed to the camp, but as instruction progressed the company officers were able to take tip this work and conduct the recitations in their companies.6 The companies were further divided into smaller groups under student noncommissioned officers who conducted quizzes. As the original instructors were gradually relieved from the duty of conducting these recitations they were intrusted with the supervision of the recitations. These supervisors also kept in close touch with the individual officers to observe their progress and make recommendations for assignments of those qualified.19
Existing circumstances did not permit the ordering of student officers to the camp in groups for a definite period of instruction so that the whole body could begin the course together. They straggled in gradually throughout the history of the camp. To combat this evil all officers reporting after the beginning of each course were required to attend night quizzes in their companies.6, 72 These were held by the best qualified student instructors and were intended to bring the training of the individual officers up to one standard. Those reporting during the latter half of the course could not well do this on account of the large amount of instruction already given. These took all the work they could grasp arid were enrolled in the next class.6
The three months’ basic course outlined below was intended to cover the duties of a medical officer very thoroughly, but, unfortunately, due to urgent military necessity, many officers had to be detailed away from camp before the course was completed and therefore these men were only partially trained.72
Within a short time after the opening of the camp the most promising of the student officers were being utilized as instructors. At first they were largely employed as company officers, drill instructors, and quiz masters. Later on those showing energy and ability were detailed as junior instructors. From the time of the opening of the camp one of the principal objects sought was to
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prepare reserve officers for duty as instructors and administrative officers so that they could take over the administration and instruction of the camp. A number of reserve officers became very proficient teachers of Medical Department administration and the duties of medical officers in the field.
All officers reporting for instruction were assigned to the medical officers’ training group. Each officer was given an examination by a board of medical examiners composed of the directors of the various schools, to determine his professional qualifications. All officers were then required to take the basic course, which primarily consisted of three months of intensive study along medico-military lines. Every student officer was required to take an oral examination in medicine and surgery and in any special branch of medicine in which he had previously received special training or in which he considered himself qualified. This examination was held, as has been stated before, at the time of entrance into the camp. Those men who were found to be poorly qualified professionally were sent to a school of either medicine or surgery or to both, if found necessary. These courses consisted of 15 lectures and quizzes in each subject. The poorly prepared students were required to attend the lectures in these courses regularly, in addition to the regular camp instruction. At the end of each course, a written examination was held and anyone who failed in this examination appeared before a board to determine whether or not he should be retained in the service. The chief object of the courses was to give the men a review of the essential features of medicine and surgery with which they should be familiar before being placed in positions of responsibility. If any of the student officers were found to be so deficient in professional qualifications as not to justify being sent to these courses of instruction they were sent before a special board, which was convened under War Department instructions.73 After considering the man’s professional rating and his general personal equation, the board then decided whether it would be to the best interests of the service to retain him or to have him honorably discharged as not suitable for the service; recommendations were made accordingly. It was a function of this board to determine, as nearly as possible, the exact professional qualifications of the men, with a view to recommending them for the positions for which they were best suited, and to see that they were given the necessary instruction whenever further training was needed.6
One week after their arrival in camp the student officers were classified by the board as follows:6 Class A: Officers partially qualified and available as instructors along certain lines. Class B: Officers who had received some instruction, and who were qualified as instructors in any line. Class C: Officers who had received no previous instruction. Promotion to and demotion from each class continued throughout the entire instruction period. With the exceptions noted above, all student officers were held in class C, and later an additional class, D, was added, from which they were advanced to grades B and C by their company commanders as they improved in efficiency. Grade A was given only on the recommendation of the battalion commanders to the commander of the group who had the candidates examined. This examination was held by the senior instructor and his first assistant, and the student was obliged to pass the examination to qualify for the grade.6 At the termination
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of the course, assignments were to be made for those remaining in class A. This system did not- remain long in force due to the fact that a great many officers had to he ordered to other camps before the original three months course was completed.
Cadet captains of companies were appointed by battalion commanders and held office for two weeks.6 Each battalion commander had five instructors who assisted him in the instruction and administration of the battalion. These instructors were grade A men, who were recommended by him to the group commander, and if they met with the approval of the latter officer, were detailed for the work. One of these instructors acted as battalion adjutants and the others as permanent company commanders.
The schedule for the basic instruction was outlined as follows: 74
FIRST WEEK
6 A.M..................................Reveille. | 11.30 TO 12.55 ..................Dinner.. |
6.15 to 6.30 ........................Setting-up exercises | 1 to 1.55..............................Medical Department Drill |
6.35 to 7.25.........................Breakfast and police of quarters | 2 to 2.55..............................Lecture (b) |
7.30 to 8.25.........................Foot drill. | 3 to 4...................................Recitation, except Saturday |
8.30 to 9.25.........................Foot drill. |
|
9.30 to 10.25.......................Lecture (a). | 4.14 to 5.15..........................Instruction in French, except Saturday. |
10.30 to 11.25.....................Recitation, except Monday |
|
LECTURES
Monday:
(a) Address by commandant.
(b) Customs of the service.
Tuesday:
(a) Personal equipment of the sanitary soldier. Field and surplus kits.
(b) Care aiod maintenance of soldier’s equipment.
Wednesday:
(a) Duties of the soldier.
(b) Duties of the soldier.
Thursday:
(a) General organization of the military forces.
(b) General organization of the Medical Department for war.
Friday:
(a) General organization of the Medical Department for war.
(b) Nature amid employment of regimental medical supplies.
Saturday:
(a) Nature amid employment of regimental medical supplies.
There was no afternoon work on Saturday.
SECOND WEEK
6 a.m........................Reveille. | 10.30 to 11.25 .....Instruction (b) |
6.15 to 6.30.............Settin-up exercises | 11.30 to 12.55......Dinner and recreation |
6.35 to 7.25..............Breakfast and police of quarters. | 1 to 1.55...............Recitation on 9.30 instruction. Officers to be graded on all recitations. |
7.30 30 to 8.25........Foot drill. Class A men to act as instructors for student companies and enlisted recruits | 2.15 to 4.25..........Recitation on 10.30 in struction. |
8.30 to 9.25............ Same as preceding hour. | 4.30 to 5.15..........Instruction in French. |
9.30 to 10.25..........Instructon (a) | 6...........................Supper. |
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LECTURES
Monday:
(a) A. R. 1471 to 1473, 1486 to 1488, M.M.C. 206 to 208, 12, 13, 18, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46.
(b) Papers connected with sick call; Form 71 M. D., and Forms 332 to 339 A. G. O.
Tuesday:
(a) M. M. D. 427 to 464 (four days allowed to complete these paragraphs).
(b) Papers connected with S and W report (four days allowed to complete this instruction).
Wednesday:: Same as Tuesday.
Thursday: Same as Tuesday.
Friday: Same as Tuesday.
Saturday:(a) and (b) Talk on sanitary inspections, followed by an actual inspection of the entire camp by the student body under the direction of their company officers.
Saturday afternoon, 2 to 4, construction of camp sanitary apparatus.
THIRD WEEK
6 a.m........................Reveille | 9.30 to 10.25..........Istruction (a). |
6.15 to 6.30.............Setting-up exercises. | 10.30 to 11.25.........Instruction (b) |
6.35 to 7.25.............Breakfast and police of quarters | 11.30 to 12.55.........Dinner. |
7.30 to 8.25..........Foot drills or litter drill. | 2.15 to 4.25.............Recitation on 10.30 instruction. |
8.30 to 9.25..........Same as preceding hour. | 4.30 to 5.15.............Instruction in French. |
LECTURES
Monday:
(a) M.M.D. 182 to 203, 414 to 417, 634, 153, 248 to 262. A.R. 1386, 1387, 283 to 290, 1447, 1448, 1450, 1452, 1454 to 1456, 1461, 1462, 316, 324.
(b) Sanitary reports. Hospital fund.
Tuesday:
(a) M.M.D. 496 to 508, 512 to 526.
(b) Property papers, I and I reports and boards of survey (four days allowed for this).
Wednesday:
(a) A.R. 657 to 671, 673 to 701.
(b) Same as Tuesday.
Thursday:
(a) A.R. 702 to 703, 710 to 726.
(b) Same as Tuesday.
Friday:
(a) A.R. 903 to 912, 914.
(b) Same as Tuesday.
Saturday:
(a) Relation of Medical Department to rest of Army.
(b) Sanitation and instruction similar to previous Saturday.
Saturday afternoon, 2 to 4, practical sanitary work.
FOURTH WEEK
6.a.m..........................Reveille | 9.30 to 10.25..........Instruction (a) |
6.15 to 6.30................Setting-up exercises | 10.30 to 11.25........Instruction (b) |
6.35 to 7.25................Breakfast and police of quarters | 11.30 to 12.55........Dinner. |
7.30 to 8.25................Monday, Tueseday, and Wednesday, tent pitching-shelter and pyramidal. | 1 to 1.55..................Recitation on 9.30 instruction. |
8.30 to 9.25................Same as preceding. | 4.30 to 5.15.............Instruction in French. |
7.30 to 9.25................Thurday, Friday, and Saturday, foot and litter drills. |
|
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LECTURES
Monday:
(a) First aid, using soldier equipment.
(b) Examination of recruits, recruiting papers, and finger prints (four days allowed).
Tuesday:
(a) Nature and employment of regimental medical supplies.
(b) Same as Monday.
Wednesday:
(a) Same as Tuesday.
(b) Same as Monday.
Thursday:
(a) Military hygiene and sanitation (based) on first and second chapters, Lelean).
