Under the reorganization plan the United States army would have about 293,000 in the service, but with the advent of the country's entrance into the conflict of world powers Congress passed the Conscription bill authorizing the drafting, for military purposes, all young men between the ages of 21 and 31 in the country.
MILLIONS NOT IN THE COUNTRY'S SERVICE.
The registration of those subject to call under this bill showed that there were about 11,000,000 men in the country, not in the army, navy or supporting branches, available. The bill designed to produce, within a year from the time of the signing of the law by President Wilson, of a national army of more than 1,000,000 trained and equipped men, backed by a reserve of men and supplies and by an additional 500,000 under training.
Meantime the State authorities were authorized to fill up the National Guard units and regiments to full war strength, so that with the regular army there would be a total of 622,954—293,000 regular and 329,954 guardsmen, to be taken over by the War Department. This was the physical state of the army when the country found it necessary to ship men into France to assist the Allies in their fight against the German and Austrian forces, and General Pershing was sent to command the American troops.
The United States army and all of the military branches are armed with the Springfield magazine rifle, which holds five cartridges. It shoots a pointed bullet of tin and lead and is of .30 inch caliber. The Colt automatic pistol is used as the service weapon by officers and those requiring this sort of arm. It is a .45 caliber pistol with a magazine holding seven cartridges, which can be fired successively by simply holding the trigger back.
THE FRENCH ARMY.
Military spirit in France has had an almost incredible resurrection within the past few years. The increase in the standing army of Germany was watched closely, and as new units were added to the standing army of the latter country France retaliated by lengthening the term of military service from two to three years. This accomplished practically the same purpose without causing a ripple of excitement, and as France determined to recover her lost provinces of Alsace and Lorraine her fight is to the limit of her endurance.
There were, at the outbreak of war, 869,403 men in the National Army of France, which was composed of the Metropolitan army, having a total of 753,403 men, of the Colonial army, numbering 116,000 men. These figures do not include the personnel of the Gendarmerie, or military police, which numbered 25,000 men.
Military service is compulsory in France and all males between the ages of 20 and 48 years must serve three years in the army, the only cause for exemption being physical disability. Following the active service the soldier passes to the reserve for 11 years, after which he is seven years in the Territorial army and seven years in the Territorial reserve. The training in the active reserve consists of two periods of training and maneuvers which last for four weeks each, in the Territorial army one period of two weeks, and in the Territorial reserve, no fixed period. There are more than 2,000 reservists per battalion produced by the length of the reserve service, and when the troops are mobilized the active units can be easily maintained at full war strength. The number available in this way gives enough men for each battalion and regiment in the field with enough men left over for routine home guard work.