 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. Twice in the last 40 years, our country has thrown its full economic and military power into a deadly struggle to prevent the triumph of a dangerous aggressor in Western Europe. We have long recognized that the freedom and security of Europe are essential to our own freedom and security. Therefore, it is vitally important that the countries of Western Europe be strong enough to resist outside domination. One of the means by which this is being accomplished is through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Our participation in NATO is a new and revolutionary development in American history. Never before had this nation committed herself to go to the aid of a country outside this hemisphere in case of attack. Never before had we received similar guarantees from other countries. Never before had we agreed to join other nations in an active effort to build up our own mutual defensive strength. World War II was over. Peace had finally come to a troubled mankind after four years of bitter struggle, and the future looked full of hope and peace. But hope for an era of security was soon dimmed when it became clear that the Soviet Union did not intend to cooperate with the rest of the world. Nations of the West disbanded their armies and turned their energies to tasks of rebuilding their shattered homes and economies. Building for peace. On the other side of the continent there was a different point of view. They built for aggression and intimidation. The Soviet Union continued to maintain the biggest peacetime army in history. A giant octopus whose tentacles spread out to enslave Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, East Germany, and finally Czechoslovakia. Berlin became a battleground in a Cold War that threatened to become quite hot under the proddings of communist propagandists who spread discontent throughout all of Europe. In Greece, communist agitations led to open conflicts and civil war. Italy, with the largest Communist Party in the West, built up a volatile atmosphere that threatened to explode. The same in France. The free countries of Europe recognized that their only safety was in strength and began to develop regional organizations for collective defense. Brussels in 1948, Britain, France, and the Benelux countries formed the Western Union. Then on April 4, 1949, at Washington DC, 12 nations joined together to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and serve notice to the world that armed aggression against one of the allies would be considered an attack against all. One of the first and most important problems confronting the North Atlantic Council, top policy-making body of NATO, and the military committee, was the selection of a man to head the combined defense forces. The job of supreme commander. It was offered to a university president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. He took on the assignment and left with these words from President Harry Truman. You have the whole-hearted backing of the people of the United States, and I know that you'll have that same backing from 11 other nations who are in the Atlantic Treaty. Goodbye and good luck. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the man who had led the victorious Allied forces in World War II, who had the confidence and respect of the entire Western world, was entrusted with the task of rebuilding the military defense of Western Europe. I returned to Europe as a military commander, but with no miraculous plans, no display of military force. I returned with an unshakable faith in Europe, this land of our ancestors, in the underlying courage of its people, in their willingness to live and sacrifice for a secure peace, and the continuance and the progress of civilization. The children of all nations deserve better than we have so far been able to promise them. They bear no hatred, suspicion or distrust. Let us work for them and put aside all prejudices and past weaknesses, and let us never shrink from defending their birthright of liberty, even as ours has been cherished and staunchly defended for us. The job of build-up began. A flow of supplies which had started two years earlier for survival under the Marshall Plan was now directed toward the new goal, security for the NATO nations. Working out of temporary headquarters in the center of Paris, an international staff assembled to assess and deal with the immediate problems of mutual defense. The planning boards under the supervision of Deputy Supreme Commander General Alfred M. Grunther were confronted with overwhelming odds. Here was the Allied strength. America had 100,000 troops in Europe. France, half a million men under arms. Britain, half a million. Netherlands and Italy together, less than half a million in service. Few were still in Norway, Belgium and Greece combined. Against these, the huge Red Army, four and a half million strong, plus two and a half millions of satellite nations. Men once again had to learn the tools of war. But this time, if there was a war, no one nation would stand alone. Each country had pledged what they could afford in men and materiel. The French army became the backbone of the new force. They stepped up the pace of their maneuvers. Soldiers, more confident now that they were part of the great NATO organization. On the sea, France presented a revitalized Navy with its own air arm. Belgium's Navy became part of the combined defense. To the north, sailors of Denmark's fleet as well as soldiers of her army came under the NATO flag. The Netherlands pledged three divisions and Britain rapidly increased the strength of her available forces. The United States promised six fully equipped