 Near the border of Long Khan and Fwasan provinces, UH-1 helicopters flip into a landing zone with units of the 173rd Airborne Brigade to begin a search and destroy mission against the VC. It is 9 March and Operation Silver City is now underway. This team gives first priority to inflating its pneumatic assault boat, which it will use for river crossings and recon. The boats are eased into the nearby stream as the troops prepare to move out. Both the Song Bay and the Song Dong Nai rivers flow through the area searched during the operation. The action is taking place in Warzone D, the Viet Cong jungle stronghold located some 50 kilometers northeast of Saigon. Operation Silver City also involves elements of the 1st Infantry Division and the Royal Australian Regiment as well as troops of the 173rd. The two-week Allied sweep through the area was planned to hunt and kill or capture the enemy in the notorious Zone D, which the Viet Cong had controlled with virtual impunity for years. At another LZ in the area, Chinook helicopters bring in more units of the 173rd. One-quarter ton trucks will provide essential transportation within and between forward command posts. Meanwhile, other Chinooks arrive at pre-selected positions with weapons and personnel of 105-millimeter howitzer batteries. The howitzer crews lose no time in laying their weapons and preparing for fire missions in support of Operation Silver City. In addition to artillery support, numerous airstrikes and bombing runs were directed against the Zone D objective. In another part of the forest, elements of the 1st Infantry Division were filmed as they struggled against some of the natural hazards of jungle warfare. This M-48 tank crew uses machetes and pioneer tools to clear a way through the thick vines and dense undergrowth that had ensnared their vehicles. The tank is cut free and the column continues on its way. It is now four days later, 13 March, and the Allies are pressing Operation Silver City into the heart of Zone D. But thus far, there has been little contact with the enemy. As the armor units proceed, they advance by echelon to provide flank security and avoid ambushes. Here, the demolished hood of a truck is checked for booby tracks. About 25 meters off the route of advance, this unit of the 1st Infantry Division came upon a bombed-out DC base camp, which seemingly had included a fixed steel kitchen or hospital. The camp appeared to have been abandoned several weeks earlier. A nearby bunker is investigated and found deserted. Personnel sift through a few scattered papers left behind and keep those that might be of value to intelligence units. Then, the unit starts forward again, but soon halts when it comes to another DC bunker. After a white phosphorus grenade is tossed into the bunker, it also is found to be empty. Another halt occurs when a DC grenade is found lying in the roadway. A demolition man places a charge of TMT alongside the guerrilla munitions and destroys the grenade. The tanks in the advanced guard reconnoiter the woods alongside the trail by fire before the column continues. During the day, this unit made a 5 kilometer sweep through the area without contacting the enemy. On the two following days, another unit of the 1st Infantry Division was filmed as it conducted a sweep covering some 8 kilometers through the same general area. The sweep began at the unit's base camp, some 14 kilometers southeast of Fochbyn, and extended northeastward to the Song Bay River. A hut, discovered early in the March, yielded no Viet Cong, but several supply items, including an outboard motor that had been abandoned by the BC. Some 5,000 ball bearings and several hundred spare parts for bicycles were also found. The outboard motor was prepared for demolition while the hut and other supplies in it were put to the torch. Some of the troops filled their canteens at a small stream and then they forged ahead through the jungle. Later on the March, the units emerge into an area that had been pounded by Allied bombs during Operation Silver City. A rest break is called while unit leaders assess the damage to the area and check the location on their map. Then, it is time to move out once more. Late on the second day of the March, a smoke grenade is used to guide in a helicopter for a medical evacuation. There has been no contact with the enemy during the strange patrol, but combat operations under these conditions take their toll in many ways, including heat exhaustion. Meanwhile, other members of the unit begin clearing resupply LZs as this small early phase of Operation Silver City comes to its frustrating close. At headquarters of the 1st Infantry Division near Dion, members of the Big Red One fall in as their commander for the past two years, Major General Jonathan O. Seaman, bids them farewell. At the change of commander's ceremony, the playing of the National Anthem is followed by an 11-gun salute. General Seaman and the incoming commander, Brigadier General William E. D. Pugh troops the line. The ceremony was held on 15 March before composite platoons from the division's three brigades and support command. A special message from the Army Chief of Staff citing the inspiring leadership of General Seaman and the ability of General D. Pugh was read by General William C. Westmoreland, MACV commander. General D. Pugh's previous assignment was as General Westmoreland's Chief of Staff for operation. General Seaman is taking charge of Field Force of Vietnam II. This new command with headquarters at Benoit will have control of all U.S. ground forces