(b) Same as (a).
Friday:
(a) Military hygiene amid sanitation (based on third chapter, Lelean).
(b) Field service regulations (one-half of book).
Saturday:
(a) Field service regulation (second one-half of book).
(b) Recitation on field service regulations.
Saturday afternoon, 1.30 to 2.30, continue (b).
The schedule for the remaining two months was identical in form, being changed in detail to suit the individual subject.
The foundation of the Inilitary instruction follows:6
1.Physical instruction.--(a) Regular amid systematic exercises were prescribed. All student officers were given at least one-half hour a day in this work, and most officers received two hours equitation per week. Those officers who were poorly developed were given special attention, particularly those of 40 years and upward who could not stand the more strenuous exercises provided for the younger men.
2.Military drill.--(a) School of the soldier and the detachment. Each company for one hour daily was split up into groups of one or more sets of fours, and each man was given opportunity to drill the detachment for a short period to give him confidence and training in handling men.
(b) Company and batallion drills were held daily for periods of from 15 to 30 minutes, at the descretion of the battalions commanders.
(c) Litter drill for one hour in this afternoon by sections of each company. Special attention was paid to the loading and unloading of the litter.
(d) Practice marches were held at intervals in the place of drill, when the battalions commander so ordered.
(e) Practice in giving commands for one-half hour, or three times a week, to small groups.
(f) Each battalion was given at least one three-day hike with a field hospital company and an ambulance company, where actual field conditions were encountered.
The following order gives a clear understanding of the practice marches for student officers: 75
HEADQUARTERS CAMP GREENLEAF,
Chickamauga Park, Ga., May 31, 1918.
General Orders, No. 51.
1. A series of practice marches for student officers, to begin on Monday, ,June 3, and continue until further notice, is hereby established.
For the present, these marches will be made to the Government rifle range, Catoosa Springs.
2. Each practice march will cover three days. Weather permitting, it will begin on Monday amid Thursday of each week. Each student battalion will make not less than one practice march monthly.
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3. Marches will be made by student battalions, separately and in succession. All personnel of the battalion, other than the sick and two student officers in each company to be left in charge of barracks and property, will make the march. Company commanders will satisfy themselves as to the physical fitness of all who take the march and insure that they are properly shod.
4. The rear of the student officers column will clear the camp not later than 6.30 a. m. at the cantoments formerly occupied by the 81st Field Artillery, where it will be joined by the sanitary units designated to participate in the march.
5. Each officer will carry on his person light field equipment, to include ration bag, raincoat, shelter tent half with pole and pins, mess kit, and canteen.
6. Each officer will be entitled to have transported for him, by truck, one small bedding roll, to include canvas roil, mattress, not exceeding two blankets, and such underclothing and toilet articles as may be necessary.
7. No separate mess for student officers will be provided, but they will be subsisted from the messes of the ambulance company and field hospital company.
Rations for two and one-third days will be carried. The company funds of the ambulance company and field hospital company will be entitled to reimbursement from the officers’ mess for the cost of rations consumed, and to receive ins addition a gratuity of not exceeding 25 cents for each student officer thus subsisted.
8. The commanding officer, hospitals and trains group, will designate one ambulance company and one field hospital company, both animal drawn, to accompany each battalion. The above organizations to carry full field equipment, tentage, both light and heavy, and supplies. A water cart will accompany these units.
He will also provide motor transportation for the bedding rolls above authorized to be carried for officers.
9. The commanding officer, student officers’ group, will designate such instructors to participate in the march or campfire conference as may be necessary to proper training.
10. The senior instructor or organization commander with the command will command the whole, and be responsible for the proper execution of the provisions of this order.
11. The first day’s march will be from headquarters, Camp Greenleaf, to the springs at the Lansford farm, distance 6.7 miles.
The march will be used as an object lesson in route marching, but a halt of 10 minutes, after every 20 minutes of marching, will be required.
Student officers showing any evidence of distress will be relieved of their packs, or, if necessary, ordered into ambulances for transportation. Company commanders will be held responsible for this.
Both student officers and sanitary units will bivouac in shelter tents. Student officers will be required to individually cook their own supper from the ration.
Drinking water will he sterilized by chlorination in the Lyster bag.
During the day, and at the campfire conference in the evening, practical instruction will be given in conduction of marches, care of feet, laying out of camps, shelter tent pitching, camp cookery, elementary sanitation, etc.
12. The second day’s march will be from the springs at Lansford’s farm to the rifle range, Catoosa Springs, distance 7.4 miles. It will be utilized for instruction in route marching as on the previous day.
At this camp, the full tentage and medical department and other equipment of the ambulance company and field hospital company will be pitched, displayed, and its use explained.
The internal economy of such organizations will be discussed and their tactical use in war outlined. The use of cover, terrain, etc., will discussed.
13. On the third day the equipment of the ambulance company and field hospital will be repacked, the tentage struck, and the transportation loaded. These units will then return independently to Camp Greenleaf.
The student officers will visit the target range, be briefly instructed in small-arms fire, penetration of missiles, trajectories, etc., and, if possible, see a demonstration of rifle and machine-gun fire. If found practicable, a limited amount of pistol shooting by student officers may be had.
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In the afternoon the student officers will return to Camp Greenleaf, arriving by retreat, in motor ambulances or motor trucks, which will be sent out for the purpose by the commanding officer, hospitals, and trains group.
14. In case of severe rain, the heavy tentage of field hospital and ambulance company may be used for shelter by student officers.
15. Other than cooking, all work pertaining to the comfort and instruction of the student officers will, as far as possible, be carried out by them.
16. Great care will be taken to have camp sites scrupulously clean and an object lesson in camp sanitation..
17. The quartermaster will make the necessary arrangements to secure the camp sites required, provide the necessary fuel and Havard box latrine accommodations, and accomplish the removal of refuse from the picket lines.
18. The commanding officer, hospitals and trains group, will provide for the permanent marking, in respect to their component groups, of the camp sites to be successively occupied. He will also maintain a detachment of 1 corporal and 4 privates on the Medical Department camp site at the rifle range for the purpose of maintaining scrupulous cleanliness and sanitation of this site.
By order of Colonel Munson:
E.S. SLEDGE,
Major, M. R. C., Adjutant.
Officers were given as thorough instruction in Army Regulations, Manual for the Medical Department, military law, and Field Service Regulations as the time permitted. They were given, in addition, a certain degree of instruction in those principles of military surgery and medicine with which every officer should be familiar. This instruction was given by officers who were qualified along the lines in which they were called upon to instruct.6
In September, 1917, stenographic notes were taken of all lectures, the transcripts of which were printed and issued to the classes at the cost of printing, the purpose being to give all student officers a textbook on medico-military subjects in a fairly condensed form.76
During October, 1917, the student companies were split up into single squads or groups of four for a large part of the drill period each day.6 The object of this plan was to give every man a chance to take charge of and drill a squad. This plan was amplified and specially developed during November, both in foot drill and in litter drill, with beneficial results.
Beginning November 22, a medical officer of the day was appointed daily from one of the battalions, each battalion providing this officer for a period of one week.3 The duties of the officer of the day were in general as follows:
(1) General oversight of company streets and buildings; (2) fire protection; (3) ventilation in barracks; (4) condition of bathhouses, with special reference to waste of water; (5) any special conditions that might arise and require to be reported.
After the lapse of several months orders were given that officers who had been reserved by the different professional divisions in the Surgeon General’s Office, or who had been found qualified for special instruction by the professional examining board, were to take the basic course for two weeks, and at the end of that time were to be assigned to such special schools as their qualifications indicated.6 From the beginning men prominent in the specialties were used to give lectures in their particular fields. They were sent to the camp for that purpose and supplemented the instruction already given by the instructors permanently assigned to the camp.6
78
COURSE FOR LINE OF COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE
In November, 1917, the need for officers for duty with the line of communications being so great and the necessity for full military training for such service being less urgent, the following instructions were sent to the commandant: 77
NOVEMBER 28, 1917.
From: The Surgeon General, United States Army.
To: Commandant, Medical Officers’ Training Camp, Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.
Subject: Condensed schedule of instruction for medical officers under training with units for line of communications service.
1. This office is ins receipt of the following order: “The Secretary of War directs that you expedite the preliminary training in the United States of service of the rear troops and that such training be reduced as far as possible so as to prepare these troops for service abroad at an early date.”
2. In compliance with the ab)ove order, medical officers assigned to sanitary formations of the line of communications will receive a course of instruction lasting two months.
3. This course will be based on the general schedule for the training of medical officers in your camp, as set forth in Special Regulations, No. 49a, War Department, 1917.
It will, however, give a minimum of the to subjects relating to service with fighting troops in the zone of operations, and will place proportionately more emphasis on the professional matters and administrative requirements which assume so much importance in the service of the rear.
4. It is important, however, that medical officers for the present intended for service with the rear shall not be without reasonable instruction in matters relating to the zone of operations, since emergency may at any time require their detachment for service with troops at the front.
5. Where practicable, it is desirable that medical officers to be attached to formations of the rear should be given the full three months’ basic course of your training camp, with the intensive training for these special formations to follow as a postgraduate course, so that the camps may turn out as comprehensively trained men as time may permit.