divisions. Canada's soldiers returned to the continent they had recently helped liberate. Italy put in three divisions of mountain troops. While at the top of the continent, fighting men of Norway came equipped with material from America for the mutual defense of all. A beginning had been made. Men and women of a dozen different nations were working on problems of security during peacetime. Not waiting for the moment when it might be too late to be prepared. Men of the free world were taking a large part in shaping their own destiny. One of the first orders to come from the new shape headquarters was the establishment of NATO Defense College, a source of trained officers for the international force. The Tank School of the United States 7th Army at Vilseck, Germany became a key training unit for NATO officers and men. Exercise Minuteman, held at Baston, Belgium in the summer of 1951, was the beginning of combined maneuvers. It was the first NATO command post with troops from the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium participating in three different languages. The enemy had no plan to push down the road here. We are going out to attack and destroy the enemy. The Netherlands infantry will lead the Belgium tanks. The Luxembourg infantry will ride tanks. We have our orders. Let's go. These were the first of a series of maneuvers that would eventually grow into large-scale operations. Two more languages to learn as two major additions changed the composition of NATO. On February 16, 1952, Greece and Turkey, two countries recently menaced by the Communist Horde, became members. These two nations had been seriously threatened by Soviet efforts to impede the economic recovery of the West. But with an assist from the Marshall Plan funds, they weathered the Communist interference. Now, each of these small nations possesses a strength of 14, but strength in an army does not always depend on numbers. Skill and fighting trim are of tremendous importance. Member countries began to throw more enthusiasm into NATO. In Italy, exercise Lake Garda, a practice problem in various types of radio communications. In addition to the usual tactical problems of setting up in a field command post, a new note had been added, transmitting and receiving messages that might have been originally written in a completely different language other than their own. On the other side of the Alps, in the U.S. zone of Alps, the United States, on the other side of the Alps, in the U.S. zone of Austria, troops of America's 7th Army work out an engineering problem under the most difficult conditions. Exercise Snowshoe is a joint maneuver with British forces that involves the building of a pontoon bridge across the Salzac River. NATO maneuvers were beginning to grow in size and importance. The coming presidential elections in America in the spring of 1952 was the reason for a change in command at shape headquarters. General Eisenhower requested release from his assignment in order to accept nomination for the presidency of the United States. His successor came from the battlefields of Korea, General Matthew B. Ridgway. It now fell to this combat veteran to direct the land, sea and air forces assigned to the defense of the European continent. In addition to the new commander, NATO military forces were seeing new equipment and new weapons. Special demonstrations introduced such new pieces of equipment as the latest model teletype writers. A portable flamethrower. The smoke generator. Smoke grenades. More strength was added to the pool when the Royal Canadian Air Force turned over an air base. Top NATO officials are on hand for the ceremonies and air show. The tempo of building was ever increasing and NATO forces embarked on their biggest military project to date. Operation Equinox, a complicated airborne invasion problem. Ranking officers from every section of the organization came to observe the operation in which the French 25th Airborne Division played the part of the invaders. By this time, NATO soldiers had begun to lose their resemblance to recruits and were starting to look like groups of well-trained combat troops. A jet wings in at low altitude to make certain that everything is set before the first wave of paratroops come down. Shoots are clustered to land the heavy equipment, a typical combat technique. The defensive forces streak into action. Exercise Equinox, the largest scale maneuver in its time, but there were bigger and better to come. Amphibious assault landings, for instance. Exercise Long Step provided a series of landings along the Mediterranean coast. Landing such as these took place on the coasts of Italy, Greece, and Turkey. They were excellent operational practice for seamen and assault troops of the participating nations. Turkish troops got their first taste of combined maneuvers with other NATO forces during these complex operations. As these NATO soldiers learned the job of nailing down a beachhead, they increased their chances for nailing down the peace. But there was much happening in other parts of the NATO organization. The NATO Council convened at Lisbon, Portugal for its ninth meeting, representing the British government, Foreign Minister Anthony Eaton. For the United States, Secretary of State Dean Atchison, Deputy Shape Commander General Alfred M. Grunther, and NATO Secretary General Lord Ismay, America's Averell Harriman, and William H. Draper, Jr. This was an important meeting, as it was at these sessions that the Council of Ministers agreed on the principles governing the relationship of NATO and the newly proposed European Defense Community, the plan by which the forces of Germany could be integrated into the defenses of the West. Important changes in