1919 - 1921 ST. OLAF COLLEGE, Northfield, Minnesota
The S. A. T. C. at St. Olaf College

Copyright by M. E. Hauge, Editor-in-Chief and L. H. Williams, Business Manager, 1919.

The Carleton-St. Olaf Unit of the Students' Army Training Corps was maintained at the two colleges from October 1st to December 10th, 1918. Co. A and Co. B. were stationed at St. Olaf and Co. C. at Carleton. The unit was in command of 1st Lieut. Frederic C. Lord and 2nd Lieut. J. B. Shirk, Adjutant. At St. Olaf 2nd Lieut. William C. Benson was the Personnel adjutant, 2nd Lieut. Oscar J. Eide in command of Co. A, and 2nd Lieut. Ralph E. Gruye in command of Co. B. Later in the fall, Captain Douglas S. Scrivener took charge of the Medical Department.
There were 228 enlisted men in the two St. Olaf companies. Over 300 men applied for induction on Nov. 1st but many were rejected because of age requirements or physical unfitness. Of the enlisted men, five were sent to regular Officers' Training Camps and more were in the process of being recommended when the war came to an end.
The companies were stationed in Ytterboe Hall which was converted by the government into army barracks. The doors and unnecessary furniture were removed from the barracks and the rooms were kept according to army regulations. The Ytterboe Hall Dining Hall was converted into an army mess hall. The old athletic grounds served admirably as a drill field. The guard lines enclosed the barracks and part of the campus and within these lines the government exercised complete control.
The daily routine of the men was so arranged as to provide time for drill and class work. The early part of the day was spent in drill and setting-up exercises. The time from 10:00 a.m. until noon and from 1:30 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. was spent in classwork and the balance of the day in athletics and physical activities. The evenings were spent in supervised study conducted in the mess hall. Saturdays were general cleanup and inspection days.
The history of the S. A. T. C. at St. Olaf is brief. The Unit was formally established on October 1st, 1918. On October 11th the major number of men were inducted into the service although several additional quotas of men were taken in later on in the month. In the early part of November the influenza epidemic swept through the Companies. There were approximately ninety cases at S. Olaf, resulting in the deaths of Private Oscar A. Mohagen, Peter C. Reinerston, Waldemar F. Schmidt, and Joseph Tandberg. On December 10 the unit was demobilized and on the 12th the men left the college.
In establishing the S. A. T. C. at the colleges of the land, the government was seeking to fill a much felt need in the carrying on of the war. The hastily organized army of the United States was in need of officers and the government turned to the colleges to satisfy this demand. It must not be understood, however, that the government expected the colleges to turn out men as ready-trained officers. The government had in its Officers' Training Camps ample facilities to train officers. The more difficult task of properly selecting the material for the Officers' Training Camps was to be performed by the S. A. T. C. In the modern army education is a very necessary part of soldier making. It was also the aim of the S. A. T. C. to give the soldier ample technical training for his special department.
In measuring the success of the S. A. T. C. two sources of difficulty must be taken into consideration, first, the newness of the system, and, second, the short time it was permitted to stand on trial. The plans for the S. A. T. C. were formulated hurriedly in the summer of 1918 and were incomplete even when the men were mobilized. This caused serious delays in the induction of the men and in providing them with proper equipment. There was also much confusion in the early days of the system which could have been avoided by adequate pre-arranged policies.
The system was in operation only two and one-half months and could not in so short a time show its merits or demerits. In fact the system was used only a month and a half as a natural letup of discipline occurred after the signing of the armistice. Requiring as it did such a hurried reorganization of college curriculae and schedules it was to be expected that some confusion would arise.
In spite of these hindrances, some of its advantages and disadvantages were brought to light. One serious disadvantage of the system was the excessive scholastic demands placed on the members of the S. A. T. C. This would in time have been overcome by a rearrangement of the class schedules requiring less class-work and more time for preparation. By a narrowing and concentration of the academic work better results would have been attained and a completion of the work could have been expected.
The two-fold aim of the organization was also the source of much confusion. The designers of the system had endeavored to inculcate two different and almost directly opposite conditions of training into the work. The consequent conflict of work was difficult to adjust. This obstacle too was not impossible to adjust. By concentrating on military training and using the scholastic training more as a criterion for the measurement of the soldiers' intelligence and fitness for an Officers' Training Camp many of the difficulties would have been removed.
Whatever the general criticisms of the S. A. T. C. throughout the country it cannot be said that the work at St. Olaf was a failure. The men received a good amount of real military training. The reviews showed that our boys were learning the lessons of army life readily and that from a purely military standpoint the work was bringing results. Furthermore, serious as were the difficulties, the college succeeded remarkably well in adjusting itself to the new conditions. St. Olaf will never be criticized for her share in the work of endeavoring to perfect the system.
Perhaps the greatest result of the work of Co. A and Co. B has come through a rather unexpected source. The S. A. T. C. showed clearly the true spirit of our college and its men. St. Olaf which had given freely of her sons to the nations' cause now stood ready to offer herself to the same great cause. The spirit of our boys should also not be forgotten. They welcomed the call to service, not as a means of selfish self-betterment, but as an opportunity of more quickly entering the service of their country. Working under difficulties, both numerous and serious, they still kept their heads up and their faces toward the call to sacrifice. In the days of the future when people shall gather to review the achievements of America in the war let it not be forgotten that St. Olaf men were loyal, self-sacrificing and unswerving in answering the call of their country.
L. G. R., '19