Page:The history and achievements of the Fort Sheridan officers' training camps.djvu/177

 ��In 1914, camps were held at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont; Ludington, Michigan; Asheville, North Carolina, and Monterey, California, with an at- tendance of over 700, In 1915, camps were held at Plattsburg, New York, and Ludington, Michigan, and the attendance rose to several thousand. All these camps were called Students* Camps, and the age limit for admission was between 19 and 26 years.

As the preparations for the 1915 camps progressed, it was noted that men beyond the maximum age limit were applying for permission to attend. This was partly due, of course, to the fact that a great war had broken out in Europe. The question was finally taken up with General Wood, who was then in command of the Eastern Department, and he decided if a hundred of these older men indicated their desire to attend a training camp, he would authorize the holding of a camp for their benefit at Plattsburg, after the students had finished their course. At first the men interested in the promo- tion of this camp received little encouragement. Up to about the middle of March, only some forty-six men had indicated a desire to attend. However, when the camp opened in July, the list had grown to some 1,250. On account of the prominent men who were enrolled in this camp, the attention of the whole country was called to it, and soon requests began to pour in from other localities throughout the country, asking for assistance in establishing similar camps. Few of the applicants appreciated the length of time necessary to make preparations for such a camp, and some, no doubt, felt that they did not receive the encouragement they were entitled to. The only additional camp that Summer was at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. The second business men's camp was held at Plattsburg, from the middle of August to the middle of September, with an attendance of some 750. The men who attended these so-called business men's camps formed an organization, which was combined with the society already organized by the students, under the name of "The Military Training Camps Association, " and this new organization immediately started a vigorous campaign for recruits for the training camps, to be held in the Summer of 1916. They also took up with Congress the question of a fuller recognition by the Government of these camps and the payment of expenses of the men attending them. In addition, they urged the establish- ment of an Officers* Reserve Corps. The success of their work is to be found in provisions for these two purposes in the National Defense Act, passed by Congress in the Spring of 1916. They also arranged for Winter correspond- ence courses, for those w^ho desired to do Winter military w^ork at home. Although the enthusiasm of the men taking this correspondence course was remarkable, the Army officers preparing the course felt that it was not all what it should have been, their excuse being that none of them could be detailed on that exclusive duty, and that they had to prepare the lessons and criticise the papers in moments stolen from their other duties.

In 1916 camps were held at Plattsburg, Fort Sheridan, and at the Pre- sidio of San Francisco, the students being organized into separate units from the older men. Four of these camps were held at Plattsburg, the largest one

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