 United States Army presenting picture, an official report produced for the armed forces and the American people. Now to show you part of the big picture, here is Sergeant Stuart Queen. Although the term cavalry will probably always remind us of high-spirited horses and hard-writing cavalrymen, most people are aware that both the rider and his four-footed friend have long since been replaced by such mechanical steeds as jeeps, tanks, and helicopters. Many of us, however, have only a vague notion of the cavalryman's true function, whether he is riding a horse, flying a helicopter, or walking and running on his own two feet. In non-technical terms, one of the cavalryman's most important missions is to find out exactly where the enemy is by entering the enemy's terrain and seeing for himself, and then reporting back to fast-moving forces capable of striking before the enemy can move. Today, you will see units of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment as they undertake this historic cavalry mission on maneuvers in Western Germany. There has always been something romantically inspiring about mounted cavalrymen. Awesome in battle, they were the stars of every peacetime parade. But behind the scenes, they were stables to clean, steeds to be fed, watered, and curried. A million household details usually overlooked by those who watch the parades, but a big part of the daily life of an old-time cavalryman. The horses are gone now, and the cavalryman rides a more impressive vehicle, the armored tank. But some things have not changed. The housekeeping details, the washing, the everlasting personal attention to unglamorous duties, these remain the same. Another thing which remains unchanged is the cavalryman's need to be a first-rate geographer. He must be able to read and also to make accurate maps for the guidance of himself and the military units whose eyes and ears he frequently becomes. For an important part of a cavalryman's job has always been reconnaissance. Where is the enemy? What is he doing? How can we prevent it? Today, that information is communicated by such modern devices as the two-way radio, half of which can be carried on a man's back, the other on a mobile jeep. Once semaphore flags perform the task of communication on the battlefield, today they have been supplanted by electronic equipment such as this. But whether with flag or radio, the far-ranging cavalryman must first be able to locate his position accurately before he can communicate it to anyone else. Classroom work here in Germany is supplemented by practical exercise in the field. As part of realistic training maneuvers, members of the Eleventh Armored Cavalry Division can expect to be sent from time to time on realistic scouting missions, one of which is shaping up right now in the battalion command post. The Eleventh Armored is divided into opposing units, one of which is some miles away performing the role of an enemy aggressor, a seven-man friendly patrol is being sent into the aggressor's territory to report back his position. As you know, the river runs into a marsy region cutting through the right sector of the aggressor's front. Latest reports indicate the water level throughout this entire area to be pretty high. That means aggressor can't patrol it too effectively. Once a mission like this might have been accomplished by a small band of hard-riding horsemen whose whirlwind dash behind enemy lines at night would with luck provide advance intelligence for a dawn attack by the entire unit. Tonight's journey will have the same purpose, but it will be accomplished by a combination of forced marching and transportation aboard almost every kind of vehicle except a horse. The mission is both a contribution to the overall maneuver and part of the patrol member's own individual training. Having been briefed on the situation, the patrol will be transported to a point near the aggressor lines. From there on, success or failure will depend on their own skill and ingenuity. The chief problem is to avoid detection. For their mission to be a success, they must not only penetrate the aggressor's position and study the disposition of his forces, but they must also get back with the information. Detection will mean incarceration and an aggressor prisoner of war camp for the duration of the maneuvers. Under actual combat conditions, it would mean something even more serious. The first stage of the trip is to be conducted by the kind of vehicle which has become an integral part of modern cavalry operations. The military helicopter. Fast, maneuverable, low flying, but unharmed by ground obstacles such as rivers and forests, the helicopter is an ideal instrument for performing an important part of the modern cavalryman's mission. In the space of a few minutes, the helicopter carries the scouting patrol to the very edge of the aggressor's forward positions. Under favorable conditions, such a craft might easily carry a patrol well inside an enemy's position. Tonight, however, the plan calls for our patrol to be dropped near the edge of a river, the Isar River, which winds through aggressor territory in the vicinity of Lanschut, Germany. From here they will proceed into the heart of the aggressor's key position by means of an inflatable rubber raft. It's one of those plans which is easier to put on paper than to put into operation in strange terrain in the middle of the night. Now all those classroom lectures and field exercises and such things as map reading begin to pay off. Anyone can learn to tell North from South. The question is, can you in the darkness find your way across overgrown swampy terrain, which until now was known to you only as a few dots