 Army service for the United States soldier today can mean many things. From taking part in civic action activities, bringing friendship and confidence to a disrupted people, to providing medical aid for the sick and injured. These are missions he willingly performs as part of his Army assignment. But his first and primary mission is to stop the aggressor. In South Vietnam, where the nature of the land tends to restrict movement of troops and military equipment, this is a complex and difficult assignment. To meet this challenge, US Army planners have developed dynamic new concepts for conducting military operations. Today, we will see how one of these concepts, the use of armor as a swift and powerful army strike force, has been developed as a successful combat element in support of our nation's defense commitments. The successful use of armor in today's stability type of US Army operations, such as those in South Vietnam, has been made possible only through the most advanced developments in armor training and technology. But the concept of armor as a battlefield weapon goes back hundreds of years. The earliest drawings we have of armored vehicles were made in the 15th century. In 1456, the Scots invented a wooden horse propelled cart that encased its crew and protected them from the weapons of their times. About 25 years later, Leonardo da Vinci, the famous Italian painter who was also an ingenious inventor, devised another type of armored vehicle. Da Vinci's armored car was propelled by men underneath the shield, turning by hand a crankshaft similar to the ones we use today. This steam-driven armored vehicle invented in 1854 had to stop every few minutes to take on water and build up engine pressure. During World War I, the British developed the first modern tank to be used on the battlefield. The French also began making the new armored vehicles. These early French tanks were used by US forces in 1918 because American tanks were not yet available in any quantity. American forces employed tanks for the first time in the historic battle of San Miel in September of 1918. Though these early armored vehicles played an important part in reducing infantry casualties, by moving against the automatic weapons fire of the enemy, their potential was never fully exploited. For the most part, the tank in the First World War played a secondary role in support of infantry operations. After the war, the US Army Tank Corps was actually assigned to the Chief of Infantry. It was not until the late 1930s that technological advances in armored vehicles brought the tank and the mechanized force to the forefront of battlefield maneuver. One of the first US Army tanks to set an effective battlefield record was called the General Sherman. A medium tank weighing about 30 tons, it saw action in many important World War II engagements, including desert conflicts in North Africa. The enemy had developed a philosophy and a concept for the use of armor that had swept through Central Europe on a surge of conflicts. Blitzkrieg, Lightning War. Both on the European Plains and the desert of North Africa, the Nazi armored power moved swiftly, but in the end unsuccessfully against the Allied forces. It was during World War II that armor was used for the first time by both sides in full divisional strength as a primary combat arm. The war in Korea was a valuable proving ground for determining armor capabilities and limitations on difficult terrain. From the use of armor in both World War II and Korea, Army planners learned that tanks and mechanized equipment were not only effective in their mobility and firepower, but the psychological effect of armor as a massive potential for destruction of the enemy was considerable. Today, the problems of armor operations arising out of United States defense commitments abroad are being met by dramatic new programs in the training of armor personnel and the development of new and more effective armored equipment and fighting concepts. Fort Knox, Kentucky is the Army Training Center for advanced individual training in armor. In the armor training brigade, the soldier who has had his general basic training will learn how to drive, load, fire, and maintain tanks and mechanized equipment and become familiar with armor communications. Okay, push your starter switch and starter up. On latest training devices, he receives instruction in these operations. Okay, driver, put it in low gear and move out. When you reach 60 to 10 miles per hour, we're gonna hide here. Driver training is presented using mockups, which contain controls identical to those he will have to operate in an actual tank. Okay, driver, turn right. Okay, stop, driver, put it in reverse. The instructor follows the progress of the student on a control console. The console also allows the instructor to program malfunctions into the training device to determine the student's ability to overcome driving problems. Stop driver, put it in low and move out. Each company in the training brigade spends one week on the driving range. Here they first witness driving demonstrations by the instructors. Each student gets practical experience in tank driving under careful supervision. An eight-mile drive with students operating their vehicles in formation is a feature of the course. Any questions now before we start sending messages? I won't correct any mistakes, but on your headsets, just your boom mics in front of your mouth. Training in all of the operational elements of the armored vehicle is essential so that each member of the crew can take over the job of the other in an emergency. These men are receiving instruction