John F. Morrison

“ The duty of trying to improve the men morally is a military as well as a moral duty. It is in line with what has been said before: the better the man, the more valuable the soldier, the more he can be taught, the more he can help to train others, and the more likely is he to remain in physical condition to be fit for service in the field.
“We have a profession not a trade.” Let us take it seriously, appreciate our responsibility, make the best of conditions as we find them, improving them where we can, and train ourselves and those under us to be The Best Infantry. ”

“ In the annual inspection it is evident that in the time available the inspector cannot examine an organization in everything it should know; he must choose certain things and judge from those of the training of the company or regiment.
In making this choice the relative importance of the subjects must be kept in mind. Of course every company must be tried out in the combat exercises and in all the things that should be made fixed habits. It is of equal importance that no stress be laid on non-essentials. ”

“ The quitter, the man who does as little as possible, who always wants to be away from troops because things are not as he thinks they should be, or who does nothing because he cannot do it exactly as laid down, is a curse to the army; he should leave the service and sell ribbons.
Rational, systematic training besides producing the greatest military efficiency will keep the men interested in their work and will occupy more of their time; the men will be more contented. Interested and contented men will furnish a smaller sick report and fewer deserters. ”

“ 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 ”

“ I have seen at battle exercises men stand up in the open and wave their flags to give the signals. This is absurd. In battle it would be needlessly dangerous, would give the enemy too much information, and it is unnecessary. The necessary signals in the battalion can be given by a man lying on the ground with a handkerchief, or flag without the staff, and be seen for the short distances separating the major from his captains or the captain from his platoon commanders. Practice alone is required to enable this to be done efficiently. ”

“ In war imperfectly trained troops must pay with their lives for all mistakes. The better trained they are, the fewer mistakes, the more skill they possess the more cheaply can any desired result be obtained.
It is the duty of all officers who may be charged with the responsibility of preparing this mass of untrained men for war service to give the subject careful thought, to study the question carefully and to be prepared on short notice to take charge of such work and produce the best results possible in the shortest time. ”

“ There is nothing more important to an army than the correct training of its infantry. The training of all the arms has much in common, but training infantry, owing to the manner of its use in battle, calls for much that is not required in the other arms. ”

“ The law granting extra pay to expert shots, sharpshooters and marksmen is not believed good in its effect; it gives undue importance to range firing. An expert rifleman without other training and discipline is of but little value on the battlefield, while even a second class shot, well trained and disciplined, is infinitely his superior as a soldier. ”

“ This means we must study and know our profession thoroughly, give a helping hand to the national guard when and where we can and to any other organization that does something toward the military training of men who may make up this great army if it has to be raised. We must remember that there are many things to be taught a man before he is an efficient soldier; all he learns before he joins a volunteer regiment is that much of a help. ”

“ The mechanism of extended order should first be thoroughly learned, then the attack against an outlined enemy, then battalion against battalion. The enlisted men have little new to learn, the work for them is merely practice in what they have learned in the company training. For the captains it is instruction in team work and in tactics.
The battalion is the attack unit and as a [Pg 65] tactical unit is most important. An infantry attack is largely a combination of battalion attacks. Every exercise should be a problem which teaches some lesson as well as affords practice. ”

“ The infantry soldier must work more independently than men in the other branches. He cannot be led or controlled as can men in groups or close formations; hence he needs to be more thoroughly instructed in the part he is to play. This instruction cannot be given him on the field of battle. The man who must steadily advance on an enemy in position requires not only higher training but higher discipline than one who does his fighting in close formation, or at long range and out of sight of the enemy and protected from hostile fire by steel shields. ”

“ You may not be able to reduce the effectiveness of the hostile fire so that an advance under it is practicable and, in some cases, it may not be your mission to do so; but in every case where the hostile fire passes a certain point of effectiveness, depending on relative numbers, your range, distribution or something is wrong, or else your men have lost their nerve. Judging the effect of the hostile fire is something in which company and platoon commanders must be proficient, but off the battlefield this can only be taught in theory. ”

“ Object of study of artillery Except in small engagements in detachment warfare the infantry will have the assistance of friendly artillery and will be opposed not only by infantry but by artillery fire. Some knowledge of artillery, its use, the effects it can produce and how best to utilize the aid afforded by our own and to meet the opposition of the enemy’s, is therefore necessary for the infantry officer and also for the men in ranks. ”

“ Nearly all national guard infantry needs training for individual men and officers and work in the company, battalion and regiment. When formed in divisions or larger [Pg 126] forces for maneuver campaigns the men in ranks and junior officers get but little instruction. Except a little camp experience, it is chiefly walking, the object of which they know nothing, and most of the officers are not yet ready for this class of work. It is a camp of instruction, not a campaign, they need. They must apply on the ground what they have learned in the armory. ”

“ 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 made [Pg 14] a 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. ”

“ The addition of much more than one man to each two then in ranks, even if they have been previously trained, is a serious blow to efficiency. The new men must either be untrained or men from a reserve. If from a reserve they are rusty on many points and are apt to be strange to the officers who change in a company so frequently. Adding 50 reservists to a company of 100 men will do no harm; adding 85 to a company of 65 will be very different and, if the men added in the second case be untrained recruits, we shall not have a trained unit but a school of instruction. ”

“ It is undoubted that a man can not make much of a success teaching what he does not know. The officer must know how to shoot well enough to be an instructor, he must know the theory and have the knack of instructing. He does not need to neglect his regular work for weeks at a time several summers to acquire this at competitions.
The best company instructor in rifle firing the author ever saw on a target range was a first sergeant who himself never made better than marksman. The company was very short on sharpshooters and experts but was still shorter on 3d class men. ”

