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Under whose careful supervision so many have received their Military Training in order that they may show the world in battle the true spirit of American manhood.
To have prepared this book within the time allotted to it, without theassistance of Candidates Alcott Farrar Elwelland Lyle Milton Prousewould have been impossible, and grateful recognition is made of theirservices. Not only much of the manual labor, but the preparation ofentire chapters, has been in their hands.
Candidates Charles Huntington Jacobs andMichael Francis Mcaleer haverendered very valuable assistance and we wish to thank the followingcandidates for the loan of materials used elsewhere, for typewritingand other work:
The officer of to-day has big problems to face at short notice. Histraining has necessarily been so intensive that he cannot absorb alarge amount of it. He has little time to make out schedules or evento look over the hasty notes he may have made during his trainingperiod, yet he finds himself facing problems which force him toimmediate action.
This book so condenses and systematizes general military instructionand the work done at Plattsburg so that it may be easily utilized intraining other troops. No broad claim for originality is made exceptin the arrangement of all available material; the bibliography makesacknowledgment to all texts so utilized. Besides bringing helpfulreminders to new officers regarding the elements of modern warfare,much of the material will be found of radical importance, as it ispractically new and never before condensed. Since under the new armyorganization the platoon leader virtually has assumed the roll of acaptain of a company, it is not enough for him to know simply his ownpart; he