of course, think him a criminal--but do you think he
would be more criminal than the noncommissioned officer who is not
capable of leading a squad in battle but who tries to do so, thereby
sacrificing the lives of those under him?

You can, therefore, appreciate the importance, the necessity, of every
officer and noncommissioned officer doing everything that he possibly
can during times of peace to qualify himself for his duties and
responsibilities during times of war.

If we are going to have a good army we must have good regiments; to
have good regiments we must have good battalions; to have good
battalions we must have good companies--but to have good companies we
must have efficient company officers and noncommissioned officers.

As stated before, everything in the life of the soldier leads to the
field of battle. And so it is that in the subject of minor tactics all
instruction leads to the battle. First we have map problems; then
terrain exercises; next the war game; after that maneuvers, and
finally the battle.

=945. Map Problems and Terrain Exercises.= In the case of map problems
you are given tactical problems to solve on a map; in the case of
terrain exercises you are given problems to solve on the ground. (The
word "Terrain," means earth, ground.) These are the simplest forms of
tactical problems, as you have only one phase of the action, your
information is always reliable and your imaginary soldiers always do
just exactly what you want them to do.

=946. War Game.= Next comes the war game, which consists of problems
solved on maps, but you have an opponent who commands the enemy--the
phases follow one another rapidly and the conditions change--your
information is not so complete and reliable. However, your men being
slips of cardboard or beads, they will, as in the case of your
imaginary soldiers in the map problems and terrain exercises, go where
you wish them to and do what you tell them to do--they can't
misunderstand your instructions and go wrong--they don't straggle and
get careless as real soldiers sometimes do.

Map problems, terrain exercises and war games are but aids to
maneuvers--their practice makes the maneuvers better; for you thus
learn the principles of tactics and in the simplest and quickest way.

=947. Maneuvers.= In the case of the maneuver the problem is the same
as in the war game, except that you are dealing with real, live men
whom you can not control perfectly, and there