TRAINING OF ENLISTED MEN IN THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE.
IN UNITED STATES.
The Marine Corps system of training for the enlisted personnel during
the war was thorough and excellent in every respect, and resulted
in the turning out of men who proved themselves well fitted for the
arduous duties of Marines.
For a short time after the outbreak of the war temporary recruit
depots were opened at the navy yards at Philadelphia, Pa., and
Norfolk, Va., with a capacity of 2,500 at the former and 500 at
the latter. These were used until the regular recruit depots at
Parris Island, S. C., and Mare Island, Calif., could accommodate the
recruits. These two recruit depots were greatly enlarged both in
size and scope, to take care of the temporary increase in strength
authorized for the war, and were soon able to meet all demands made
upon them.
At the beginning of the war the course of recruit instruction at
the recruit depot, Parris Island, was of 8 weeks duration, and with
but very few exceptions every recruit passing through this depot
received 8 weeks instruction. At the Mare Island recruit depot, the
recruits received 12 weeks training from April 6 to 28, 1917, 9 weeks
from April 29, 1917, to June 21, 1918, and 8 weeks from June 22 to
November 11, 1918.
The following table gives a list of the special schools at the Parris
Island recruit depot and the number of graduates from each during the
period between the outbreak of war and the date the armistice became
operative:
Noncommissioned Officers School 2,144
Field Musics School 493
Radio School 143
Signal School 232
Band School 247
Clerical School 236
Pay School 78
Cooks, and Bakers, School 150
-----
Total 3,723
The following table illustrates what was accomplished by the two
recruit depots:
-------------+----------------+--------+-----------+--------+---------
| In training— | | | |
+-------+--------+Maximum | Maximum | Total | Maximum
Depot. |Apr. 6,|Nov. 11,|strength| number of |recruits|capacity.
| 1917. | 1918. |of post.|recruits at|handled.|
| | | | one time. | |
-------------+-------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+---------
Parris Island| 835 | 4,104 | 16,601 | 13,286 | 46,202 | 13,060
Mare Island | 358 | 1,143 | 2,799 | 2,470 | 11,901 | 3,000
+-------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+---------
Total | 1,193 | 5,247 | 19,400 | 15,756 | 58,103 | 16,060
-------------+-------+--------+--------+-----------+--------+---------
After leaving the recruit depots at Parris Island and Mare Island,
advanced training was given the men at Quantico, Va. This training
was most intensive and as a result all the organizations which were
trained there attained a high state of efficiency. It was made to
approximate as nearly as practicable the real service which the
men would have in the American Expeditionary Forces in France.
Officers who were engaged in this training showed great ingenuity and
efficiency in their attempts to make the training approach as nearly
as possible what the men would be subjected to in actual service.
That they succeeded was shown by the work done by the Marines in
France and other places.
The first troops arrived at the Marine barracks, Quantico, Va., on
May 18, 1917. The maximum enlisted strength was 9,849 on September
12, 1918. The maximum number of officers present at one time was
484, on August 16, 1918. The strength on November 11, 1918, was 329
officers and 8,798 enlisted men. From May, 1917, to November 11,
1918, approximately 1,000 officers and 40,000 enlisted men passed
through Quantico, Va.
In addition to giving the enlisted men general training at Quantico
in preparation for overseas and other duty, the Overseas Depot was
established on May 19, 1918, for the double purpose of organizing
and training units of the Marine Corps for service with the American
Expeditionary Forces.
Prior to the organization of this depot the Fifth and Sixth
Regiments, the Sixth Machine Gun Battalion, the Base Battalion of the
Fifth Regiment, and two replacement battalions had left the United
States and had become part of the American Expeditionary Force.
The Overseas Depot consisted of an administrative staff and the
various sections as follows: (_a_) The specialists’ schools for
the technical training of the infantry and machine gun, and the
coordination of these specialists’ arms; (_b_) the tactical
department for the instruction and training of overseas units in new
tactical principles; (_c_) the enlisted staff school for the training
of first sergeants, mess sergeants, cooks, company clerks, armorers,
etc. Two French and four Canadian officers, who had abundant
experience in the fighting in Europe, were assigned as advisors of
the commanding officer.
The basic independent unit of organization was the platoon, and
the platoon therefore became the principal training unit. In the
organization of this unit the scheme followed was to assure to
each a certain nucleus of enlisted instructors trained in the
various specialties, in addition to the platoon commanders, who
were qualified to carry on the instruction along approved lines
within the unit. This nucleus was taken from the graduates of
the specialists’ schools of the depot. When four such platoons
had been formed they were assembled into a company. The company
headquarters, trained in the enlisted staff school, was added to the
four platoons and the company organization was turned over to the
company commander complete in all details. Battalions were likewise
formed by the consolidation of companies. In every instance the
platoon, company, and the battalion, carried out a regular schedule
of drills and instructions under the supervision of the depot, but
all administrative details were left in the hands of the company
and the battalion commanders. These training schedules were made up
in the tactical department, approved by the commanding officer, and
were based on the most approved methods in effect at the time. In
the cases of the formation of regimental organizations, of which
there were two formed during the existence of the Overseas Depot,
the battalions upon being formed were turned over to the regimental
commander, and in this case direct supervision by the depot ceased,
but all facilities on hand, such as material, officers acting in an
advisory capacity, training areas, etc., directly attached to the
depot, were placed at the disposal of the regimental commanders who
were at all times in active liaison with the depot.