6. The schedule for the first month is as follows:
Hours
Setting up (15 minutes daily for 26 days)...................................................6.5
Drills (marching, litter, ambulance, other means of transport, etc.)...................................................52.0
Inspections...............................................4.0
Equitation, bridling, saddling, care of animals, etc........................................................15.0
Tent pitching:
Shelter tent.........................................................2.0
Pyramidal tent..........................................................2.0
Hospital tentage.......................................................6.0
Personal equipment of sanitary soldier.......................................................1.0
Field and surplus kits...........................................................1.0
Care and maintenance of soldiers’ equipment......................................................2.0
First aid, using soldiers’ equipment only...........................................................2.0
Examination of recuits, with papers and fingerprints...................................................6.0
Customs of the service........................................................2.0
Duties of the soldier........................................................4.0
Organization of military forces of the United States.........................................................2.0
Organization of Medical Department for war.............................................................4.0
Relation of Medical Department to rest of Army............................................................1.0
Army Regulations.....................................................6.0
Manual for the Medical Department.....................................................12.0
Field Service Regulations.....................................................6.0
Methods of supply at home and in the field...........................................................2.0
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Paper work relating to the-- Hours
Medical Department....................................................5.0
Quartermasters’s Department..........................................................4.0
Ordnance Department...........................................................2.0
Military hygiene and camp sanitation..........................................................12.0
Handling of ration and mess management...........................................................4.0
Practical sanitary inspections..........................................................5.0
Lectures on special subjects..............................................................4.0
Total.................................................................180.5
7. The schedule for the second month is as follows:
Setting up (15 minutes daily for 26 days)............................................................6.5
Drills, marching, litter and ambulance........................................................36.0
Inspections......................................................4.0
The regimental detachment; its equipment, use, and
internal administration...................................................3.0
The ambulance company; its equipment use, and internal
administration...................................................3.0
The field hospital; its equipment, use, and internal administration .............................................6.0
The Medical Department ins campaign......................................................6.0
The principles of sanitary tactics, and map reading........................................................6.0
The evacuation ambulance company; its equipment, use, and
administration.................................................2.0
The evacuation hospital; its equipment, misc, and internal
administration (including its establishment and demonstration)................................................12.0
Paper work, relating to the Medical Department (continued.........................................................5.0
Military hygiene and camp sanitation (continued)...........................................................6.0
Practical sanitary inspections............................................................6.0
Army Regulations (continued)............................................................6.0
Manual for the Medical Department (continued)............................................................6.0
Manual for Courts-Martial, and Military Law....................................................................8.0
The Articles of War.....................................................................1.0
The Geneva and Hague conventions.............................................................1.0
The Rules of Land Warfare.................................................................2.0
Military surgery, including splints and splinting, infections,
trench foot, etc...................................................................16.0
Liquid fire, poison gases, protection against, symptoms
and treatment (practical).............................................................4.0
War psychoses and neuroses; shell shock, malingering.............................................................4.0
Trench warfare, including demonstration of trench system........................................................4.0
The commoner diseases of troops in France........................................................6.0
The sanitary service, line of communications..............................................................2.0
Hospital ships; ships for patients; hospital trains;
trains for patients.....................................................................2.0
Base hospitals; their organization and management....................................................................2.0
General hospitals; their organization and management...............................................................4.0
Contagious disease hospitals; casual camps; convalescent
camps; camps for prisoners of war.................................................................2.0
war...........................................................2.0
Organization, functions and limitations of the American
Red Cross...............................................................1.0
The civil sanitary function of the Medical Department in
occupied territory............................................................1.0
Lectures on special subjects......................................................4.0
Total...................................................................180.5
8. Inasmuch as it is possible to supply only a part of the equipment of an evacuation hospital for training purposes at your camp, you should at appropriate times arrange for the pitching in connection therewith of such number of field hospitals as would provide the full tentage of an evacuation hospital, together with such of its equipment as are included in the supplies of field hospitals.
9. When an evacuation hospital is pitched, the opportunity should be taken advantage of to demonstrate the magnitude and equipment of this formation to all officers and men under training in your camp, as wel as the personnel assigned to evacuation hospital duty.
10.The training of the enlisted personnel of evacuation, base, and special hospitals should be approximately the same as that now given the personnel of field hospitals, but
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leaving out most of the training relating to the management of wheeled transportation, reducing to the minimum instruction relative to the functioning of regimental detachments, ambulance companies, and field hospitals, and emphasizing practical training in ward nursing, surgical assistance, including splint making, dispensary work, care of property, and cooking and mess management.
11.The training of enlisted men for evacuation ambulance companies should be the same as for divisional ambulance companies, substituting more training in bandaging, first aid, splinting, and emergency nursing for a corresponding amount of the field work prescribed in your general schedule.
12.The training of enlisted men for sanitary squads should be approximately the same as for evacuation ambulance companies, but giving a competent knowledge of horsemanship and the use of motorcycles, and substituting for nursing a thorough training in sanitation and hygiene, which latter should relate not only to military camps and stations but to such civilian communities as would be liable to be occupied as billets by troops in France and elsewhere.
13. Receipt of this letter to be acknowledged.
By direction of the Surgeon General:
E. L. MUNSON,
Colonel, Medical Corps.
PHYSICAL INSTRUCTION FOR OFFICERS
The physical instruction of the officers always received considerable attention and was conducted by a qualified instructor. It was found that the regular course was too strenuous for the middle-aged officers, and as their number increased, the work was modified by the following order: 78
General Orders, No. 58.
HEADQUARTERS CAMP GREENLEAF,
Chickamauga Park, Ga., June 6, 1918.
1. The physical instructor of Camp Greenleaf will be responsible to these headquarters for the proper conduct of all matters relating to physical training of officers and men of this command. He will also serve as athletic officer for the camp.
2. All student officers will be given one-half hour’s physical training daily, except Saturday and Sunday, unless excused by the camp surgeon.
3. Officers entering the camp, and following their physical examination, will be divided into two classes for physical training; one class composed of those 40 years of age or less, and the other of those over 40 years of age. Officers who may be under 40 years of age, but who, in the opinion of the camp surgeon, are not yet fit to undertake more advanced physical training, will be assigned to the latter class.
4. The physical training of the first-named class will have the purpose of putting participants in excellent physical condition in the shortest practicable time. The exercises, though not arduous, will be comprehensive and progressive.
5. The physical training to be given the latter-named class will, for the first three weeks after entrance, be comparatively less severe. It will be carefully graduated and closely supervised by the physical instructor, who will see that officers receive any individual attention which they may require. He is authorized to assign to certain groups for special training such officers in the second class, as, in his opinion, require a modification of class work.
6. At the end of the three weeks’ period, the members of the second class will be examined by the camp surgeon. If certified to by him as to physical competency, they will thereafter be given the more intensive course of physical training carried out by the first class.
Officers whose physical competence for more advanced training is not certified to by the camp surgeon will be continued with their original class until such certificates have heeii given or other action has been taken in their cases.
7. Physical exercises of student officers will be carried out separately by battalions and for the class of officers over 40 years of age.
The physical instructor will designate assistants who will he in direct charge of each class.
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However, on Monday of each week, all battalions, other than the 7th Battalion, and all classes will take the exercises together as a body on the parade ground.
8. The physical training of the enlisted men of each group will be conducted under supervision of an officer designated by the group commander as an assistamit physical instructor, who will also be athletic officer for his group.
9. Physical instruction of enlisted men will be carried out separately by company organization, the company instructor being an officer or noncommissioned officer of the company designated by the commander thereof.
10. Until reported as qualified, company instructors will be given instruction in their duties as physical trainers by the physical instructor three days per week.
11. Each group will maintain an athletic field, and each company in the group will devote at least three hours to athletic contests per week. To insure this, the group athletic officer will prepare a schedule for utilizations of the athletic field by each company.
12. The physical instructor will arrange for an athletic meet and competition for each group at least once a month.
13. Athletic training and contests for enlisted men will be planned as far as possible so as to develop all-round physical excellence and ability to overcome the physical difficulties incident to field service.
14. Classes in boxing and wrestling will he formed umsder the directiomi of the physical instructor.
By order of Colonel Mumson:
E.S. SLEDGE,Major, M. R. C., Adjutant.
As the demands for medical officers became more urgent in the summer of 1918, it was directed that the three months’ basic course be cut six weeks. The following program was devised to cover this new instruction period:79
[table]
The three months’ course gave the officers a very thorough insight into the work of the Medical Department and turned out officers who were sufficiently well trained to take up the work assigned to them without injury to the service, and these officers were able to form a distinct backbone for the Medical Department. The six weeks’ course, unfortunately, was too short; and though some degree of training was obtained, it was not sufficient to really give great service in the training of the medical officer in his multifarious ditties.6
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The course of instruction at the camp began to slow up after the signing of the armistice, and in December was discontinued except for some further work conducted by the special schools.72
The following report of the senior instructor sums up generally the aims and the results accomplished during the existence of the camp: 72
OFFICE OF THE SENIOR INSTRUCTOR,
Camp Greenleaf, Chickamauga Park, Ga., January 5, 1919.
From: The Senior Instructor.
To: The Commandant.
Subject: Monthly report of instruction, December, 1918.
The course of instruction at the M. O. T. C., Camp Greenleaf, was interrupted and finally terminated during the month of December, except for the special school of Roemstgenology, which is still operating and will probably continue to operate during the months of January, or at least the greater part of it.
The school of gas defense discontinued instruction December 11, with the authority of the War Department. The general basic course was discontinued December 20 in order not to delay the demobilization and discharge of student officers. Thie special schools, with the exception of the X-ray school, closed December 23, on account of the discharge or assignment of the officers undergoing instruction in these schools. As mentioned above, the only instruction now being given is the uncompleted course in the school of Roentgenology.
