 Not men from Mars, but soldiers of the United States Army. Fighting a field of flames in suits of aluminized paper. Another amazing result of Army quartermaster research and development. 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. This is a special exhibit area just outside the office of the Army quartermaster general in Washington, D.C. Around us are just a few of the recent results of the quartermaster corps research and engineering program. A program designed to meet the problems posed by modern warfare. And which is continuously affecting the way all of us live. This molded sole footwear, for example. The sole is molded on during manufacture and will last for the life of the shoe. No more repair bills. Contour packaging. A new technique which seals a stack of clothing in a semi-vacuum. Letting air pressure compress it into a fraction of the storage space required for an unpackaged item. Food for the space age. A chicken dinner or a fruit dessert. Which tomorrow's spaceman will eat through his space helmet. Squeezing it out like toothpaste. Behind me here is a model of the nation's largest solar oven. Original built by the quartermaster research and engineering center in Natick, Massachusetts. Enables the quartermaster corps to test clothing and equipment under effects of extremely high temperatures. It does this by concentrating the sun's energy onto the box-shaped test chamber in the center. Concentrated energy which in just 55 seconds can burn a hole like this through half an inch of hard steel. Large or small, products of quartermaster research are designed to provide the soldier with the right food. Clothing supplies and equipment wherever he may be sent. On this shelf are steaks, bread and vegetables which could follow a soldier halfway around the world, wrapped in nothing but cellophane or plastic. Such food is preserved by the application of atomic science to the age-old problem of food preservation. In airtight packages, the food is passed under radiation equipment which harmlessly sterilizes it. A process which may soon revolutionize food storage for military and civilians alike. From irradiated foods to equipment designed to handle every kind of material on every kind of terrain in any climate on Earth. And still, we have seen only a minute portion of the quartermaster corps's gigantic task. It's a job which ranges through the whole catalog of supply of research and development. A responsibility which includes even the design of uniforms, of insignia, and our American flag. There is in short no organization quite like the quartermaster corps of the United States Army. An organization you're now going to see in action from Europe to Alaska. It is sometimes said of the Army quartermaster corps that it is older than the republic which it serves. A reference to the fact that our first quartermaster general was appointed by George Washington in the year 1775. A time when the entire colonnete army numbered only a few hundred ragged, hungry, and all but destitute troops. Decade after decade, the history and development of this corps has paralleled and reflected the history and development of the United States. Its methods, operations, and achievements keeping pace with our advancing science and technology. The problems faced by the quartermaster corps at the outbreak of the war with Spain when our army expanded from 25,000 men to more than 200,000 were only a minor sample of what was to confront it 20 years later with the outbreak of World War I. This war posed challenges far beyond anything previously experienced. An army of four million men, half of them ultimately shipped to Europe, had to be supplied and maintained at a time when the nation in 1917 lacked almost everything needed for such a tremendous task. The quartermaster corps supplied our World War I army with four billion pounds of food and a total of more than three million tons of supplies. More than a billion dollars was spent on clothing alone. It was the greatest sustained supply effort in history up to that time. Yet there were larger challenges to come. It was not until United States forces hit the beaches of Normandy in World War II that quartermaster operations reached their historic peak. Equipping and supporting America's World War II army of over eight million men fighting in all parts of the world under widely different temperatures and conditions of climate was a task of formidable proportions. But the quartermaster corps came through, supplying some 70,000 different items to our troops all over the world. The prodigies of supply performed during World War II resulted in an American army which was the best equipped and maintained and on the highest level of morale of any army in the world. Only a few years later came Korea and the task of supplying on short notice a modern army on a distant Asian peninsula. Korea also saw the advent of a remarkable garment, illustrative of quartermaster achievements in scientific research. The nylon vest, a modern form of body armor capable of protecting the soldier from most artillery fragments and many types of small arms fire reducing the battlefield casualties of a modern war. The Korean conflict also saw the steadily increasing use of aircraft for the delivery of supplies and equipment to troops in the field. Aerial delivery, which had already been employed by the quartermaster corps in World War II became in Korea an almost routine supply operation. Such conflicts also served to remind us that the quartermaster's concern and responsibility for the individual fighting man extends to final care and honors after death. America's current and former fighting men are entitled to burial in the national cemeteries administered by the quartermaster general. Today the men who accomplish these historic missions are products of the quartermaster training command. Its headquarters are here at Fort Lee, Virginia, but like other operating elements of the quartermaster system the training command is a decentralized operation. When they assume their responsibilities, quartermaster men and women must have acquired a variety of skills and knowledge nearly as broad in scope as the army itself. Here at Fort Lee both officers and enlisted men of the corps are taught the technical skills required for an ever increasing number of specialized tasks. The training command also determines training doctrine that makes recommendations on the organization and equipment of all quartermaster units used by the army in the field. Ultimately the training and recommendations which originate here affect every American soldier, the food he eats, the clothes he wears, the equipment, supplies and petroleum he uses. During recent years the army quartermaster corps has been responsible for the utilization of over $2 billion in public funds