ITHE ESSENTIAL AND THE DESIRABLEKNOWLEDGE AND HABIT
Practise and theory
To ensure the proper training of our infantry there are needed competent officers—officers who know what should be taught and how to teach it. One sometimes hears: “He is a good practical soldier but he knows nothing of the theory.” Such an expression is an absurdity. A man may know the theory yet be unable to apply it or make practical use of it; we have all seen such men. But a man cannot practice what he does not know. The knowledge of theory required by the junior commander is not great and the time it takes to learn it is short compared with the time required to master its practical application and to instruct properly a command.
Needs of the unit commander
The first requisite for a unit commander is a knowledge of the fundamental principles of the tactics of his arm and its employment in combination with the other arms, especially with the artillery. He must have a clearconception of the modern battlefield in order to understand for what he must train his unit. He must train it for battle conditions, not peace conditions. A company trained to be handled exclusively by word of command, as in a close order drill on the parade ground, lacks the training that fits for battle.
Needs of the unit commander
Essential and desirable instruction
The more the enlisted men know of the art of war the better. Time is not available however, to teach them the whole art of war even if the men in ranks were capable of mastering it. The instructor must therefore clearly understand what are the things the menmustknow and what are merelydesirableas additions to their training. Every effort should be spent and all available time devoted to first perfecting the men in the things theymustknow; afterwards, if more time is available, it is well to extend in other directions their education and training.
Close order drill
Under the first heading,essentials, the men must be taught their close order drill. This is necessary for two reasons: it renders possible the orderly movement of troops and it makes for discipline. So far as the orderly movement of troops is concerned very little is necessary but without precision close order drill is of no value towards discipline.To have a disciplinary value, drill movements must be carried out with exactitude. Discipline is injured if, when an officer gives a command at drill, it is only carried out approximately; the soldier is acquiring the habit of slighting his work and of doing an approximation, not the precise duty demanded of him.
It takes but little longer to learn to execute correctly the few movements prescribed than to learn them incorrectly, but it requires constant attention on the part of the instructor to maintain exactness. The attention and effort required on the part of the instructor are, however, amply compensated by the results.
Extended order drill
The men must know perfectly the mechanism of the extended order drill. A company must be able without confusion or mix-up to form line of skirmishers in the least possible time from any formation and facing in any direction. This will necessitate much practice. It does not take long to learn to form line of skirmishers quietly, from line or column of squads, facing to the front; but that is not sufficient.
Other essentials
The men must know how to estimate distances, how to shoot, how to use the bayonet;they must understand patrolling and outpost duty, the construction of hasty intrenchments, the application of first aid, how to cook the ration and how to care for their arms and equipment.
Especially important is it that the men know how to march and how to care for themselves in the field. However well instructed a soldier may be he is of no use if at the time of battle he is back in the hospital.
Desirable instruction
Under the second heading, of things that it is desirable the men should know, are subjects which are essential for the officers to know but which are not equally essential for the men. Nevertheless it is an advantage to have them know as much as possible, provided the merely desirable instruction does not interfere with the proper training in essentials. Among these subjects are topography and the construction of temporary bridges; the list might be extended almost indefinitely.
Things to be understood and things to be made fixed habits
The instructor must further distinguish between the essential things which the men need merely to know or to understand and those which need to be practiced until they become habits. Those things the men will only be required to do off the battlefield,where they will have time to think and be in condition to use their heads, need only be known.
Psychology teaches us that under great stress of danger and excitement a man can be depended upon to do only those things which have become fixed habits, and further, that under these same trying conditions, a man who has acquired by practice a habit of doing something a certain way cannot do that thing differently. Action contrary to habit requires thought, and mental activity is difficult if not impossible under the circumstances. Acting according to habit is merely following the line of least resistance.
It is difficult to conceive of greater stress of danger and excitement than exists in a modern battle. Certainly there is no other case in which the knowledge of this psychological truth can be used to greater advantage than in training for battle.
Fixed habits in battle
As far as possible, then, all those things which the men must do under fire should be practiced until they become fixed habits. It has been said that if in the heat of battle a man even raises his rifle to his shoulder, before firing, it shows fair discipline. Not only must bringing the rifle to the shoulder be madea habit, but correct aiming and trigger pull whenever the rifle is brought to the shoulder must be made a habit, and one so strongly developed that these acts will always be done mechanically and without mental effort.
