| Show U S army ardys s maneuvers will train biggest peacetime peace time force by MILTON R KENTON released by western newspaper uni union 0 n AMERICA AMERICA will be struck JA A b by y all a blitzkrieg in A au u gust as troops mobilize throughout the country for the biggest war maneuvers in peacetime history army experts are determined that no invading armies shall sweep across this country as they swept through many european nations to meet this challenge more than members of the regular army national guard and reserve corps are being called to the colors for intensive training under actual conditions of warfare new methods of war will be tried out in four sections of the country more than troops from 12 states will gather near plattsburg Platts burg N Y from august 5 to 25 to prepare for an invasion coming up the st lawrence river valley biggest biggish war area other large armies will mobilize mobil ize in louisiana M minnesota inne sota and washington from august 4 to 24 at camp mccoy wisconsin troops will put into practice all the new methods ot of modern warfare from panzer divisions to foot infantry tor for three weeks beginning august 11 on a 1000 square mile battlefield this will be the biggest of the war areas american military au authorities ties do not believe that the great success 8 of the german army resulted solely from the use of dive bombers and massed tanks they point out that while these are important the human machine of flesh and blood is still the ultimate factor in battle they refuse to put sole reliance on mechanized divisions but believe that soldiers armed with rifles and machine guns are still indispensable gen stanley H ford who will be in charge at camp mccoy declared that despite talk of streamlined tactics and the large number of trucks and passenger cars available during these concentrations trat ions doughboys dough boys will still light fight on foot and must be able to march annihilation ensues when a motor convoy of troops is caught under artillery fire and air bombs areas of from 6 to 10 miles from the front me line are within artillery range and must be covered on foot in approach march formations mechanization vital motorized and mechanized divisions are not being neglected however more than motorized units will participate in the wisconsin maneuvers equally large numbers of mechanized units will participate in the other camps even this large number of motor vehicles does not mean that horses have been entirely replaced because about two thousand animals are used in the fifty third and fifty fourth national 15 7 0 0 ak nationwide rray maneuvers testing the lat est developments in warfare will call men to the col ors during august abo ve are shown br ig gen adna A R chadlee Ch aflee recently ap pointed commander of the ardys first big scale pan zer corps guard cavalry brigades the artillery and supply units are entirely motorized some of the units hanged changed over from horses and mules within the past few months no army can succeed unless it is directed intelligently by well trained officers the movement of troops has been a problem ot of tremendous importance to commanders of all ranks throughout military history valuable experience in directing this this movement win will be given officers in charge of maneuvers in all parts of the country officers cers in charge 0 of f these maneuvers have been thoroughly 0 u ehly schooled in solving logistical problems dealing with movement of troops supply and evacuation every method of transportation except hiking will be used in ih effecting the concentration at the various camps units will arrive by air motor and rail at the rate of 75 detachments each 24 hours during thi the three days the army will be concentrating cent rating at camp mccoy one of the more spectacular movements will be the march of the mechanized seventh cavalry brigade tor for miles over the highways from fort knox ky to camp mccoy the brigade will form a column of more than 1000 vehicles approximately 60 miles long brig gen adna R chaffee commander of the brigade was recently named commander of the ardys first big scale panzer corps the column will be composed of almost every kind of vehicle used in a modern army there will be combat cars similar to the light infantry is tank mobile machine shops hall track prime movers to tow 75 mm howitzers howit gasoline tank trucks 40 scout cars and a large number of 0 infantry tanks problems involved an army officer explained that transporting large numbers of troops to a point of concentration presented just a few more problems than finding cars for a sunday school picnic A total of troops will move to wisconsin maneuvers by motor convoys they will bivouac overnight where necessary the troops moving by rail will be carried on 78 regular and special trains no stops win will be made tor for meals but the men will be served from field kitchens set up in the baggage cars in addition to this about 1200 tons of national gurd guard equipment including tanks combat cars and ambulances win will be transported by rail from more than different stations it is estimated that by the time the maneuvers have ended each vehicle will have traveled 1250 miles more than a million gallons of gasoline will have been burned if this fuel were concentrated a at t one point railroad tank cars would be required to hold it even though modem troops are carried in transport trucks military experts still believe that an army marches on its stomach american soldiers long known as the best fed in the world still receive three square meals a day every day during the maneuvers but chefs working in separate kitchens at camp mccoy will be allowed to spend only 38 cents dally daily for supplies to feed each soldier the small allowance is stretched a long way through the purchase of such small quantities of food as eggs pounds of sugar pounds of salt lemons and 16 tons of corned beef during the three week period the army in wisconsin will also eat 85 5 tons of biresh A esh beef a carload of hot dogs 12 tons of macaroni and a carload of roasting chickens real operations plans have been carefully laid to provide for efficient handling of the food supply the entire supply system will function exactly as in real operations general ford stated this phase of the training will be extremely important the ration is ample menus are balanced and well diversified I 1 the war maneuvers will provide the best opportunity the army has had ad to try out its newly motorized equips equipment nt on a large scale while individual units have received considerable sid erable exper experience I 1 ence this thi will be the me first time that all the units attending the maneuvers have operated together under battle conditions operating a military motor convoy of hundreds of vehicles at night without lights requires special training general ford explained it is possible that during the wisconsin maneuvers the state of this special training may prove to be a vital factor in the success of tactical motor movements the 1000 square mile maneuver area will permit mechanized units to operate in wide encircling ral raids ds exactly as they do in real operations 11 commanding generals in the field often become lost in the fog of war without constant communication with other units engaging in the battle to prevent this situation special attention is being given to rapid communications approximately 2000 miles of wire will be laid in the wisconsin battled battlefield eld alone connecting telephones during the grand concluding maneuver this equipment will mark a new development in telephony because the wires are used for simultaneous transmission of telephone and code telegraphy messages |