No changes or modifications of the system of instruction were introduced during the months. A few over 1,600 student officers participated in the basic and special courses. New courses were begun December 1, but none of them was completed. The special school schedules were carried out with success and enthusiasm to the last, and too much credit can not be given the directors and instructors for their excellent work and extremely gratifying results obtained.
Most of the work in the basic course during the past year has been given by the senior instructor and his assistants, Lieutenant Colonel Darby and Majors McKellar and Rubert. The instructors in the basic course have worked continuously and faithfully, much of the time under adverse conditions and with little other than a sense of dutv and patriotism to stimulate and encourage them. During the second half of the year, Lieutenant Colonel Williamson and Major Webster arrived, removing much of the burden of teaching from the others, and did their work in a most satisfactory and enthusiastic way.
My experience during the past 19 months had demonstrated conclusively that the art of instructing successfully can not be acquired by many, even though the instructor conscientiously apply himself. Conversely, even those who possess talent and ability do not achieve success unless they work diligently and zealously.
I take this opportunity to express my appreciation of the talent, ability, diligence, and devotion shown and success attained by the corps of instructors at Camp Greenleaf during the past year. I believe few realize the difficulty attended with getting the average doctor direct from civil life interested in and acquainted with military administration and the non-professional duties of medical officers, especially where this has to be done far from the glamour and spectacularity of the theater of operations. The stimulation, encouragement, and animation felt by participants in the sphere of active martial operations is lacking in a training camp and can only be offset where the same courses with new, uninterested students must be repeated time after time, by a rigorous appreciation of duty and the small satisfaction of achieving a modicum of success under uninteresting, adverse conditions.
Since the M. O. T. C. was established at Camp Greenleaf 19 months ago, 12,000 officers have passed through. Unfortunately many of them, due to exigencies of the service, did not complete the prescribed course of training, and not a few of them had only started the course of instruction when ordered away.
Two heavy handicaps have confronted the instructors since the establishment of the training camp--continuous arrival of student officers at camp, making it impossible to put classes through as a unit; removal of student officers prior to completion of the course. Of the two evils, the latter is the greater, as most of these men are imperfectly trained. The
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first difficulty can be partially overcome by increasing the number of instructors or unduly increasing the work of the instructor, both undesirable features, usually resulting in the instructor rapidly wearing out or his inability to teach with the desired zeal and enthusiasm. I strongly recommend that if training camps are to be organized in the future every effort be made to remove or overcome these encumberances.
ROGER BROOKE, Colonel, M. C.
GENERAL INSTRUCTION FOR ENLISTED MEN
When the camp was first opened the general instruction of the enlisted men was outlined in the following order: 74
******
7. As enlisted men report for duty they will be immediately organized into provisional companies as follows:
Men
Provisional motor field hospital companies........................................................................................ 160
Provisional mule-drawn field hospitals.................................................................................................162
Provisional motor ambulance companies..............................................................................................238
Provisional mule-drawn ambulance companies....................................................................................300
The first company will be a motor field hospital company.
The second company to be formed will be a motor ambulance company.
The third company to be formed will be a mule-drawn field hospital company.
The fourth company to be formed will be a mule-drawn ambulance company.
8. The provisional director of field hospital companies, as designated in order, will, subject to the approval of the commandant, select two officers from the First Field Hospital of Tennessee National Guard, as his assistants.
Likewise, the provisional director of ambulance companies, as designated in orders, will select two assistants from the 1st Ambulance Company of Tennessee National Guard.
9. Provisional companies will be attached for rations to the National Guard companies present in camp until further orders.
10. Upon the recommendation of directors of units “cadet officers” will be detailed by the commandant to perform all of the duties of company officers in each of the provisional companies. It is desirable to change these “cadet officers” as frequently as possible so that a maximum number may have the valuable experience thus afforded. Qualified officers and officers who show no promise of rapidly qualifying for duty with units will be recommended for transfer by directors without delay.
11. Directors of units will be held responsible for the training and discipline of their commands. Training will be along the lines as directed by the commandant and will be coordinated with the general scheme of camp instruction. With these limitations, it is proposed to give directors of units every chance to get results per their own methods.
12. Directors of units will decide upon the attendance or nonattendance upon routine instructions of members of their command. The purpose is to employ the time of every member of this camp to the best advantage.
13. Directors of units will make every effort to develop efficient noncommissioned officers. With this end in view they will designate instruction scheduled for classes “A, B,’ ‘C, which may seem to be advisable. This will be in addition to the instruction scheduled for class “D.”
14. The first week in camp will be chiefly utilized for purposes of classifications. Directors of units will be expected to select very promptly such men as are unfitted for advance instruction. These men will be eliminated from class lecture and quiz work as rapidly as possible, care being taken not to eliminate any man of potential though undeveloped capacity.
The course of instruction of recruits while in the recruit camp awaiting assignment to units began Monday, June 18, 1917. The recruit camp was divided into companies of equal size and number, and with an equal number of noncommissioned officers, Regular Army, assigned thereto. Both companies were under the command of the commanding officer of the recruit camp.53 The following schedule went into effect on that date: 74
84
MONDAY
6.45 to 7.15 a. m......................................... Police of tents and camps.
7.15 to 7.30 a.m.......................................... Setting-up exercises.
7.30 to 9.25 a.m.......................................... Foot drill.
9.30 to 10.25 a.m........................................ Address by COmmmandant, M. O. T. C.
1 to 1.55 p.m................................... Drill.
2 to 2.55 p.m....................................Talk on customs of the service by noncommissioned officers.
3 to 4 p.m....................................... First aid.
TUESDAY
6.45 to 7.15 a.m......................................... Same as preceding day.
7.15 to 7.30 a.m.......................................... Same as preceding day.
7.30 to 9.25 a.m.......................................... Foot drill.
9.30 to 10.25 a.m........................................ Demonstration of equipment of sanitary soldier by noncommissioned officer.
1 to 1.55 p.m............................................... Drill.
2 to 2.55 p.m................................................ Care and maintenance of soldier's equipment by noncommissioned officer.
3 to 4 p.m..................................................... Personal hygiene by noncommissioned officer.
WEDNESDAY
6.45 to 7.15 a.m............................................ Same as preceding day.
7.15 to 7.30 a.m............................................ Setting-up exercises.
7.30 to 9.25 a.m.............................................Drill
2 to 2.55 p.m..................................................First aid.
3 to 4 p.m.......................................................Litter Drill.
THURSDAY
6.45 to 7.15.....................................................Same as preceding day.
7.30 to 7.25 a.m..............................................Drill.
9.30 to 10.25 a.m............................................General organization of Army by noncommissioned officers.
10.30 to 11.25 a.m..........................................Method of rolling blanket roll.
1 to 1.55 p.m...................................................Drill.
2 to 2.55 p.m...................................................First aid.
3 to 4 p.m........................................................Shelter tent pitching.
FRIDAY
6.45 to 7.15 a.m..............................................Same as preceding day.
7.30 to 9.25 a.m..............................................Care of animals, talk by noncommissioned officers.
9.30 to 10.25 a.m............................................Drill.
10.30 to 11.25 a.m..........................................First aid (Sylvester's method of artificial respiration).
1 to 1.55 p.m...................................................Drill.
2 to 2.55 p.m...................................................Camp sanitation, talk by noncommissioned officers.
3 to 4.30 p.m...................................................Clean up for Saturday inspection.
SATURDAY
8 to 8.25...........................................................Inspection.
8.30 to 9.30......................................................Drill.
Noncommiossioned officers in charge of instruction graded each man in drill, practical work, and recitation. 80
After the camp began to expand the recruits were rapidly assigned to sections where units were rapidly assigned to sections where units were being organized.
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TRAINING THE RECRUIT
During the winter of 1917 and the spring of 1918, the detention group ran noncommissioned officers’ and cooks’ schools.81 Many of the men trained in these schools were retained as the permanent training cadre. Other platoon leaders and cooks were obtained from men having former military training in the service or at a military school and from those who had been cooks in civil life.
The daily schedule of training began at 7 a. m. and continued until 4.30 p. m. One hour after supper, from 6 to 7 p. m., during the summer, the companies were turned out for athletics under the direction of the company officer. An outdoor auditorium, seating 3,500 men, was constructed, and a show was run nightly from 7 until 9.30 p. m., under the direction of the morale and athletic officers. Two nights a week were devoted to wrestling and boxing contests. The others were filled with band concerts, vaudeville, etc., staged by the men themselves. Great rivalry was stimulated between the companies. Moving pictures, with excellent films, finished the evening’s entertainment. After the recruit had completed the days’ work and evening’s entertainment, he was too tired and sleepy to get homesick, and found little time to get into trouble.
The morning work started with setting-up exercises for a half hour, given by an excellent instructor, to groups of from 500 to 1,000 men. The company officers and noncommissioned officers were present with each company to correct individual members and to aid the instructor. The company was divided into its platoons, squad and platoon drill being carried on until the company was ready to drill as a unit. The company officers had no other duties and could therefore spend their entire time in training. For a half-hour period each morning, some type of game was run in to rest the recruits from the monotony and to stimulate waning interest. Drill continued during the afternoon. One hour of this was devoted to instruction in the duties of the sanitary soldier, personal hygiene, sanitation, care of equipment, and other subjects a recruit should know. These talks were made very simple so that they were easily understood and were frequently repeated. The first 10 minutes of the talk was devoted to such subjects as, Why we are at war,” “The American Army,” etc., which were gotten up by the morale officer to stimulate the recruit’s interest and to aid him in thinking correctly. The Articles of War and pertinent camp orders were read and explained to all men during their first 48 hours in camp. If the recruit stayed in camp a month or longer instruction was given in litter drill, tent pitching, and more advanced work. It was believed that the recruit should first be made a soldier and later he trained for special work.
