_The Director_: “Captain Hall, let us assume you are Corporal Canes. You
have arrived right here, the other members of your patrol are in the
original formation behind you. Now just what would you do under the
circumstances?”
_Captain Hall_: “I would go to the sentinel post and ask the men.”
_The Director_: “Wait a minute. Let us not go too fast on this
proposition. You have the other men of your patrol with you. What are
you going to do with them?”
_Captain Hall_: “That’s right. I would have to tell them what to do. I
would say to Manley in a low tone;
“‘Have the patrol halt and remain in place.’
Which means the men would halt where they are and stay there until I
return.”
_The Director_: “We will assume that you have halted the patrol. Would
you go to the sentinel post without first notifying the outguard that
you are going to do so?”
_Captain Hall_: “No, sir. I had forgotten about that. I would go to the
outguard and tell the outguard commander that I am going out to see his
sentinels and would get him to come along with me.”
_The Director_: “Reflect a moment. Remember, yours is not the only
visiting patrol that comes along the route tonight. There is one every
two hours. The outguard commander has to be up every two hours to post
his reliefs. The support commander has arranged his visiting patrols so
that they will come along the line of observation when the sentinels on
post are about in the middle of their tour. If you get the outguard
commander out at this time, he will be up practically all night and will
not be fit for much service tomorrow. I do not think you would insist on
seeing the outguard commander unless he happened to be awake at this
particular time. It would be sufficient to tell the outguard sentinel
what you are going to do.”
_Captain Hall_: “I would go to the outguard and notify the man on duty
there that I am going out to the sentinel.”
_The Director_: “Don’t go too fast. What I want to bring out at this
time is just how you are going to approach the post of the outguard.
Tell us in detail how you would do it.”
_Captain Hall_: “I will go up to this point. (Captain Hall advances to
the point indicated). I will call in a low tone of voice ‘Visiting
patrol.’ If I get no response I will advance a little closer and repeat
my recognition signal and would continue until I am recognized. When the
man on duty hears my call he will probably say to me ‘Give the
countersign.’ I will give the countersign in a low tone of voice. He
will tell me to advance and I will then go to the post of the outguard.”
_The Director_: “Those are the details I wanted to bring out. And that
is the value of the Terrain Exercise. We come out here and learn to do
the things that we must do in actual campaign when we do not have to pay
for the mistakes with our own lives or the lives of our men. You have to
draw upon your imagination to picture the situation that confronts you.
You have to use your gray matter to figure out and decide just what you
are going to do. Finally, you have to draw upon your power of speech to
put your decision into words and express it in a clear and intelligent
manner.
“When you get up to the outguard you find that the outguard commander is
asleep. You decide not to awaken him. You tell the man on duty that you
are going to the sentinel post. Now Lieutenant Barry I want you to tell
us and show us just how you do it.”
_Lieutenant Barry_: “I would proceed cautiously in the direction of the
sentinel post. When I figure I am within hearing distance I will give
the recognition signal. The sentinel will give me the return signal and
I will know everything is all right and be free to go up to him.”
_Lieutenant Hunt_: “I do not understand this recognition signal
proposition. Can the director enlighten us on that?”