About 85 per cent of the troops forming the detachments arriving at
the Overseas Depot for service in France had undergone not less than
8 nor more than 12 weeks’ training at the regular recruit depots of
the Marine Corps. The preliminary training received at these recruit
depots was such as to fit the men for general service throughout
the Marine Corps, and resulted in the men being well disciplined,
considering the short time they had been in the service. This
facilitated the more advanced and specialized training they were
to receive at the Overseas Depot. These detachments were composed
entirely of qualified riflemen, having undergone during the recruit
period a most thorough and comprehensive course in the use of the
rifle. Upon the arrival of these detachments they were organized
as outlined above, and the commissioned personnel was assigned to
the units from the officers’ school. The schedule and drills and
instructions were provided them and were carried out under the
supervision of specially selected officers of the tactical department
of the Overseas Depot, including the foreign officers. This training
continued until the units departed for France. Training in open
warfare was given precedence over that of trench warfare from the
very beginning in the proportion of about four to one.
The following units were organized by the Overseas Depot: Third,
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh Separate Battalions;
Second and Third Machine Gun Battalions; Fifth Brigade Machine Gun
Battalion; Second and Third Separate Machine Gun Battalions; Eleventh
and Thirteenth Regiments; total, approximately, 16,000 officers
and enlisted men. The Seventh and Eighth Separate Battalions were
organized and sent to France from Marine Barracks, Parris Island, S.
C.
The following table shows the schools conducted by the Overseas Depot
and the number of graduates:
-------------------+---------+---------------+---------+------
School. |Officers.|Noncommissioned|Privates.|Total.
| | officers. | |
-------------------+---------+---------------+---------+------
Officers | 294 | .. | .. | 294
Bayonet | .. | 360 | 220 | 580
Bombing | .. | 200 | 150 | 350
Gas | .. | 180 | .. | 180
Automatic Rifle | .. | 150 | 650 | 800
Scout Snipers | .. | 75 | 375 | 450
Machine Gun | 120 | 145 | 295 | 560
Miners and Sappers | .. | 70 | 80 | 150
Enlisted Staff | .. | 105 | 300 | 405
+---------+---------------+---------+------
Total | 414 | 1,285 | 2,070 | 3,769
-------------------+---------+---------------+---------+------
In addition to the training described above, 69 officers and 2,084
enlisted men, a total of 2,153, graduated from the Marine Corps
school of machine gun instruction at Utica, N. Y.
Never before in the history of the corps have better drilled and
trained or more generally efficient men been turned out, ready for
duty, upon completion of their training, and to this factor is
largely due the splendid record made by the Marines during the war.
The work of the officers training the Marines was not spectacular,
and they wear no war chevrons, nor decorations for bravery, perhaps,
but they were, nevertheless, a vital factor in whatever success the
Marine Corps met with in the great struggle.
Information with reference to the training of enlisted men for
aviation will be found in Chapter XXI.
TRAINING IN FRANCE.
On June 27, 1917, the First Battalion of the Fifth Regiment actually
landed in France and on July 3, 1917, the entire Fifth Regiment was
under canvas on French soil. From that date every effort was made to
train the men and officers. Elements of the Fifth Regiment trained
as a part of the First Division of Regulars from July 15, 1917, to
September, 1917, in the Gondrecourt training area. From September,
1917, on, the training of the available units of the Fourth Brigade
as a unit of the Second Division of Regulars was conducted in the
Bourmont training area.
Until February, 1918, the training of the Marines in France was
handicapped by the fact that units of the Brigade were engaged in
duties along the Line of Communications (Services of Supply), one
company and a battalion commander being absent in England until
March, 1918. It was not until the middle of February, 1918, that
the Fourth Brigade of Marines (less the company in England) was
conducting its training as a brigade with any degree of satisfaction.
Owing to the well-trained condition of the individual Marine this
condition did not vitally affect his professional ability as was so
distinctly shown by his later accomplishments.
The Fourth Brigade continued its training in the Bourmont training
area until the middle of March, 1918, when it entered the front line
trenches in the Verdun sector.
The Marine replacements received little or no training in a training
area in France as most of them were hurried into the fighting
immediately upon arrival overseas.
To summarize, the average Marine who arrived in France received at
least six weeks’ training in the United States in a recruit depot
and a very short period at Quantico. This is a contrast to the six
months’ training received by the average enlisted man of the Army.
After arrival in France the Marines, except those of the original
Fourth Brigade, received practically no training in a training
area since they joined the brigade almost immediately. The Marines
comprising the Fifth Brigade of Marines received no training in a
regular training area in France.