september - october - Fort Sill

COMMAND AND GENERAL
STAFF SCHOOL
(Reprinted from the January-February and the March-April, 1926, issues of the Military
Engineer, The Mills Building, Washington, D. C.)
THESE are the first two of a series of four letters on the Command and General
Staff School, which are appearing in the Military Engineer. The author, a student in
the class last graduated, will remain anonymous until the last letter has been
published.—EDITOR.
FORT LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS.
October 25, 1925.
MY DEAR B:
I haven't forgotten my promise to write you my impressions of this
school—and while we have a breathing space here goes for a start.
The usual joys of getting settled were intensified by the sweltering
weather during the first part of September. I got here on the last permissible
day—better take a week and do it leisurely when you come next year. But,
things soon got ironed out under the systematic procedure prescribed in
great detail for all newcomers.
Fort Leavenworth appears to most newcomers a surprisingly beautiful
post. It is on a plateau a hundred feet above the Missouri River, surrounded
by rolling, more or less wooded country, with good bridle paths for riding,
though not many good auto roads. Kansas City is thirty miles distant and
readily reached by train, trolley, or via a concrete automobile road. The
reservation is fairly extensive, comprising some ten square miles in area,
and includes the U. S. Disciplinary Barracks, while adjoining one far
corner is the federal penitentiary. Gone are the days of the old 2nd and 3rd
Engineer Battalions, when Fort Leavenworth was a good deal of an
engineer post. The former engineer barracks have been cut up and made
over into several score of officers' apartments, popularly known as the
"Beehive." The same thing has happened to other old buildings. Most of
these apartments are roomy and comfortable, but we preferred, and were
able to obtain, a house on account of giving more elbow-room to the
children.
There is a good post school, supported in part by contributions from
parents who take advantage of it. As for the ladies, there are so many
activities that they apparently have trouble in deciding what to leave out.
Post athletics are concentrated under the management of the Officers'
Club, and a single moderate fee confers the privileges of the excellent 18hole
golf course, the dozen tennis courts, the swimming pool, et cetera.
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