MILITARY PREPAREDNESS 



3799 



MILITARY PREPAREDNESS 



exalted rank ; Leonard Wood, who entered mili- 

 tary life in 1886 as assistant-surgeon in the 

 United States army, and whose ability raised 

 him to the rank of major-general in 1903 and 

 later to the post of chief-of-staff ; and Frederick 

 Funston, who entered the Cuban insurgent 

 army in 1896 as captain of artillery, and who 

 attained the rank of major-general in the 

 United States army in 1914. L.R.G. 



For description of the school which trains for 

 the navy, see* NAVAL, ACADEMY, UNITED STATES. 



Consult Holden's West Point and the United 

 States Military Academy ; Hancock's Life at West 

 Point. 



MILITARY PREPAREDNESS is the practi- 

 cal application of the old adage "In time of 

 peace prepare for war." Every nation main- 

 tains a standing army, and any nation that 

 has a seacoast maintains a navy. But military 

 preparedness means more than maintaining an 

 army and a navy, as the War of the Nations 

 fully demonstrated. In the words of General 

 Leonard A. Wood; chief-of-staff of the United 

 States army, preparedness means: 



The organization of all the resources of the 

 nation men, material, money so that the full 

 power of the nation may be promptly applied and 

 continued at maximum strength for a consider- 

 able period of time. 



Back of the machine itself is the railroad serv- 

 ice so organized as to be turned over immediately 

 to the military authorities. Back of this come 

 the civil hospitals, the batteries and the supply 

 departments of all sorts, each with its responsi- 

 bility fixed' in case, of operations within its area, 

 or in case of a demand for supplies in other sec- 

 tions of the theater of war. The plans of every 

 ship are known, and plans completed for her use 

 as a troop ship, and when war threatens, the 

 whereabouts of the shipping is closely watched, 

 i and ships are assembled quietly to meet any de- 

 mand which may be required for oversea opera- 

 tions. 



Military Systems. Two systems of providing 

 a standing army have been maintained for a 

 long time; they are the volunteer system and 

 the compulsory system or conscription. 



The Volunteer System. Countries in which 

 the volunteer system has existed have a strong 

 objection to maintaining a large standing army 

 in times of peace. Great Britain and her colo- 

 nies and the United States are the leading 

 countries that have relied upon the volunteer 

 system. In both these countries the size of the 

 army is fixed by legislative enactment, by Par- 

 liament in Great Britain and by Congress in 

 the United States. 



Under the volunteer system men join the 

 army of their own free will and enlist for a 



definite term. When the time for which they 

 enrolled has expired the men are discharged 

 or are given the privilege of reenlisting. Every 

 applicant undergoes a rigid physical examina- 

 tion, and only those who come up to t>he re- 

 quired standard are accepted. In the United 



FIRST DEFENSE AGAINST A FOE 

 The navy of the United States is the first line of 

 defense against a foe from overseas. The above 

 map indicates by the shaded areas the steaming 

 radius of the navy in thirty to thirty-five hours, 

 by which it could intercept and give battle to 

 invading forces. 



States the term of enlistment was fixed by the 

 army law of 1916 at seven years, three years 

 with the colors and four years in the reserve. 

 In Great Britain the term of enlistment in the 

 regulars is twelve years, seven years with the 

 colors and five in the reserve. These require- 

 ments apply in the time of peace. The emer- 

 gency created by the War of the Nations 

 caused them to be set aside. Canada maintains 

 no regular standing army, but for service in the 

 War of the Nations nearly 500,000 volunteers 

 joined the colors. 



The Compulsory System. Under the com- 

 pulsory system all men who are physically and 

 mentally sound are required, when they reach 

 the prescribed age, to enter the military or 

 naval service. The term of service varies in 

 different countries. In Germany each man 

 must serve two or three years in the standing 

 army, and the balance of the term of seven 

 years in the reserve. In France, the require- 

 ment is three years in the active army, eleven 

 in the reserve and seven in the territorial army, 

 which is another branch of the reserve. 



All European countries except Great Britain, 

 Japan and the leading countries of South 

 America have for years relied upon the com- 

 pulsory system for military and naval defense, 

 and under this system the Great Powers of 

 Continental Europe have brought their armies 

 and navies to a high state of perfection. 



