NEW SERIES AUGUST, 1918 NUMBER 42 BULLETIN University of Alabama MILITARY TRAINING AT University of Alabama I. RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS II. STUDENTS ARMY TRAINING CORPS The purpose of these organizations according to a statement authorized by the War Department is “to prevent the premature enlist¬ ment for active service of young men who could by extending the period of their college training multiply manifold their value to the country” Published Quarterly by the University Entered at the Post Office, University, Alabama as Second Class Matter. Wik^' t'--' \ MILITARY TRAINING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA Students who attend the University of Alabama this fall will have the exceptional opportunity of entering either of two high class military organizations established and maintained here by the federal government for the purpose of preparing young men for military service while they are receiving college training. These organizations are: I. Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. II. Students’ Army Training Corps. A full description of these organizations follows. Every young man who is anxious to serve his country in the most ef¬ fective way should read these descriptions carefully. RESERVE OFFICERS’ TRAINING CORPS A senior division of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps was established by the federal government two years ago at the University of Alabama. It is under the supervision of a U. S. Army officer and is open to all students. Those who elect this course of training are given free uniforms and other necessary equipment during the first two years, and in addition to the uniforms, etc., are paid $100 per session for board during the third and fourth years. Students who make good in military duties and classroom studies and who give promise of leadership through evidence of faithfulness to duty, promptness and general bearing, are eligi¬ ble for appointment to Officers’ Training Camps, which here¬ after will be continuously in session in various parts of the country. At the beginning of each month a new class will be organized in these camps. This arrangement makes it possible for qualified University students to secure Army commissions even though they have spent comparatively only a short while at the University of Alabmaa. No obligation to enlist in any branch of the service is placed upon students who enroll for the first two years of training. 3 STUDENTS’ ARMY TRAINING CORPS A Students’ Army Training Corps has been established at the University of Alabama in accordance with a plan recently submitted by Secretary of War Newton D. Baker. The fol¬ lowing extracts from recent communications authorized by the War Department set forth in detail the reasons for this action. To assist in giving military training to those^ enrolled in this Corps, the War Department recently selected 32 young men from the University of Alabama contingent at the Summer Training Camp at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, and ordered them to remain there two months longer for additional instruction. These highly trained young men will return to the University of Alabama in time for their new duties at the opening of the regular session. ■ PURPOSE “The purpose of the War Department in establishing the Students’ Army Training Corps is to provide for the very im¬ portant needs of the army for highly trained men as officers, Engineers, doctors, chemists, and administrators of every kind. The importance of this need can not be too strongly empha¬ sized. The plan is an attempt to mobilize and develop the brain power of the young men of the country for these services which demand special training. Its object is to prevent the premature enlistment for active service of these men who could by extending the period of their college training multiply mani¬ fold their value to the country. If, however, the need arises for the services of these men in the fighting line, the terms of their enlistment are such that they can be called by the Presi¬ dent on a day’s notice. For the present it will be the policy of the Government to keep them in training until their draft age is reached. ARMY NEEDS TRAINED MEN “This is a war in which soldiers are not only marksmen, but also engineers, chemists, physicists, geologists, doctors and specialists in many other lines. Scientific training is indis¬ pensable. Engineering skill is needed by the officers who direct 4 every important military operation and who control our lines of transport and communication. In the same way chemical and physical knowledge are in constant demand at the front as well as behind the lines, while the task of saving the lives and restoring the heakh of hundreds of thousands of wounded calls for the services of regiments of military physicians. The scientific training which prepares a man to fulfill one of these highly specialized duties and the more liberal training which helps to develop the qualities of leadership needed by the officer or administrator are essential elements of military efficiency. WHO MAY ENUST “For the purpose of developing men who shall have this combination of military and intellectual training a new corps has been created in the army, to be called the Students’ Army Training Corps. Voluntary enlistment in this Corps is open to all able-bodied students in the institutions of collegiate grade who are not under i8 years of age. Students under ip cannot be legally enlisted, but they may enroll and thus receive military training until they reach the age when they can legally enlist.^' STATUS OF A STUDENT ENLISTED IN THE STUDENTS’ ARMY TRAINING CORPS. “A student enlisted in the Students’ Army Training Corps is in military service of the United States. Because he does not receive pay, he is classed as on inactive service but in a national emergency the President may call him at any time to active service. He is called to active service each summer when he attends camp for six weeks and receives the pay of a private. ''His relation to the draft is as follows: “Any student so enlisted, though in the military service of the United States, is technically on inactive duty, and therefore must register after he had reached draft age and upon notice by the President. Upon stating on his questionnaire that he is already in the military service of the United States, he will be placed automatically by his local Draft Board in Class V-D, as provided by the Selective Service regulations. The Draft Board will not call him for induction so long as he remains a member of the Students' Army Training Corps. 5 12105923616 3 01 SELECTIVE SERVICE “In order that the college student may not even appear to enjoy special privileges, it is agreed, however, that when the day arrives on which according to his order number he would hae been drafted, had he not already volunteered, the fact is reported to the President of the college, and to the Command¬ ing Officer at the college, who in turn reports it to the Adjutant General. This is the day of reckoning for the college man. The President of the college and the Commanding Officer will then report to the Chairman of the Committee on Education and Special Training of the War Department, for what form of military service the individual is in their judgment best qualified. They will recommend either that the student should continue his studies to prepare for work in medicine, engineer¬ ing, chemistry, psychology, economics, etc., or that he should go at once to an officers’ training camp to prepare for an of¬ ficers’ commission in the infantry, artillery, etc., or that he should he assigned to work in the ordnance, quartermaster or other Staff Corps or sent immediately to a division at one of the camps. Lieut Col. Rees, commander of the entire Stu¬ dents’ Corps, has authority to dispose his men in the way best suited to meet the emergencies of the military and national situation at the time. The presumption is that, for the next year, the largest proportion of the student body reaching twenty-one years will be required to supply a large part of the officers needed for the national army. It is understood that at least four or five times as many officers will be required as the total number of students who will graduate from all American colleges and universities. Enlistment in the Students’ Army Training Corps, therefore, while it does not hold out any pro¬ mise of an officer’s commission, is at the present time the plain¬ est road leading in that direction. RESULT OF FAILURE TO PROFIT FROM TRAINING “The student who shows no ability for special service in his college and military work will be ordered into active service as a private when his day of reckoning comes. Enlistment is for the duration of the war. If, however, the student fails to improve his college opportunities, he may be dismissed from 6