Doubtless you've heard this old ditty that has been handed down from generation to generation from the time when soldiers dug trenches for various purposes, including protection, as was the case during World War I in France. However, today the verses no longer apply. Most recruits no longer come from farms. Although you won't get rich, the educational opportunities can prepare you for a lucrative civilian job. With as much mechanized equipment adapted to the Army's needs, few servicepersons are required to dig ditches today.
The Army may still observe many long-established traditions or ways of doing things, but it is on the outlook for ways to improve the organization, acquire new leadership techniques, and upgrade its equipment through modern technology. This obviously affords enlisted members opportunities to learn innumerable skills leading to good jobs in the military and later in the civilian world.
DWIGHT EISENHOWER-GENERAL AND PRESIDENT
When young Dwight was almost two years old, his family moved to Abilene, Kansas, where his father found a job in a creamery. They were poor, and there were six growing boys to feed. His mother grew fruits and vegetables in the backyard to help feed the family and sold what they did not need. When Dwight was in high school, he worked nights at the creamery to provide extra income for his family and after graduation took a full-time job there so he could help his brother Edgar, who was a freshman at the University of Michigan.
Someone suggested to Dwight that he try for an appointment to the Naval Academy at Annapolis or the Military Academy at West Point. Too old to enter at Annapolis, he received an appointment to West Point, which he entered in 1911. His rise through the army ranks after graduation was steady. During World War II he became the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces and was in charge of the massive invasion of Europe in June 1944. After the war, he served as president of Columbia University until President Truman asked him to become the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Europe, the military force for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The rest is history. In 1952 Americans went to the polls and elected Dwight D. Eisenhower the thirty-fourth president of the United States.
Dwight Eisenhower was not the only member of the United States Army to become president. George Washington, commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, became our first president. He was followed by others with military backgrounds: Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harry Truman. If you choose to enter the army, the chances are not good that you will become president, but you will have opportunity to find a satisfying and rewarding career in the service.
EVOLUTION OF ARMIES
Historically, armies date back at least as far as 3200 B.C, when the Babylonians had a regular standing army of bowmen and spearmen. About seven hundred years later (2500 B.C), the Sumerians introduced the first chariots in battles. Another major development occurred about 55 B.C At this time the Greeks devised the phalanx, eight rows of heavily armed spearmen who formed a solid rectangle. Although a phalanx could not move quickly, it did withstand a cavalry charge. Next, the Romans organized their numerous legions of soldiers, many of whom were superb technicians, forerunners of our modern army with its Corps of Engineers. They established an empire throughout Europe and Great Britain and built excellent roads, bridges, walls, and forts, the remains of which may be seen in many places.
The introduction of gunpowder revolutionized warfare. By the late 1600s, soldiers who carried muskets could defend themselves against charging cavalry as well as enemy infantry. The Industrial Revolution during the first half of the 1800s made it possible to mass-produce better guns and other armaments. Later the inventions of the automobile and airplane gave rise to a whole new concept of warfare with tanks, motorized vehicles, and planes. In World War I the infantry fought mostly in muddy trenches, but when World War II broke out in 1939, soldiers saw fewer trenches and not as many long marches. More tanks and other motorized equipment were employed, while airplanes quickly moved paratroops and other soldiers hundreds of miles to new fronts. Victory depended also on the factory worker at home who built up the "arsenal of democracy." The latter produced a never-ending stream of tanks, jeeps, trucks, planes, guns, and other implements of war which were necessary to the military campaigns of the mid-twentieth century.
Then, when the first atomic bomb was exploded in Japan in 1945, a new kind of destructive weapon was added-a weapon so terrible that in the wars fought over the past forty years, no other such bombs have been used. Thus, fear of nuclear devastation has compelled armies to continue to fight with pre-atomic weapons of artillery, tanks, planes, and surprise attacks on the enemy. However, newer weapons are being forged around lasers and other advanced scientific discoveries.
THE UNITED STATES ARMY
The United States Army is the oldest branch of the armed services. It was founded on June 14, 1775, by the Continental Congress. That was over two hundred years ago when the army consisted of foot soldiers who had to walk or march wherever they went, who depended on their muzzle-loading muskets for protection and attack, and who had only horses and lumbering wagons to transport their ammunition and supplies. Today, some two centuries later, the soldier is a specialist. No longer does the soldier make long forced marches (except under exceptional circumstances). Now he or she rides. Instead of pouring powder and a single bullet into the muzzle of a gun, the soldier carries an automatic gun capable of firing a barrage of bullets at the touch of the trigger. Instead of sending spies to search for enemy positions, modern communications make it possible to locate distant targets and fire at them with great accuracy.
Warfare is, for the most part, mechanized. That is why today's soldier is not just a good rifleman but is, more importantly, a trained technician.
UNITED STATES ARMY ORGANIZATION
The army is the largest of the nation's armed services. It has almost 800,000 men and women in the active army and many more in the reserves. This does not include the thousands of civilians who can be considered part of the army team.
