HAVE the honor to present my annual

year, 1923. The steps taken for the reorganization of the Army under the provisions of the National Defense Act were discussed in my report for 1922, and the following report is largely devoted to a discussion of the progress of this work and the present status of the means and measures for the National Defense.

The law of June 4, 1920, governing the organization and development of the Army, was enacted at the close of the World War, as a result of our experience in that emergency. The development of our military institutions under the new policy must necessarily be gradual, the intent of the law being interpreted step by step and its possibilities studied and tested with extreme care. It is gratifying to be able to report that the National Defense Act has met with constantly increasing interest among all classes of Americans. Not only do our citizens show recognition of the wisdom of the present policy, but there appears to be a growing desire to aid the War Department in carrying out its program.

In the face of many discouragements, the personnel of all components of the Army have zealously given of their services. The National Guard has achieved a most praiseworthy standard of efficiency in view of the limited time available for military training; an excellent nucleus for the Organized Reserves has been built up in the short space of three years; the units for the training of prospective officers have developed in a very satisfactory manner in our schools, colleges and summer camps; and the Regular establishment, cheerfully, indeed enthusiastically, has subordinated many of its own interests in fulfilling its task of aiding in every possible way the citizen components and auxiliaries of the National Army.

Among the most important considerations in developing an effective system for the National Defense are the establishment of a sound system for exploiting our resources to provide for the current supply of our war armies, the maintenance of a reserve stock of the vital items of war material and equipment sufficient to meet the initial mobilization requirements, and the creation in time of peace of a corps of officers to instruct our men and to lead them in battle. Only the last named consideration will be discussed in this report.

The provision of suitably qualified officers for the Regular Army and the National Guard is a clearly defined problem, since the numbers involved are relatively small and the development of the individuals progresses automatically through service with their respective organizations. The majority of our war-time offi

and Advocates Army of

150,000 Men

cers, however, must be found in the Officers' Reserve Corps, which supplies the leaders for the skeleton units of the Organized Reserves, whose ranks will be filled by the great mass of citizen soldiery in time of National peril. As the Reserve units under our military policy are inac

GENERAL JOHN J. PERSHING
Chief of Staff

tive in time of peace, the recruiting and training of their officer personnel presents a difficult problem.

The spirit exhibited by the Reserve Officers in enrolling and in endeavoring to fit themselves for their duties has been admirable. Most of these men served the country in the World War and today occupy positions of responsibility in the various walks of life. With few exceptions, they all have exhibited a willingness to make the personal sacrifice necessary in order to obtain a basic military education. Through actual experience these officers appreciate the responsibility which would devolve upon them in war and they crave the opportunity to prepare themselves for the efficient performance of their tasks. Many in fact have accepted commissions with the understanding that

they would be offered suitable opportunities to improve themselves professionally, but the War Department has not been able to give them much assistance, the truth being that we have neither personnel nor funds sufficient for this purpose.

We believe that each Reserve Officer should attend a summer camp or serve with an organization of the Regular Army at least once in three or four years, but at the present rate we are able to give annual training to but one in ten. Furthermore, those who receive this training suffer an actual financial loss because the mileage allowances are not sufficient to cover the cost of travel.

At the present time there are approximately 77,000 Reserve Officers of whom some 50,000 are war veterans. The latter number will decrease rapidly until the personnel of the Officers' Reserve Corps must be composed entirely of men who have accepted the obligation of military service since 1919. To provide the annual replacements for the veteran officers at least 7,000 second lieutenants must be commissioned in the Reserve Corps each year. This year we are commissioning about half that number. To meet this situation the R. O. T. C. must be further encouraged and an additional number of young men should be trained yearly in the summer camps.

During the past summer I devoted the greater part of my time to an inspection of the summer training camps, and everywhere I found among those who were familiar with the War Department program a keen interest. For the training of our young men, Americans of all classes appear to feel that these camps are of great value, not alone as a source of defensive preparation, but especially as a binding force for Americanism. Parents whose sons have taken the course are not less enthusiastic than the young men themselves. Employers have commented upon the industrial benefits derived through the attendance of their employees at these summer schools. Physicians have remarked upon the physical improvement which results, and educators have commended the liberal discipline of the camps and their training in cheerful team-work, as beneficial preparation for school and college. These personal inspections have brought the definite conviction to my mind that the summer camps are not only acceptable to our people, but are really an American institution which will always endure in some form or other. I regard them as the greatest school in America for the development of good citizenship.