each year. It is far and away one of the largest supply operations in the world. One which makes use of the most modern scientific business methods to cope with its colossal problems of purchasing, supply and distribution. The pace of today's missiles is matched in speed by our need to know the facts of our defense situation at any given moment. The facts of our supply situation must be reported with the speed and timeliness of a radio newscast. Extensive data processing machinery and army quartermaster centers greatly facilitates this task. Thanks to the quartermaster supply management system the operating inventories of quartermaster stocks throughout the world can be held to a minimum. Wasteful excesses can be avoided and supplies distributed according to the actual needs of the armed forces. Supply depots under command of the quartermaster general are located to serve not only the soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines stationed in the United States, but also the major ports through which supplies move to our forces overseas. 52 million square feet of covered storage space and another 53 million square feet of open storage space are administered by these quartermaster managed depots. Disposal of obsolete or other unusable army property is also a quartermaster job. Every year millions of dollars are recovered through the sale of such property. This assures that only modern weapons and supplies will be carried in the army supply system. The Philadelphia depot in Pennsylvania has the special function of developing technical manufacturing skills, providing pilot models and production testing of new items. As a result of these tests specifications are developed for quality production by private industry upon which the army depends for its clothing and equipment. The millions of items handled by the quartermaster have numerous sizes, shapes and purposes. Like these hand tools many of them are used by the Navy, Air Force and Marines as well as Army personnel around the world. At the opposite extreme from a pair of pliers or a screwdriver are some really heavy items. Materials handling machines such as this new forklift truck. Quartermaster designed it can do its job on such difficult terrains as deep soft sand or drifting snow and can wade in the surf in support of beach operations. Whether at home or in such once far away places as Gießen, Germany, the American soldier has assured a steady dependable supply of the things he needs. The result of a highly integrated supply system which makes quartermaster stocks available at warehouses and depots which literally circle the globe. One thing needed by any modern army, regularly and in staggering amounts, is petroleum. The gasoline and oil without which the machinery of war and defense could not function. To the Army quartermaster belongs the tremendous task of operating the Army's entire overseas petroleum distribution system. It must also develop and supply the equipment for handling these petroleum products. The years since World War II have seen enormous advances in the operation of pipeline fields, enabling oil or gasoline to be moved from storage tank or dock side to places where they are needed speedily and efficiently. Another major responsibility of the quartermaster corps is food. Master menus for example are planned by food specialists for use by Army and Air Force installations around the world. The program employs both military and civilian food and nutrition experts. The quartermaster general of the Army through the military subsistence supply agency buys, inspects and manages the wholesale distribution of food, not only for the Army but for the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps as well. Over $700 million is spent each year to satisfy the food needs of America's armed services. Qualified military and civilian food specialists make periodic visits to military installations to check on the operating efficiency of kitchens, mess halls and other facilities. Wherever possible, quartermaster planned meals go considerably beyond minimum requirements of nutrition. It costs no more to serve a nourishing meal in a manner calculated to stimulate the appetite. And the additional effort pays big dividends in morale. The American soldier, wherever he goes in the world, takes with him a large part of the American standard of living. Behind this remarkable achievement lies the work of the largest food procurement and distribution system in the world, plus continuing efforts to develop such technical means as this mobile field bakery for providing fresh bread even within sound of an enemy's guns. Though far from home, both the soldier and his dependents have access to most of their favorite food products through commissaries set up by the quartermaster. The remarkable strides in food preservation and supply of the past few decades have served as an incentive to the quartermaster corps to develop still more effective devices for the future. Scientists working under the Army's direction are looking forward to the day when fresh foods, even meat, can be stored for weeks and even months without refrigeration. Techniques are being developed for preserving foods by irradiation, which destroys the bacteria and microorganisms which cause foods to spoil or decay. Successful development of this technique may begin a worldwide revolution in the handling of man's food supplies. The quartermaster also buys and manages the distribution of the clothing and textile material for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Another example of the Defense Department's continuing effort to provide single overall management for important goods and services within our armed forces. The Army's quartermaster general performs this important inter-service function through what is known as the Military Clothing and Textile Supply Agency. It assures that the military utilizes the most economical and effective means of buying and supplying clothing and textiles and prevents duplicate or overlapping supply efforts among the country's four armed services. For as long as Army's have been in existence, pride in his uniform has been essential to the esprit décor of a soldier. The United States depends on her private industry for the production of military uniforms. It is one of the responsibilities of the Army quartermaster, however, to determine the style and quality of the uniform and to make certain that uniform items made by manufacturers meet proper standards of quality. Quartermaster personnel also exercise supervision over the distribution of uniforms at Army posts throughout the world. Under the new Defense Department Unified Supply System, the wholesale distribution of all military clothing and textile material will ultimately be based entirely on overall