 from Korea to Germany, from Alaska to Puerto Rico. All over the world, the United States Army is on the alert to defend our country, you, the American people, against aggression. This is the big picture. An official television report to the nation from the United States Army. Now, to show you part of the big picture, here is Captain Carl Zimmerman. To be an effective fighting force, we must keep alive the ability of our Army to fight on any type of terrain in any climate. Now that takes continual rugged training for both the recruit and the veteran. Let's get this story of Army training firsthand from the soldier himself. It's quite a ways from your hometown to the attack courses at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Maybe not so far in miles, but learning to crawl through mud with live ammunition whizzing over your head was a new experience for most of us. All the sights and sounds of war that we've never seen or heard before. It's funny, when you see this stuff in the newsreels back home, you don't even begin to realize what it means to be a soldier. In the months of training necessary, before you learn how to act like one under conditions such as these. But the American soldier is the best trained soldier in the world. You can be sure of that. After a rough basic, you'll find that your Army training is just beginning. It takes more than 16 weeks of basic training to make a soldier. You may look and feel like one, but when the chips are down, you'll want to be able to act like one too. That takes instruction and plenty of it. Given by the men who know, Korean veterans who learn their lessons the hard way. So at Camp Roberts, California, you're taught how to make it hot for the enemy. Now maybe this looks like part of the kitchen stove, but it's a deadly weapon. A weapon that's mighty handy to the foot soldier when it comes to taking an objective and keeping it. What to do if a buddy is hit? Sometimes he's out in the open and there's too much enemy fire for you to reach him. What do you do? You call on a tank. The wounded soldier is lifted safely into the tank by the escape hatch in the floor. And speaking of protection, it's good to know judo when you meet the enemy face to face. Storming a mock town can be almost as rough as the real thing. It certainly can be as noisy. Getting over a high wall is no problem at all, if you know how, and if you have a grappling hook. This type of training teaches you teamwork. For in a small fighting group, a guy is just as safe as his buddy's marksmanship covering his advance. Now back home, we're right sociable. We like to visit each other's houses. In the army, you'll learn how to be an unwelcome guest. And the lesson is not thoroughly learned until the critique. Here the mistakes are gone over, and you'll find out what not to do next time. And there will be a next time, but we never stop training. You think that when you get your shipping orders for Europe, you have it made. Brother, who are you kidding? A nice ocean voyage, maybe? Army style. But as soon as you set foot ashore, you're at it again. Only a farmer could tell you the difference between stateside dirt and the European variety. The Bob Wire is the same. At Camp Rotor in Salzburg, Austria, one of the first things they do is to review everything you've learned up to that point. And you can always figure on the army for a new angle. This is called a stake course. You move from stake to stake and are tested on your knowledge of what to do in a certain situation, like map reading. Then you place a ring over the peg that you think is the right answer. Simple, huh? Well, maybe, but if you do make mistakes, you can be sure they'll be corrected. No matter what kind of outfit you're in, you do it over and over, like these guys from a chemical battalion making smoke. Smoke to screen our movements and save lives on the battlefield. Storming a ruined town in Germany is a post-graduate course. Ruins are seven years old. The training is right up to the minute. Just as he did in World War II in the same town, the foot soldier is the guy that goes in and takes over. Fellows from your hometown and my hometown, combined to make a tough, well-trained fighting team that could prove their worth in any battle, whatever the odds and whatever the mission, whether it be the taking of a fortified position or the dirty business of house-to-house fighting to flush out enemy snipers. The weapon these soldiers are camouflaging is an 8-inch self-propelled howitzer. It takes training to give this gun crew the know-how and teamwork to put this baby into action when the going gets rough. Believe it or not, sometimes it's peaceful. We take a brief rest from our training program and have a chance to enjoy the beautiful European countryside. Back on the job again. Army vehicles on the road mean free chocolate to the kids in the neighboring town. Now, what shall we do today? Well, the commanding officer has some plans on that subject. It seems that this area is just right to stage a maneuver to put some of our training into practice. This sniper is part of what the Army calls the aggressive force. Actually, the aggressive force is made up of American soldiers dressed as a mythical enemy with the language, tactics, and equipment all their own. To make training seem more realistic, the Army uses the aggressive force as the maneuver enemy, complete with their own staff officers, maps, and communication system. When our forces manage to capture some of the aggressive troops, they are given the same treatment as any enemy prisoner would receive in time of war. And we have a chance to learn such things as how to properly search an enemy officer for important papers. The aggressive force is made up of carefully trained men who pull every trick in the book to keep us on our toes. Even psychological warfare is brought into play against us. Using loudspeakers close to the front line, the