[871]. The company officers should set an example to their men in dress, military bearing, system, punctuality and other soldierly qualities. It should be remembered that the negligence of superiors is the cue for juniors to be negligent.
If the men of a company are careless and indifferent about saluting and if they are shabby and lax in their dress, the company commander is to blame for it—company officers can always correct defects of this kind, if they will only try.
The character and efficiency of officers and the manner in which they perform their duties are reflected in the conduct and deportment of their men.
Of course, courage is a prerequisite quality for a good officer, and every officer should seek to impress his men that he would direct them to do nothing involving danger that he would not himself be willing to do under similar circumstances.
If a company officer be ignorant of his duties, his men will soon find it out, and when they do they will have neither respect for, nor confidence in, him.
Company officers should take an active interest in everything that affects the amusement, recreation, happiness and welfare of their men.
An officer just joining a company should learn without delay the names of all the men. A roll of the organization should be gotten and studied.
While an officer can gruffly order a soldier to do a thing and have his orders obeyed, it should be remembered that, as a rule, human nature, especially American human nature, responds best to an appeal to pride, fairness, justice, reason, and the other nobler instincts of man. It is only in rare instances that the average man will give the best there is in him under coercion or pressure of authority.
There are but few men who have not some good in them, and this good can generally be gotten at, if one only goes about it in the right way. Study your men and try to arouse in them pride and interest in their work.
The soldier first learns to respect, then to honor and finally to love the officer who is strict but just; firm but kind—and this is the officer who will draw out of his men the very best there is in them.