 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 Sergeant Stuart Queen. How do you do? The fighting in Korea has pointed up the importance of firepower and mobility for our army. The men of our armored force can boast of both qualities of modern warfare. Here is our armored force in action, in training camps at home, overseas in Europe, and in Korea. The prolonged bitter fighting in Korea has again demonstrated the versatility of armor. Working side by side with the rifleman, the soldier in the tank has written a new chapter in the history of warfare. The irregular valleys and jagged hills of Korea were once considered impossible tank country. Nonetheless, the tankers found new ways to use their land destroyers and remain in the fight throughout the campaign. After overcoming many of nature's obstacles, tanks fulfilled a variety of missions. They were the short, hard punch of limited infantry attacks, destroying enemy machine guns and blasting enemy bunkers, which held up the advance of the U.N. foot soldier. United States armor engaged the enemy shortly after the original communist surprise attack. In the early desperate days of the Korean fighting, light chaffies used in the Japanese occupation were thrown into battle by elements of the 24th Division. Tank-supported infantry defended the historic Busan perimeter, a thin line around our last toehold in Korea. When the U.N. surprise landing behind the enemy lines at Incheon relieved the pressure in the south, an armored task force of the 1st Cavalry Division broke through the Naktong River Line for a rapid drive north. Coordinated with this sweep of armor was the drive of the 7th Infantry Division, southward from Incheon. When these two forces met, they trapped 50,000 North Korean troops, defeating the communist plans for a quick victory. Immediately, the 8th Army seized the initiative and spared North to demoralize and destroy the retreating North Koreans. U.N. forces crossed the 38th parallel, and this time, their advance included the prize of North Korea, Pyongyang, its capital. Even while American tankers were fighting their way into Pyongyang, Red forces retreating to Manchuria were being cut off 38 miles north of the town by paratroopers of the 187th Airborne Regiment. Another trap had been set, this time between paratroopers and men of the armored force. When tanker and paratrooper met, they had wiped out organized enemy resistance in Korea. The Korean fighting was renewed with the entry of massive Red Chinese forces. In the many months of seesaw fighting which followed, 8th Army tanks backed up the infantry all along the battlefront. Sherman and Patton tanks figured prominently in halting the Chinese attack and in the counter-drive that led to the recapture of Seoul. A tank infantry team was the first to recross the 38th parallel. The soldier in the tank and the soldier with the rifle combined teamwork and team spirit, living up to the rich traditions of cavalry and infantry. Here's a demonstration of how tanks and infantry fight. The rifleman clears the way for the tanks, while the tanks use their machine guns to destroy enemy automatic fire. Despite the rugged Korean terrain, the tank has performed an endless variety of services. It has climbed up steep hills, cooperated with the air force in joint attacks and provided accurate covering fire for infantry units engaged in probing enemy positions on high ground. Fair necessary, it has acted as a long-range gun, along with howitzers and mortars, to pound fortified hill positions. Modified, it is even built roads. American armor has fought against overwhelming enemy strength. The results were measured in enemy casualties and prisoners of war. The tank has unique characteristics, placing it apart from any other modern weapon. Let's take a closer look at these characteristics which make it so formidable in the field. First superiority of the tank is its prodigious firepower. Second, its mobility. That is speed and capacity to maneuver. Third, its armored protection. Since the days of medieval knights, man has attempted to place a protective barrier between himself and enemy weapons. Today, modern armor keeps pace with the increasing effectiveness of projectiles. The major factor in tank planning is the ratio between tank firepower and tank sides, which affects the tank's mobility. Planners know that a tank's maneuverability and speed may be as protective to the tank as its firepower. Finally, the tank brings into combat a psychological factor. It's shock action. This combination of elements put to work in support of the infantry multiply the range and effectiveness of the foot soldier, who in turn lends his nimbleness and broader field of vision to the tank crew. The rifleman can direct tank fire by smoke fire of his own, which calls the target to the tank's attention, or by hand signals, or radio telephone. He can set off a prearranged flare signal. Let's see how the small infantry tank team goes into action. First, there's a briefing by the task force commander. Next, there's a maintenance check of all equipment. The small unit leaders of infantry and tanks will team together, receive their specific orders. This is followed by a reconnaissance of the terrain, always carried out personally by the leaders. At each hour, the tanks move out of their assembly areas. They reach their attack positions as the rifleman