Have O.T.C.s Military Value ?
A writer in the current number of the Fighting Forces points out that the recent controversy about Officers Training Corps in schools, which turned. upon the question of militarism, . ignored the primary question—Are the O.T.C.s of. any military use ? He suggests that, so far from fostering a taste for soldiering, membership of the O.T.C., virtually compulsory as it is, creates in boys' minds only dislike of the drudgery, dullness and routine . exercises associated with military training. The prefectorial system and athletic games, in his opinion, are superior to O.T.C.. drill in providing moral and physical training and evoking a sense of responsibility and leadership ; and even the Boy Scout movement lays a better foundation for. soldiering. The tedium of button-polishing and platoon drill. which all ex-soldiers remember has not been eliminated as a principal element in the training of cadets at schools. It is refreshing to find a military expert .questioning- the military value of ceaseless insistence on the importance of parade-ground drill in the making of keen soldiers, and drawing the obvious conclusion that boys thus subjected to drudgery are not by that means likely to be converted into militarists. •
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