key personnel. On May 12, 1953, General Ridgway disclosed that he had been recalled to become Chief of Staff United States Army. No greater honor could come to an American soldier. No greater privilege could be accorded than that of sharing service in that position with members of the United States Army, as well as with the other armed services of the United States, and in a very real sense, with the armed forces of America's allies. His successor would be General Grunther, deputy to two previous commanders. I am deeply appreciative of the high honor which the President of the United States did me in making me available for this high assignment. And I am also deeply grateful to the North Atlantic Council for having accepted that nomination. I am keenly aware of the responsibility involved in the task of following in the footsteps of General Eisenhower and General Ridgway. The new NATO commander is the youngest four-star general in the United States Army. When General Ridgway left for his new command, he left behind a force that no longer lacked confidence and ability, an organization that would not be intimidated by Soviet threats. From now on, the buildup would be in another direction, not so much numerical strength, but improvement of combat readiness and development of standard practices. The cartridge was a problem that came in for early re-examination. Almost every NATO nation used a different caliber ammunition and there was little opportunity to interchange small arms and ammunition. The situation was very evident during a friendly contact. A small arms shoot between teams of the NATO countries. Each of the contestants shot with a different weapon. The Bren gun and Lee Enfield rifle were used by some. Others used weapons of completely different bore and operation. But something could be done about standardizing these weapons and their ammunition. And General L.E. Simon of Ordnance Corps explains. This is the new lightweight caliber 30, our 7.62 round of ammunition. Five of the 14 NATO nations have just announced that they are prepared to adopt the new light cartridge developed by the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps. The adoption of this rifle by the free world enhances greatly the ability to have an interchange of ammunition and enables simplification of supply problems and time of war. American forces were assisting in other ways. Aviation cadets from member countries received training in America. They undergo the flight-proof schooling that leads to a pair of wings. On a desert airfield in Arizona, members of a graduating class pass and review before dignitaries of their own countries. Present on behalf of the French cadets is Madame Oriole, wife of the President of France. Training pilots in the operation of the latest model jet aircraft is of vital importance to NATO forces. Some of the member countries have made great contributions to the design of modern jet aircraft, but lack manufacturing facilities to produce the planes that would enable them to afford extensive operational training. On the sands of Arizona, language, uniforms and customs differ, but there is a single purpose, achievement of the common goal. NATO forces are being strengthened with almost every new weapon that rolls off the production lines. The Martin B61 Matador, a remote-controlled pilotless aircraft, has been assigned to Europe and will be available to the NATO armies. This unmanned aircraft climbs as fast as a jet fighter as it wings to its target at a predetermined altitude. When it makes its dive, it's through the sound barrier. Weapons are constantly being added to the NATO arsenal, and special demonstrations are held to explain and develop tactics which can be used with the new pieces. This group is watching a version of the napalm bomb, jellied gasoline that cuts down everything in its path. It was that the atomic cannon would be sent to Europe. This 280mm mobile gun is the US Army's latest and largest field artillery weapon, and anticipating its arrival, NATO troops teamed up with the US 7th Army to hold exercise Monte Carlo. Extreme mobility was stressed with frequent quick shifts in firing sites, but older methods of combat training are not neglected, even in the atomic age, and it's slow going through a minefield. My ranking officers of Belgian, British, and French forces are interested observers of the progress of the maneuvers at the headquarters of US General William Hodge, 7th Army commander who served as maneuver director. NATO's progress has definitely reduced the danger of another major war. Through NATO, nations stand together and build together, presenting a united front against aggression, men of different lands and languages, Norway, Netherlands, United States, Great Britain, Denmark, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Greece, Turkey, Iceland and Portugal, 14 nations, each with its own national customs and interests, but sharing the common ideals of men of good will, a belief in freedom and human dignity. The morale and self-confidence of European peoples and their armies has risen far above the low levels of 1949, thereby taking much of the steam out of the communist propaganda. More than a million men have been added to the armed forces of the European members through NATO. These developments add up to a record of positive accomplishment, but equally important are two things which have not happened. First, there has been no war in the NATO area, and second, the communists have not gained an inch of territory in Europe since the treaty was signed. This is Sergeant Stuart Queen inviting you to be with us next week for another look at your army in action on 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.