 The latest weapons, coupled with the fighting skill of the American soldier, stand ready on the alert all over the world to defend this country, view 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 Sergeant Stuart Queen. The Army of today must be in the forefront of scientific and technological advances in order to meet its responsibilities. Many of these advances have given a new look to Army training and operational procedures. In our first story, you will see this new look in action as Army stevedores are trained on a rather unusual kind of model ship. As a giant machine helps Army researchers study the effects of hurricanes on shore developments. As a pilotless plane hurtles through the air, its camera clicking away at the terrain below. As servicemen hole up in subzero Arctic weather, and we do mean hole up. For a quick look at some of the many technological developments applied by the Army, let's go first to Fort Eustis, Virginia. From the looks of things, a new transportation core cargo vessel, not so though. Follow us on a quick tour from top side, down to the bottom of her steel plated holes, and you'll see that looks can be deceiving. In any case, the unveiling of the new whatever it is means that the transportation core school located at Fort Eustis can now train about eight times as many Army stevedores as it could before. Here, men of the transportation core learn to operate all types of loading equipment. From the forklift, which moves the cargo from the dock side warehouse, to the 10 ton booms, which lift a truck without straining a muscle. The spacious holds double as on the spot classrooms where student soldiers learn how to load and unload a ship. And top side, practice makes perfect on the most modern training equipment available. Inside and out, she's a ship all right, except for one detail, she's never going anywhere. Training the Army stevedores, this landlubber will stay high and dry at Fort Eustis. No wonder then she's known affectionately as the SS Never Sale. Far from the nation's capital goes on an Army core of engineer activity, which is of great value not only to the military mission, but to the overall national welfare as well. And the focus of this entire operation is water, friend of man, and sometimes when out of hand, a fierce amenomy. The core of engineers beach erosion board maintains a specially designed tank for the creation of very large waves. The tank has a variety of important purposes. Basically, it enables the beach erosion board to determine the forces and effects of waves breaking in on our shores. The wave generating mechanism consists of a vertical bulkhead 20 feet high, which is pushed back and forth by two large crank arms. The stroke of the bulkhead movement can be varied to produce a desired size of wave. This new facility will help the beach erosion board recommend measures to prevent hurricane damages, following through on a congressional request for such recommendations. The use of this unique machine is helping scientists and technicians solve the complex problems caused by the surging destructive effect of wave forces. The tank is 20 feet deep and is capable of generating the largest, highest manmade waves in the world. Waves just to set records. Some valuable help will be given the job of preventing erosion of our shorelines. There are many other bonus benefits too. From civilian activities like building dams to military jobs, like designing artificial harbors, or new assault landing craft. Yes, we'll know a lot more about them by way of research on the world's largest wave testing tank. Not very long ago, past the entry signs of Port Wachuka in Arizona, moved a stream of visitors, all heading for the same specific spot. Their destination, launching area for the fabulous object with a very humdrum name, drone. Center of attraction was naturally enough the RP-71 reconnaissance drone. A few vital statistics, wingspan 12 feet, fuselage length 12 feet. As military projectiles go, it's a pygmy, but it's king-sized in importance to the Army Signal Corps. A camera is loaded aboard the tiny plane. The camera can be either of the still or motion picture type and is preset to do its job automatically. Vectators are all eyes now as they watch a trailer pull up at the site, towing the launcher, which will catapult the drone into the air. The launcher is the drone, a 350-pound boon to our military defenses. The Army is particularly interested in the camera-bearing drone because it will enable field commanders to get reconnaissance information of an enemy-held area within an hour after requesting it. Robot plane is powered into the air by the firing of a small mobile Jado bottle, J-A-T-O Jado for jet-assisted takeoff. All clear, ready for takeoff. Magic of electronics guides the drone, right or left, up or down with a twist of a finger. The drone is directed over the target where the preset camera goes into action. Spectators try to follow the swift track of the tiny plane across the Arizona sky. Their job is made easier as a recovery parachute is unfurled. It's fall curbed by the shoot, the drone slackens speed and glides to earth, undamaged, ready for another mission. For those present, it's an impressive demonstration of a drone operated by remote control. They watch as a jeep pulls up at the fallen drone. The camera is recovered and hurried back to a portable developing lavatory for immediate processing. Half hour later, these motion picture films showing the target area in rich detail are available. And not a human life was endangered as the army's reconnaissance drone soared over the landscape, propelled by a chill wind, ice and snow hurtled across the frostbitten surface of the Greenland ice cap. But below the surface, snug and warm, men are going about their duties. Some time ago, the Air Force and the Army engineers got together to design permanent housing for the Greenland ice cap, a key locale in America's defense network. Result? A truly unique concept in construction. In a way, a cross between