 Preston County, West Virginia, a region noted for its small but numerous coal mines, Preston County also contains many thinly populated mountainous and densely wooded areas which have made it an ideal host for a certain special kind of simulated war. We're being staged here as a limited unconventional war with neither front lines nor battlefields, a war of the night and the twilight, of sudden raids and silent ambushes, a rehearsal war in which men of the Army's special forces practice some of the finer points of their unusual trade. This is Special Forces Captain James Baxter, coordinator of the exercise, briefing members of the Seventh Special Forces Group, scheduled to infiltrate the enemy hill territory of Preston County. They must learn not only the tactical military situation, but also the complex political circumstances which have made their mission necessary. Shortly after World War II, the country that was formerly known as the United States was divided into three countries, Western, Eastern, and Florida. The country of Eastern has been in the communist sphere since World War II. Since 1950, the border between Western and Eastern has been fortified by both countries as a deterrent to armed aggression. The country of Florida followed a course of neutrality, accepting aid from both Eastern and Western, but in addition to conventional aid, Eastern sent agents to conduct propaganda and subversive campaigns. The government of Florida informally protested. Eastern ignored the protest. Florida reacted by officially requesting that all Eastern officials in Florida be recalled. As a result of that request, a pro-Eastern coup forced the anti-communist elements of the Florida government to flee to Western, where they set up a government in exile. Shortly thereafter, the pro-Eastern puppet government in Florida asked for and received military assistance from Eastern. The Florida government in exile requested assistance from Western, who quickly responded by infiltrating Special Forces operational detachments into Florida. Then two weeks ago, Eastern attacked Western, penetrating approximately 50 miles, before Western forces rallied and contained. Now throughout Eastern, mainly in the inaccessible areas of West Virginia, bands of 20 to 100 guerrillas have been conducting raids and ambushes against the Eastern government forces. Now these men have been struggling mainly just to survive. They've had very little chance to hinder aggressor operations. The day before yesterday, guerrilla representatives from Eastern requested assistance from the Western government. They're extremely anxious to expand the anti-communist sphere of influence in their country by waging unconventional war against the aggressors. Yesterday, the President of Western directed the Secretary of Defense to provide appropriate military assistance to these guerrillas. And your mission is to infiltrate into Eastern, organize the guerrillas, and conduct unconventional warfare operations. This history may be mythical, but it is detailed, complicated, and comprehensive. As these men well know, guerrilla warfare is not found in a political and economic vacuum. In this kind of war, support of the civilian population is indispensable. Using that support means winning their friendship and respect, which cannot be done without a thorough knowledge of the people, their customs, their country, and their problems. The guerrillas whom the infiltrators will meet are themselves American soldiers in training. In groups of some 100 men, under the guidance of special forces experts, they learn guerrilla tactics, are taught to adopt guerrilla methods, and even their common attitudes, until they can operate very much like the indigenous personnel of a foreign country, likely to be encountered during a real conflict. It's marked on the map. Nothing has gone wrong. If these are the friendly forces who were supposed to meet us, the guerrilla chief will identify himself with a prepared password. I understand it's been raining hard the last four days. No, it's has been raining only last two days. I'm Captain Darnell, the Special Forces Detachment Commander. My name's Lutz. Glad to know you, Mr. Lutz. If you're doing a fine job setting up the DZ, do you suppose anyone can see the light still burning? You're right, Captain. Let's get those lights on. The first meeting between a Special Forces Commander and the local guerrilla leader is of crucial importance. Success of any such operation necessarily depends on their personal relationship. By morning, after a march of 15 miles, the detachment and their guides finally reach the guerrilla camp. The camp is far from the drop zone, to prevent its discovery by those who may have heard the aircraft or seen the parachutists. Here again, the first contact with local guerrillas must be handled with diplomacy and tact. In situations like this, a Special Forces unit is likely to have only as much authority as it can win for itself, man to man with a guerrilla band. The ability to win confidence is one of the skills practiced in exercises like these. I'd like you to meet the second of my command, Lieutenant Jim Merlet. Glad to meet you, Mr. Merlet. How do you do? This is my executive officer, Lieutenant LaSala. How do you do? How are you? Give her a cigarette. OK. When did you hurt the arm? Four days ago. Mind if I take a look at it? OK. Say, what have you here? Oh, this is an M1 rifle. Would you like to take a look at it? What does she fire? Oh, fires in a round clip, 30 caliber. Oh, she's a nice weapon. It's good? Nice. Well, before we leave here, you'll know more about it. Very good. Captain Darnell, right at Kingwood, they got two enemy checkpoints. At the Terralda present, they got some enemy troops, which came in last night in. And also, they got some activity around Tunnelton. There's one other thing, Mr. Lads. I need to get my radio set up as soon as possible to make contact with our Special Forces operational base. Do you have an area near here that's secure that I could use as a radio site? Captain, I just got the right spot for your radio. Confirmation of the detachment's arrival is radioed back to the base where an aerial resupply mission is already being arranged. Supplies which the local guerrillas must be briefed to receive. When his wing tip is aligned with the flanker marker, this gives him his release point. Now, remember, especially at night, to extinguish these markers immediately upon the first exit from the aircraft. Those supplies most urgent, most of the explosives and other supplies to be used on the group's mission have been secretly catch on route from the drop zone. A surprising number of skills are to be found in one of these Special Forces detachments. And a major part of the group's mission is to impart just as many of them as possible to local guerrillas. This morning we'll go into the detailed fuel stripping of the M1 and we'll start... C4 is a very high explosive. However, you can beat on it, you can set it off fire, you can throw it, but it will not go off unless it is properly rigged. Here is a simple rig. You have a cap. The slit must be padded. Your tires must be made above