THE STORY of David and Goliath teaches that the forces of Evil, no matter how strong, always succumb to the forces of Righteous Good. And even today the small guy does occasionally conquer the bully: while Davids may be in short supply, one Army lieutenant has during the last year continually challenged the Army on its own ground. He has not slain Goliath, nor even wounded him seriously, but his annoying thrusts have damaged the giant's prestige and perhaps paved the way for future challengers.

I

THE sequence of events began in 1968, when First Lieutenant Louis P. Font graduated from West Point in the top five per cent of his class. In September Font enrolled in the Kennedy School of Government as a member of the Army's distinguished graduates' program.

Font wrote the Army 18 months later and applied for discharge as a conscientious objector, citing as his reasons the gross immorality of the war in Vietnam and his refusal to fight in it. He was the first graduate in the 168-year history of West Point to apply for C. O. status.

Two weeks later, on Friday, March 13, Font was sitting in Professor Samuel H. Beer's seminar on comparative political parties, when an Army sergeant walked into the room and requested that Font meet him in the hall outside. Font stepped out of the room to learn that he was being ordered to disengage himself from Harvard on Monday and report to Fort George T. Meade in Maryland on Tuesday.

Font was assigned various jobs at Ft. Meade while his superiors thought of various ways of dismissing his unprecedented request and sending him to Vietnam. The Army's speculation stopped in July when Font's lawyer obtained a federal court ruling preventing his being ordered to Indochina. However, Font's farcical succession of jobs continued:

For two months Font worked at the base Family Housing Office, helping veterans returning from the war find homes. When Font uncovered evidence of racial segregation and unfair housing policy in nearby Odenton, Maryland, and brought this matter to the attention of his superiors, he was transferred to another job.

For six weeks during the summer of 1970 Font was told to sit in his room and do nothing. He was allowed to write, read and type but not permitted to speak to anyone. His next assignment was to read and study the regulations of the Reserve Officers Training Corps for about two weeks. He was then ordered to add up columns of figures on machine tapes in his head and check the machine totals.

Finally, in hopes of keeping him permanently occupied, the Army assigned Font to inspect the barracks at Ft. Meade. Font inspected barracks from October 23 to January 25, 1971. It was while doing this that Font took three days off in December to participate in the Washington meeting of the Vietnam Veterans Commission of Inquiry with regard to war crimes.

FONT submitted weekly reports on his findings in the Ft. Meade barracks and ended his examination with a 106 page report on the housing conditions. The report concluded that the barracks, built as temporary shelters in 1941, were "unfit for human habitation" and an "outrage to common human decency." Font claimed that they contained roaches and rats and that the temperature of the hot water was 38 degrees. Cases of influenza and ringworm were common. Font included 85 statements from enlisted men and officers who complained of poor plumbing facilities, broken windows and holes in the barracks' walls.

On January 21, Font went to First Army Headquarters at Ft. Meade to deliver a copy of his barracks report to Lt. General Jonathan P. Seaman, commanding general of the First Army at that time.

While Font was in the Headquarters waiting room he was seen by Major General Richard G. Ciccolella, First Army chief of staff. According to Font, Ciccolella rushed toward him saying, "You're not supposed to be here. I don't want anything of yours." Ciccolella then grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him out the door, shouting "Get the hell out of here!" The general then called the military police to arrest Font.

Five MP's in two cars responded to Ciccolella's call and took Font to the military police station. After four hours during which he was not allowed to call his lawyer, Font was told that he had not been arrested, only "detained." He was released with severe restrictions placed on his movements and activities.

A week later, Colonel Arnold W. Alexander, the post commander at Ft. Meade, filed general court-martial charges against Font on five counts, carrying a maximum sentence of 25 years:

Failure to strictly obey the duty hours of Ft. Meade by being at First Army Headquarters;

Failure to ask for time off to go to First Army Headquarters;