on a map? Finding your way through strange terrain is the simplest part of the job. For this terrain is not only strange, it's hostile, filled with men on the alert for infiltrators exactly like yourself. The raft was designed for just such heavy going as this. Light weight and rugged, it can take a beating and still be ready to carry the seven men and their weapons upstream against a strong current. The copter could have put us down on the river bank. It dropped us some distance away so as to mislead the aggressor as to our true destination in the event the landing was observed. Any aggressors rushing to the landing site have by now encountered an empty field. Tracing the members of our patrol would be a job comparable to locating the needle in that celebrated haystack. Even with seven paddles at work, moving upstream is no easy chore. The men can console themselves with a thought that the return trip downstream will be easier and faster. And on the way home, speed may be something they'll need. Landmarks along the shore carefully pinpointed during the command post briefing session now show that the patrol is nearing the first major objective of its mission. It's about time to leave the river. Everything seems quiet. There is nothing to indicate that the group has been detected. The easiest part of the trip is over. From here on the situation becomes ticklish. Whatever it is that has caused our own higher command to become suddenly interested in this particular piece of aggressive territory you can be sure it has also made the aggressor anxious to keep his secrets in and you out. Four specific objectives have been assigned to the patrol for reconnaissance. And so the question is, where to begin? What do we look at first? And how do we get there from here with the least likelihood of being seen? Objective number one, an aggressor held power dam. How strongly is it held? Guarded by what kind of forces? Vulnerable to what kind of attack? Answers to such questions as these will play an important role in any future offensive. Time is precious. With their first objective surveyed and the results duly noted, the patrol moves rapidly to the next. Only a few hours remain before dawn. If they're not on their way home by then, they'll probably never get there. Objective number two, a bridge which is an important link in the aggressor's network of roles. Again, the key questions must be answered, which will enable the commanders to plot an efficient strike against this enemy position whenever such a strike can best suit the purposes of the manoeuvres battle plan. From such a vantage point, much can also be learned about the aggressor's own plans. It is also an opportunity for some food and a brief moment of relaxation before moving on to the next objective. Time and rations are both short, but part of a field soldier's art is knowing how to conserve his own strength, how to get the most from himself in accomplishing the task assigned. Aggressor forces and manoeuvres such as these act as a fully equipped army within an army. They have their own weapons, their own plan of battle, even their own uniforms, and they play to win. Although one sometimes hears such exercises as these referred to as war games, it all has a serious purpose. It is one of the best known ways to give army units field practice in the doctrine they have studied during training. For example, an astute military observer watching the movement of traffic over a central bridge or highway can tell much about the kind and number of armed units in the vicinity. The final objective of a scouting patrol still lies ahead. They have accomplished the not inconsiderable feat of penetrating heavily patrolled aggressor terrain and remaining undetected for several hours while observing his key positions. But all of this will have been for nothing if they fail to get the information they have gathered back to their own command post. And before this can be done, they must still reach their major objective. Detection at this stage will count heavily against the patrol. A single enemy unit might be overcome or outmanovered, but the incident would alert the entire aggressor force. And there is still the long trip to be made downriver through the heart of the aggressor position. Finally here it is. The main reason for making the long and difficult journey. The aggressor is building up a heavy concentration of missiles in a wooded area which defies aerial detection. Friendly intelligence knew these missiles were in the area. Now they can be pinpointed exactly. Under the ground rules of the maneuver, if the aggressor can get his missiles within striking distance and keep them there for a prescribed time, he will claim credit for a successful missile strike. If friendly forces move against him before he is into firing position, his missile attack will be judged a failure. The patrol must get an accurate fix on the missile park's location and as much information as possible about the kind and quantity of missiles being implored. Clues as to how long this buildup has been going on and how much longer it seems likely to take are also good military intelligence. The patrol has what it came for. The next problem is to get the information back to the command post. Dawn is approaching. Detection by the enemy becomes more probable with every passing moment. The aggressor has no way of knowing how large a force he has to deal with. He can be counted upon to bring up every man and every woman possible in his effort to turn back what might be the spearhead of a major attack. In a maneuver situation, dummy ammunition or simulated artillery fire can be as effective as the real thing. It may be more so. In