Athletic equipment for each company was purchased with the company fund. There were seven baseball diamonds in working shape on the drill grounds of the organization. Each company was supplied with baseball equipment, boxing gloves, basket balls, footballs, etc. The organization boasted the champion baseball team of the camps in the vicinity, and there was an excellent game on the home grounds twice weekly.
All enlisted men assigned to ambulance companies and field hospital companies during the early days of the camp received general instruction which was a continuation of that in the detention group. This comprised
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school of the soldier, litter and bearer drill, tent pitching and striking, individual cooking, transmission of messages, first aid, and practice marches.
Each company was instructed in the pitching of a complete field hospital and upon its completion, in conjunction with the ambulance companies, combined drills and problems were given, making the picture realistic by caring for the wounded brought in from an imaginary firing line through ambulance-company dressing stations.
The course of training and instruction was conducted by the directors, who published at frequent intervals memoranda outlining the work. The work was laid out in a systematic manner and comprised not only the training outlined in the drill regulations for sanitary troops, but also a period of training for each company as soon as it had sufficient preliminary training. During field training the company was entirely self-supporting, living under canvas for 10 days or 2 weeks at a time and carrying out daily field exercises and practice marches.19
No occupational tables for Medical Department units were made by the committee on classification of personnel until late in 1918. This necessitated the compilation of tables in the camp itself so that men could be assigned to units according to occupational qualifications.82, 83
The training of the enlisted men was not entirely satisfactory even as late as September, 1918, due in great part to the urgent demands for men to fill numerous War Department requisitions. This is shown by the following memorandum: 84
HEADQUARTERS, DIVISION OF HOSPITALS AND SANITARY TRAINS,
Camp Greenleaf, Chickamauga Park, Ga., September 9, 1918.
Memorandum to Col. E. D. MUNSON:
The proper training of the enlisted men of this command has practically ceased. The requisitions of memo to be sent elsewhere have mounted up to such a point that at the present time to fill these requisitions we will be obliged to take men from the draft, without their completing the two weeks’ detention which has been required.
In the replacement group it has been impossible to give the men anything more than a short two or three days’ instruction in military courtesies and what elementary foot drill can be given in that time. The men received from the detention camp in the replacement group are practically immediately assigned out, and leave as soon as transportation is available.
An attempt is being made to classify men according to the methods of the committee on personnel of The Adjutant General’s Office but the demands for men have been so great that we have been obliged to send out classified memo for general service. In this respect attention might be invited to the fact that a shortage of properly qualified men for the special technical schools is now being experienced, due to this method of assignment which has been forced upon us. On account of urgent telegraphic orders from The Adjutant General of the Army, we have also been obliged to send out 180 men to sanitary train of the 20th Division, Camp Sevier, S. C., at once. These men are no better than the men that the sanitary train could obtain from its own depot brigade.
In the motor group the same conditions obtain, with the exception that qualified motor-men are required to be held for motor units, and we have a few such men on hand who will be assigned out almost immediately. An effort has been made to hold in this group all of the men infested with hookworm is a separate battalion until they are cured, but this has not been found practicable; and we have been compelled to send men for overseas service who are not completely cured of the malady.
In the evacuation group the training of the men has consisted entirely of the school of the soldier, and the longest time these men have been in camp is an average of less than one month. No proper organization of these hospitals with their full permanent personnel has
87
been possible, and the men going out labeled “Evacuation Hospital No. are only 100 men put together on a train, and their organization is bound to be extremely loose.
The same troubles exist in the hospital group, and though an attempt has been made to train men at general hospitals for ward duties, the number of such men we are able to spare for this training from the constantly moving organizations has been very small.
Every effort has been made, and is now being made, to take properly classified men from the draft and train them in the noncommissioned officers group, leaving them there for a full six weeks’ training. Unfortunately, heretofore the number from which these men are taken has been so small that the noncommissioned group, instead of running a capacity of 2,000 men, is now down to less than 700; and we were unable to supply more than 73 noncommissioned officers for the large number of base hospitals recently ordered from this camp. The length of time which these men have been in camp will not average three weeks, and a great many are leaving camp now, or will leave in the next seven days, who have been in this camp less than two weeks.
W. N. BISPHAM,
Colonel, M. C., United States Army.
These difficulties in the way of the proper training of the enlisted men were noted also in the report of an inspection made of the camp on September 11. The following is a quotation from that report:44
Men composing the units above referred to are being passed through, this camp so rapidly that technical instruction, even of the most primary character, is out of the question. Men are being sent here by the thousands to be trained, presumably for certain definite hospital training, and almost before they are released from detention camp are sent out again. Under the present system this camp, so far as the enlisted personnel is concerned, is only a place were hospital units are thrown together. It is in no sense a training center. If it is desired primarily that the organization being formed here should be partially trained before leaving this camp, a sufficient reservoir must be built up here to permit of all men being held here for at least two months. As the number and kind of units needed can certainly be approximated two months in advance, no reason can be seen why this should not be done. The present system appears to be extravagant and inefficient, through no fault of the local personnel, and is beyond their means to rectify.
During the month of October, 1918, though few men were received, owing to the influenza epidemic, very few departed, and therefore more time was given to the perfecting of the instruction of the enlisted men of the command. 85
SPECIAL INSTRUCTION FOR OFFICERS
Special instruction for officers was considered necessary shortly after the camp was inaugurated. In June, 1918, after a conference in Washington between the training division and the heads of the different professional divisions of the Surgeon General’s Office, a percentage division of all medical officers was made, giving each specialty a certain percentage of the total officers enrol1ed.86 This was used as a basis for the special instruction of officers at Camp Greenleaf and was outlined in the following order:87
General Orders, No. 54.
HEADQUARTERS CAMP GREENLEAF,
Chickamauga Park, Ga., June 4, 1918.
1. The Surgeon General directs that in the training of medical officers the following figures should serve as a general guide to the probable nature of service, the proportion required in each class, and the ratio which should exist for each professional group. It is to be understood that these figures are to be regarded as approximate and not invariable.
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2. Out of every 1,000 officers received for training, they should be divided and specially trained about as follows:
(a) For service in the zone of operations, with regiments, ambulance companies, and field hospitals, there should be trained 500.
This class of men should be relatively young, physically sound, mentally alert, who are qualified general practitioners and sanitarians, and who have qualities of leadership and manhood which appeal to memo.
These men are, as far as possible, to be given the full basic course of three months. Out of each 500 of the above, approximately 250 should be specially trained for regimental service, 125 for ambulance company service, and 125 for field hospital service.
(b) For service in the line of communication, home service, special duties, etc., there should be trained 500.
These men should represent the type remaining after the class mentioned in paragraphs (a) has been deducted from the student group.
It may include more elderly men, those certified to as fit for home or special service only, and those sent for training by specialists divisions, and reserved for special duty therewith.
These officers should ordinarily take the abridged course of two months, with any special professional training desired in addition.
Out of each 500 in this group, it is desired by the Surgeon General that the following numbers, in each component class, be given special training in professional lines:
Head surgery (including eye, ear, nose, and throat, brain, etc.).................................44
Roentgenology.........................................50
Laboratory, sanitation and control of infectious disease..........................................45
Neurology..............................................20
Genitourinary..........................................30
Orthopedic surgery................................................35
Tuberculosis examiners..............................................20
Cardiovascular examiners, and general medicine................................50
General surgery...............................................175
Hospital administrations........................................15
Not specified..............................................16
Total.................................................500
3. Facilities for training in accordance with the requirements of paragraphs 2 will be provided accordingly.
4. Instructors in charge of the above courses will inform this office as soon as possible as to what changes or additions in personnel, accommodations, and equipment are necessary to their proper compliance with the instructions of the Surgeon General.
5. For the present, estimates should be based on the probable attendance of 1,500 student medical officers.
By order of Colonel Munsom:
E. S. SLEDGE,
Major, M. R.. C., Adjutant.
In accordance with these orders, the various schools for special instruction of medical officers were organized and conducted, with such changes as were necessitated by circumstances, throughout the life of the camp.
In addition to the professional instruction given in these special schools,. the officers ordered to duty with the many units formed in the camp had to receive special instruction to fit them for active service with these units.74
The special professional schools were given a definite stimulus when General Hospital No. 14 was placed under the command of the commandant of the camp, greatly enlarged, and reorganized as a teaching hospital. An excess staff composed of student officers was provided, and each clinical department of the hospital was under the direct control of the director of the school teaching
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that specialty.6 The courses provided were not didactic, but entirely practical; and though the short time allotted was not sufficient to make specialists of the students, it permitted sufficient training to provide a body of excellent assistants in the different lines.
All units formed were kept fully officered, and vacancies were filled immediately by detail from the training companies. If they had not completed their basic course they were required to keep tip with it until they had completed it. On account of their company duties not all of these officers could attend the lectures, but recitations were held for all in the different subjects.19, 74
Special courses were given by the several group commanders with the object of fitting these officers for active independent service. This instruction covered the administrative duties of company and hospital commanders and the administrative duties of their subordinates, the proper handling of enlisted men, and the methods to he used in the instruction of enlisted men.