a submarine and a barracks building. Working with pre-formed sections of corrugated metal, men of the Army's Corps of Engineers adapted the pressure hull principle of submarines to the work. Essentially, the building is made up of 18 foot tubes connected by tunnel-like passageways. The overall construction of the completed building must be balanced by weight, like a ship, because it is designed to sink uniformly into the ice at the rate of several feet per year. And it must sink on an even keel. Inside the metal pressure hull, the insulated walls of the living and working quarters are constructed. Additional insulation will fill the space between wall and outer shell. Even when submerged under snow and ice, these quarters are designed to keep residents comfortably warm. Finally, the work is completed, and just in time to see how well the new housing manages in an arctic blizzard. Outside, howling wind, snow slanting across the countryside, ice everywhere. While inside, business as usual. In the construction camp mess hall, there's even a birthday celebration for one of the men. Yes, thanks to the Army Corps of Engineers, warmth and comfort is the lot of those stationed here on the Greenland ice cap, even when blizzards rage and all their frigid fury. We've seen a few of the many new developments in the service. As old as the Army is the role of religion in maintaining the morale and spiritual values of the American serviceman. The subject of our next big picture story is a young man who plays an indispensable part in the religious activity of the Army. The chaplain's assistant. We go now to West Germany. A chapel at an army camp. A quiet corner of repose amid the top speed pace of a modern military establishment. Toward the chapel walks a young man who is a familiar sight in this vicinity. He is a chaplain's assistant. The assistant's duties cover a wide range of activities, all serving to bolster the foundation of army religious life. Perhaps the assistant directs the church choir. Perhaps he teaches a catechism class in Sunday school. He may prepare the altar for a mass. Perhaps he or she, for wax too or often chaplain's assistants, helps with secretarial work in the chaplain's office. Perhaps he serves as a counselor at a summer camp for dependent children. Or he may run a special errand, as to the nearby Cathedral of Spire for holy oil to be used in confirmation ceremonies. Whatever he does, whatever his denomination, Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish, the chaplain's assistant is carefully chosen on the basis of personality, initiative, and moral background. Serving as a chaplain's assistant is of special benefit to men on duty in Germany, an area filled with mementos of early religious history and significance. Many soldiers, as well as army dependents stationed in Germany, are interested in making trips to these locales, and the chaplain's assistants will usually lead the excursions. They scout each area in advance in an effort to make each trip as worthwhile, as meaningful as possible. They make every possible preparation so that the visit will enrich the religious understanding of the viewer. They often plan trips to such famous cities as Worms, founded in 2500 B.C., a community which has contributed so much to the religious pattern of our times. Worms is noted particularly for its churches, and as the place where Martin Luther was tried and excommunicated. In the center of the city stands the famous Luther Monument, constructed in 1868. The monument was built in memory of Luther's courageous refusal to retract his ideas before Emperor Charles V and the diet at Worms. Luther's appearance and demeanor before the diet and the firmness with which he held his ground are reflected in this famous statue. Looking up at him, you sense the kind of man Luther was, and one comes away from this monument with a heightened sense of the power of firmly felt religious belief to withstand the most insistent persuasions of a hostile state. Another German city webbed into the early history of Christianity is Edar Oberstein, and the chaplain's assistance often lead excursions to this picturesque community. Rising up from the sheer face of a cliff is the hallowed church in the rocks, which can be reached only by a steep series of winding stairways. From the heights not far below the church, which was first built in the 11th century, one can look out far and wide at the town of Edar Oberstein. The town is a tradition-rich community which nestles quietly and peacefully, as it has for almost a thousand years in the valley below the church in the rocks. A visit to the church will deepen one's understanding of the impact of Christianity on the western world over so many centuries. Still another point of interest to which chaplain's assistance lead interested soldiers and their defendants is the Gutenberg Museum Workshop in Mainz. The sweeping mural over the doorway heralds the new world that came with the invention of the printing prints. Herring medieval costume, the caretaker of the workshop demonstrates the printing processes used to create the first printed book, the Gutenberg Bible. A copy of the first Bible is on hand for visitors to inspect, and the soldier visitors don't miss the opportunity. One of the heartening aspects of the current upsurge of religious interest among American troops stationed overseas is the interest of youngsters, sons and daughters of our military men in the mementos of early Christianity. Chaplain's assistance take on the added responsibility of making up special field trips for children. These usually combine a long walk through lovely towns and colorful countryside, a picnic at some spots surrounded by scenic beauty and a visit to an ancient church or monastery. The beautiful community of Cullen Neckon with its cobblestone streets winding their way up to the heights above the town is a perennial favorite of the children who set a rugged pace for the adults to follow. On top the kids are eager to continue. Say, wait a