in 1915, captain greer, as an instructor at the presidio training camp, paid tribute to the horse as a still-valid tool in twentieth-century warfare. in a class lecture, he said that despite the advent of the airplane, the cavalry was still best for gathering information, patrolling, reconnoitering, and harassing the enemy. the leader any given horse-mounted scouting unit had to be equipped with a compass, a map, field glasses, pencil and notebook, message blanks, and a watch.