THE NEW R. O. T. C. PLANS

It has for some time been felt by the cadet officers and men of the University R. O. T. C. that certain changes in its administrative organization could be effected to the great advantage of the Corps. Outside of formations, impatience has frequently been expressed with the manner in which affairs have been conducted, and the errors made have been the subject of much--too much--undergraduate criticism. Few men stop to realize the immense difficulties attendant upon the operation of a organization like the Regiment, which is in effect a small depot brigade for officers that feeds its leaders into the service at the exact time when they have been trained to be of the greatest military value. As a matter of fact much credit and many thanks are due to those on whom the burden of the year's work has fallen.

Nevertheless, the new plans of organization to be put through next week are absolutely essential if the high standard of military work at the University is to be maintained. As the Athenian method of a group of generals whose power rotated daily proved a failure, so has it been found impossible to conduct a training corps by means of a Tactical Staff with too much power and a central authority which was not strong enough. The abolition of the former and the strengthening of the latter by the appointments of such men as Major Lane to the position of Regimental Adjutant and of Lieutenant Morize to that of Assistant to the Commandant has assured the complete success of the Corps for the remainder of the year.

Although other details of the organization for the summer camp are not to be announced until later, these appointments will take care of the problems of immediate interest. From the point of view of the undergraduate who is training here it will be reassuring to know that his instruction and the enforcement of the regulations that concern him are not to be in the hands of a group of men, many of whom may have had less military experience than he himself, but rather of those who have directed the work of the Corps on Soldiers Field, in barracks and at Barre. In any military body strong centralized authority and its complement, centralized responsibility, are always essential; beyond a doubt their absence has menaced the strength of our military organization this year. Equally certain, however, is the fact that the new order will re-establish that discipline, respect for authority, and esprit de corps that will always be connected with the names of Azan, Shannon and Cordier.