aggressive force broadcast pleas for our surrender, offering us in return soft beds, clean clothing, and good food. Propaganda leaflets dropped from planes are designed to persuade the foxhole soldier to surrender and get a cold beer, and guarantee good treatment from the aggressive forces. These repeated attempts by the simulated enemy to woo us into giving up are excellent conditioning against similar practices used by real enemies and acquaintance with propaganda methods. Battle sounds are sometimes on records, but they'll never make the hit parade. Even the aggressors need a break once in a while, and we have time to relax and repair some of our equipment in preparation for the winter months ahead, and with another winter, another maneuver. That's the way it is in the Army. Wars are fought in the winter as well as the spring. Rivers have to be crossed. And if you're an engineer, you have to know how to build a bridge in the dead of winter, even though your flesh would stick to the cold metal. Human nature being what it is, though, when you're hot you want it to be cold, and when you're cold you want it to be hot, but when you see that first vehicle going safely across, it's worth it. While men in the 7th Army were going through a winter maneuver in this part of the world, men of the Caribbean Command were taking their training the hot way. Objective, Vieques Island, off the coast of Puerto Rico. What you remember most about an amphibious operation is the way these guys work together, the Army, Navy, and Air Force. That's a triple threat all-star team that's tough to beat. You have to be sort of a combination duck and commando. You can imagine the amount of training necessary to make an operation like this a success. A lot of planning, a lot of practice, and more practice to make the American fighting soldier the best ever. Practice today and maybe the real thing tomorrow. And if an enemy should strike at us, Alaska might be a handy target for them. Aware of this fact, the Army has been training and conditioning troops for life in the sub-zero wastelands. A soldier may be called on to fight in many climates and over different terrain. Take it from these men in the Arctic. This is training at its toughest. Learning to fight not only the enemy but the elements as well. The Arctic nights may be long, but the days are filled with work and more work. Training in how to live and fight and stay warm, even when the mercury takes a nosedive to 40 below. Unnovers such as these answer questions, important questions, such as how long will a weapon fire with ice-caped all over it? How can you best take care of a wounded soldier in the snow? Can you move large groups of men over frozen roads quickly and still have them in fighting condition when they reach their objective? It's a long haul from the ice box of Alaska to the pearl of the Pacific, Hawaii. In school they taught us that the Pacific means peaceful. And when you think of Hawaii, you think of the beach at Waqa Ki, the surfboard riding gracefully into shore on the crest of a wave. Oh yes, and the grass skirts swinging gently to and fro in the breeze. In the Army, though, you think of school field barracks. You're a soldier, no matter where you are. A soldier first and a tourist second. And that same confidence-building training is always with you. Do you rule with training after you leave the States? In a bull's eye. Every soldier a marksman. A fighting man ready at any time to enter combat. Maybe you did a lot of hunting before you got into the service. That's good practice, but you have to learn how to shoot the Army way. Know how to put the holes right in that round black ring in the target. Break time gives you a chance to take care of some important things. Let's take a look at some other training in the Pacific area. A place that saw plenty of action in the Second World War. Okinawa. A lot of good men died on this beach. Now this same place is being used for training in beach landings so that maybe fewer good men will die if there's a next time. Because good training, well planned and executed, is the best kind of life insurance. Maybe that's why we never stop. If the training looks familiar to you, it's meant to be that way. Because only through doing the job over and over again can the soldier build up that feeling of being able to do the job automatically when the goings are roughest. This is the training that saves lives when the enemy is real and the ammunition isn't blank. Once again we're up against that mastermind planning of the aggressor force. And this time with a new twist. Our gal, our kind of aggressor Axis Sally, talks to us in our own language. Plays the records from home that we like to hear. And in between gives us a sample of some slick enemy propaganda. It's not too far from Okinawa to the land of the rising sun. Japan. Where training goes on as in the rest of the Allied world. The soldier may get a good look at the colorful scenery on Route March. While mortar crews practice camouflaging themselves and their positions from enemy eye reach. How to pitch a tent. Protect yourself against gas attack. Or man a machine gun. All in today's work for a soldier. Regardless of where he is. And the words chow. Inspection. Retreat. And baseball would probably mean the same to an American soldier anywhere. Whether you're stationed in Japan or Fort Knox, Kentucky. The closer you are to the fighting front, the tougher the training gets. You know that sooner or later, you probably will have to face a fanatical type of enemy. Who uses all the tricks of psychological warfare to break down his opponent. In order to properly prepare us for the fighting going on in Korea. The army has arranged training at Camp Sendai Japan. Here, we are the target of a surprise night assault. This aggressor is a group of American soldiers trained in the tactics of the North Korean and Chinese Reds. Under the cloak of darkness, the