“ Great armies exist for many years between wars and are then trained for these few days of [Pg 45] battles which determine the fate of the nation. The whole aim of an army should be to be ready for war and the success or failure in war is determined by a few days of battle. Untrained troops are of no value on the modern battlefield.
Training for battle
Part of our close order drill, the ceremonies and some other things we teach, are accessories and, if given their proper place, are of value, but the battlefield is the crucial test; by our fitness for that must our training be judged. ”

“ The better the men can shoot, other things being equal, the more confidence they have in themselves and in each other. For practical results on the battlefield an expert rifleman is of little if any more value than a marksman. Good, fair shooting by every man in the company is what is desired.
On the battlefield much depends on the confirmed habit, this habit-forming can not be done on the target range, but throughout the year’s work. Not to exceed two weeks a year should be allowed to any company for known distance practice on the range. ”

“ Company and platoon commanders must watch for the effect of the enemy’s fire, where his bullets are striking. If the hostile bullets are going wild, some striking far short, others way high, and very few are effective, you have fire superiority; that is the time to gain distance to the front. On the other hand, although you may be suffering no loss, you see that the enemy’s bullets, well massed, [Pg 39] are striking, say 50 yards in your front; you have no fire superiority; the enemy has simply underestimated the range and your advance will bring you into the center of his beaten zone. ”

“ 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. ”

“ No matter what your system of control, if the men do not respond with prompt obedience it is worthless. Disciplined men can be counted on to do what is wanted if they know how, others cannot. There is no fire discipline distinct from other military discipline.
To sum up: fire superiority is necessary to success, to attain fire superiority we must properly distribute our fire, to do this we must be able to control and hence direct it, and this can only be done if our men are disciplined. An attack with raw troops is possible only against still poorer ones. ”

“ 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 of [Pg 18] the supposed situation and had been given no instructions, except to act as left flank patrol. ”

“ To practice it by allowing the opposing sides to fire blanks at each other is all wrong because it is teaching the men to do what they should not do in war.
One method is to place men to represent the enemy behind a suitable fence, then to make the advance and attack, causing the represented enemy to open fire as soon as the attack is discovered. An open wire fence will not prevent the discovery of the attack but will stop the bayonet rush before anyone is hurt. This is not very satisfactory work for the company but is more appropriate for the battalion and regiment. ”

“ 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? ”

“ There are many problems in minor tactics that should form part of every company’s training, such as forcing a defile or a bridge, passing through a village as a patrol or as advance party of an advance guard, passing a woods under the same conditions and, on the side of the defense, preventing a hostile force from doing these things. There may be no gorge or pass through hills in your immediate vicinity but the practice can still be had: two large buildings near together will answer for a defile; the garrison is a village. ”

“ If rushes are practicable at all it will seldom be necessary to rush by smaller units than the platoon. But an advance will sometimes have to be made by fractions of only a man or two and sometimes by crawling. All these should be taught.
When the enemy is active the rushes should not be long, if of only 25 or 30 yards the time the men are actually running will be very short, too short for the average man to pick up the target, raise the rifle to his [Pg 52] shoulder and fire with careful aim. Too much time is taken by the average man in getting up and down. ”

“ The man will see that he has only to behave himself for the rest of the year to return to civil life with a clean record. The great expense resulting from desertion will be largely eliminated. The men will be more contented, they will feel they can leave in a short time if they wish, which will tend to decrease the desire to quit. This does not prevent those staying in the service who wish to do so. A few old soldiers are desirable.
Less than one year’s training is not sufficient in which to cover properly the course the infantry soldier should have. ”

“ Infantry is sometimes detailed to support batteries that are somewhat separated from the rest of the troops and liable to attack by a rush of infantry or cavalry. Officers on this duty must thoroughly understand their mission. They must protect the artillery. Artillery can generally take ample care of itself if the attack comes directly from the front. The infantry commander must never mask the fire of the guns. Where he will place his men and what his general dispositions will be is a problem in tactics and the solution will vary with each case. ”

“ On account of the state of preparedness of most great nations and because of the enormous cost of modern war, wars are shorter than formerly.
Object of an army
If this country becomes involved in a war with a military power it will be impracticable to learn the art of war and train an army after the outbreak; the war will not last long enough. The object of having an army is for war not for peace, and the battles alone really decide the issue; the battles are not numerous but each tends one way or the other to end the struggle. ”

“ It is reported as an incident in the recent Balkan War that a general of division, whose infantry had been reinforced by the addition of fifty per cent of recruits who had only received about a month’s training, prepared for battle by sending all his new men to the rear, preferring to fight without them. His division was successful but the other divisions, which retained their new men in ranks during combat, broke and were routed.
War of today is not a game for amateurs. Infantry to be of any value has not only to be trained but to be properly and thoroughly trained. ”

“ GENERAL DISTRIBUTION OF TIME In this country we cannot follow literally any of the systems of training adopted by the great military powers: our whole military system is too different. We can, however, profit by their experience and, if we translate, not the literal text of their regulations but the spirit, gain much. ”

“ The importance of fire superiority has already been dwelt upon as well as how much the effectiveness of hostile fire falls off as the effectiveness of our own increases. Infantry alone does not gain this fire superiority but it gains it by the help of our powerful ally and sister arm, the artillery. ”

“ The sand table group should change each drill and once during the night if practicable, that is, if there is time for one group to finish its problem and give another a chance that same evening, it should be done. Nearly all the company should fire a score at the gallery every night.
If there are a few men in the company who are poor at the manual of arms they can be put in one group and be given one of their turns in drill in the manual.
One group may have to be taught how to make the pack. Instruction in guard duty may be necessary for another. ”