Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/544

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496
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MILITARY EDUCATION. 490 MILITARY EDUCATION. remaimlor to llie aitillory. Oiicu tlic assignment has liien made to any particular division a trans- fer is iR'ver allowed. The liuyal Military (.'ulleye at Sandhurst is eonlined to cadets for cavalry and infantry, the entrance examination, fees, academic terms, and cadet pay being similar to the Huyal Military Academy. A few cadets are received as Royal cadets, or India cadets, who enter without payment, and receive a small al- lowance. They are usually specially favored sons of poor or distinguished ollicers, or have served as Court pages. The course of instruction extends over a period of eighteen months, divided into three terms, or classes of six months each, known as junior, intermediate, and .senior. The peculiarity of the British method of instruction, compared with that of all other countries, is the brief period of instruction in the schools, and the very exacting competitive standard and examination for admission, which, as well as the expense involved at the very outset, limits the class from which cadets are drawn. The School of Military Enyineering at Chatham is the school at which young oflicers appointed from the Royal Military Academy receive their practical training. It is a school of applica- tion, the graduate cadet remaining two years on probation, after whieli he is assigned to his corps. Otiicers of other arms receive a short course of instruction in field engineering at the school, as do a proportion of both commissioned oHicers and men of other arms, and the pioneer sergeants of infantry regiments. The Se)wul uf (liiniirry at Shoeburyness is the school of application for artillery cadets and officers, as well as the general training .school for officers and men of the Royal -Vrtillery, The instruction in ordnance numufacture, laboratory work, chemistry, electricity, and metallurgy, etc., is given at the Artillery Collcqe, Woolwich. The Army Medical School at Xetley, near Southamp- ton, is for the instruction of eamlidates already medically qualified in the duties of milit;iry, medical, and surgical work, and the system of military hygiene. On conclusion of tlic course, candidates, if successful, are assigned commis- sions in the army as vacancies occur. The fftaff Collcfie at ('aiul)erly. near Sandhurst, receives a limited number of officers each year, for advanced and special work in the study of modern lan- guages, fortification, and artillery, grand tactics, stall" duties, military administration, topography, law and eipiitation. Admission is obtained by competitive examination, candidates being re- quired to have served at least five years, hold at least captain's rank, or have passed the ex- amination for that rank, and be recommended by their eonnnanding officers as qtialified physi- cally, educationally, tem])erainentally. techni- cally, and to he of good personal habits. They must be under thirty-seven years of age. On passing, graduates are attached for a few weeks to each of those branches of the service with which they have had nn previous experience or servioc. The l<chool of Musketry (Hythe) is to the infantry, cavalry, and engineers what Shoe- buryness is to the artillery. For schools for rank and file, see .RMy Schools, T'^RiXNCt; possesses twenty-three niilitarj' schools, grouped into higher schools and preparatory .schools. There are seven of the latter, includ- ing the orphan school at La Boissiere, Of the fonner class the most important is the Ecole Hiipcrieure dc la tlucrre, where instruction is given in tactics, strategy, etc., as well as in the (Jerman and Russian langiuxges. The French system, as a whole, is very minutely and com- prehensively organized. The l^cole t'olytechiiique at Paris supplies the education necessary to of- ficers of scientilic or technical corps as engineers, artillery, telegraph, etc. The GEiiMAX Arniy recruits its officers almost entirely from two classes: Avantageurs and cadets. The former either submit to special examination or produce on demand a diploma from an authorized public educational institu- tion. There are ten schools for cadets wlio enter at eleven years of age. At fifteen they graduate into the Lichterfelde Academy near Berlin, and after completing its course, continue their studies with the avantageurs. Both classes complete their preliminary education in one of the eleven war schools, the course in which occujiies four terms, extending over a period of three years; in all, thirty-five weeks. Artillery and engineer officers after one or two years' army service pass from one to two years in the Berlin or Munich schools of military instruction. Military Schools in Italy are divided into three classes: (1) The College Militari, or preparatory schools. (2) The military academies at Turin for engineers and artillery, and at Jlodena, for infantry and cavalry, (.i) Scuole militari compU'Uientari (schools of application). The Scuola di (liierra. the school of application for artillery and engineer officers, is at Turin, and the cavalry .school is at Pinerola, The cour.ses of instruction at the military acade- mies of Turin and .Modcna are three years and two years respectively. There is a school for under officers at Caserta, where approved non- commissioned officers are educated for eoimnis- sion. In each arm of the ser'ice fully one-third of the commissions are held by men from the ranks. The military academies of .Japan conqiare very favorably with the best in Kurope, being in ef- fect organized, as is the army, on the German model. There are establishments devoted to mili- tary education under the Jlinister of War, in- eluding the school of military nuisic and the various schools of a]>plication. In 1002 several jiarties of Chinese army olficers were sent by their (iovernment to undeigo a course of in- struction at the .Japanese Military .cademy. -Military Kuicatio.v in the Uxitko State.s is l)rnctically a university system, bringing as it does all the different branches of military educa- tion into one system and under the direct control and supervision of a body of specially qualified officers, making every part of the system efi'ective. The I'nited Slates Military Academy at West Point, X, Y. (sec Military .Xcademy, UNiTEn States), is the foundation of the entire system, and is generally conceded to be uneipialed in the thoroughness and comprehensiveness of its train- ing. The practical education of the cadet, in its broadest sense, begins with his assignment to his regiment or corps, there being in addition an officers' school at each military post for elemen- tary instruction in theory and practice. The special service schools or schools of application are: (a) the .rtilli'ry School at Fort Monroe, Va.: (b) the Kngineer .School of .pplicaf ion. Washington Barracks. D. C. ; (c) the School of Submarine Defense, Fort Totten, N. Y.; (d) the