transportation and supply economies without regard to traditional supply practices of the various services. In addition to the regular clothing issue points, the quartermaster corps also supervises many clothing sales stores throughout the world. Laundry and dry cleaning services are another important element in the health and well-being of a soldier to say nothing of his or his family's morale. In some parts of the world, these services which most Americans take for granted are not easily come by. The quartermaster corps assures their presence wherever possible and provides the technical know-how to keep them running. Great many of the advances which improve the soldier's lot in life begin here in the quartermaster at Natick, Massachusetts where quartermaster research and development activities are coordinated. Modern warfare is a global affair and unpredictable. The Army must be prepared to equip its troops for instant service in every climate known on Earth and perhaps some which are outside it. With aircraft and missiles steadily reducing the effective diameter of the globe we live on, areas of the world which once defied man's very existence must now be considered possible fields of battle. Thus a large part of quartermaster research is devoted to developing survival equipment for such once remote regions as the polar ice caps. Arctic chambers at Natick can duplicate the most extreme conditions which the soldier may encounter. Clothing and equipment can be tested with safety and with the laboratory controls necessary to provide reliable knowledge. At the other climatic extreme, the tropics, the combat soldier will encounter a wholly different set of conditions. Those conditions are known. How the individual fighting man can be expected to react to them and what sort of equipment and clothing he needs to help him are among the questions which Natick scientists undertake to answer. Modern laboratory techniques enable the scientists to determine bodily reactions to heat and humidity under various conditions of work and activity. Ultimately, their findings will be translated into new types of clothing, items of food and other forms of supply best calculated to maintain the soldier of the tropics in maximum health and comfort. Volunteers for research projects at Natick are called upon to engage in a variety of somewhat peculiar activities. Some of it is fun and some of it isn't, but all of it has a serious purpose. In the last analysis, the only way to test an item of equipment is to use it. Sometimes this means giving a pair of shoes a year's worth of wear in a few short weeks. Sometimes a simple difference in the fibers used in manufacturing a combat uniform can mean the difference between safety and death or serious injury. One of the most spectacular results of recent quartermaster research and development activities are these aluminized paper fire fighting suits. Simple and inexpensive in construction, they afford a high degree of protection against burns from flash fires. Greatly increased the efficiency of men fighting such common menaces as brush or forest fires. The nylon armored vest, which saw widespread use during the Korean conflict, was still another example of quartermaster research and development. An exact knowledge of its capacities to protect the soldier was obtained through extensive laboratory tests before the first nylon vest was issued to a soldier in the field. Results of its use on the battlefield more than confirmed the expectations of quartermaster scientists. Items of everyday use, such as rubber and leather, often behave in unexpected ways when subjected to extremes of heat or cold. What happens, for instance, to a frozen boot? What kind of material can best withstand wear and tear under extreme arctic conditions? The results of these tests at Natick may someday influence the whole military supply policy for troops in arctic regions. No series of tests is complete, however, until results of experiments in the field have confirmed those obtained in the laboratory. To really learn the value of a boot or a pair of shoes, you have to ask the man who's worn them. From arctic snow to Caribbean beaches, the quartermaster research and development program maintains a constant study of equipment, clothing, and supplies. A program assuring maximum survival power to the American soldier anytime, anywhere. In the atomic era, tests of equipment and clothing must encompass not only natural hazards, but human ones as well. Protecting the fighting man from the ill effects of atomic fallout is currently one of the quartermaster corps major research programs. Behind every item of equipment and supply, which becomes standard issue, lie months or years of research in the lab. Research which is always supported by tests in the field. The long series of tests which are conducted before any item of equipment is finally standardized, assures the soldier of reliable equipment in the field. Coordinated research also assures the most efficient development of standardized items at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayer. A large portion of quartermaster research is in the hands of skilled chemists, men who search unceasingly for improved versions of such indispensable items as insecticides. The age of plastics is less than a score of years old. Yet these man-made materials have already achieved a minor industrial revolution. It is safe to say that the future will see even more spectacular applications of human ingenuity of this form of production and supply. Delivery of supplies, weapons and equipment by parachute, which had already undergone great development between World War II and Korea, has assumed an even larger significance in the atomic era. Modern concepts of war envision small self-supporting units capable of hitting hard and rapidly redeploying. Developing and providing equipment which enables our army to deliver men, supplies and equipment from an aircraft in flight is today an increasingly important quartermaster responsibility. The army of the future, with its emphasis on mobility and flexibility, will create increasingly difficult problems. As a result of the extensive planning and research now being carried on, the quartermaster corps will meet this challenge in the future, as it has met it in the past, by providing the American Fighting Man with the finest supplies, equipment and services of any military force in the world. Today the big picture has shown you some of the operations of your army's quartermaster corps. It is an organization devoted to providing the American soldier with clothing, food and equipment, designed to keep him in the best possible health, vigor and morale. Wherever he is, whatever he must do. Now this is Sergeant Stuart 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.