combat the enemy might miss. But in a maneuver, if he catches you where the probabilities are in his favor, he gets credit for having done the job. The aggressor can succeed in catching our patrol in the open with this jeep-mounted machine gun. The patrol's mission will be over. The patrol succeeds in reaching the river and the vicinity of the hidden raft. If the aggressors haven't already found the raft themselves and if they don't rediscover the patrol's position, there may still be a chance of getting out. But those are big ifs. If they are fired upon, the men will split up. It may be possible for at least one man to slip through with the information. It is now the sole objective, getting at least one scout back to the main unit with the data on the enemy position. There is still one way out. It is no longer necessary to maintain radio silence as a means of avoiding detection. Get matchbox. Quick. Matchbox, this is Sparrow. How do you hear me? How do you hear me? Over? This is Sparrow. I hear you loud and clear. Great. Fire mission. Asmet 340. Asmet 340. At Tangle Papa. At Tangle Papa. Now that our presence is no longer a secret from anybody, we are free to call back for supporting artillery fire to give the aggressor something else to think about. Like all frontline soldiers, the cavalryman must be able to direct artillery fire onto a target when the occasion demands. He can get all the firepower he needs if he can tell them where he wants it. With supporting fire from friendly artillery, the situation changes, giving the patrol a few precious moments to recover the raft and make one final effort at escape. Now it is the aggressor who must take cover. Out on the water in the very center of the aggressor's position, the raft will be almost literally a sitting duck for aggressor marksmen along the shore. The only hope is camouflage. The raft will have to glide downstream, looking as much as possible like a floating brush pile. Planning and coordination as they have from the beginning pay off in the present emergency. The seven patrol members scattered, not in a panic, but according to a carefully prearranged plan. They are waiting now along the shore at various positions downstream from where the raft was hidden. Waiting to be picked up by the patrol leader and his radio operator. As they come aboard, some of the men bring their own contribution to the raft's camouflage so that by the time they are ready to push into midstream, the raft will look as much as possible like drifting river flotsam. No complaints now about that long trip upstream at the beginning of the mission. The entire success of the venture now depends on being able to drift noiselessly downstream past aggressor sentels. Once past the main aggressor positions, speed again becomes the order of the day. For there is a rendezvous to be kept with the armored vehicle assigned to carry the patrol on the last lap of its trip back to home base. Mission accomplished, almost. This is still the fringe of aggressor held territory and there is still the danger of a chance encounter. A single quick operation and the raft becomes just another piece of collapsible rubber. The vehicle which will take them back to the command tent is one more example of the great variety of equipment which has gradually replaced the horses and mules of the old time cavalry. From helicopter to rubber raft to feet to armored personnel carrier. All in a night's work for a modern cavalryman. Now the mission is accomplished. Back at the command post, the patrol prepares to deliver its report to the battalion officers. In several hours of intensive hazardous effort, seven well-trained disciplined men have accomplished a mission which may largely determine the outcome of the entire maneuver. In war time such a mission could well result in the prevention of thousands of casualties. Thirty years ago such a scouting mission would have been accomplished by a lightning sortee of mounted men, sowing confusion among the enemy at the same time they were acquiring vital intelligence for their own commanders. Today the techniques and the modes of travel are different, but the results are the same. With the information he has just received, the battalion commander can now move against the aggressor. As tanks of the 11th Armored Division begin turning over their engines, friendly forces all over the area are being alerted to their parts in a coordinated offensive. Now we see the cavalryman instill another role. From a scout on patrol seeking information about the enemy, he becomes the mailed fist of an assault force. Men such as these are specialists in many aspects of military science and tactics. Able to seek out the enemy, evaluate his movements, and then act with power and speed to frustrate his best laid plans. The aggressor will shortly be under heavy armored attack. His missile emplacements destroyed before the first missile can be launched. All thanks to the efforts of seven well trained soldiers through a long and sleepless night. Such words as dismounted cavalry often sound to laymen like a contradiction in terms. After seeing today's adventure of a cavalry patrol on a night reconnaissance mission, it is possible to understand why a cavalryman is still a cavalryman, even when he is temporarily on foot or floating downstream on a raft. He is accomplishing a mission which is the same today as it was in the days of Jeb Stewart's horse cavalry. Now this is Sergeant Stewart Queen, your host for the Big Picture. The Big Picture is an official report for the armed forces and the American people. Produced by the Army Pictorial Center. Presented by the Department of the Army in cooperation with this station.