| Show EXPANSION OF ARMY AND NAVYS WORK BIG FEATURES OF FIRST YEAR OF WAR official statements of government departments disclose activities of united states in past twive months land forces now aggregate more than million and halt half men navy personnel tripled the united states hns has been at war tor for one year t nr what lins has it accomplished in that time the governments 1101 its committee on public information answers that question in a n re alev ew of the first year of the war which it hs hits issued on the first anniversary ot of the beginning of the war tho war and navy departments the shipping hoard board an and the he treasury department have authorized tho the statements contained in tills this review it Is declared the outstanding feature or oc the tint year of war it Is pointed out in the review has been tile the transformation of the standing army and national dional guard composed of officers and nil men inen into a fighting force that now aggregates of leers fibers and enlisted men A statement of the adjutant general shows that the regular army which in april 1017 1917 comprised officers and men now Is made up of officers and men the national guard in april 1917 Inci included lid officers lint and men while now it comprises officers and men the reserve corps in service sen ice one year ago included men now it includes officers till IK men tile tha national army which did not exist one year ago now includes men A substantial vanguard rd military expediency prohibiting publication of actual nym numbers bers of tills this army Is meeting the enemy in france today or Is encamped there awaiting the call to the trenches in 10 cantonments canton ments and 10 camps anti on numerous aviation fields anti in ili a variety of other schools in nil parts of tile lie untied united states state tile men of the remaining army tire hardening and training for their part in the great contest overseas behind the activities of this vast force lies iles n great industry organized to produce tin an adequate supply of in munitions nit ions equipment and provisions tind to provide transportation to the firing line almost every branch of af essential industry of tile the country having been drawn upon to produce these requirements expeditionary forces tary necessity particularly forbids a de detailed review of the alie activities of tho the Anie american rican expeditionary forces folds general pershing and his hi staff arrived in ili paris on juno june 14 1917 00 69 days after tile the declaration or oc war the first Amer american lenti troops arrived in fl france flance ance on oil june 20 on july 4 in celebration eb ration of our natal tiny day and a n new fight for liberty american tr troops ova paraded the streets of parts and were greeted as the forerunners of great Anic american rican armies and vast ast quantities of supplies and on oil october 10 1917 lays days after the war was declared american Anit rican soldiers went on the tiring firing line in january Anier american lenn soldiers took over permanently manent ly a part of the line as an american sector and this line Is gradually lengthening Delili id the lighting fighting line in ili france the american forces have scientifically prepared it groundwork of camps corn supply bases and works in anticipation of operations by the full force of nf the army they tire are building and have built railroads lios hos lliams oLd ordnance tiance bases nil and locks docks in Fri fraince ince they have constructed immense harracks barracks erected sawmills reclaimed lands and cari led forward ninny many incidental enterprises the lic construction of nn at ordnance base in france costing Is now well under way great quantities of used in tile foreign construction st work have been shipped from lio file united states froni fron fabricated ironwork for tin an ordnance shop to nalls nails and cros ci sties for rall railroads roads and even the piles lilies to build locks docks all tile the white while there lias has boon been n fairly even flow of men and materials front from tile lie united states to france the men in tho the trenches hack of the lines on the construction projects slid in the lie hospitals have been steadily supplied our losses at sea in men melt a and nd materials imo been gratify li gly small nit greatest single ingle loss 0 occurred on february 5 when the ship nicayla Tuscan la was torpedoed and sunk rile bodies of soldiers en route to france have been found and 55 others tt were still missing on march 1 10 to ro till an adequate humiler number of competent officers to lend lead the new armies various plans plan were devise demised d two classes tit at W west est point were graduated in advance of the usual gondu acing dates and sPec special till wore were held in ili various ani ts of the coun try for appointments from civil life three serles series of officers training camps have hav been held of candidates candida tesi in the first two series of camps qualified and were awarded comings alons in the third series of camps opened january 5 1018 1918 nebout candidates consisting largely of enlisted men have been in attendance corps of engineers at the beginning of the war nr tile the engineer troops consisted of three regiments of pioneer engin engineers rs with trains train one mounted company one engineer detachment at west point the aggregate strength was approximately officers and enlisted men at present the aggregate authorized strength Is over with no nn ret net strength of approximately XiO of tho the special engineer units recruited for service on railways and in ili tile the maintenance of lines of communication many ore are already in ili france and others are arc awaiting recruitment to full strength in order to be ready for overseas service the first engineer troops 1100 strong strone to be sent abroad arrived in france about three months otter lifter war was declared since that time the number lias has been greatly augmented these troops have been constantly engaged in general engineering gi work including the construction st of railways locks docks wharves cantonments canton ments and hospitals for the use of the american expeditionary forces they have in some instances in fit the performance of their duties engaged in active combat with the enemy ordnance department mince since fit the outbreak of war the commis commissioned toned personnel of the ordnance department lias ban expanded from 07 97 officers operating with yearly early appropriations of about and with manufacture largely confined P 41 to government arsenals to off officers leers in tills this country and abroad transacting tin nn unprecedented war program for the supply of ordnance the total direct appropriations and ami contract authorizations for one oile year ear having beon been 4 while building ohp foundation for greater RI eater product production lon the ordnance department part ment has provide rifles lias has brought the lie rate of rifle production up to per week sufficient to equip three army divisions secured deliveries on more than machine guns