Modern Army Officers

Schools of Instruction for N. C. 0. Candidates for Com missioned Rank.—These schools are (a) infantry and tanks at St. Maixent ; (b) artillery at Fontainebleau; (c) cavalry at Saumur ; (d) engineers and air service at Versailles. Entry is by competitive examination. European n.c.o.'s of the metropolitan and colonial armies are allowed to compete, who must have per formed two years' service as n.c.o.'s (sergeant and upwards). The course lasts one year and is divided into two parts—general instruction and military instruction. After leaving their schools, candidates go to the Ecole d'application for their arm of the service, except in the case of infantry students, who join the unit to which they are posted after completing their two months' leave.

Ecole d'Administration Militaire at Vincennes.—This school is designed for the instruction of n.c.o.'s recommended for appoint ment as officers in the service d'administration.

Training of Officers of the Active Army.

The whole of the French military educational system is directed towards the formulation and propagation of one common doctrine, and from the moment when a prospective officer comes under the influence of military teaching to the time when he leaves the army, even though he rises to the highest rank, his education is continuously and progressively assured and his thought and action kept within accepted bounds by the precepts of the common doctrine. This training is provided at courses and schools for specialists dealing exclusively with one arm of the service or with some special branch of instruction.

Cycles d'information (courses for senior officers) .—Officers of the rank of colonel and upwards attend courses which consist of a series of visits to the principal schools and centres of instruction. These courses occupy about six weeks and are attended by officers of all branches of the service.

Ecole Superieure de Guerre (Staff College).—The course at the school is designed, first and foremost, as one at which the higher art of war is taught, as opposed to a course devoted exclusively to the study of staff duties. The entrance examination is open to majors, captains and subalterns of all arms of the metropolitan and colonial armies who are between 28 and 38 years of age.

Appointment of

Officers.—Appointments of second lieuten ants in the active army are made from (a) graduates of the military academy at West Point; (b) warrant officers and enlisted men of the regular army with at least two years' service; (c) officers of the Officers' Reserve Corps, and officers, warrant officers and enlisted men of the National Guard; (d) members of the Enlisted Reserve Corps; (e) graduates of certain technical insti tutions approved by the secretary of war. Candidates from cate

gories (b), (c), (d) and (e) must be within the ages of 21 and 3o years. Original appointments in the judge-advocate-general's department are made in the rank of captain under separate regu lations. Appointments to the medical, dental, veterinary, medical administrative and chaplain's corps are also governed by special regulations. Appointments as second lieutenants in the Philippine Scouts are open to citizens of the Philippine Islands only, between the ages of 21 and 3o years.

(a) The Military Academy at West Point.—This is the only purely military cadet college in the United States. Candidates must, at the date of admission, be between the ages of 17 and 22 years. All cadets are appointed by the President. On conclu sion of the four-year course the successful cadets are assigned to branches of the service as far as possible in accordance with their choice, and take their place on the promotion list as second lieu tenants in the order obtained by them on leaving the academy. Each cadet on entry- into the academy is required to give a written undertaking that he will serve at least four years in the army after obtaining his first commission. The number of cadets at the academy is usually about 1,25o, of whom roughly one-quarter graduate each year.

(b) From Warrant Officers and Enlisted Men.—Warrant officers and enlisted men must establish their fitness for appointments to commissions as second lieutenants by taking the prescribed examination. Those who qualify in this examination are corn missioned ahead of all other applicants examined at the same time.

(c) and (d).—The conditions for candidates in categories (c) and (d) are as for category (b).

(e) Graduates of Technical Institutions Approved by the Secretary of War.—The approved institutions are those which maintain the full equivalent of a four years' course of instruction in technical or scientific subjects, the successful completion of which entitles a graduate to a degree in a recognized technical subject. Any candidate who has graduated or who will graduate within six months from a technical course in any recognized college is considered eligible for appointment to the army.