Show infanta infantrymen YM en continue to hold vital spot in americas americans modern streamlined army by RALPH do D go NEWMAN NEW YORK despite the current military vogue for panzer columns dive bomb ers and fifth columnists the heart and backbone of every modern army is still that man of many battles the infantryman cre e fifth column can de 4 malize the dive bomber can terrorize the panzer column can knock out but only the infantry can hold on to dear mother earth and it seems that as long as victories are won by conquest of land the infantry will vitalize an army now its a new kind of infantry streamlined modernized motorized flexible and specialized and what I 1 saw in my recent mile tour of U S army posts indicates that the stress on infantry cannot be minimized without injuring an ardys force three combat teams aul 1 ae 6 old familiar pattern of ii is simple a closed column of troops shouldering rifles and marching behind the commander with a few horse drawn guns and supply wagons bringing up the rear but today a mere list of units and specialists cia lists in a typical U S infantry division would fill a newspaper column A catalog of division equipment would fill another column and that does not take into consideration that in actual combat the infantry ordinates coordinates co with the air force the armored force and other specialized units after studies and field tests U S infantry officers ordained the new type triangular division divided into three combat teams each team consists of an infantry regiment supported by its own artillery engineer medical ordnance and communications units the combat teams function independently or in concert with superior organization training and firepower fire power the triangular division of war strength is said to be more effective than the old square division 0 of f men divided into four regiments and supporting units at fort sam houston texas I 1 witnessed alongside high officers of the army a review of the famous second division whose field work since 1937 provided the war department with data on which to base the pattern of a triangular division tanned and toughened by outdoor life the divisions men and officers marched and rode before gen john J pershing and gen H J brees commander of the third army with 1300 trucks trailers motorcycles 16 scout cars besides 36 mm howitzers howit 12 mm howitzers howit eight antitank anti tank guns and numerous mortars the full division carried 45 caliber pistols 30 caliber rifles browning automatics 35 submachine guns light and heavy machine guns etc this fighting second which won more decorations than any other american division in world war I 1 is is now the model for other triangular divisions 2600 motor vehicles but the U S infantry has already gone beyond the triangular division described above at fort benning ga gen lloyd R fredendall commands the streamlined motorized triangular fourth division which sets a new high for infantry firepower and mobility the fourth rolls on rubber and in field maneuvers it covers to miles per day in 2600 motor vehicles of au all kinds giving this fighting force the greatest speed mobility and firepower fire power of any infantry division in existence and by virtue of this fact it is like the new first armored division the model around w which other divisions are being patterned field tests show thata motorized infantry division arrives at a front line position much fresher than troops who have marched for miles and they can therefore hold tenaciously to gains made by the rapid advancing armored mechanized forces in order to get a birdseye birds eye view of how a motorized division rolls on rubber I 1 flew over a bit of terrain near fort benning in an army three place observation plane piloted by J D of the ninety seventh observation squadron sitting on a parachute in the rear gunners seat and facing the plane rudder with my back to the pilot we flew over patches of georgias red earth and green forest to a point about 30 miles from benning where pilot called my attention to what seemed an endless column of trucks motorcycles reconnaissance I 1 cars command cars armo armored red cars and guns all motorized all rolling on rubber this particular combat team of the fourth division stretched tor for 50 miles along a sinuous highway hence in closed single column a fuu full division of motorized infantry would occupy about miles of roadway the average daily gasoline consumption for such a for force ce on a mile march is about gallons use parachute troops in addition to basic elements each division includes an engineer battalion a signal company quartermaster battalion motorized reconnaissance and a military police company to regulate traffic etc on top of this the infantry receives support from all types of aircraft and if necessary from the chemical warfare service the newest addition to the U S infantry is a rapidly expanding parachute force of highly trained and resourceful blit who can un 10 W I 1 A wi v ef e f V 1 ri K p wk aa tw T N perfect ordination coordination co is the secret of our modernized mode r nihed army s tremendous striking power despite the rapid development of aviation and tanks fanks the infantryman is still the backbone of the army motorized and armed with the garand rifle he is far more potent than ever before limber a machine gun or mortar in a trice and who can harrass an enemy behind the lines at fort sam houston I 1 watched the ardys interesting experiments with air transports for rapid transit of guns and fully equipped troops in less than 10 minutes a dozen men loaded a 37 mm antitank anti tank gun weighing more than pounds and necessary ammunition with machine guns rifles hand grenades packs etc they were ready to go blitzing klitzing blit zing in a matter of weeks sufficient blitz buggies compact but high powered bantam cars will be available for all infantry divisions on four cylinders these 2000 pound fourman four man vehicles travel as fast as a mile per minute if you can hold on they climb steep slopes leap ravines and it if they get mired the soldiers can lift one end clear the standard weapons of a U S infantry division give it the best potential firepower fire power in the world to day the springfield rifle which in past battles gave a good account of itself is rapidly yielding to the superior garand rifle whose firepower surpasses that of any similar weapon in europe today trained soldiers fire up to 35 rounds pea pe minute as against 15 rounds with the springfield field another U S infantry weapon the browning automatic rifle fires up to rounds per minute the 37 mm antitank anti tank gun fires a high explosive 15 pound shell at the rate of 25 rounds per minute the 81 mm mortar hurls an 11 pound shell up to feet at a rate of 18 13 rounds per minute the browning 30 caliber machine gun delivers up to rounds per minute AU all in all there are besides the rifle and pistol 11 different medium and small fire weapons in the U S infantry mans arsenal and individually or together they give unsurpassed firepower fire power Reli released ased by western newspaper union |