First Officers Training Camp

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The first World War came to America on April 6, 1917, the day President Woodrow Wilson signed the declaration, passed by Congress, that a state of war existed between the United States of America and Germany. Just like that, the country had to build an army, and build it fast.

Eight training camps went up across the United States almost immediately. The first one, the very first, was right here in Texas, at Leon Springs. On May 8, 1917, three thousand volunteers assembled at Camp Funston on the Schasse Ranch, on land that is now part of Camp Bullis, not far from where you're sitting right now.

Three thousand men showed up ready to learn how to lead other men into combat. What came next was three months of intense training. Not comfortable.

Not leisurely. Intense. And when the smoke cleared on August 15, 1917, one thousand eight hundred and forty-six of those young men graduated as second lieutenants.

The length of that training, three months from volunteer to officer, gave the country a phrase it would not soon forget: ninety-day wonders. Now, you might hear that and think it was said with a smirk. But consider what those men carried with them when they shipped out.

Their motto was brave men shall not die because I faltered. That is not the motto of men who took the short road lightly. They served with distinction.

Many were highly decorated for valor in combat. And when a second world war came calling, almost three hundred of them, many by then highly ranking colonels or generals, returned to active duty and served again. Three of the men trained at that camp on the Schasse Ranch went on to become governors.

Beauford Jester of Texas. James R. Beverley of Puerto Rico.

Charles H. Martin of Oregon. And beyond the governors and the generals, many more first campers became prominent leaders in business, industry, and government throughout Texas and the United States.

They did not scatter and forget one another either. In 1931 those former comrades in arms organized the First Officers Training Camp Association. Members from thirty states and several foreign countries gathered for annual meetings, and they kept gathering, for more than fifty years.

Think about that. Men who met in the Texas heat in the summer of 1917, training for a war nobody had ever seen the like of, still coming back together decades later. Still honoring what they'd built and what they'd endured.

The first officers training camp is long gone now, succeeded by generations of modern soldiers and officers, the kind who train on this same Texas ground today. But the legacy those men left behind, honor, courage, service, it didn't go anywhere. It landed right here, in the marker, and in the story.

What the marker says

The first World War came to America on April 6, 1917, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the declaration, passed by Congress, that a state of war existed between the United States of America and Germany. Immediately thereafter, eight camps were established in the U.S. to train officers for combat leadership. The first was at Leon Springs, Texas, and on May 8, 1917, three thousand volunteers assembled at Camp Funston on the Schasse Ranch (now a part of Camp Bullis near this site) for training in various branches of the army. They endured three months of intense training and 1,846 young men graduated on August 15, 1917, as second lieutenants. The length of their training resulted in the term "90-day wonders." Embodying their motto "brave men shall not die because I faltered," the members of the first officers training camp served with distinction in the war, many of them highly decorated for valor in combat. Almost 300, many highly ranking colonels or generals, returned to active duty for service in World War II. Three of those trained here later became governors: Beauford Jester of Texas, James R. Beverley of Puerto Rico, and Charles H. Martin of Oregon. Many more "first campers" were prominent leaders in business, industry and government throughout Texas and the United States. Following their training and service, the former comrades in arms organized the "First Officers Training Camp Association" in 1931. Members residing in 30 states and several foreign countries gathered for annual meetings for more than fifty years. Now succeeded by generations of modern soldiers and officers, the First Officers Training Camp veterans leave a legacy of honor, courage and service to their country. (1999)