MILITARY NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1192, 29 July 1911, Page 12

MILITARY NOTES.

[Edited By Echelon.]

THE MAN AND HIS COMPANY. IDEALS rOR CITIZEN OFFICERS. The following lecture on the subject of "The Command nnd Training of tin Infantry Company" was dcim'ral beioro Hie member.-) ol tho Wellington Uarnsou Ullicers' Club by Lieut.-Cokmei J. 'I. bum-nctl-stuart, jj.u.U. (imperial (jenerul bull), JJirector of Ihiiwry Uiicruiiuus aud Training, i\ow /iiuiuud i/CiencO Forces, sumo tituo ago, anu was duUtciiuviuiy rviivutuu ucluru uiu jj.a«ues umceiV CiUD. llio lecturers bUhjeet mauer was regained uy ins Jieareis aa iK'iiig the most. atuaclUL' preidiuiaun of Uie principles oi company tunning Mat tuey mid over imeneu 10. I'or me uenciit ol many ollicers, mostly snuuleu in tno country disincis, who were not uUjc to hear Colonel oiunrl's remarks, I propose to publish tiiem in lull, in lnsuUuienis. Tho Marks to be Aimed At, Tho oouiuiuud ana training ol ttie company ol uuumry uueiaceu uie kcuirer) einuiaces au tutu is mi/si important U) us in liio ueveicpmeia ol a lermonal Army, and tho lunisuro of the buuuuuets oi tiie pniicipitb we adopt will be mo measure oi our eliiciency in ino lutiire. I must couline my remarks to tho miautry, but 1 hope tuat mucn ol what I nave to say will nave a useful bearing on Uie subject as applied to the otucr anus, i'irst, wo must get a clear picture ill our minds of this company with which we nro to deal. Our companies in tho New Zealand Territorial Force will have a strength ol 120—the lull war establishment. I doubt if anyone in this room has ever seen a company at war strength. Picture it to yourselves in different forms— in lino in two ranks with a lrontage of some 50 yards; in column of four sections each 28 strong j in column of eight squads 'each It strong; deployed for tho attack, and covering, perhaps, 200 yards in front. Picture it on tho march, in bivouac, in tho drill hall; try and realise, what a lot it will eat, and what a number of rounds of ammunition it will use; and perhaps you will l>e. able to iorin sonic idea of the size nnd the strength of it. Now, having got these 120 men, uniformed, armed and equipped ,let us get on to consider what we are going to niako of them, and how wo arc going to set about it. 1 do not think we start better than by setting up an ideal, a pattern after which to strive. In the first years of last century one of the finest trainers of infantry the world has known, Sir John Moore, was in command of an infanlry ennui at Shorncliffe. Ho laid down four principles defining the linos on which the trnininsf was to be carried out: (1) The cultivation in tho officers of the correct habit of command, and of their individual judgment. (2) The physical training of the soldier.