simulated enemy has landed on the coast behind our lines. And moves forward to surround us. The blasting bugles are not only used to signal the attack. They're also a gimmick to spread fear and panic so our positions can be overrun. The lesson we learned in Korea was that our troops were not at first prepared for this type of fighting. Now, with the help of training such as this simulated night attack, we're learning that bugle-blowing and screaming nighttime invaders die just as quickly as silent ones. We're caught with our guard down at first. But we regroup in a hurry and let go with a counterattack that sends the aggressor for cover. Machine guns and tanks are brought into play as this realistic game of war continues without benefit of rule books. That force lends a hand and aggressive positions receive a deadly strike. Motor fire is called forward to help chase the stubborn aggressor from behind a hill. Outgoing mail that means bad news for the simulated enemy. Umpires scattered throughout the battle zone keep a constant check on how we're doing. Our troops attack again and we really have them on the run. The aggressor provides rear guard action to protect his withdrawal. But we break through their defenses and drive them toward the sea. Objective accomplished, our tanks move down the shoreline which a few hours before was held by the aggressive force. Our lesson is learned. A strong enemy force in a surprise night attack using psychological warfare techniques can be beaten off and defeated. The northernmost of the major islands which make up Japan is called Hokkaido. The winters are mean with snows often reaching to depths of eight feet. Not exactly the kind of place to spend a pleasant vacation. But an ideal training ground for winterized army troops. The artillery spotters mean business. Korea is only a short air hop from Hokkaido. No fooling around here either. We get right down to the subject at hand. Ski training is a must for troops. If we want to be able to face an enemy on any ground and in any climate you can almost hear our leg muscles groaning from these exercises. Pick them up and lay them down with skis. There aren't many native Eskimos in the United States Army so most of the soldiers learn this from the ground up. Our little mascot thinks it's very funny because this snow land is his home. Snowshoes to some of the men might remind them of tennis rackets or the sleds and skis of a winter in the snow back home. But learning to live and fight on these things is a lot different. Not much like winter sports back home but this is the kind of training that makes the American soldier the best in any league. Combat patrolling under these conditions is a hard lesson to learn but we train until we get it and then we train some more. On into the night. But don't let the winter carnival atmosphere fool you. We're learning the serious business of war. Even in Korea, the final proving ground, training never stops. Troops are pulled back off the front line for refresher courses, construction and new tactics and care and use of equipment. These combat veterans know that in battle the trained soldier has the best chance of surviving. You don't wait until the shooting starts to learn your lessons. The bullet that's supposed to teach may also kill and the enemy won't let you correct your mistakes. A soldier is never too old or too good to stop training. In Korea, many a combat veteran of World War II has been learning new and different things about the job of soldiering. Wars are so complicated nowadays that the communication system of an army is more important than ever before. You wouldn't want to get your wires crossed with messages that deal with human lives. So troops are trained and retrained in the technique of wire lane, pole erection and getting the message through quickly and accurately when and where it counts. Back home, we aim to please. In Korea, they aim to kill. Training is tough because battle is tougher and training saves lives. But what about atomic warfare? Will be ready and trained for whatever might happen then? You bet we will. Yes, it's a long way from your hometown to the atomic training area at Yucca Flats, Nevada, practically out of this world. The sound and fury of the atomic bomb that makes headlines in the hometown paper are part of army training. We learn to take it in our stride. Groups of soldiers are present at atomic blast to see and to take part so that when or if the enemy does use such a weapon, we'll know what to do. Attention is focused on the time. The second hand creeps toward zero hour. The time for the detonation of the bomb approaches. Right after the blast, troops move up into the ground zero area. While in the skies overhead, our transport planes prepare to drop paratroopers. Ever may come, you can count on the American soldier being ready and able to face anything because we never stop training. It's a big job keeping our army ready. And here's a footnote to this story. According to Secretary of the Army Frank Pace Jr., this year alone over 700,000 men will be turned back to civilian life. Approximately the same number of untrained men will join the ranks in the months to come. There can be no let down in the type of training you've seen today. Next week on The Big Picture, we'll take you to the Army Language School in California for another phase of army training. We'll show you how we train officers and enlisted men for foreign duty as language specialists. This is Captain Carl Zimmerman inviting you to be with us then. The Big Picture is a weekly television report to the nation on the activities of the army at home and overseas produced by the Signal Corps Photographic Center presented by the U.S. Army in cooperation with this station. You can be an important part of The Big Picture. You can proudly serve with the best equipped, the best trained, the best fighting team in the world today, the United States Army.