Prior to United States involvement in WWI, many soldiers trained for enlistment in Battalion of Cadet programs at colleges across the country. This document states that Sumner Cobb, who later enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917, was officially appointed to Corporal of the University of Maine Battalion of Cadets on October 27, 1914. The document was signed by 1st Lieutenant Frank Sheldon Clark, who was working at UMaine under the title Professor of Military Science and Tactics.