A special class for the instruction of officers in the duties of a regimental surgeon was conducted at first in the hospital group and recruit camp. By this instruction it was intended to obtain a sufficient number of men specially qualified for this important duty.19 Later this method could not be pursued on account of the rapid transfer of student officers, only those receiving instruction in the special schools remaining sufficiently long to receive really worth-while instruction.6
SCHOOL OF MILITARY HYGIENE
The School of Military Hygiene was the first special school to he established at Camp Greenleaf, 88 and was organized early, with the idea that men trained along such lines would be necessary at once. Its object was the intensive training of medical officers in the field of camp sanitation.19
The curriculum was not laid down in its completed form at the start, hut gradually developed as the school progressed. The basic course comprised didactic and practical instruction in the fundamental subjects of camp sites; drainage; disposal of kitchen, human, and animal wastes; policing of barracks and camps; water supply, including quality, quantity, and approved methods of purification; food, including mode of preparation, preservation, cleanliness of kitchens, and prevention of waste; insects; transmissible diseases and the methods of control. Practical field work was taken tip and groups of students were assigned problems involving drainage, road construction, insect abatement, care of picket lines, construction and care of latrines, disposal of waste, kitchen inspection, construction and care of incinerators, and water purification and storage. Additional subjects covered dealt with pellagra, malarial fever, typhus fever, yellow fever, amebic dysentery, ankylostomiasis, vaccine therapy, causation factors in epidemics, special quarantine measures, flies and disease, rat proofing of buildings, first aid in sanitation, rural sanitation, sanitation in buildings, construction, building and disinfection, duties of a quartermaster’s office, ship disinfection, operation of sewage disposal plants, ventilation, water purification, sanitary inspection, and mess management. These lectures were given by the instructors and also by such students as were qualified to lecture on such subjects.
The following is an outline of the course as developed: 89
90
DAILY SANITARY CLINICS
Theory of camp inspection.
Theory of police duty.
Care and construction of grease traps and incinerators.
Care and construction of latrines, soak pits, and lavatories.
Care of picket lines.
Manure disposal.
Fly and mosquito destruction.
Septic tanks.
Kitchen technique.
FIELD WORK (PROBLEMS ASSIGNED)
Drainage, ditching, subsoiling, use of blasting powder.
Road building and grading.
Inspection of heating, lighting, and ventilation of barracks.
Map reading, contour sketching mounted and on foot, without use of instruments. Levels, with and without the use of instruments. Rat proofing, fumigation of buildings. Selections of stone and gravel, for building roads and filters, incinerators, etc. Plumbing, inspection; protection of plumbing against freezing.
Motor truck engines, care and use.
Nightly lectures on subjects that were germane to the sanitarian’s duty. These lectures were given by members of the School of Hygiene, most of whom were specialists in their subjects.
Student officers were assigned daily to various organizations of this and surrounding camps to study camp sanitation.
LECTURES | LECTURES--continued |
Sept. 24..........Camp inspection. | Oct. 27..........Special quarantine measures. |
| 25......... Pellagra. | 30.........Hygiene of ventilation. |
| 26..........Malaria and mosquitoes. | 31.........Cerebrospinal meningitis. |
| 27......... Paper work in the Army. | Nov. 1.........Sanitation and building construction |
| 29........ Fleas. | 2.........Bubonic plague. |
Oct. 1........ Rat proofing. | 3.........Military map reading. |
| 2....... Customs of the service. | 5........Sanitary clinic. |
| 3....... Rural sanitation. | 6........Air sanitation. |
| 4....... Sanitary aspects of tuberculosis. | 8........Epidemiology. |
| 5....... Hookworm. | 9.........Soils and drainage. |
| 6....... Runing a mess. | 12.........Common respiratory diseases in camp. |
| 8....... Duties of a quarantine officer. | 13........Treatment of contagious diseases without antiseptics. |
| 9........ Ship disinfection. | 14.........Sanitation in the trenches. |
| 10........ Military map making. | 15.........Cerebrospina meningitis. |
| 11....... Amebic dysentery. | 16......... Mosquitoes from an ecoomic standpoint. |
| 13........ Typhus in Serbia. | 17..........Yellow fever. |
| 16........ Kentucky privies. | 20..........Operation of sewage disposal plants |
| 17........ Military sketching (domonstration | 21.......... Rural sanitation. |
| 18........ Amebic dysentery. | 23.......... Sketch making. |
| 20........Carrel-Dakin methods. | 26.......... Control of woodsheds. |
| 21........ Water purification. | 27.......... Results of a sanitary survey. |
| 24........ Sanitary survey. | 28.......... Types of incinerators. |
| 25........ Fatige in trench life. | 29.......... Height determination by slope board. |
| 26......... Yellow fever. | 30.......... Practical leveling methods. |
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At first members of this school were required also to take the basic course, being excused only from military drill, but no student was assigned to the school until he had had at least two weeks drill with his company. 19 Later this method was changed and each student was required to spend one month in the work of the basic course.89 Recitations were held daily, and f-he students were carefully graded in their work. 19
This school was discontinued in May, 1918, on account- of the paucity of student officers available and was reopened in July.90
The course covered a period of four weeks, if a student showed a lack of adaptability to this work, he was immediately returned to the basic course.19, 91
In the early days of the camp, Sanitary Company No. 1, which looked after all the sanitary work of the camp, was under the control of the director of the school.92
The curriculum that finally developed and was found successful in imparting the greatest amount of such knowledge in the shortest possible time was divided into seven distinct heads: 92
(a) Formal instruction by lectures and a specified course of reading. Rosenau’s large textbook was used as the basis for reading, and an average of 50 pages was assigned daily. Each officer was required to make a written abstract of this work so that it was possible to ascertain that he had actually done the reading with fidelity and accuracy.
(b) Practical field work along special lines.
(c) Demonstrations of sanitary installments of military importance.
(d) Practical study, including the making of drawings of the more important sanitary appliances in the sanitary laboratory, together with a working knowledge of those of lesser importance.
(e) A short field course in map making and map drawing.
(f) The making of a sanitary survey of one entire section of the camp in the minutest detail, with a careful and comprehensive written report of the same.
(g) Oral quizzes were given by the individual instructors at frequent, but not specified, intervals on an average of three times a week. These were general and extended over a period of two hours. A formal written examination lasting, as a rule, about four hours, was given at the end of the second week, and a conjoint oral examination given by all the instructors together at the end of the third week. The written report of the final sanitary survey constituted the basis for a grade of the final week ‘s work.
The course covered one month, and the student officer gave his entire time to this work, reporting at 7 o’clock in the morning and being dismissed at 5. The reading had to be done in the evening, as there was not sufficient time to finish it during the daytime. The reason for selecting a four weeks’ course was that this seemed the longest period which should be spared at this particular time.
The practical field work along special lines was greatly emphasized. An idea of its scope may be obtained from the following summary: Each student was required to procure flies; to secure a suitable breeding chamber and to describe the different phases in the development of the fly, making notes and drawings of the various stages and developmental conditions. A careful study was made of the different breeding places of the fly and the different conditions under which they developed naturally. Several species of flies were studied, more particularly the common house fly, the bluebottle, and the biting stable fly. In the same way the mosquito was studied. The students were sent out
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in groups to obtain mosquito larvae to determine the kind of mosquito from the larval form, and these were then put in suitable breeders and studied throughout the entire cycle of development. This was practicable with all except the last class, at which time it was too cold to carry on breeding experiments successfully. It is believed that in this way an actual practical knowledge of the life cycles of these two important insects was obtained which could not be obtained by either reading or lectures. Particular stress was laid upon finding the ova and larvae of these insects in their natural habitats. The students followed the oiling squads for one whole day, thus becoming familiar with the methods of oiling pools and creeks.?????
A first-hand study of various sanitary installations of military importance was made under competent direction. An idea of the scope of this may be had by noting that visits were made to the city waterworks in Chattanooga and the entire system outlined and explained in detail by a sanitary engineer. In the same way several different chlorinating plants, the septic-tank disposal, and the bathing pool were carefully studied. Preceding the practical inspection of these, one or more lectures were given on the subjects and the students were thoroughly quizzed.
The field laboratory of sanitary appliances was made use of to the fullest degree. Each student was required to make careful drawings of 20 of the most important pieces of apparatus and to explain in detail the method of construction, the applicability, capacity, advantages, and disadvantages of each. Approximately, four half days were given to this work so that each officer who received this training should be in a position to intelligently handle a division or even larger unit as regards these matters. Special quizzes were held on the ground to ascertain the extent of their knowledge.??????
Four entire afternoons were given to practical instruction in map making and map drawing as well as in map reading. It is believed that this should be a part of every course of this nature if the student is not already familiar with it, since the reading of a contour map quickly and accurately is necessary to get an adequate grasp of the drainage of an area or the location for camp sites.
The fourth week of the course was devoted to making a sanitary survey. This sanitary survey was made with the utmost minuteness and served a triple purpose: First, it enabled the director to check up as to whether the student had examined and reported on every sanitary feature of the section in question. Second, this written report was immediately sent to the sanitary inspector of that particular district, and each point noted in the report was checked and commented upon by him and returned to the director who then personally investigated anything which required investigation, and sent a memorandum of these points to the commanding officer of the section. In this way it was possible to have a most minute inspection made once a month of the entire camp in addition to the regular inspections made by the director and his assistants. To insure that this written report was properly made, mimeographed directions were given each student.??????