minute, gasps one chaplain's assistant who's made the mistake of wearing high heels. How about a five minute break? Uh-uh, say the kids, this here posse is moving on. And when they arrive at the point from which they can look down across mile after mile of forested German countryside, their eyes take in a sight that makes them forget the fatigue of the long hike. It's a sight that will be added to the many fond mementos they will always carry with them of their or their father's assignment in Germany. So past the days of the chaplain's assistance, young men and women who are actively taking part in religious activity while helping to defend their country. By the example they set to their fellow soldiers in uniform, they have a lot to do with the current increase of religious interest within the armed forces. Very real function of a house of religion comes through to the soldier as he turns toward a higher power for spiritual guidance. He is a better soldier for the army has found that the man who regularly attends a house of worship is not only a better soldier but a better human being. As the chaplain's assistant helps the chaplain's corps maintain army morale. Morale, high morale is always a quality you find in a paratrooper as well as the whole team that helps the trooper do his mission. You'll have an idea of what we mean as we return to West Germany for a day in the life of a parachute repairman. Every time I see the jumpers in my outfit peel out of those planes, I feel the same way. A feeling of relief mixed with a kind of quiet pride in the job I and my buddies have done in packing those parachutes. Not that I want any applause, mind you. The fellows who deserve it, they're the guys who strap the shoots on their backs, feeling full confidence that I haven't snaffled, that those shoots will open at the right time, will guide them safely, gently into the arms of Mother Earth. Well, I respect that feeling of trust, and I do everything I can to deserve it. Here in Mannheim, Germany, our outfit has its headquarters. Like other similar quartermaster installations all over the world, we have the responsibility of repairing and packing parachutes for a jump outfit. When a shoot is brought in from the field after a jump, we set to work getting it ready for another jump. First, we lay the shoot out on the inspection table. Hooking the connecting links of the shoot to the tension board, we then unroll the shoot. An awful lot of material goes into one of these babies, and we inspect every square inch of it for any damages. Often shoots will be ripped by trees or underbrushes as they approach the ground. And if we don't locate and repair the holes, well, some trooper will be heading down a heck of a lot faster than he expects. When I do find a tear, I first make a note about it on the inspection form. I'll finish up the inspection and then take the shoot over for repair. And so it goes. It's not a matter of minutes this business of inspecting a parachute. Not only the shoot itself, but the shroud lines are inspected for any weakness. We run over them from end to end. Patience is not only a virtue in our work, it's a necessity. Patience and thoroughness and following through in taking nothing for granted. Once everything is inspected, I still have to see that the small tear is repaired. So I pack the shoot loosely in such a way that the repairman can get at the rip easily. Everything is done by the numbers in accordance with an SOP set down in the manuals. But we never let the work become automatic. Believe me, we concentrate. We never think of the shoot as a rolled up bag of material on the table. Always in the shadow of our mind is a picture of a trooper stepping through an open doorway, one thousand feet in the air. Yes, that's what we think of as we fold that shoot. So when we final pack it later, it will unfurl without any slip up, without any fatal hesitation. Carrying the shoot in a cargo pack, I take it into the repair room where an expert sewer will eliminate the tear with a cross hatching of neat stitches. I ask him for an already repaired shoot because today is kind of a special day. You see, one day a month we parachute repairman take a shoot, any shoot that's ready and make a jump with it. It makes us understand the problems of the troopers a little better. It makes us realize just how much we and the shoots we roll and pack are counted on. Sure, I think of the jump I'm to make this afternoon as I get the shoot ready for placement within the carrier, but I give my own shoot no special attention. Even if I want to, I can't. There's nothing I can do that I don't do for every shoot. Believe the shoot is already inside the carrier. Everything is strapped tight and snug. And when the job is finished, I know this. I've done my level best to see that this parachute does its job when called upon. That afternoon at 1530 hours, I'm one of a group walking toward a waiting plane. The parachutes on my back this time, not on someone else's. Maybe I'm smiling as the motors erupt into sound, as the plane roars into the air, but over the heavy noise, one question floods over me. Will it open? I've done my best, but as I wait for my tap from the jump master, I don't dare finish that sentence. This is it. No time to think. Mother Earth, here I come, ready or not. As I feel that blessed tug across my body, look up and see that wonderful, wonderful umbrella fill the sky above me. I say, nice going to the guy who packed the shoot. And you know what? I like to think that maybe now and then that's what a paratrooper says too. Nice going as he comes down safely from the skies. Parachute maintenance men, paratroopers have that needed confidence when they hit the silk. Now this is Sergeant Stewart Queen inviting you to be with us again next week for another look at The Big Picture. 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 Pictorial Center presented by the United States Army in cooperation with this station. You too 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.