advance across the line of departure. On command, the tanks support the infantry with heavy overfire. As the attack continues, riflemen and tanks advance together. Coordinated fire keeps the enemy pinned down. Many factors determine who leads the advance, tanks or infantry. Here, in a wooded area where the vision of a tank commander may be limited, riflemen take the lead and serve as the eyes of the steel giants. Reaching open country, the tanks immune to small arms fire, take over the lead to seek and destroy enemy machine guns whose fire is deadly to the rifleman. Close teamwork is the key to success. Here, an enemy anti-tank gunner is nailed by heads-up action on the part of a rifleman. Approaching the enemy trenches, heavy automatic fire forces the rifleman to take cover, but the protected tanks roll through the fire and over the enemy positions, enabling final mop-up action by the rifleman. Behind the complex operation of America's armored forces stand years of intensive training. This usually begins at Fort Knox, Kentucky, designated as the home of armor when the armored force was created as a separate military arm in 1940. Here, tank officers and crewmen receive basic instruction in tank weapons and communications and also in automotive principles until they know their way around a tank inside as well as out. Each tanker learns not only his own job, but what the man next to him and all other crew members will be doing. Drivers get a thorough apprenticeship over a tank course studded with obstacles. The tank is expected to perform efficiently on muddy mountain trails or snow-covered highways. Time trials add an extra element of pressure. Time spices the competition in training, but is vital in combat. Gunners acquire the essentials of ammunition knowledge and firing techniques. All right, let's get started. Here are the four main types of ammunition you'll be dealing with. The name of each one tells its own story. This is shot. A high-velocity projectile that drills its way through heavily armored targets. This is hypershot. It has a terrific muzzle velocity. You probably fired it in basic, so you know how fast it gets out there. Both shot and hypershot can punch holes in heavily armored targets like tanks, pillboxes and fortifications. Both projectiles have a tracer element in the base. When you fire them, you can see a reddish glow marking the shot. After this session on the big guns, they get a chance to test their machine gun prowess on ground targets. The machine gun is the tank's payoff weapon at close range. As the members of the tank crew begin to function as a unit, they are drilled in such coordinated operations as the capture and search of prisoners, an important factor in assembling of military intelligence. For tank leaders who must meet particularly high standards of alertness and resourcefulness, there is a rigorous special test. Advanced tank training at the division level is carried on both at Fort Knox and at other bases scattered around the country. The 7th Armored Division, for example, was training in the fall of 1952 at Camp Roberts in the west central section of California. A mock attack on a village provides valuable experience in combat tactics. The tank has a specific and limited assignment. Such exercises bring the tanker into close contact with his rifle-carrying sidekick, here shown being rescued in a simulated combat zone. This kind of painstaking drill worked out under friendly conditions may mean the difference between life and death on some future battlefield. Father South in California at Camp Irwin, large units undergo training in advanced tank maneuvers. These include training in tank movements, counterattacks, and delaying actions. The tank is particularly well-equipped to cover orderly withdrawals. After concentrating heavy firepower from behind the safety of its armor, it is able to rapidly leave the area. Various formations are practiced and repeated in pursuit of the letter-perfect coordination that must be achieved for combat effectiveness. An exercise in mobile defense involves liaison with reconnaissance aircraft. Oscar Six, this is EZ7. Enemy column, near coordinates, two, six, seven, five, one, five. Heading south on road, about 15 tanks plus five infantry carriers. Also nearly a company of dismounted infantry with about 15 tanks at coordinates two, six, six, five, one, two. Advancing through the wooded area west of the road. I'll call for artillery fire. Over. Roger, out. The fine points of tank infantry coordination are practiced until they become a matter of instinct. Here riflemen wait for tank flamethrowers to burn out enemy pillboxes, after which the foot soldiers can resume their advance. In larger operations, tanks may coordinate with air napalm attacks to reduce enemy opposition. Here is the climax of training in night vision and night maneuvers. This is as close to the real thing as human ingenuity can make it without risking American lives. The armored units are now ready for their missions in the world's tension zones. For today, American armor stands guard for democracy not only in the Far East, but along the European borders of the Iron Curtain. In Western Germany once again on the job is the hard-hitting second armored division. Here seen during World War II in the brilliant dash that carried it across France and through the Siegfried line. After the war, the