Commission on Training Camp Activities

To improve the moral aspects of camp life, Fosdick had recommended public condemnation of the "illicit trades" and making alternative forms of recreation available to soldiers.

[2][5] Domestically, American soldiers would be part of a reform program that would fight the forces of degradation that had traditionally plagued military training camps.

[9][10][6] The CTCA cooperated with voluntary organizations, particularly the YMCA, which established "huts" where soldiers could engage in social activities, such as playing cards, writing letters, or attending lectures or performances.

[1]: 60 The agency's ideology was characterized by the Progressive Era, which strived against prostitution, alcoholism, "social diseases", and poor sanitary conditions in major cities.

[1]: 61 Whereas venereal diseases were, at the time, commonly treated as a symptom of moral or spiritual degeneration, the CTCA's instruction took a scientific, rational approach.

Some military officers and politicians opposed this progressive angle, and clung to the notion that men needed sexual outlets to maintain their morale or vigour.

[1]: 67 Among the tools used by CTCA educators to promote continence were gruesome imagery and stories demonstrating the consequences of venereal disease infections.

[1]: 63–64 The CTCA produced two feature length silent dramas relating to sexual hygiene in 1917, both directed by Edward H. Griffith: Fit to Fight and The End of the Road.

[4] Although a stated aim of the CTCA was to establish adequate recreational facilities for troops in camps, studies have demonstrated its programs sought to control soldiers' and women's sex lives to prevent venereal diseases and to uphold social morality.