Introduction.


The officer of to-day has big problems to face at short notice. His
training has necessarily been so intensive that he cannot absorb a
large amount of it. He has little time to make out schedules or even
to look over the hasty notes he may have made during his training
period, yet he finds himself facing problems which force him to
immediate action.

This book so condenses and systematizes general military instruction
and the work done at Plattsburg so that it may be easily utilized in
training other troops. No broad claim for originality is made except
in the arrangement of all available material; the bibliography makes
acknowledgment to all texts so utilized. Besides bringing helpful
reminders to new officers regarding the elements of modern warfare,
much of the material will be found of radical importance, as it is
practically new and never before condensed. Since under the new army
organization the platoon leader virtually has assumed the roll of a
captain of a company, it is not enough for him to know simply his own
part; he must be ready with all the information that his
non-commissioned officers and men should know, and more important
still, he must know how to teach them. Having little or no time to
work over and digest for himself this mass of new material pouring in
upon him, the officer may find in this book, material condensed and
already arranged.