The grading was based on a number of different features. Frequent oral quizzes were given at unexpected times and marks of these accurately
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kept. The abstracts, the practical field work, the written examination, and the report of the sanitary surveys were given grade marks and from all of these the final grade was given the student.??????
Inasmuch as the mental attitude, adaptability, energy, and diplomacy count for a great deal in sanitary work, each student was given a rating along these lines and all of these grades together were used in basing the recommendation for assignment.
Starting with men who had had some sanitary experience--in other words, picked men--and giving them the basic course beforehand, in one month they could be given a very fair working knowledge of the subject provided they were of good average ability and were willing to work 12 to 14 hours daily. Each student had received at least one to two hours’ practical instruction in sanitary inspections in the basic course before entering the advanced course. This course was very carefully planned, and it is believed that the course as outlined above is thoroughly sound and gives about as much as can be given in a month’s time. It should be especially noted that the student’s entire time was given to the subject and that he was not required to drill or to be present at retreat, etc., since in many cases the practical field work made it impossible to do this. The number of students should not exceed 20 or 25, since this course was designed in such a way as to require much personal teaching.??????
An outline for sanitary survey of Camp Greenleaf was made and given to each officer before he began his work. This outline was as follows:91
1. The territory assigned should he thoroughly studied on the map to obtains a general working knowledge of the terrains and buildings thereof.
2. The work should be mapped out systematically in such a way that no part can possibly escape.
3. The purposes of this survey are purely instructional, and to this end every point in regard to sanitation in the entire area should be accurately noted and commented on. In making this instructional survey, every point, whether good or bad, will be noted. For example, each and every mess hall, barracks, latrine, bathhouse, stable, storehouse, Young Men’s Christian Association, and other civilian buildings will be inspected in every detail, and a quotation of each detail will be made on the spot in the form of field notes. These field notes will be made according to a definite scheme, and the valise of the survey will be estimated, in part, upon the sufficiency of this scheme. For example, in inspecting a mess hall, a note will be made of the conditions of the tables, floors, walls, kitchens utensils, serving tables, storerooms, presence of flies, and all other points which should properly he considered in the inspection of a mess hall. The handling of the food and the food itself will of course be noted. These field notes must be plainly legible and intelligently made out and must be handed in with the completed report.
4. A carefully made sketch of sufficient size to be intelligently react must be made of the territory, and on this the drainage shall be indicated and all sink holes, standing water, or boy places where standing water might accumulate, together with the sufficiency or insufficiency of the ditching, must be noted. A comprehensive report as to possible improvements in drainage should accompany the report.
5. At least two inspections of the camp should be made in the evening and an accurate statement of the ventilation, especially in the civilian organizations and barracks should be made.
6. Inspection of the personnel: This should at least be carried to the point of noting accurately the cleanliness of all individuals connected with the serving of food.
7. A careful study of General Order No. 63 should precede the inspection, and wherever any part of this order is found not to he complied with, a specific note of the same should be made.
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8. Test of a good sanitary report: A good sanitary report should enable the director to ascertains at once whether the storeroom of a given company in a given section is in proper condition; whether the drainage of a given area is adequate and if not, what is hacking; whether the Young Men’s Christian Association in a certain section and the barracks are properly ventilated at night; whether the latrines are properly burned out or oiled; whether fly swatting in accordance with General Order No. 63 is being efficiently done; whether fly swatters and flytraps are present in proper numbers; whether mess kits are properly sterilized in accordance with general orders; whether handkerchiefs are properly sterilized; whether the amount of waste in a given company is excessive; whether the amount of food is sufficient and properly and cleanly prepared; whether sweeping is done and the floors scrubbed in accordance with orders; whether mosquitoes are present in any given stream, water barrel, etc. In short, the sanitary report is to cover every possible point which has any sanitary bearing. If the report fails to show any point of sanitation with a specific notation, not merely a general statement, it is in just that far inadequate and imperfect.?
9. This sanitary inspection represents the test as to whether the student is capable of putting into practice what has been learned during the course in sanitation. Any student whose report is inadequate will not be recommended for sanitary assignment.
In connection with the instruction in this group, special mention should be made of the museum of sanitary apparatus completed under the direction of the camp sanitary officer. It consisted of 114 pieces of apparatus for field sanitation. Many of these were entirely new appliances, developed from a close study of existing apparatus and their deficiencies. This research feature, in addition to the museum’s purpose of instruction, is worthy of special notice.93 The purpose of this laboratory was twofold. First, it aimed to investigate the different forms of appliances for field sanitary use, to compare these with each other under different conditions, with a view to selecting those which best fulfilled their function, and also to standardize their construction, always bearing in mind that these appliances must be built from readily available materials. The second function was that of research in field sanitation, using the same methods as would be used in any laboratory whose work was of the same nature. It was desired to emphasize this function of the laboratory, since it had been productive of a number of new appliances, some of which were of entirely different design and principle from anything hitherto published. The justification of this research work is evident, when we consider that almost nothing of this sort had been done in this country, or, so far as can be learned, in any other country. Intensive work on the construction of the various forms of apparatus was begun during the latter week in July. Particular stress should be laid upon the fact that all were built without expert workmen, using only artisans found in the various companies. No special materials were available and a large proportion of the work was done with brick, wood, and such materials as could be found in the junk pile at the reclamation department.93
SCHEDULE FOR FIRST COURSE IN SANITATION 91
FIRST WEEK
Tuesday:
Starting of fly breeding; starting of mosquito breeding.
9 to 9 a. m. - Lecture ( “Disposal of wastes in connection with flies.” Major Williamson).
Field work - Demonstration of pertinent apparatus.
Reading - Rosenau: Preventive Medicine and Hygiene (Chap. IV, pp. 201-208 ( General considerations”); Chap. IV, pp. 208-218 (“Insecticides”); Chap. IV, pp. 247- 261 (“Flies”)).
General Order 63, Headquarters, Camp Greenleaf, XV and XVI.
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Wednesday:
Inspection of fly breeding; inspection of mosquito breeding.
8 to 9 a. m. - Lecture (“Field disposal of urine, feces, and garbage.” Major Williamson).
Field work - Demonstrations of pertinent apparatus. Field study of ditching, oiling, spraying, and weed cutting.
Reading- - Rosenau, as above (Chap. II, pp. 83-134 ( Diseases spread by alvine discharges”)).
General Order 63, Headquarters Camp Greenleaf, XIII and XIV.
Thursday:
Inspection of fly breeding; inspection of mosquito breeding.
8 to 9 a. m. - Lecture ( Communicable intestinal diseases.” Major Eggers).
Field work - Hookworm field work.
Reading - Rosenau, as above (Chap. IV, pp. 221-246 (“Mosquitoes”)).
General Order 63, Headquarters Camp Greeneaf, XVII.
Friday:
Inspection of fly breeding; inpection of mosquito breeding.
8 to 9 a. m. - Lecture (“Hookworm and its management.” Major Tenney).
Field work - Map work, with especial reference to sanitation.
Reading - Rosenau, as above (Chap. III, pp. 134-199 ( Diseases spread by respiratory discharges”)).
General Order 63, Headquarters Camp Greenleaf, X.
Saturday:
Inspection of fly breeding; inspection of mosquito breeding.
8 to 9 a. m. - Lecture ( Mosquito-borne diseases.” Major Tenney).
Field Work - Map work.
Reading - Rosenau, as above (Chap. IV, pp. 261-301 (“Miscellaneous parasites”)).
Monday:
Inspection of fly breeding; inspection of mosquito breeding.
8 to 9 a. m. - Lecture ( Lice, fleas, and miscellaneous parasites, and diseases associated with them.” Major Tenney).
Reading - "Munson on measles epidemic” The Military Surgeon, June, 1917, et seq.
SECOND WEEK
Tuesday:
Inspection of fly breeding; inspection of mosquito breeding.
8 to 9 a. m. - Lecture ( Clinical aspects of respiratory diseases.” Major Williamson).
Field work - Map work.
Reading - “Communicable diseases at Fort Riley and Camp Funston.” The Military Surgeon, July, 1918.
Wednesday:
Inspection of fly breeding; inspection of mosquito breeding.
Lecture - ("Prevention of communicable respiratory diseases.” Major Eggers).
Field work - Map work.
Reading - Rosenau, as above (Chap. VII, pp. 362-388 (“General considerations”)).
Thursday:
Inspection of fly breeding; inspection of mosquito breeding.
Lecture - (" Food diseases.” Captain Wilmot).
Field work - Cooking devices, sanitary laboratory.
Reading - Rosenau, as above (Chap. XII, pp. 1099-1166 (“Disinfection”)).
Friday:
Inspection of fly breeding; Inspection of mosquito breeding.
Lecture - (” Personal hygiene.” Major Tenney).
Field work - Chlorination plant.
Reading - Ashburn, Ford, Lelean, on (“ Personal hygiene”).
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Saturday:
Inspection of fly breeding; inspections of mosquito breeding.
Lecture - (“Water supplies.” Major Rich).
Field work - Inspection of water supply and water shed.
Reading - Rosenau (Chap. VI, pp. 789-821 (“General considerations”); pp. 866-878 (“Interpretation of water analysis”); pp. 878-953 (“Purification”)).
Monday:
Examinations.
Reading - Rosenau, as above (Chap. IX, pp. 987-1033 (“Vital statistics”)).