and below the fracture. Are there any questions? The guerrilla leader cannot be given orders. He is a free agent who must be led to cooperate with tact and diplomacy. And toward Monheim, there's the railroad bridge. Let's go back to the tunnel. That looks like one of your best targets, Mr. Lats. Training of men. Will my men train in a time? Well, if you choose to tunnelize the target, we'll have trained demolitionists. We've already started our training program. Traffic in this tunnel is very busy. We've got all type of trains going through night and day. Well, that's good because we can use a train coming in to destroy the tunnel. Or can you get a timetable of the trains as they pass through the tunnel? We get you on. For much of their information, the guerrillas rely on volunteer civilian auxiliaries from nearby towns. They evade the careful scrutiny of aggressor occupation troops, actually men of the 101st Airborne Division. Local citizens are encouraged to take sides and vastly enjoy doing it. Each man will carry two charges. You, Jim, will lay the prime accord here. The rest of you will last your charges to the rail, every other tie. One pressure fuse will be placed here, the other will be here. When the train comes, the weight of the train will set off the first pressure fuse, causing derailment and total destruction. If the first one doesn't get it, the second one will. The auxiliary forces are all set, provide security for tunnel operation, and train arrives as scheduled tomorrow night at 11 o'clock. Okay, man. We're gonna move up tonight as planned. Okay, man, that's it. With Captain Arnell and his attachment help, we learned lots of things. By now, everybody knows his job. Good luck, man. Take care of yourself, and Captain Arnell, do you have anything else to say? Our last rehearsal was perfect. You men do the same counter-job, and we'll have a complete success. Right now it's 2,300. Let's go. The guerrillas divide into two groups, one to carry out the actual raid, the other to create a diversionary action in another area, coordinate the civilian auxiliaries, and maintain security during the withdrawal, which phase of the exercise is being carefully watched by a group of distinguished observers. Among them is the commanding general of the United States Army Continental Command, General Herbert B. Powell, and Brigadier General William P. Yarborough, commanding general of the Special Warfare Center. We asked General Powell about the importance to the exercise of this particular railroad tunnel. Quite important, really. You see, according to the general situation of the exercise, Easton has a very limited air transport capability. The movement of supplies and personnel is mainly along existing road and rail networks. Weston has been hitting them pretty hard from the air, and Easton has had to divert much of its transport activities to this area. Blocking the tunnel will promote a sizable bottleneck in Easton's supply and personnel routes to the front lines. The exercise serves to emphasize two truths. First, that the guerrilla's morale depends on knowing that he will never be abandoned in the field. And second, that civilian auxiliaries are a vital asset in guerrilla warfare. These men are confronted with the additional problem that by arrangement, some of these West Virginians are loyal sympathizers, others informers for the enemy. They must make their own judgment about which is which. It's awfully sorry to bother you, ma'am, but we've had a little trouble. One of my men got shot out there fighting aggressors. I got him out in your shed now. Is that okay? Well, I haven't just, but why don't you bring him inside? No, we'll be okay out there, but I wonder, could you call Mr. Ferris for me? We've got to get out of here somehow. Well, I sure I'll call him. Thank you. I better get back out there now. All right, Psy, this is Mrs. Heate. Are you still open? Well, could you bring me some groceries over right away? We're having some people in. This thing went perfect except for the withdrawal. Yeah, 40-hour diversionary force could have held us kind of grilled out a little longer. Man, that was a close call. I wonder how your savage is doing now. I think it'll be all right. Now, don't you leave here no matter what happens. I'll get word to your friends. Thank you, Mr. Ferris. I sure hate to put you through all this trouble. What are you doing? This boy's been hurt. You go out front and watch the door. This is my daughter. Don't worry. Is there anything else? No. All right, how's it going? I want a beer. Until the moment of betrayal, the store owner actually did not know that his daughter's allegiance had been won by the Antigarilla forces. The townspeople have done their best to lend authenticity to the exercise, keeping their own counsel and working on behalf of whichever group has won their personal sympathies. The exercise continues with a final ambush of an aggressor convoy. This has the double purpose of rescuing a captured gorilla and a civilian sympathizer and illustrating another very common technique for obtaining supplies from the enemy himself under the exercise. Portions of which, like the smoke grenades under these supposedly burning vehicles have been staged especially for our cameras. All of the exercise, however, has had a serious purpose. Only by duplicating as closely as possible conditions they may someday face in reality can men of the army's special forces acquire the skill and the judgment demanded by their highly specialized and unconventional calling. These exercises are designed to be realistic and we fool a lot of people. No matter what side you're on, Mr. Ferris, you're a real asset. Thank you. Morning, Miss C. I bet that shoulder's made a miraculous recovery. Well, the only thing wrong with it now is a little stiff from pretending it was wounded. Have you had any excitement lately like you had in the last few days? No, that's something that only happens once in a while. Your farm we dropped on the other night made a wonderful drop zone. One little problem of the briars we encountered. You think maybe you're planning on moving those soon? I hope. Well, you jumped a little bit too soon. I am going to film later. It's been very nice in working with the special forces and the gorillas. We have watched the exercises and observed the participants get the world situation closer to the people of Preston County. And I feel that it is a vital necessity to continue these exercises and have been happy to participate in any small way that I could. Special forces, officers and enlisted men are products of an extremely rigorous training system. They are very carefully selected and a good deal of their training is done in outdoor areas such as this. We think without a doubt that they are the finest troops in the world. In reality, as in this exercise, the communists are waging a brutal war of subversion and covert aggression throughout the world. We're answering the communist threat with a special warfare force designed specifically for the task at hand. A force which, thanks to the training such as this, adds critical balance to what you call our network of global defense.