A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF A RECORD MADE BY A COMPANY OF INFANTRY
IN TARGET PRACTICE, L$S2, WORKING AS A TEAM, A'ND CARRYING OUT THE INSTRUC
TIONS CONTAINED IN "RIFLE MARKSMANSHIP" AND I.D.R.
Paragraph 1,I.D.R«,states that success in battle is the ultimate
object of all military training that success may be looked for only when
the training is intelligent and thorough#
In civil life,one man,working alone,nay be successful,-but this
will not work out in the Army<• To obtain the best results in a company of
Infantry you must first organize it as a team of welT*trained football or
baseball players is organized,-every man nust.be made to understand that
he is going to play the game,and that he has a certain play to make at
a given signal or commando
We all know that-a one-man-company cannot win.Therefore, the suc
cess that Company rtFM,59th Infantry, has had in target practice this year
is due to tha fact that it has a Company Commander who does not try to
play the game alone ..Captain Barnhij.1 organized his team by placing every
individual in the company in it with a definite clay to make,and the final
results of this team-work helped him erect a monument of E*R-s,S*S*s,and
M.M»s of which any officer might fe&l justly proud.
Any successor he may have will have to say "hold ’em,squeeze ’em
ONLY when the bull’s eye is resting on the front sight,and the front sight
is in the center of the peep”,many times before s” present record is
equaled.
Every man of MF” Company feels grateful to the Commanding Officer
of the Post,Major Donaldscn. for his hearty co-operation,and the personal
interest taken by him in the individuals as well as in the organization
as a whole#
To our Company Commander we owe a debt of gratitude that can be
paid only by making a better record next year. He made the blind see,kept
our sights aligned on the target,made us "hold fera and squeeze 'em",made
us adjust our slings,and take the proper positions,made us make the high
est individual score in the Regiment,the highest collective figure of
merit, and, unless we are shown,-THE BEST SHOOTING COMPANY IN THE ARMY#
Chaplain Monahan,we are grateful to you for the hours you spent
with us,and the kind encouragement you gave us on the Range.'Ve tried hard
to make an E.R.of you,but you slipped when you failed to take the Rapid
Fire exercise. Try again with us next year.
We're not boasting,but we are mighty proud of the fact that each
one of us has played some little part in the game that brought about our
success.While some of us did not fare so well,individually,as our team
mates,as an organization we were all uccessful»We're not looking for
publicity or honorable mention in Orders,for since Par.234,I.D.R.,has
been carried out to th9 best of our ability we feel perfectly content as
an organization,-but had we the same chance again,we are confident that
each one of us would improve. We are thoroughly convinced that the sick
lame-nervous (young men),and the blind,can shoot,-and without criticism of
anyone,we do firmly believe that unless 50$ of an Infantry Company quali
fies as E*R., they've fallen down in their Team-work.
"HOLD 'EM AND SQUEEZE 'EM"