in the 3rd Corps area, which extends from 40 kilometers southwest of Saigon to 150 kilometers northeast of the capital. Early in March, a shipment of bolts of material for clothing arrives in the port of Saigon for use by the MACVJ4 clothing production center. Trucks carry the heavy boxes of materials to the warehouse complex where it is checked in and recorded. It is next delivered to the clothing production center. The truck goes to a warehouse for unloading. This is the Vietnamese quartermaster area and is identified by the quartermaster insignia appearing at the base of the flagpole. The shipment from the United States is clearly marked as American aid. The unloading begins utilizing modern material handling methods. One box is opened for inspection by the Vietnamese officer in charge and the American advisor. The cutting shop also employs modern methods of mass production. The many layers of material are stenciled on top to form guidelines for the cutter. Numerous pieces are cut simultaneously as the electric knife slices smoothly through the many thicknesses of material. The identification number on top of each stack will tell the workers who handle it later exactly where it is designed to go. In another building, lines of sewing machine operators stitch the pieces together to form recognizable uniforms. The trousers and shirts take shape while moving through these machines. Field uniforms are the most used garment in the Vietnamese war and the demand grows with the increase of troops. An inspector checks out each piece before stamping his approval on it. In the finished product storage room, the bundles of clothing are placed in a bailing press to be prepared for shipment. A hand operated ratchet lever compresses the clothing. Three such bailers can pack more than 6,000 uniforms a day. This is one of 150 items of clothing manufactured here. Current production at the clothing production center is approximately 100,000 uniforms and 150,000 miscellaneous items of clothing and equipment per month. The cost of labor runs about 10 cents a uniform for cutting and assembly. Over 1,500 civilians are employed in the task. Here are 24 different uniforms for Vietnamese men and women in the armed forces. Both summer and winter issue are represented here in uniforms manufactured by the clothing production center in Saigon. Crushed rock for roadways and construction projects in the Cameron Bay area is mass produced at this nearby quarry. A tractor mounted drill is used for the first step in the process. With this apparatus, engineers can bore holes 20 feet into the solid rock hillside. They will then place explosive charges in the holes and blast large boulders from the quarry. While this work is progressing, other members of the engineer unit use a bulldozer and a crane to clean up the product from an earlier blast. The crushed rock is loaded aboard waiting trucks for delivery. After the initial demolition, smaller explosive charges are placed on the resultant individual boulder. Heavy mud is tamped around the sticks of M2 dynamite to equalize the explosions and to direct their force downward into the large rock. Next, the engineers pay out detonating cord from a reel and interconnect the mud-packed charges so that all of them can be touched off simultaneously from one blasting device. The death cord, which has an extremely high explosion rate of 2,000 feet per second, is itself set off by two blasting caps and an electric firing device. The shattering force of the numerous medium velocity charges rips the boulders asunder. As soon as the fragments and dust settle, the engineers will begin loading the crushed rock and setting up for another blast. In early March, work in the quarry was underway both day and night. On 1 November 1965, the first bulldozer moved into this area near Fanron and began leveling the dry cactus dotted earth. Four months later in early March, a modern jet airfield is nearing operational status here, thanks largely to a new surfacing material known as AM2. The all-aluminum material, which is fast replacing the familiar TST runways of World War II and Korean Vintage, comes in 12 by 2 and 6 by 2 foot mats. The extruded aluminum sections, with a cellular interior structure, can be rapidly interlocked to form a landing field that will support the largest transport plane. The work at Fanron is being performed by a U.S. Army engineer battalion, by more than 350 Vietnamese laborers and by some 150 employees of a U.S. construction firm quartered nearby. At the same time, construction is underway on other facilities needed to support operations at a modern jet airfield. Here, a crane is used to unload pumps, pipes, and other plumbing equipment in the fuel storage area. When this activity was filmed on March 4th and 5th, large tanks for storing jet fuels were being started and completed daily. The Fanron airfield, located some 100 kilometers northeast of Saigon, and about 30 kilometers southwest of Cameron Bay, will be the sixth jet insulation in South Vietnam. Its construction literally involved moving a mountain, more than one and one-third million cubic yards of earth. Fanron became operational in mid-March, when a tactical fighter squadron of F-4 Phantoms arrived here from Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. Within eight months, another 10,000 foot runway in concrete will be added, greatly increasing the field's capacity. A competition to bridge the Rhine River gets underway on 13 March, near Leheim, Germany, between two battalions of the 24th Engineer Group. The first half of the contest involved assembling the rafts and getting them into the water. The second phase started as the engineer unit, the 79th Battalion and the 293rd Battalion, began connecting the floating bridge units to span the river. U.S. and Allied officers observed as the contest progressed. 