Sgt. Owen Fuqua Hopes End of War Isn't End of His Hopes for Officer Training School, 1918

From The Caduceus, Camp Greene issue, November 16, 1918.

Candidates for Commission Wonder About Status

By Sgt. First Class Owen Fuqua

Conjecture is ripe among the several Camp Quartermaster Sergeants who were candidates for commissions as to the bearing upon their advancement the peace armistice and new war orders will have.

Some expect to be commissioned just the same while others grope in the shadow of doubt. Discussion on the subject holds the center of interest among all the quartermaster men.

Man of the would-bes in digesting the current periodicals find a ray of hope while others feel certain after reading the same matter that the end of the war sealed their doom for the coveted bars.

Orders have been given out that the training classes for officers be stopped and that no new calls for candidates for the officer’s schools be accepted. There are more than 100,000 men in the officer’s camps now in operation.

It is being hoped by the youthful aspirants that the older officers who care little for army life in itself and who should be willing to allow their glory to rest with the golden memories of the campaigns of 1918 will want to make way for younger men. There is an apparent advantage for the more youthful in that their percentage of married men is small. By keeping the unmarried men and discharging those who have families, the expense to the government in furnishing quarters, light, fuel and added allotments would be cut down by several figures.

A large portion of the army will remain intact for some months to come. No doubt France will ask of the United States that she leave a portion of her army “over there” for the labor of putting the devastated land in better condition. The quota mentioned for this service is 800,000 men.

Albert B. Hart, in a recent article points out the need of retaining a goodly coast defense and the benefits of permanent military training. If these ideas are put into effect there will be need for many regular service men.

The candidates for commission are holding fast to the old adage “While there is life, there is hope.”