The Wanganui Chronicle. " Nulla Dies Sine Linea." TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1917. UNCLE SAM'S SOLDIERS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LX, Issue 16949, 10 April 1917, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. " Nulla Dies Sine Linea." TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1917. UNCLE SAM'S SOLDIERS.

In view of America's entry in' the war, it, is interesting to note that the U.S. military forces consist, of a Regular Army, and an organised Militia, or National Guard. The Jtiegular Army is very small, smaller than was the Brit. ish Regular Army. The total strength o? it is just on 5000 officers and 112,----000 other ranks; its actual strength in the United States is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 70,000 of all ranks. A great proportion of the Regular Army, about 20,000, is coast artillery—what Aye call garrison artillery. With her extensive seaboard, America must naturally employ a good deal of coast artillery at all times. Staff corps and departmental and miscellaneous units absorb a further 20,000' Regular troops, and the 30,000 balance in the United States represents her mob-ile (immediately movable) Army—the American equivalent, that is, of the Ist Division of our original Expeditionary Force. The remaining .Regular troops (about 40,000) are distributed on "foreign," etc. service—in China, Porto Rico, Vera Cruz, the Philippines, Hawaii, and Alaska, and in the vicinity of the Panama Canal. Supplementary; to the Regular Army, there is also a professional force, of about^iOOO, known as the Philippine Scoiits, natives of the Philippine Islands, and also a very small corps—about seventy—of Indian Scouts. American .Regular soldiers are recruited by voluntary enlistment, and the term of .enlistment is seven years, of which four years are spent >with the Colours, and the remaining tiiree years on the .Reserve. The physical standard for enlistment is not high; the minimum height is nominally sit. 4in., and the chest measurement 32in.; this staudard is not, however, rigidly adhered to. The pay of the American " Tommy"—infantry, cavalry or artillery—is niteen dollars'a month (about 2s. a day) on first-joining j but after a certain period of service with the colours, about three years, he muy secure what is the equivalent of the .British "Tommy's" proficiency pay, "continuous service" pay. This brings his 2s. a day up to 2s. b'd. The American Regular iniantry comprises 31 regiments. Each regiment consists of three battalions, and each battalion, when mobilised for war, has four companies "of 110 men. The strength of each regiment is thus about 1300. There are 15 cavalry regiments, each with au average strength of 1000 all ranks. The artillery consists of 18 field and 12 mountain batteries— and 170 coastal companies. There are only three battalions of Engineers, each of an average strangtfl of 640. Behind the Regular Army there is the' American National Guard. This consists of the Militia Forces raised by voluntary recruiting in each State. The National Guard comprises, roughly, 7000 officers and I«Sd,OuO other ranks. The force, bem* on a Militia (part time service) basis is naturally not as well trained as the Regular Force, but that, of course, *s an ,item that could be altered—although it would take a little time though the Central Government ~f America subsidises the National Guard each State ordinarily controls the organisation of its own force. With war however, the organisation passes into | the Central* Government's hands Obviously, the National Guard is a valuable _ adjunct to the Regular Force, orrmng, as it does,, a natural feeder t*- that force. One disadvantage, however, or the National Guard-from the j viewpoint of immediately creating com. jpleto field ; ,.divisions from it-is that it does, not contain aily departmental muts, such as engineers, etc.,- it Js composed simply o f infantry, caval-y

and artilLery units. But, again, this is an item that could be altered with a, little time. Men who have served in tiie National Guard form, along with tiie .Regulars transferred from the colours atter serving their tour years, a nominal Army Reserve, but this force exists practically only on paper; there is no real organisation about it. U.y the passing in America, in 1915, of the Natorial'Defence Act, the legal limits on the strength or the Regular Army and National Guard that formerly obtained—only 100,000 in the case of the ltegular Army cv.cn —were greatly increased—to 173.000 for the Regular Army and 460,000 for the National Guard. These establishments have not, of course, been anything like reached* as yet. Really, the actual soldier fore© available for immediate mobilisation is 117,000 Regular Army and 142,000 National Guard —an army of little over a quarter of a million, or a matter of about ten divisions. It is doubtful whether even one of these divisions would be allowed to leave immediately for Europe; they would probably be retained at home to form th© nucleus of the Volunteer Army which the American laws allow for the creation of in war time. As soon as that was well under way, it is very possibel that, despite the big difficulties in the way of transport and all the " U" boats' frantic efforts to prevent it, a good many divisions of Uncle Sam's boys would cross the herring pond to take their share —proudly, delightedly—in licking the loathsome Hun. The question of how ma-ny soldiers America could eventually raise may crop up in many peo-. pie's minds. The answer is that, at a push, by resorting to conscriptitin, she could raise between fifteen to twentyi millions! A stupendous number, truly. America t is, however, very, very unlikely to resort to conscription—first, because of the constitutional difficulties connected therewith, and, secondly, »;e----causb the overwhelming number of volunteers—probably five millions easily—■ that would come forward from among her vast population would make it unnecessary. Of course, if she did wish to adopt conscription, there would be no occasion for her to pass any new law for the purpose. There is already on the American Statute Book a law wh-icn, though it is never enforced m peace time, empowers the calling to service, in the Militia, of all citizens between the ages of 18 and 45; the service, though, is limited to two yeai-s. But in connection with this law theer is the proviso that such Militia may not be called out and sent to a foreign country as an a,rmy of occupation, excepting to repel an invasion, or execute laws intended over such foreign country. This conscripted army A\ould not, therefore, be avaialbie fur sending to Europe—unless the laws of the American Constitution were altered. And, obviously, it, would not be necessary—unless America's military position.were to alter greatly—for so huge an army to be mobilised simply for nome service. The already organised Militia, or National Guard, can, however, be employed either inside or outside the United States when mobilised,' and its mobilisation can be ordered by the President, on his own initiative, at any time he thinks fit m an emergency. The President, we may say, is tne Commander-in-Chief of the Army—and Navy, too. The advent of American troops at the front would be most heartily welcomed by our lads there, not merely because of the military assistance they would render, but because every British soldier recognises the American as a brave and worthy comrade. The heroism exhibited by the many American citizens already servr ing at the front in British and Colonial units...and, in particular, the intrepidity of the American flying men—has renewed m the heart of the British "Tommy" of to-day the esteem and admiration in which the British "Tommy" of the days long gone by held Uncle Sam's "Boys of the Old Brigade."