82 floats were used in the construction of each bridge, which was 1220 feet long, with an overall width of 44 feet, and a travel way of 13 and a half feet. The 79th Battalion won the contest, completing its span in just under four hours. His Royal Highness, the Prince of Luxembourg, is patron to a military sports competition, based at the Heronburg Cousin in Dekirche, Luxembourg. It is the fifth time the International Council of Military Sports, SISM, has held its meeting in this country. Posters for the competition on 20 February are seen everywhere in Dekirche. Today's race comes in the midst of formalities and festive events, running from the 17th to the 22nd of February. The military athletes of 10 participating nations line up before the day's program begins. Three lieutenants represent the United States in this competition. Only military men on active duty may compete. With the firing of the starting gun, the field is alive with movement. Moments later, the men reach the foot of a hill and begin their climb on the run. Their feet dig at the steep trail as they fight to keep their place. Then the trail becomes the flight of theft. These races are planned to follow the tradition of the military foot races of the soldiers of ancient Athens. Strength and staying power are tested to the limit in this race. El Gaste of Morocco streaks home first. By now the contestants are well separated. The two top spots are won by Moroccans. Third place goes to a Spanish contestant. The military meet is considered successful in furthering the sport itself, in developing the character of the contestants and in mutual understanding of the participating nations. In the Alpine and Scandinavian countries, skiing is one of the most important military skills the soldier can master. Here in the Ahavisto Sports Center in beautiful Hummelena, Finland, seen of past Olympic winter glories, the Council of International do Sports Militaire, held its 11th annual Winter Ski Military Championships. Eight nations participated in the ski championships this year, and the United States of America was represented by its biathlon ski team from Fort Richardson, Alaska, headed by Captain Cleo Parker Jr. and the American Alpine ski team drawn mostly from the United States Army in Europe, headed by its skiing coach Lieutenant Rick Harbridge. One minute past nine on 10 March, the first contestant and American starts the military cross-country race. He is followed by an Italian contestant. The starting interval is one minute. At 9.17, contestant 17 and American moves out. The course is tough even for these military skiers. Number 17 reaches the firing point. In the excitement and tension, a vital detail is almost overlooked. In the race against time, hazardous turns like this must be precisely judged. Here, number 23 from America handles himself successfully at this point, but other contestants following him have a harder time of it. The finish line is reached in this closely contested international military event. A man who has played a major role in the promotion of these military sports, Brigadier General Royal Hatch, U.S. Air Force, President of SISM, is interviewed by Lieutenant Krensky. SISM, of course, has an academy which is devoted to research, developing the best methods and perhaps passing it on to some of the countries that are not as fortunate as we are. It has proved successful in the study of boxing. We have had a clinic and developed ideas which may make the sport survive a little better. We put out a magazine in which some of the results of the SISM Academy are printed for technicians as well as for laymen. On 13 March, the military patrol race is held. First off, American Team 2 borrows a Norwegian contestant to replace an ill member. This event features four-man teams performing cross-country skiing and marksmanship. The lead-off team crosses a snow-covered bridge that is part of the course. Meanwhile, other teams continue to depart from the start line. Team 6 is American. An Italian team moves swiftly along the trail. A French team tries to gain on them. The first team reaches a firing point, well aware that their marksmanship is a vital part of the score. Eight countries are competing in this test of endurance and skill. At the finish line, the time of the teams is recorded. Later, it will be coordinated with the marksmanship records to determine the winners of the event. Colonel Robert Montondo, Director of Special Services at the Adjutant General's Office in Washington, was the Senior American Delegate to this year's SISM Skiing Competition. Here, Colonel Montondo will present a plaque of appreciation to General Hanala, Commanding General of the Armored Brigade here at Hummelena, who acted as our host for this 11th annual SISM ski competition. Colonel Montondo. General Hanala, on behalf of the United States Armed Forces, it is my pleasure to present this little silver tray to you. It is given as a token of friendship and in sincere appreciation of the many fine arrangements that you have made and for the many courtesies that you have shown the United States team. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you very much for your kindness. And I hope that your team is enjoying being here in Finland. Thank you very much.