. The history and achievements of the Fort Scheridan officers' training camps . eground up. The officer should know more about paper w^ork than hisfirst sergeant and company clerk put together; he should know^ moreabout messing than his mess sergeant; more about diseases of the horsethan his troop farrier. He should be at least as good a shot as any manin his company. If the officer does not know, and demonstrates the factthat he does not know, it is entirely human for the soldier to say tohimself: To hell w^ith him; he doesnt know as much about this asI do, and calmly disregard the instructio
. The history and achievements of the Fort Scheridan officers' training camps . eground up. The officer should know more about paper w^ork than hisfirst sergeant and company clerk put together; he should know^ moreabout messing than his mess sergeant; more about diseases of the horsethan his troop farrier. He should be at least as good a shot as any manin his company. If the officer does not know, and demonstrates the factthat he does not know, it is entirely human for the soldier to say tohimself: To hell w^ith him; he doesnt know as much about this asI do, and calmly disregard the instructions received. There is no sub-stitute for accurate knowledge. Become so well informed that men willhunt you up to ask questions; that your brother officers w^ill say to oneanother, Ask Smith—he knows. And not only should each officerknow thoroughly the duties and responsibilities of his own grade, buthe should study those of the two grades next above him. A tw^o-foldbenefit attaches to this. He prepares himself for duties which may fall THE SECOND OFFICERS TRAINING CAMP 385. MAJOR CHRISTIAN A. BACH 386 THE FORT SHERIDAN ASSOCIATION to his lot at any time during battle; he further gains a broader viewpointwhich enables him to appreciate the necessity for the issuance of ordersand joins more intelligently in their execution. Not only must the officer know, but he must be able to put whathe knows into grammatical, interesting, forceful English. He must learnto stand on his feet and speak without embarrassment. I am told thatin British training camps student officers are required to deliver ten-minute talks on any subject they may choose. That is excellent to speak clearly, one must think clearly, and clear, logical thinkingexpresses itself in definite positive orders. While self-confidence is theresult of knowing more than your men, moral ascendency is based uponyour belief that you are the better man. To gain and maintain thisascendency you must have self-control, p
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectworldwar19141918