Habits of correct aiming and firing
This desired result cannot be accomplished by two or three weeks a year of target practice. The training must be continuous for an extended period. To accomplish it altogether with ball cartridges would be too costly and often impracticable. The desired results can be obtained by pointing and aiming drills and gallery practice, if these are so conducted that the men never pull the trigger without properly bringing the rifle to the shoulder and looking through the sights at some target.
A week of continuous work every six months will not accomplish the results; frequent short drill periods are necessary. A man who starts in by smoking three strong cigars every Christmas and Fourth of July but not touching tobacco between times will not be so likely to acquire the smoking habit as one who starts very moderately and repeats the act daily. Overdoing any kind of training at one time, with long intervals between has a tendency to produce dislike rather thana habit. A few minutes of honest work at least twice every week, in pointing and aiming drill and gallery practice, will accomplish the result desired and my experience convinces me that it also produces much better results on the target range than crowding even more of this practice into the last month before going on the range. Certainly it is worth more than the other as a habit-former.
Estimating the range
The better a man can shoot when the range is known to him the more important it is that his sight elevation be correct. A poor shot will scatter his bullets and may hit something even with a wrong elevation but the accurate shot will not hit anything; yet the correct range is valuable even to the poor shot.
On the battlefield we can count only on our estimate of the range; seldom will it be practicable to determine it otherwise. Thus estimating distances has to be made a habit for two reasons: since habits alone count in battle, only by making it a habit can we depend on its being done; and second, it requires constant practice to enable men to estimate distances with fair accuracy.
Devoting two or three consecutive daysannually to estimating distances is almost a waste of time; practice should be had every week. I have seen both methods used and I am certain as to their relative values. How this instruction should be given will be mentioned later.
The deployments, advancing the attack, working by signals, taking advantage of cover, and in fact everything pertaining to combat from the opening of fire until the end of the battle must be practiced until it becomes a fixed habit on the part of the men.
The officer as instructor
If we are to have good infantry the officers as instructors must be competent, have an appreciation of relative values, be able to distinguish between what is essential and what is merely desirable and make sure of essentials before spending time on the latter. Each officer must realize fully what has only to be known and what must be made fixed habit and govern his work accordingly.
Hints as to instruction work
Now a few hints as to the instruction work. Never do this work in a perfunctory manner. Always have in mind what you want to teach and how you are going to do it. Put your heart in your work.
I have seen a well drilled company go to pieces under an officer who gave his commandsin an indifferent manner and who gave too much “place rest.” The spirit of indifference is contagious as well as the spirit of enthusiasm. If you have no keen interest simulate it and you will find it grow into the real thing. Remember that you are paid for good work and if you do not give this kind of service you are obtaining money fraudulently.
But not only have you yourself to keep interested; if the best results are to be obtained you must keep up the interest of your men. Nothing kills interest like monotony. There are so many things to be taught and there is so great an opportunity for variety that there is no excuse for not keeping the men interestedly busy for four hours a day.
Make clear to the men in the instruction work, particularly in the field training, not only the object sought but the why and wherefore. In maneuvers always explain the problem to them so far as is necessary to make them understand what the command is trying to do, where the enemy is supposed to be, and the rest. They will respond not only by taking more interest but by doing their part much better.
I have seen a flank patrol out at a maneuver the leader of which knew nothing ofthe supposed situation and had been given no instructions, except to act as left flank patrol. What interest could he be expected to take in the maneuver? How could he be counted on properly to perform his duty?
Callisthenic drill
I believe in carrying out this principle even in the callisthenic drill. Explain to the men the object of each movement, what muscle is to be developed by it and its advantage. Doing this makes this work much more profitable to the men as well as more interesting. It will also prevent our seeing these movements so executed as to deprive them of all their intended value.
Appeal to the intelligence of the men
In other words, treat the men being instructed as the intelligent men they are. They will both learn faster and do better work when they fully understand what is to be done and the reason why. A horse must be simply made to do certain things in a given way; it is a tedious process and a horse never does know much. Men trained as soldiers on the same plan as the horse give results out of all proportion to the time and effort spent. Why not, therefore, make use of the man’s intelligence and simply help him train himself?