In Formation

How It Was To Work


WAR DEPARTMENT
Headquarters, Services of Supply
Washington, D.C.

Discipline

Since the trainees are soldiers, they are under military discipline and subject to the orders of their superior officers at all times. Disciplinary difficulties which may arise during academia instruction, similar to those which arise with civilian college students, should be handled by the institutional instructors and deans in the usual way, if possible. Those which cannot be so handled, especially those involving conduct which has a bearing on the trainee's fitness for a commission as an officer or warrants consideration of his removal from the institution, should be reported to the Commandant for appropriate military action.

Records and Reports

The installation and maintenance of an adequate system of' records will be required, suitable for the purposes of the War Department as well as those of the institution. Its general coverage will be two-fold:

a. A measure of the trainee's performance, capacity, and personality adjustment to the training program.

b. A measure of the curricular content and balance, and of methods and procedure developed for instruction under the program.

No specific plan is proposed at this time. It is believed that, inasmuch as our institutions of higher education have in the past developed their own techniques for problems which are somewhat analogous to that now confronting both the Army Specialized Training Division and the colleges, the most practical immediate solution will be secured by leaving the mater in the hands of institutions. After sufficient experience, the results will be placed in the hands of our Advisory Committee with a view to developing such a degree of uniformity as appears desirable.

The qualities listed below will be of special interest to the Army. Where possible, a similar appraisal of students now in college who are slated for induction or call to active service (ERC men) should be made to provide a highly desirable pool of information:

a. Leadership: the degree in which he influences the opinions actions of his associates; his force of personality.

b. Intelligence: his common sense, his ability to reason soundly, his ability to grasp new ideas quickly, to understand new instruction readily.

c. Responsibility: his attention to duty, his ability and inclination to work conscientiously and with thoroughness, his fidelity to duty. The degree in which reliance can be placed in him.

d. Cooperation: the degree in which he is temperamentally inclined to work with others rather than self-defensively or as an individualist.

e. Physical stamina: his energy and endurance, his capacity for prolonged and severe exertion without undue fatigue.

The dean and his associates, faculty members, athletic coaches and others who have known the individual personally will be able to express their measured judgment of him in such qualities as these; from such individual judgments the proper official of the institution will be able to prepare a composite judgment to be submitted to the War Department or the Commandant on request. It is hoped that this composite judgment will be expressed in the official's own words rather than on a numerical scale of any kind.

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