in tank radio telephone procedures. Let's go ahead and start. Oxford Canal 5, this is Oxford Canal 5-0, over. This is Oxford Canal 5. Forward elements have encountered light resistance in vicinity of Alamo, over. This is Oxford Canal 5-0, Roger App. Oxford Canal 6, this is Oxford Canal 5-0, over. In swiftly moving armor operations, accurate communication among armor units is essential. Use of proper code words and brevity of the spoken message ensures quick response and reaction. This is Oxford Canal 1-4, has spotted one section on Viet Cong on Route 1-9 between binding and play cow, over. These targets are on the dry fire range at Fort Knox. In this training, gunners learn how to sight a tank weapon without actually firing it. An electronic device records a simulated hit if the sighting is on target. Further and more concentrated armor education is provided at the U.S. Armor School at Fort Knox, which trains leaders and technicians, both officer and enlisted, on the organization, equipment and doctrine for armor units. A group of armor soldiers gets acquainted with a training simulator for the highly sophisticated armored reconnaissance airborne assault vehicle M-551, known as the General Sheridan. However, most of the field units are still equipped with the M-60 tank, and much of the training is directed toward its functions and capabilities. On this M-60 training device, the student tank crew learns how to handle armor components, such as the main battle gun. Each member of the armor crew learns proper operational procedures. He must also learn to detect any electronic or mechanical failures which may threaten the unit mission and take corrective measures. It controls the blackout drive, the blackout markers, the stoplight, and the service drive. To operate... In the Armor School Automotive Department, the student receives realistic training on all the automotive features of the armor vehicle to which he may be assigned. Now, to move our switch to their own position, what must we do? Lieutenant Williams? Enlisted men are taught how to maintain various armored vehicles, while commissioned students learn techniques for management of their maintenance programs. The ability to move rapidly and decisively in combat may depend on lessons learned at the Armor School. Varied training devices used at the School vividly illustrate the operating parts of armored vehicles. To begin with, turning the engine on, you will notice the rocker arms up on the top side of the engine. The yellow rocker arm, when it is depressed, indicates the injector nozzle is injecting fuel into the cylinder. This is commonly known as the L-head engine. Now, we have the four strokes in this engine as the intake, compression, power, and exalt. Now, you'll notice as the valve mechanism works up and down in the engine, you can follow the four-stroke cycle. Instruction in all phases of armor may be recorded by a television for army-wide use. Mobile TV units, manned by expert technicians, can cover demonstrations anywhere on the post, or within a wide area of the region where the training center is located. A control room at the Fort Knox Television Training Center is equipped with latest monitoring equipment, which can channel closed-circuit armor-educational programs directly to classrooms on the post. Taping facilities provide an additional capability for electronic programming of armor instruction. Prepared through the most modern training methods, with a total knowledge of his vehicle and its equipment, the armor student moves on to one of the most important phases of his military education, leadership. The combat leadership course of the armor school stresses student participation in solving practical problems of judgment and decision. On this terrain board, problems, many of them based on historic armor engagements, are presented to the students for solution. We will now go into the ninth situation, which is a logical continuance of the last situation. In the fast-moving situations that arise from the use of armor on the battlefield, the armor leader must be able to make decisions, give orders, and take action quickly. His decisions must be accurate and timed to the military emergency. Your platoon has advanced this far along your route of march. You have identified a crossing site slightly upstream from your present location. Your infantry squad leader who identified the crossing site has also identified possible enemy armor to your front. At this stage, you are faced with two problems. One, how to get your platoon from their present location across the ford and continue the attack, and two, what you must do about the presence of identified armor on the high ground to your front. Gentlemen, what are your actions and orders at this time? Corporal Hill. Sir, Corporal Hill. Helper 2, this is Dixie 1-6. Keep me informed. Out. Dixie. This is Dixie 1-6. Keep on the lookout for enemy armor. Dixie 1-2 and Dixie 1-3, move to forwarding point. Dixie 1-4 and Dixie 1-5, follow me. Out. Is there anything more that you would like to add to your transmission at this time? No, sir. Thank you. What has he done wrong? The armor soldier is in a highly specialized combat arm that must always keep a step ahead of a growing technology. But it is the men and not the machines who win or lose battles. The armor commander must be able to apply his knowledge and leadership in a variety of army missions, both in conventional military operations and in counter-insurgency type activities. And that is to advise the company commander. You must send a spot report to the company commander. Full-scale field exercises give