(3) The constant exercise of the company over every port of ground, the rougher and mnre difficult the better. (\) The training of the individual skirmisher. Tn this c-anin and on these principles were trniiiH Hip officers and moil of that fnnimis Ti'rht BH",iVlr>. whose performances in the Fenin="lnv War have never, for ri'Vrinlinc, initiative, and sheer fighting pfficoiiicv, lwn surnnrscd nnywhero by nnv troonc in Hie wnrlrl J)»fnr" nr fhire. Am! oti.Hipsp nrinrinlos the nfllwr* nr>A mon of my own rc"in-«.>t, which fnvinod nirf of the T.itrht BrWnde. arc trawl to (his day. For the result. T would hurnWy rofor von tn tho iwinipnM history of tho Hifle Brinade for the last 111) years. Our first and createst difficulty is the question of discipline. There are wo ways of installing discipline into a man: one is to drill and hammer it into him until it becomes a part of lumselt; tlio other is to reason him into it by an appeal lo his intelligence. Neither method is sufficient' in itself. The soldier wo havo just been following was produced by .being, drilled till lie- was perfect, and then, and not till then, taught to think. Wo haven't time for that. Wo must rely primarily on the appeal to our men s intelligence and reason, and nt the tamo time insist on the observance oi all the. small outward and visible form that are necessary to true discipline. ; ] beg of you lo make up your mmfls once for all' never to tolerate, cither in voui-sclf or in your men, slovenliness, untidiness, want of respect, improper forms of speech and address, slackness, uiipunctuality, and the hundred other small things that distinguish the more man in. uniform from tho true soldier, be ho citizen soldier or regular, liemember that onco you are on parade with your men both you and they oro there for good nud bv tho command of the State, and that till! relation between them and you, anil between you and your superiors is as clearly defined nnd as real,as it is in. tho ltegulnr Army. If we look at it Willi this understanding 1 think we can rely on the good tense of the men themselves to help us in producing a discipline that will stand the test of war. Now, as to training, as distinct from pure drill. Before wo can train our men wo must train ourselves. A lot' can lie done by reading, if wo read the right books; but more can ho done by training, our minds to invent and solve small military problems in tho course of our daily round. If you are walking down the- street you have only got to imagine a company nt your heels and a company of the enemy,' coming round the corner to find yourself confronted with a most interesting situation, Ask yourself what you would do. J''ix bayonets nud charge? Extend your leading squad nud open fire? Run away? <)r what? If you collect your X.C.O.'s at odd times and work out with them tho problems iiko this you will find their knowledge and confidence increase Wonderfully, as well as your own. A little ingenuity to get yourself into an imaginary difficulty, and goodness knows whtit you may learn before you get yourself out of it ngaiu. Again, never losu an opportunity of studying new ground, I have defeated many weary hours in tho train by trying to decide quickly how i would work my company over the different kinds of ground seen from Iho window. Always try and interest your men by giving a background of reality to their work in tho field. Try and make Iho situation so real lo them that' if llioy do anything that would b? impossible in war you can make (hem s'co tin , absurdity of it. Always provide an intelligent enemy, ronl or imagined. And, above all, as our training hours arc so precious to us, never go on paradewithout having made up your mind what you are going tu do, so that everyone may be fully occupied and busy learning. It is fatal to say that you will mako up your mind what to do when you get there. Take tho men into your confidence and learn with them as well aa teaching them. ■ \ Theru is one- other point, Iho importance of which 1 wish to impress on you, and that is marching. If 1 cumnmnded a company of tho Territorial Infantry I would spend at least a quarter of'an hour at every parado marching, whether by day or by night. H will pay you a hundred-fold in tho end. Tho men will get accustomed to marching in fours, they will fiud out where their equipment nnd boots hurt them, and will be ablo lo put things right, and they will acquire march discipline. It is no earthly use teaching your men to shoot nnd fight if you can't get them to the battlefield quickly and in good time, and battlefields have a way of being a long way off. Always hold all your parades in the (ield in full marching order. The soldier goes to war in full mnrching order, so (lint it is only common sense to insist that ho should train in it.

A word about command, pun , find Simple. Jlako it quito clear lo your men aid yourself Hint only one person is in command of your company, mid that you happen to bo that porvon. 130 confidont. However loud you may shout, if you have mil self-confidence, your men, by some indefinable proeoss of mental (olepnlhy, will find you out and bocin lo fake, liberties. It is all ,i Hinder of practice, a.ud "f noiiiu , «low mid keeping wit hi 11 your depth until you can swim. Don't, if you cin help' it, find fault with a subnnlinntp while lie. is maki'iß a mistake, 1.-ft him work out his mistake to its inevitable consummation, and (lion put it right for him. The deeper he Rets tho deeper will bn the impression left on his mind, and the more |x>rmanont (ho lesson learnt. But, above all, lx> careful not to undermine the authority of your N.C.O.'s by fault-lindiiiß and by making them feel fonlish in the presence of their men. All tho same, never lot n mistake go uueorrected at Iho proper time..