Infantry Drill Regulations, United States Army, 1911 Part 35

If the stream be small, the water supply may be increased by building a dam. Small springs may be dug out and each lined with a gabion, or a barrel or box with both ends removed, or with stones, the s.p.a.ce between the lining and the earth being filled with puddled clay. A rim of clay should be built to keep out surface drainage. The same method may be used near swamps, streams, or lakes to increase or clarify the water supply.

667. Water that is not known to be pure should be boiled 20 minutes; it should then be cooled and aerated by being poured repeatedly from one clean container to another, or it may be purified by approved apparatus supplied for the purpose.

668. Arrangements should be made for men to draw water from the authorized receptacles by means of a spigot or other similar arrangement. The dipping of water from the receptacles, or the use of a common drinking cup, should be prohibited.

_Kitchens._

669. Camp kettles can be hung on a support consisting of a green pole lying in the crotches of two upright posts of the same character.

A narrow trench for the fire, about 1 foot deep, dug under the pole, not only protects the fire from the wind but saves fuel. A still greater economy of fuel can be effected by digging a similar trench in the direction of the wind and slightly narrower than the diameter of the kettles. The kettles are then placed on the trench and the s.p.a.ce between the kettles filled in with stones, clay, etc., leaving the flue running beneath the kettles. The draft can be improved by building a chimney of stones, clay, etc., at the leeward end of the flue.

Four such trenches radiating from a common central chimney will give one flue for use whatever may be the direction of the wind.

A slight slope of the flue, from the chimney down, provides for drainage and improves the draft.

670. The lack of portable ovens can be met by ovens constructed of stone and covered with earth to better retain the heat. If no stone is available, an empty barrel, with one head out, is laid on its side, covered with wet clay to a depth of 6 or more inches and then with a layer of dry earth equally thick. A flue is constructed with the clay above the closed end of the barrel, which is then burned out with a hot fire. This leaves a baked clay covering for the oven.

A recess can be similarly constructed with boards or even brushwood, supported on a horizontal pole resting on upright posts, covered and burnt out as in the case of the barrel.

When clay banks are available, an oven may be excavated therein and used at once.

To bake in such ovens, first heat them and then close flues and ends.

671. Food must be protected from flies, dust, and sun. Facilities must be provided for cleaning and scalding the mess equipment of the men.

Kitchens and the ground around them must be kept scrupulously clean.

672. Solid refuse should be promptly burned, either in the kitchen fire or in an improvised crematory.

673. In temporary camps, if the soil is porous, liquid refuse from the kitchens may be strained through gunny sacking into seepage pits dug near the kitchen. Flies must not have access to these pits. Boards or poles, covered with brush or gra.s.s and a layer of earth may be used for this purpose. The strainers should also be protected from flies.

Pits of this kind, dug in clayey soil, will not operate successfully.

All pits should be filled with earth before marching.

_Disposal of Excreta._

674. Immediately on arriving in camp sinks should be dug. This is a matter of fundamental sanitary importance, since the most serious epidemics of camp diseases are spread from human excreta.

One sink is usually provided for each company and one for the officers of each battalion. Those for the men are invariably located on the side of camp opposite the kitchens. All sinks should be so placed that they can not pollute the water supply or camp site as a result of drainage or overflow. To insure this, their location and their distance from camp may be varied.

When camp is made for a single night, shallow trenches, 12 inches deep and 15 to 18 inches wide, which the men may straddle, will suffice.

In more permanent camps, the trenches should be about 2 feet wide, 6 feet deep, and 15 feet long. They should be provided with seats and back rests made of poles, and should be screened by brush or old tent flys.

675. In cold weather the contents of sinks should be covered once daily with quicklime, ashes, or dry earth. When filled to within 2 feet of the top, sinks should be discontinued and filled in.

Open pits are dangerous during the fly season. However, the danger may be greatly reduced by covering the excreta with earth or by a thorough daily burning of the entire area of the trench. Combustible sweepings or straw, saturated with oil, may be used for this purpose.

In fly season, trenches may be closed with seats covered down to the ground with muslin and supplied with self-closing lids. Urinal troughs, made of muslin and coated with oil or paint, should discharge into the trenches.

676. In permanent camps special sanitary facilities for the disposal of excreta will ordinarily be provided.

If necessary, urinal tubs may be placed in the company streets at night and removed at reveille. Their location should be plainly marked and thoroughly and frequently disinfected.

677. When troops bivouac for the night the necessity for extensive sanitary precautions is not great; however, shallow sink trenches should be dug to prevent general pollution of the vicinity. If the cooking be collective, shallow kitchen sinks should be dug. If the cooking be individual, the men should be required to build their fires on the leeward flank of the camp or bivouac.

Before marching, all trenches should be filled in.

_PROTECTION OF CAMP OR BIVOUAC._

_General Considerations._

678. The outpost is a covering detachment detailed to secure the camp or bivouac against surprise and to prevent an attack upon it before the troops can prepare to resist.

679. The size and disposition of the outpost will depend upon many circ.u.mstances, such as the size of the whole command, the proximity of the enemy and the situation with respect to him, the nature of the terrain, etc.

A suitable strength may vary from a very small fraction to one-third of the whole force. For a single company in bivouac a few sentinels and patrols will suffice; for a large command a more elaborate outpost system must be provided. It should be no stronger than is consistent with reasonable security.

The most economical protection is furnished by keeping close contact with the enemy by means of outpost patrols, in conjunction with resisting detachments on the avenues of approach.

The outpost should be composed of complete organizations.

680. In a brigade or smaller force on the march toward the enemy, the outpost is generally formed from the advance guard, and is relieved the following day when the new advance guard crosses the line of outguards. In a retreat, the detail for outpost duty is generally made from the main body. The new outpost becomes the rear guard the following day.

681. When, as in large forces, an advance and rear guard performs such duty for several days, the outpost, during this period, is furnished by the advance or rear guards.

When the command is small and stationary for several days, the outpost is relieved daily. In large commands, the outpost will, as a rule, be relieved at intervals of several days.

682. The positions held by the subdivisions of the outpost should generally be prepared for defense, but conditions may render this unnecessary.

Troops on outpost keep concealed as much as is consistent with the proper performance of their duties; especially do they avoid appearing on the sky line.

Outpost troops do not render honors.

_Distribution of Outpost Troops._

683. The outpost will generally be divided into three parts. These, in order from the main body, are the _reserve_, the line of _supports_, and the line of _outguards_.

The distances separating these parts, and their distance from the main body, will depend upon the object sought, the nature of the terrain, and the size of the command. There can be no uniformity in the distance between supports and reserve, nor between outguards and supports, even in the same outpost. The avenues of approach and the important features of the terrain will largely control their exact positions.

The outpost of a small force should ordinarily hold the enemy beyond effective rifle range of the main body until the latter can deploy.

For the same purpose the outpost of a large force should hold the enemy beyond artillery range.

684. The _reserve_ const.i.tutes the main body of the outpost and is held at some central point from which it can readily _support the troops in front_ or _hold a rallying position_ on which they may retire. The reserve may be omitted when the outpost consists of less than two companies.

The reserve may comprise one-fourth to two-thirds of the strength of the outpost.