No.i.] PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINING IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY. 89 



In response to the request by Col. Howard that special instructions be issued to department 

 commanders and commanding officers of camps, etc., the Adjutant General issued; on Sep- 

 tember 17, the following letter: 



September 17, 1918. 

 From: The Adjutant General of the Army. 



To: Department and camp commanders, recruit depot, recruit depot posts, and bureau chiefs. 

 Subject: Elimination of mentally defective. 



1. Attention i3 directed to the importance of eliminating the mentally unfit. This elimination should be made at 

 the time that the registrants are given neuro-psychiatric examinations, but any cases which are subsequently detected 

 must be eliminated from organizations promptly. Careful discrimination between psychiatric and psychological exami- 

 nations must be made; the latter are not considered in deciding on the acceptance or rejection of a registrant or in the 

 discharge of a soldier. Special Regulations No. 65 and Army Regulations, paragraph 159, govern, and the provisions 

 of the latter are extended to include commanding officers of replacement camp3 and other camps under the command 

 of general officers. 



2. Reports from France indicate that a large number of men suffering from mental disorders have been allowed 

 to go with replacements. The necessary corrective measures must be applied in the camps of this country. 



3. You will notify all concerned under your control. 

 By order of the Secretary of War: 



Paul Giddings, 

 Adjutant General. 



Inasmuch as these instructions specifically state that psychological examinations are not 

 to be considered in deciding on the acceptance or rejection of a registrant or the discharge of a 

 soldier, it was necessary for the Division of Psychology to request immediately that the mis- 

 understanding of the significance and uses of intelligence ratings be corrected. To this end the 

 following letter was prepared for the signature of the Surgeon General, but Acting Surgeon 

 General Richard, instead of forwarding this communication to The Adjutant General of the 

 Army, referred it to the Chief of the Division of Neuro-psychiatry, who in turn held it for 

 decision concerning the administrative relations of the Divisions of Psychology and of Neuro- 

 psychiatry. 



The letter is reproduced in substance because it supplies interesting information con- 

 cerning the relations of psychological service to army costs. 



Subject: Elimination of the Mentally Unfit. 



1. Attention is respectfully invited to the accompanying letter of The Adjutant General of the Army concerning 

 the elimination of the mentally defective and its probable relations to military efficiency and costs. 



2. In accordance with present War Department orders, mental rating is provided by the Division of Psychology, 

 Medical Department, for every enlisted man as soon as he arrives in camp. This general survey of drafted men makes 

 possible the prompt selection for careful psychological examination of all individuals who are seemingly unfit by 

 reason of mental deficiency for any type of military service. If the instructions of above letter are complied with in 

 all army training camps literally and conscientiously the cost to the Government, because of failure to reject unsuitable 

 men and delay in discharge, or in the proper placement of men of low grade intelligence, will undoubtedly amount 

 to at least $100,000 per month, at the present rate of army growth. This is much more than the total present cost of 

 the entire psychological service. 



3. As pertinent evidence indicative of the urgent need for serious consideration by the general staff of the impor- 

 tance of making use of mental ratings provided by the Division of Psychology, the following data are presented: 



4. Recently in Camp Zachary Taylor the psychological staff examined 221 men referred by the commanding 

 officer of the 814th Pioneer Infantry, a negro organization at the time preparing for immediate overseas duty. These 

 men had been transferred to Camp Taylor from Camps Beauregard and Shelby, in which as it happens psychological 

 examinations have not been made because of the failure of the War Department to authorize adequate personnel for 

 the Division of Psychology. 



Of the 221 men referred from the regiment, 109 were found to be unfit, by reason of inferior intelligence, for regular 

 military service. 



5. These 109 negro soldiers at the time of psychological examination had been in the army from two to three months, 

 costing the Government in all probability at least $6 a day, and nearly all were insured for $10,000. The majority of them, 

 according to indications of mental rating, are of no value to the Army; a few can be used in labor organizations. It 

 is fair to assume that the waste resulting from failure to reject these men when they originally arrived in camp will 

 ultimately amount to at least $100,000, and in all probability very much more than that. 



6. A situation similar to that in Camp Taylor developed at Camp Sevier before the entraining of the Eighty-first 

 Division for overseas . Three hundred and fifty -nine men were referred to the psychologists with the urgent request that 

 they select from the number those whose inferior intelligence made them unfit for regular service. The division 

 authorities felt that the selection as made by the different companies represented widely varying standards, and that 

 in many cases mere newness to the military situation had been mistaken by company officers for stupidity. The 

 difficulty of the situation was greatly increased by the fact that more than two-thirds of the strength of the division 

 had been assigned thereto for less than a month. As one summary court officer expressed it to the Chief Psychological 

 Examiner, ' ' We know nothing of these men and are anxious to have your professional judgment on their mental fitness 

 before taking them with us." On the basis of the psychological examination, 162 men were designated as cases whose 



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