The active army includes sixteen divisions, with eight more in the reserves. Although many soldiers are not assigned to divisions, everyone's job in the army is to support, train, equip, or supply the divisions. While varied in type and purpose, every division needs soldiers skilled in administration, aviation, data processing, maintenance, medicine, police work, radar, and many other proficiencies besides combat. A division might be compared to a good-sized town and requires the same kinds of technicians, such as computer operators, cooks, finance and legal clerks, journalists, and mechanics.
Here are the levels of command in the army:
- Division: 10,000-17,000 people, commanded by a major general.
- Brigade: 2,000-4,000 people, commanded by a colonel. There are usually three brigades in a division.
- Battalion: 500-1,000 people, commanded by a lieutenant colonel.
- Company: 100-200 people, commanded by a captain.
- Platoon: 30-50 people usually led by a lieutenant.
- Squad: 5-10 people, led by a staff sergeant or a sergeant.
The great majority of men and women serving in the army are enlisted members, most of whom, sign up after graduation from high school. Once in the service, there is opportunity to advance through the ranks from private to sergeant major. You might even become a commissioned officer if you have the necessary qualifications and complete the advanced and specialized training which is required.
There are three ways you can become a commissioned officer in the army:
- By attending the West Point Military Academy (see Chapter 9).
- By attending Officer Candidate School (see Chapter 9).
- By direct appointment if you are professionally qualified as a chaplain, civil engineer, lawyer, or in a medical or allied health service field. Some of these positions are mentioned later in this chapter.
ALL ABOUT ENLISTING
Enlistment Requirements
Age: Applicants must not be less than 17 years of age, nor have reached their 35th birthday. Verification of age is required, such as a birth certificate or statement from the State Registrar of Vital Statistics, from other similar state officials, or from information recorded in official records. If no such record is available, you may submit a baptismal record or certified copy, or a sworn statement by one or both parents or your legal guardian.
Citizenship: Citizens of the United States or aliens who have been lawfully admitted to the country for permanent residence.
Testing: Qualifying scores are required on test batteries and in some cases subtests of the batteries. The test now in use is the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery).
Education: The army prefers to enlist high school graduates. However, in some circumstances, non-high school graduates may be accepted. Your local army recruiter can give you further information.
Medical Fitness: Enlistment standards can be explained by your army recruiter. Some enlistment options call for special qualifications.
Other Criteria: Character qualifications, police clearance, and moral screening.
Enlistment Periods: Vary from two to six years subject to certain exceptions. Some special programs may call for specific enlistment periods. Your local army recruiter can give you the latest information.
Visiting the Army Recruiter
Let us assume you are interested in joining the army or at least investigating the possibility. The first step is to contact the nearest army recruiter. You will find the address in your telephone directory under U.S. Government-Army. If you cannot locate a listing, write to the address at the end of this chapter.
The recruiter will meet you in the recruiting office, at your home, or possibly at school or work. The first interview is your chance to ask whatever questions you may have about the army. The recruiter will want to learn about you too-your interests, education, hobbies, goals, and your health. You should have the following documents ready: birth certificate; high school diploma or transcript documenting your midterm graduation or GED documentation; Social Security card; letter from your doctor if you have (or had) any special medical condition that will require explanation during your army physical examination.
The next step will be for your recruiter to make arrangements for you to take an aptitude test and a physical examination. This will be at no expense to you. In some areas the aptitude test may be given at a location near the recruiting station called a MET (mobile examining team) site. You can either take your physical immediately after the aptitude test or wait before scheduling the physical until you hear the results of the test. In either case the physical examination can only be done at the MEPS (military enlistment processing station) nearest your home. If necessary, meals and overnight lodging will be provided for you at a place near the MEPS-again at no expense to you.
Be prepared for a busy day, which will normally start about 7:00 A.M. First you will be told what you can expect to do during your visit; then you will have an opportunity to ask questions; then be ready to start your processing. This is divided into three areas: mental (unless you were previously tested), medical, and administrative.
The mental test usually requires about two and a half hours to complete. You will want to do your best on this examination because the results will have considerable bearing on your selection of options before you enter the army. A good night's sleep is strongly recommended for good test scores.
Next comes the medical examination performed by medical doctors and trained technicians. Women are examined separately and in privacy, with a female escort present. The physical examination takes about two hours, after which you will have a conference with a doctor and discuss any problems which may have been discovered.
Your administrative processing comes after you have had an opportunity to talk with your army guidance counselor, who may be female or male. He or she will take your mental test scores and physical evaluation and all the other information the army has learned about you, feed the data into a small computer programmed to analyze the data, and then make suggestions that match your qualifications to the army's needs.
Whether you decide to enlist and leave for active duty or join the DEP (Delayed Entry Program), a written agreement will be prepared setting out all the conditions of your enlistment, which you will be asked to review carefully with your guidance counselor. Should you sign up for the DEP, you have a year before you must leave on active duty.
Whether you have decided to enter the service immediately or have taken the DEP option, the first day arrives when you leave for your initial entry training. At the end of your bus, train, or plane ride you will arrive at the army reception station-and you then know that "You're in the army now."
