CMTC Part 2

The above was written by Captain Elmer Hagler of the 22nd Infantry
in 1924, describing the distinctive insignia of the Regiment.
It was only the previous year, 1923, when the US Army officially authorized
the Coat-of-arms and Distinctive Insignia for the 22nd Infantry.

Regular Army Regiments were the official sponsors of the Citizens' Military Training Camps. At Camp McClellan General Winans, Commander of the 8th Brigade of IV Corps, had overall command of the Camp, while under him, the Regimental Commander of the 22nd Infantry had command of the CMTC at Camp McClellan. The 22nd Infantry, under the command of Colonel D. W. Ryther, acted as the parent training unit for the CMTC. Under the War Department's new "One Army" policy, for the first time in actual experience, Regulars, Reserves and National Guardsmen worked together as one big team.

The CMTC companies were commanded by officers of the 22nd Infantry, who were assisted by Reserve officers from corps area organizations. This was an ideal solution to giving Reserve officers practical experience with troops every year. The 22nd Infantry was responsible for organizing and maintaining the necessary structures for administration, supply and training of the CMTC companies.

The CMTC students were organized into a regiment of Infantry, consisting of fifteen companies, and a squadron of Cavalry, consisting of three troops. Students from the White and Blue courses were assigned to the Basic and Red course companies as officers and non-commissioned officers. The men of the 22nd Infantry companies provided demonstrations and instructors for the student companies.

The following message to the trainee students was printed in the yearbook
for the 1924 CMTC program at Camp McClellan:

The officers and enlisted men of the 22nd Infantry, who sponsored the various companies of the CMTC,
wish to assure you that the Regular Army was proud to assist in the training of the citizen forces.
That pride has been expressed in much hard labor on our part, in building your camp and preparing
your equipment for issue, so that you might be spared many of the disagreeable features that confront a recruit
in the regular service.

We further expressed our pride in you by putting out three "good squares" daily which, we hope,
have helped you to put on weight, so that you might go home a finer physical specimen than when you arrived.
We have furnished you some of our best noncommissioned officers to train you and endeavored to give you
some idea of how a first-class Infantry company is run.

You have responded to our effort to such an extent that we are able to point with pride
to the result of our endeavors and brag about you all next winter.

You realize, we are sure, that these results could not have been attained without your earnest co-operation.
We have labored all through camp to help you and you have met us half way. Many of the things
considered essential to military training, such as early rising and stated times at which to do stated duties,
were difficult to learn at first. At school, if you were fortunate enough to make the training table,
you did not hesitate to submit to the discipline of your coach. While at camp we were your coaches,
all engaged in doing our best to help you get the full benefit from your month here.

You were only one of nearly two hundred in your company. In a military organization the individual counts
for very little but the organization or the team is the thing that counts. Because you could not see all
the sides of a question, you have at one time or another received orders that did not seem exactly right to you,
but remember that the man who issued the orders was thinking of the whole company, not just about you,
and even though for the moment the order seemed to be difficult, it was up to you to forget yourself individually
and to boost your own entire outfit loyally.

Uncle Sam issued you a lot of clothing and equipment for which you were responsible. This was
government property, and was bought by the government with the money that your fathers paid out in taxes.
If you lost or mistreated it, the government looked to you for reimbursement; for if you did not take care of it
and caused loss to your government it would not have been fair that all other citizens in the country
should have to pay additional taxes to buy clothing lost or destroyed through your negligence.
This was a part of your training to teach you to take care of your clothing and equipment.

Our hope is that the lessons you have learned here will be carried to your homes and put in your
daily practice in everything you undertake. If you do this you will reap the reward of increasingly better results
from your efforts. We would teach you to become leaders among men.

You should each be a walking advertisement for Uncle Sam—a leader in your home community.

The regimental motto of the 22nd Infantry is "Deeds, Not Words" and we have tried
to supply our quota of the deeds to make your stay pleasant and profitable.

THE CMTC COMMANDER AND HIS STAFF

Standing, left to right:
Captain C.F.F. Cooper, Supply Officer
Chaplain L.D. Miller, Regimental & Camp Chaplain
Lieutenant A.E. Morgan, Personnel Adjutant

Seated, left to right:
Captain A.R. Bolling, Adjutant
Colonel D.W. Ryther, Regimental Commander
Captain H.T. Perrin, Plans and Training

All are 22nd Infantry Officers

They all wear the 22nd Infantry Distinctive Insignia on their hats.

Students fire the .30 cal Browning water-cooled machine gun while 22nd Infantry instructors look on.

Above:

The 1924 Cimitracam yearbook for the CMTC program
at Camp McClellan

Left:

Plate in the yearbook thanking the 22nd Infantry

The following passages from the 1924 Cimitracam illustrate the student trainees' view of the 22nd Infantry:

The best machine gun company in camp. We drilled so well that the observers asked if we were "H" Company of the 22nd Infantry.
On the range "H" Company did some excellent work. In addition to being the highest in percentage of men qualified,
the company can boast a squad (Corp. Jeffer's) that qualified more experts than any one M. G. company in camp.
Our company was commanded by Lieut. Inman of the 22nd Inf., whom we hope to have with us again next year.

This company, organized on July 3d, was known as the "fighting I". Captain G. C. Graham of the 22d Infantry,
Company Commander, was assisted by Captain J. W. Gibson, DOL, and Lieutenants Rushing and Lowry.
Sergeant Naramor of the 22d Infantry, was our 1st Sergeant, a sociable man, but when it came to business, the "top kick".
The processing was completed the day of our arrival in camp. The first drill took place the following Monday. The Basics despaired
over the Manual of Arms and "squads right", but thanks to the efficiency of the Regular N. C. O.'s, Blues and Whites,
they were doing excellent work at the end of the first week. At the end of this period we organized a crack platoon.
We challenged all of the companies in camp, including the famous composite platoon of the 22d Infantry, but our challenge was not accepted.

Our camp life began when our train pulled into the station at Anniston. We were met by the men of the "Good Old 22nd"
who directed us to the trucks that transported us to Camp McClellan

A catch of small fish, May 4, 1925 Camp McClellan
Pvt Terrell on the left, SSG Moore on the right
Note Pvt Terrell's sweater with "22nd Infantry" across it,
and the 22nd Infantry DI on SSG Moore's hat.