THIRD WEEK
Tuesday:
Lecture - (“Sanitary survey of a small town.” Captains Wilmot.)
Field work - Vital statistics.
Reading - Sanitary orders, in Ford’s Administration. General study of General Order 63, Headquarters Camp Greenleaf.
Wednesday:
Lecture on the United States Public Health Service. Doctor Knight.
Field work - Lecture on the United States Public Health Service.
Reading - (“ Duties of sanitary inspection.” Ford’s Administration).
Thursdav:
Lecture - (“Relations of the laboratory to the sanitary inspector.” Major Eggers).
Reading - Article on sanitation, to be selected by student and approved by instructor, and abstracted by former.
Field work - Time to be used to fill in any previous lapses in schedule.
Friday:
Lecture - (“Duties of the sanitary inpector.” Major Tenney).
Inspection of camp site and report on same.
Saturday:
Lecture - (“Sewage disposal.” Major Rich).
Remaining time to be used as on Wednesday, third week.
Monday: Demonstration of remaining sanitary appliances.
FOURTH WEEK
Entire week devoted to sanitary inspection of different sections of Camp Greenleaf.
Saturday: Final examination (oral).
SCHOOL FOR SANITARY ENGINEERS
The school for sanitary engineers, which was attached, as a subschool, to the School of Military Hygiene, was established in compliance with the following letter of instructions:
JANUARY 7, 1918.
From: The Surgeon General, United States Army.
To: Commandant, Medical Officers’ Training Camp, Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.
Subject: School for sanitary engineers, officers of the Sanitary Corps.
1. A school for sanitary engineer officers of the Sanitary Corps will be established as part of the general scheme of instruction carried out in the Medical Officers’ Training Camp, Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.
The student officers are all to be sanitary engineers.
It is understood that many of them will later take charge of the divisional sanitary detachments, thereby requiring rather broad medico-military knowledge.
2. The purpose of this school is to conduct the training of those officers of the Sanitary Corps along military lines, from the military viewpoint, and in the military environment; and coincidently to develop them physically and trains them in subjects which they should know under the conditions under which they would practice their specialty including organization, regulations, paper work, applied hygiene and sanitation, handling of enlisted men, and general functions of officers.
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3. About 20 graduate sanitary engineers of the Sanitary Corps are required monthly. Classes should be arranged on a basis of a course extending over not less than two months.
4. The senior instructor for this school detailed by this office on the staff of instructors of the training camp will, under the commandant thereof, be in direct charge of the course.
???In additions to his educational duties, he will continuously investigate the qualifications and suitability for service of student officers under instruction.
5. As far as possible, any local problem of a sanitary nature will be utilized as part of the subjects of instruction.
6. The school for sanitary engineers will affiliate with the School of Applied Hygiene and Sanitation at your camp.
It will also, to the extent deemed desirable by you, affiliate with the school for laboratory men which it is proposed to establish at your camp.
7. The general professional instruction to be given will especially relate to all measures intended for the preservation of health of troops and their protection against disease.??
Detailed information as to any special instructions desired on sanitary engineering, etc., will be furnished by the engineering division, this office.
8. The above course in general training and applied hygiene and sanitation will cover a minimum of two months.
9.Officers of the sanitary engineer divisions, Sanitary Corps, under training in this course will be organized as a special company, will be quartered and subsisted in the medical officers’ training camp, and will be subjected to its discipline at all times.
10. Hours of instructions will be arranged by the commandant of the training camp.
11. The schedule for the first month is as follows: a
******
13. A number of enlisted men, to work under the divisions of field hygiene, will be kept at your camp under instruction therefor. The number will be later announced.
All should be given such part of the basic course for enlisted menu at your camp as might be of advantage to them in such service. The scope of their special training in sanitation will be prescribed by you.
14. Receipt of this letter to be acknowledged.
By direction of the Surgeon General:
E. L. MUNSON, Colonel, Medical Corps.
The sanitary engineering officers composing the School of Sanitary Engineering were relieved from duty with the School of Military Hygiene and transferred to the 7th Battalion, medical officers’ training camp.95 A large room in one of the officers’ buildings near the battalion headquarters was assigned to the school as office and work and recitation room. The general program to which the engineer student officers conformed was as follows: 95 They lived in he student officer barracks, having a place in one of the companies, and took a full part in the regular barrack-room life. They took part in the morning drills and setting-up exercises. They attended the lectures and did the paper work of the basic course, excepting when the basic course work diverged too far from the field of sanitary engineering, when they were excused from this requirement by their instructors. They received special instruction in work directly related to the service of the sanitary engineer in Army camps.The special instruction in sanitary engineering, in general, occupied the afternoons and evenings. Its chief purpose was to focus the student’s knowledge of practical sanitation upon the sanitary problems of camp life. For the accomplishment of this purpose it was necessary to spend a large amount of time in the field, but work in the field was always supplemented by conferences, readings, round-table discussions, quizzes, and the preparation of reports
a See schedule, pp.78, 79.
98
in quarters. Among the particular problems of camp sanitation which were covered in this way, the following may be listed as the most important: 95
Camp diseases, particularly those definitely related to the physical environment. -- Causes, prevalence, and methods of prevention. The basic course lectures and quizzes in this subject were supplemented by readings and round-table discussions.
Camps and camp sites, general and sanitary requirements. -- Topography, soil, exposure, area, arrangement; shelter, tentage, barracks, etc.
Camps and camp sites, improvement and control -- Drainage; mosquito-extermination; fly control; ventilation, heating, plumbing, screening; sanitary inspections; policing.
Water supply. -- Quantity required under different conditions; quality; purification, particularly by means available in field service; carriages and distribution.
Waste disposal.--Kitchen wastes--garbage and slops--burning, burial, feeding to swine, etc. Excretal wastes--sewerage and sewage disposal; latrines and trenches. Stable manure and litter. Camp rubbish.??????
A total of 110 officers received instruction in this school. The school closed December 17, 1918.96
SCHOOL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
The School of Epidemiology, which was intended to form part of the training in Medical Department sanitation, was established so shortly before the signing of the armistice that its accomplishments were necessarily very limited. All that need be recorded concerning it, therefore, is the program promulgated for its operation:
PLAN OF INSTRUCTION, SCHOOL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
The training in the school was largely practical. In the first week practical instruction was given in making inspections for contagious diseases. Clinics and demonstrations on contagious diseases and their handling were held. Detailed schedule follows:
Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
7 to 9 | Inspection | Inspection | Inspection | Inspection | Inspection | Inspection | Inspection |
9 to 11 | Lecture: General plan of methods | Clinic: Measles, ward N, hospital | Clinic: Mumps, ward U, hospital | Clinic: Scarlet fever, etc.,ward I, | Review, quiz, office headquarters | Conference, | |
1.30 to 3 | Inspection islation camps, | General conference, school | Demonstration of handling | Demonstrations, records, etc., | General conference, | ||
3 to 4.30 | Inspection | Inspection | Inspection | Inspection | Inspection | Inspection | Inspection |
At the end of the first week such officers as did not show evidence of adaptability to the work were dropped. Subsequent instruction was almost entirely practical and consisted of inspections for contagious diseases, demonstrations of the cases remaining in isolation
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camp, with a considerations of the necessities of each camp and the method of solving camp problems, and assignment as assistant to the various camp directors. As fast as an officer qualified as assistant he replaced one of the officers in charge who might be then available for assignment.
??? ???Twice each week, on Tuesday and Friday afternoons, a general conference was held of all officers assigned to the school. At this conference practical problems arising in the various groups were brought up and discussed, informal lectures on various phases of the work were given, and such current literature as was pertinent to the school was reviewed.
The time necessary to train officers for assignment as epidemiologists varied, but on the average one months was necessary.
SCHOOL OF MILITARY MEDICINE
In 1918 two schools covering work which may be classified under this head were conducted. One was for the instruction of officers to be detailed later on cardiovascular boards and the other for the instruction of officers in lung examinations. They were separate and distinct and will be considered separately up to the time of their consolidation.92
SCHOOL FOR EXAMINATION OF THE LUNG
This was entirely clinical, and officers detailed to this course were given special instruction in the recognition of the different pathological lesions in the lungs.98 This work was considered only as an adjunct to their basic course, and for some months no special time was allotted to these classes. In March, 1918, the number of students increased greatly, and more room for the classes at the hospital was required.99 This school encountered the same difficulties that were present with all courses of instruction during the war, in that many officers had to be detailed elsewhere before completing the course.100
THE CARDIOVASCULAR SCHOOL
This school was organized January 20, 1918, beginning with a small class obtained from among those in the student companies who were desirous of taking up this work, and who had sufficient professional qualifications to master it in the short time allowed. The course outlined at first was as follows:
During the forenoon: Quizzes on anatomy, physiology, and diagnosis; examination of ambulant cases, under supervision of instructors; pathologic demonstrations and lectures; review of the newer literature.
Afternoon: Bedside instruction in the wards of the hospital.
Each student was assigned a patient and was required to make a complete general medical examination, including blood, urine, sputum, and, in appropriate cases, analysis of the spinal fluid, and determination of the intestinal flora.102 The first class consisted of only 12 students, but, by March 1 that number had increased to 27. As the course developed, instruction was given in the interpretation of the polygraph in normal and abnormal cases. The ward examinations were systematized, to provide for a most thorough and careful examination of each case under discussion. The Roentgenological study of chest lesions was covered in conjunction with the School of Military Roentgenology (q.v.).101
