Manual for Noncommissioned Officers and Privates of Infantry of the Army of the United States, 1917 / To be used by Engineer companies (dismounted) and Coast Artillery companies for Infantry instruction and training

by United States. War Department

Section 4. Discipline.

"1. All persons in the military service are required to obey strictly and to execute promptly the lawful orders of their superiors.

"2. Military authority will be exercised with firmness, kindness, and justice. Punishments must conform to law and follow offenses as promptly as circumstances will permit.

"3. Superiors are forbidden to injure those under their authority by tyrannical or capricious conduct or by abusive language. While maintaining discipline and the thorough and prompt performance of military duty, all officers, in dealing with enlisted men, will bear in mind the absolute necessity of so treating them as to preserve their self-respect. Officers will keep in as close touch as possible with the men under their command and will strive to build up such relations of confidence and sympathy as will insure the free approach of their men to them for counsel and assistance. This relationship may be gained and maintained without relaxation of the bonds of discipline and with great benefit to the service as a whole.

"4. Courtesy among military men is indispensable to discipline; respect to superiors will not be confined to obedience on duty, but will be extended on all occasions.

"5. Deliberations or discussions among military men conveying praise or censure, or any mark of approbation, toward others in the military service, and all publications relating to private or personal transactions between officers are prohibited. Efforts to influence legislation affecting the Army or to procure personal favor or consideration should never be made except through regular military channels; the adoption of any other method by any officer or enlisted man will be noted in the military record of those concerned," (Army Regulations.)

"The discipline which makes the soldier of a free country reliable in battle is not to be gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more likely to destroy than to make an army. It is possible to import instruction and give commands in such manner and in such tone of voice as to inspire in the soldier no feeling but an intense desire to obey, while the opposite manner and tone of voice can not fall to excite strong resentment and a desire to disobey. The one mode or the other of dealing with subordinates springs from a corresponding spirit in the breast of the commander. He who feels the respect which is due to others can not fail to inspire in them regard for himself, while he who feels, and hence manifests, disrespect toward others, especially his inferiors, can not fail to inspire hatred against himself," (Address of Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield to the United States Corps of Cadets, Aug, 11, 1879.)

When, by long-continued drill and subordination, you have learned your duties, and obedience becomes second nature, you have acquired discipline. It call not be acquired in a day or a month. It is a growth. It is the habit of obedience. To teach this habit of obedience is the main object of the close-order drill, and, if good results are to be expected, the greatest attention must be paid to even the smallest details. The company or squad must be formed promptly at the prescribed time--not a minute or even a second late. All must wear the exact uniform prescribed and in the exact manner prescribed. When at attention there must be no gazing about, no raising of hands, no chewing or spitting in ranks. The manual of arms and all movements must be executed absolutely as prescribed. A drill of this kind teaches discipline. A careless, sloppy drill breeds disobedience and insubordination. In other words, discipline simply means efficiency.