It is the purpose of our military policy to create a force as a first line of defense consisting of the Regular Army and the (Continued on Page Fifteen)

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NE hundred second lieutenancies in the Regular Army will be contended for during the week commencing April 14, 1924, in the final competitive examinations to be held at various points throughout the United States, the Philippine, Hawaiian and Panama Canal Departments, and the American Forces in China. The vacancies, to fill which the examinations are being held, will be those remaining in the Air Service, Cavalry, Chemical Warfare Service, Coast Artillery Corps, Corps of Engineers, Field Artillery, Finance Department, Infantry, Ordnance Department and the Quartermaster Corps after the appointment of the graduates of the 1924 class of the United States Military Academy. . Those eligible to take the examination for commission, all of whom must be male citizens of the United States, and between the ages of 20 years and 10 months and 29 years and 10 months at the time of the examination, include (a) Warrant officers and enlisted men of the Regular Army of more than two years' service as such. (b) Reserve officers, officers, warrant officers, and enlisted men of the National Guard; members of the Enlisted Reserve Corps and graduates of technical institutions approved by the Secretary of War. (c) Former officers of the Regular Army honorably separated from the service, with efficiency rating at the time of their separation from the service of at least "above average." This includes those former officers of the Regular Army who are graduates of the U. S. Military Academy, and also graduates of the U. S. Naval Academy, who will be considered, for purpose of eligibility, as graduates of a technical institution. None of these will be exempt from the entire mental examination. (d) Honor graduates of prior years of distinguished colleges, who will be required to establish eligibility by proper certificate from the Professor of Military Science and Tac

Battle Monuments Commission The American Battle Monuments Commission, which is charged by law with the preparation of plans and estimates for the erection of suitable memorials to mark and commemorate the services of the American forces in Europe, has submitted to the Bureau of the Budget a request for an appropriation of $50,000 to be used for the preparation of plans and the preliminary work in connection with the improvement and beautification of the American cemeteries abroad.

The Commission has also adopted a project and submitted cost estimates to the Bureau of the Budget for the marking of the American battlefields in Europe by means of bronze relief maps placed upon these fields.

Week of April 14 to Determine Selection of Approximately

100 Second Lieutenants

tics of the institution from which they graduated.

Warrant officers and enlisted men of the Regular Army must have had at least 22 months of service at the time of the final examination. Army field clerks and enlisted men of the Regular Army with less than two years' service may be commissioned in the Officers' Reserve Corps to establish their eligibility. Applications for this purpose will be submitted by

Good Work, Recruiters!

JULY 4209

AUGUST

5169 SEPTEMBER 5097

OCTOBER

6699 NOVEMBER 7526

Second Corps Area's First C. M. T. C. Applicant

The first application for the 1924 C. M. T. C. to be filed in the 2nd Corps Area was that of Herbert A. Finneson, 1270 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. Finneson, who is 16 years old, wishes to enroll in the Basic Red Course.

In recognition of the zeal displayed by this young man in making sure that he might secure a berth in the 1924 camp, Major General Robert Lee Bullard, commanding the 2nd Corps Area, wrote a letter to the boy congratulating him on being the first to submit a complete application to attend the Citizens Military Training Camp during the summer of 1924. General Bullard stated, "Your promptness in the matter is very commendable, and I assure you that your interest and fine spirit will be fully rewarded by a most pleasant summer and by the valuable training, which will better fit you for your occupation in civil life and to serve your country in time of a national peril."

corps area commanders to the Adjutant General of the Army.

A preliminary examination, which will be held as soon as practicable after the receipt of the application at headquarters of a corps area or a military station or post, will first of all determine whether or not the applicant possesses physical and other qualifications which would justify his proceeding with the final examination. This preliminary examination, in addition to a thorough physical examination, will include an investigation of the moral and general fitness of the applicant, who will be required to submit to the board letters of recommendation from reputable and qualified persons. The board will investigate and observe the applicant's personality, appearance, tact, bearing, past experience, and general adaptability to the military service.

The final examination, which may be taken only after a satisfactory report on the preliminary examination, is held simultaneously throughout the country and is the same for all candidates. The elementary subjects, all of which must be taken, unless exemption is given, embrace U. S. history, English grammar and composition, general history, geography, arithmetic, higher algebra, plain and solid geometry, plain and spherical trigonometry and elementary physics. The advanced subjects include analytical geometry, calculus, advanced mechanics, surveying (one of these must be selected, and three may be), French, Spanish (one of these may be taken), English and American literature, electricity, U. S. Constitution, chemistry, and minor tactics and military engineering. The candidate must take examination in three of the advanced subjects.

Applications should be submitted to the commanding generals of the corps areas in which the individual applicants reside or to the commanding officer of the military post or station nearest the applicant's place of residence.

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Advertising Gratis

Sgt. Horace C. McElderry, Troop G, 8th Cavalry, on recruiting duty at MacAlester, Oklahoma, has succeeded in getting some splendid free advertising for the Army. One of the bill posters in town had on hand some sheet posters, used a few years back, left from an old contract. Sgt McElderry, hearing of this, induced him to give to the Army the space on his boards. As a result, MacAlester is today well emblazoned with bill board sheets announcing "Men Wanted for the U. S. Army"-the words tabooed, perhaps, but as true as in the days when the poster was new.

