MkIII Whitehead Torpedo
3-inch m1902 Seacoast artillery
M1903 Springfield rifle
Maxim machine gun
Browning m1895
Colt m1911
Smokeless powder
3-inch m1902 field artillery
Bliss-Leavitt mkVIi torpedo
Reorganizing the military
Elihu root Secretary of War, 1899-1904 Desperate need for reorganization Apply “efficiency of industrialization” to the military Integration of War Department, elements of the Regular Army, the militia, and the volunteers
Perceived weaknesses Commanding General: Discipline and control of troops in the field Division of authority (Commanding General and Secretary of War) Lack of long-term planning Secretary of War: Administration and fiscal matters Conducted through bureau chiefs
Elihu’s Proposal Replace Commanding General with Chief of Staff Adviser and agent of the President through the Secretary Creation of new General Staff Devote full time to preparing military plans Congress adopted Chief of Staff and General Staff in 1903
Continued development General Staff reorganized to remove time-consuming procedures; more time dedicated to planning Establishment of Army War College (1903) Officers trained at Fort Leavenworth in combined arms and directing larger units 1905- Field Service Regulation for organization of troops in the field
Other changes Creation of Medical reserve corps Division of artillery to Coastal and Field Quartermaster Corps Subsistence + Pay Departments First army “aeroplane” commissioned and purchased in 1909 from the Wright Brothers
The regular army and militia Army = ~75,000 officers and soldiers 1903- Congress revised Militia Act of 1792 Two classes: Organized Militia (National Guard) Reserve Militia Federal funds made available 1908 & 1914- reduced restrictions on President in calling and controlling Guard personnel
Creation of larger units Largest permanent unit = regiment Field Service Regulation (1905) Plans for three divisions composed of regular + volunteer regiments Instead, provisional division (29,000) of three brigades (13,000) each Assembly took several months and was far from operational by 1911 Botched attempts to assemble troops lead to more efficient assembly in Texas by 1913