second armored became a training division at Fort Knox and then in 1949 was transferred to Camp Hood in Texas for final brushing up before returning overseas. Texans enthusiastically greet the proud wearers of the hell on wheels insignia. Passing in review is a big package of American mechanized strength, the full armored division. Its massive tank power is backed up by mobile infantry, artillery, engineers, and other supporting elements. At Camp Hood, the men of the second armored had a spell of routine camp existence. Daily maneuvers brought their battlefield skills to a final peak, but before many months there was another mammoth parade, this time in farewell to the states. First step in the 5,000 mile trek to Germany was a train ride to the Port of Houston. Finally, there came the inevitable farewells. Up the gangplank marched the men of the second back to the jittery continent from which they had helped to sweep the Nazis six years before. After a friendly welcome on their arrival at Bremerhofen, Germany, they continued on to their assigned base at Baumholter near Monheim. It takes a lot of moving to transfer the full power of an armored division, but it didn't take long for the men of the second to set up in business again. Soon they were honored by the arrival of a distinguished visitor, and then another. The second armored guarding the gateway to Western Europe is constantly engaged in maneuvers, testing the latest developments in equipment and operational techniques. Here they try out the effectiveness of newly landed M-47 patent tanks in crossing blown tank tracks. The big tanks take something over six minutes to cross TNT-made craters of the so-called deliberate type. For the smaller hasty craters, they need only two minutes. A leapfrog advance is practiced by two tank teams. First, team one moves forward under covering fire from team two. When the first team has captured high ground, it swings its guns around to protect team two, and the covering process is reversed. Here team one, having seized the protective position, signals to team two that they can come forward. Besides its own maneuvers, the second armored plays an important part in joint allied exercises. Its armored weight, a quiet warning to the Kremlin that democracy will brook no aggression in Western Europe. The tanks of the armored force are supplemented by self-propelled big guns, and other vehicles built on similar principles of design. Included in this group are amphibious personnel carriers and tracked motor carriages which may mount machine guns or anti-aircraft guns. A well-known World War II vehicle was the amphibious weasel, now being replaced by the more powerful otter, which can maintain a land speed of 30 miles an hour and carry twice the cargo. But the heart of the armored force is still the tank. Under present army structure, besides the mechanized armored divisions, there are tank components assigned to all infantry forces, one tank battalion per division, and a tank company for every infantry regiment. The division normally has nine light tanks and 140 mediums. These tank models are being constantly improved by the Army's Ordnance Corps, the latest entry in the lightweight class is the 26-ton Walker Bulldog. Replacing the chaffee used early in Korea, the Walker can speed 40 miles an hour and climb a 60% slope. In the medium class, America now has the Patton 48, first completely new medium model designed and built since the end of the war. This Ordnance and Chrysler designed vehicle with its 810-horsepower engine combines the best features of the Sherman, Pershing, and Patton 46. Like the earlier post-war medium tanks, the M48 has a 90-millimeter gun, but it is superior to its predecessors in virtually every other respect. Its high-velocity big gun has a quick-change gun tube. Another innovation is an extra 50-caliber machine gun for the use of the tank commander, which can be aimed, fired, and reloaded from inside the tank. The sloping armor and low silhouette present a difficult target to the enemy. The elliptical shape of the hull and turret is designed to deflect shells. A redesigned interior provides more fighting room, better vision, and a reduced crew of four men. With its wider and more powerful treads, the Patton 48 can roar up swiftly from a deep ditch. Heral waterproofing enabled it to take a 4-foot water hazard and come out fighting. But even with these formidable new weapons, the Army does not rest on its laurels. It keeps pace with the latest scientific developments in the laboratories of the government and of private industry through its design service, Army Ordnance. Always, the search goes forward for better metals, more ingenious combinations of firepower, mobility, and protection. For as long as the threat of aggression persists in the world, the armored force triumphant in Europe, doubly tested in the hills of Korea, stands ready in defense of liberty. Improvements in both tank development and tank warfare are going on continually. Our Army and American industry is making certain that the armored force will continue to possess the up-to-date mobile firepower that has proven so successful in World War II and in Korea. Now, this is Sergeant Stuart Queen inviting you to be with us next week for another story in 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 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.