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By Joseph Edward Raycroft
Introduction
The value of physical fitness in a soldier has always been recognized as of prime importance The programs of physical training that were commonly used in modern armies before the war consisted in the main of calisthenics and made little if any systematic use of the other phases of physical training and athletics These calisthenic drills when well taught have a real value in securing good posture and accurate response to the spoken order This of course is of great importance in the early training of a recruit but at best represents only the primary grade in a soldier’s training One of the most important of the many lessons which have come from the war is the demonstration of the fact that other types of physical activities besides calisthenics are not only extremely useful in the contribution which they make in the development of important soldierly qualities but that they are capable of being used as an integral part of the formal program of training Group games wrestling boxing hand to hand fighting and other personal contact drills give the soldier a kind of training which he can get in no other way short of battle experience The inclusion of such activities in the regular training gives to the recruit in a very effective way and in a relatively short space of time an invaluable mental and physical experience and contributes greatly to the development of confidence and effectiveness in combat In other words activities of this type are an essential supplement to the disciplinary training received from the close order drill The difference between the trained recruit and the seasoned soldier is not alone a question of physical strength endurance and general fitness but it is also one of mental attitude The seasoned soldier has through a long experience acquired confidence in his own resourcefulness and ability to take care of himself either with or without his weapons This mental attitude which characterizes the seasoned campaigner is in the
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