brought the rate of production of machine guns from to per car increased the lie rate of production of 3 to 0 inch call her hei guns front from 1500 to per scar an and lias has arranged for the manufacture of some motor trucks and tractors for hauling heavy plus guns and ammunition which are being delivered lei v ered almost as fast its as they enn can be shipped one billion rounds tit of ammunition has been purchased for the training of oc troops in the cantonments canton ments an ali iden idea of the extent of the ordnance program may be gained from the following few items of purchase twenty three million hand grenades automatic pistols 2 revolvers vol vers projectiles for nil all calibers of heavy artillery pounds pound of explosives machine guns and rifles quartermaster corps the magnitude of tho the work of 0 tile the 1 quartermaster I it corps Is indicated by tile lie operation of the subsistence division 8 which Is charged with tile the responsibility of seeing that food sup 1 piles for the briny are available nt at till all stations from the philippines to lor ra inanc I 1 ii c purchases recently made included c tilde pounds dried girled beans cans calls baked leans beans of the i crop fl cans of tomatoes Ul cans of condensed milk anti and pounds of prunes tile establishment of the subI subsistence stence division dillon centralized the pit purchases relindes relin ses of foodstuffs for the arms previous to which such products were distributed through the depot quartermaster effective january 1 the central control system piston lias has re resulted stilled in greater eill clency and a big saving in january for instance was saved under tills this system as compared with tile prices obtained by depot quartermasters lind and in february n saving of i was made on potatoes alone the central control system dyste ili Is still being perfected production of naw automobile mobile trucks ti acks Is in progress for the army anny in addition to purchases of passenger cars motorcycles tind and bicycles with appropriate repair and replacement equipment in thred months the canton cantonment luent it dl vision of tile the quartermaster gener generals tills department built 10 16 cantonments canton ments each onn one practically nily it binell city comprising about 1400 separate buildings and providing quarters for melt air service the air service son ice lias hits been called upon in the past 12 months to build tin an enormous structure of the most highly trained personnel and the most intricate equipment iti vinent with no ito foundation to start from three thre large appropriations I 1 ind ing the net passed without a roll roil enji nindo it botni tit of available for the first year all of tills this has since been obligated last april the air service hit hal tin an almost negligible force of 05 officers mid and 1120 wen a 3 small flying bins fields less than SW second rate planes no aviation industry and only the most scanty knowledge of tit alie ka ha development abroad the arst first two months of war were mere required to secure information establish it staff and work out the pr program finally adopted tile pr problem wits MIS twofold first personnel and second equipment iii en t today the personnel Is over times that of a year ago practically every member a skilled man mail who has gune through nn an intrusive intensive course of training schools of 11 different minis kinds have been instituted courses of instruction laid out and instructors secured including foreign experts lu in it score of lines development of navy the development of the navy during the first year of war lias fins given the greatest satisfaction its growth and achievements during this period may be epitomized lu in tile following paragraphs i strength of the tie navy today Is nearly officers and enlisted men strength a year car ngo ago was 1702 officers and enlisted men total expenditures of the navy during first year of war dis tin and outstanding obligations total naval appropriations real and pending american destroyers arr d tit at a british port to assist in ili patrolling iu waters 28 days after the declaration of war there tire are row now tour four times as ninny vessels in the naval service as 03 a year ago nearly mechanics and other civilian employees are wo working irking at navy yards and stations when war was declared nav naval al vessels were building or authorized andi and contracts contri lets have been placed sanca that time for 90 vessels more than privately owned vessels set davv lime been purchased or chartered by the navy six now new authorized battleship battles ps are designed to lie be of 11 II tons the largest battleships in the world our 3 ton cruisers 35 knots will le ile the fastest in tile lie world their speed equaling the fastest destroyers prompt repairs of interned tier jer ships kilps i partially wrecked hy their crows crews lidded added more than tons to our available naval and merchant tonnage tin tho navy has developed till nil american mino bellev believed td to combine nil tile tho 9 rood ond points of various types of mines and Is 14 manufacturing theiu thein in ili q quantities fantl during tile the year tho the latest type ot or naval 30 10 inch guit was completed for our new battleships it throws thrown a projectile weighing 2100 pounds navy has in its possession now a stock of supplies sulli clent for the average requirements for at least ono one benr several hundred submarine chasers clia sers built since the war have been delivered to the nay navy by 31 private concerns and six navy yards many of these boats have crossed tho the atlantic somo some in severe weather naval training camps lieve it a en capacity of in summer men in winter shipbuilding progress up to late date congress tins of which lins has hoon been appropriated appropriate for the united states shipping anard find and emergency P t corporation on arnrich 1 S j of tills suni lind been expended tho the Ciner gency fleet corporation had find requisitioned march 1 12 steel ves als mid contracted for 7 steel t cel eis making n total of 1143 11 5 st steel cel of an aggregate deadweight dead weight tonnage of Sl OliOS tons it had let contracts mets for wooden vesse vessels 14 ng aggregating gr gre hlll deail dead tons it had find repaired and put in operation deadweight dead weight tonnage seized from germany and austria on march 5 tile the program of the llmer emergency gency flet corporation was as being carried on in plants first years war cost total estimated expense 0 of f tho ofle united states government in ili the he first year of war without loans to the ati Is 07 to help ineat tills this ex pene tho the treasury department floated to liberty bonds bond of indebtedness war var savings cut till ates otoe anrod stamps issued hy by the hie trea treasury Rury up to march 12 totaled the united states government had loaned to foreign governments associated in tho the war on march 12 1018 4 1 4 3 63 2 2 q 7 5 0 to march 12 the war risk insurance i t urenia lind bad issued policies for a total of to the armed forces |