F

ORT ARMSTRONG, Honolulu, Hawaiian Territory, lies attractively at the entrance to the harbor of Honolulu, where it greets incoming visitors to the island with a hearty "aloha," signifying, in the Hawaiian language, "welcome and affection," and the parting guest bids "Farewell" with a sentiment which blends so well with the happy memories which he carries with him. This post commands a broad, sweeping view of the Pacific Ocean, and all shipping, whether to or from the mainland, the Orient or the South Seas, must pass this portal in entering or leaving the port of Honolulu. It is the doorway for the picturesque "sampans" which make up a famous fishing fleet whose home port is the harbor of the island of Oahu. Fort Armstrong is a pretty military reservation, with well-kept, velvet-like lawns, cocoanut palms, monkey pods, flowering oleanders, hibiscus in great variety of color, and a number of tropical plants and flowering vines, all of which completely harmonize with the perfect blue of the sky, the kaleidoscopic colors of the ocean in front of the reservation and the mystic mountains in the rear, over which float fleecy clouds of white. Even the officers' quarters and the barracks and the other buildings on the post are colored to fit in with the scheme of the entire picture and

honor of Brevet Brigadier General Samuel C. Armstrong, U. S. V., Colonel of the 8th U. S. Colored Infantry, who served with distinction during the Civil War and died May 11, 1892. Its acquisition is covered by executive orders of various dates commencing with November 10, 1899, when a portion of the lands reserved for Naval purposes was taken over by the War Department, the succeeding executive orders enlarging the area from time to time. The present garden spot is the result of evolutionary progress in development from a tract of swamp land.

The construction of fortification was begun in March, 1909, and the battery was turned over to the Coast Artillery Corps on June 15, 1911. The fort was first garrisoned by the 104th Company, C. A. C., on June 1, 1913, that company

By Major LOUIS C. WILSON, Q. M. C.

American Post in Pacific Boasts Comfortable Quarters and Beautiful Grounds

being transferred from Fort Washington, Md., by General Orders No. 59, W. D., May 6, 1911. The battery was named in honor of Brigadier General J. L. Tiernon, U. S. Army. Paragraph 2, General Orders No. 70, W. D., June 1, 1911, designates Fort Armstrong, H. T., as the saluting station for the port of Honolulu, Hawaiian Territory.

The main portion of the area is occupied by the Hawaiian Quartermaster Depot activities and is conveniently located for this purpose, being approximately ad

jacent to the offices and storehouses of the Depot Quartermaster and the Government piers where the Army transports dock. The large and attractive parade ground of the post includes a baseball diamond which is one of the best on the island and is frequently the scene of lively contests between the post team and those from other garrisons. The barracks are commodious and convenient and, with the well-known and widely adveitised "perfect" climate of Hawaii the year round, lend an atmosphere of comfort during the entire year. One of the main features of this post is the fact that it is practically in the town of Honolulu with its wide variety of interests, its motion picture theaters, which equal in size and fittings even those in the larger cities of the mainland, with up to date releases, and, occasionally, a troupe of actors presenting productions of the legitimate stage.

To mention the delightful facilities for aquatic sports in and around Honolulu would be to open a most interesting description. Suffice it to say that swimming is indulged in the year round, and surf-board riding with its many thrills must be experienced to be understood.

While space will not permit a lengthy description, mention must be made of the beauty of romantic moonlight nights, which are very appropriately, peculiarly charming in Hawaii. Of these the post of Fort Armstrong gets its full share. Also a tour of duty in Hawaii would not be complete without a visit to the active volcano at Kilauea, as this is one of the most famous volcanoes in the world. All officers and enlisted men stationed here have an opportunity to make this trip.

The semi-tropical climate of Hawaii, its plant and flower beauty throughout the year, its variety of races with their native costumes and customs, its love of music and sentiment, makes a tour of duty here a long-to-be remembered experience and, in many cases, one to be desired again.

Addressograph As Publicity Agent Captain James P. Murphy, on duty with the Organized Reserves at Decatur, Illinois, has found a way of spreading publicity through the medium of his addressograph machine. A four-line slogan on some timely subject, with about 25 letter spaces in each line, is printed on the flap of every envelope sent out of the office. Captain Murphy, in two samples submitted to this office, has chosen recruiting and the 1924 C. M. T. C. as his subjects.

The idea is sound, and is full of possibilities. Four-line blocks, each line being of equal length, triangles, the top line being the base, and other combinations will all fit in nicely on the flaps of official envelopes. Recruiting, C. M. T. C. boosting, advertising of meetings of Reserve Officers, and other topics may well be played up. The Post Office Department has for years been using cancellation stamps for the purpose of advertising projects approved by the government, and has thus been able to bring its publicity inatter into every home and into the hands of every man and woman in the States. The same results, on a more limited scale, can be achieved by recruiting officers.