the armor soldier an opportunity to use his individually learned knowledge as a member of a combat team. Now he is prepared for assignment wherever U.S. Army commitments call for his specialized skill. In South Vietnam, the armor soldier and his unit test their metal against many problems of terrain and climate. Much of the interior of the country is rugged mountainous land, posing difficult problems for armor operations. In areas where maneuver is possible, monsoon rains may turn the ground into rivers of mud, making the going rough for tracked vehicles. Despite these adverse features of the land, Army planners have discovered that tanks can operate in South Vietnam in about 60% of the country in the dry season and in about 45% of the land during the wet season. Mechanized equipments such as armored personnel carriers can move effectively in more than 65% of the country the year round. As a result of continuous study and evaluation of land movement problems in this region, a body of doctrines and concepts have been devised for the use of armor in the unconventional warfare situation. In addition to the traditional role of armor as a dominant ground assault force, certain specific missions have been developed for armor units. We're going to be your security for the convoy today. First of all, let me go over the uniform to be worn on this convoy. The uniform is a steel pot and a flak jacket and that's the whole way in the long bend. I don't want anybody with their flak jacket or their steel pot off. Is that understood? Can anybody not hear that? Each vehicle will have a driver and a shotgun. If there's any vehicle here that doesn't have a driver and a shotgun, don't even move out. Go on back to the motor pool. This unit is moving out on a reconnaissance-enforced mission. Objective, locate and dispose of enemy forces and destroy or evacuate supplies and equipment. The Vietnamese interior has few large sweeping areas of clear flat lands such as those which supported the swift U.S. armor advances through Europe in World War II. In this region, armor must often penetrate heavy jungle growth to reach its objective. Even when there is a road, there is always the danger of sudden ambush, a favorite tactic of the Vietcong. With passage ahead disrupted by landmines, the V.C. pour a withering fire on U.S. armor vehicles and personnel. To meet this threat, the armor unit has taken its cue from America's pioneer days when covered wagons were drawn into protective formation against attack from every direction. The enemy fire is returned by our forces with devastating effect. Often what begins as an all-out ambush to destroy U.S. armor ends in complete disaster for the enemy due to our superior armor firepower and unique maneuver techniques. Our military operations in Vietnam consist largely of this type of area warfare where battles are fought in widely separated places with the enemy on every side. In this type of combat, armor operations are greatly aided by U.S. Army air support. Helicopters bring in badly needed supplies and ammunition. Air cavalry conveys vital intelligence to tank commanders concerning location and movement of enemy troops. Highly maneuverable, today's armored forces are extremely flexible. Units can be grouped or regrouped quickly to meet the demands of the tactical situation. As armor elements deploy through the countryside, they must be prepared to deal with local inhabitants, both hostile and friendly. The mountain yards or mountain people of South Vietnam are not only friendly, they are bitter foes of the Viet Cong and a valuable ally for U.S. troops. In the unconventional type of army operations, friendship has become an increasingly important element. The armor soldier helps local inhabitants wherever he can, contributing to the overall U.S. goal of building up the health and welfare of the South Vietnamese people. The mission to seek and strike the enemy may take the armor unit over a wide variety of terrain. The armored personnel carriers have a versatile capability for water operations. Even these vehicles have their problems if the wet areas are too shallow and the bottoms are too soft. A good visual test for the condition of the bottom of swamps and streams is the water buffalo. Water areas solid enough for these animals to wade in are solid enough for mechanized operations. Where tanks and mechanized equipment cannot operate in water because it is too deep or the current is too fast, the armor battalion carries its own portable bridge and launcher. The armored vehicle launched bridge is designed to allow armor units to cross short gaps in the least possible time and with minimum exposure to enemy fire. The search for the enemy often leads the armor unit into villages where Viet Cong guerrilla fighters may be hiding. Dismounted soldiers deploy through the area on the lookout for signs of the foe. Inside one of the houses, a tunnel opening is discovered. Viet Cong tunnels often conceal large caches of supplies and ammunition. A thorough search is made of the underground area, both for military supplies and enemy personnel who often use the tunnels as a base of operations. A large enemy cache of rice has been turned up by the search. It is loaded onto an armored personnel carrier for eventual distribution to the South Vietnamese people. As armor elements move through the countryside, they are sure to come up against one relentless foe that cannot be overcome by combat power, mud, plentiful in this tropic region. But even against this natural enemy, the armor soldier has many expedience. Riggings of various kinds permit mired vehicles to be moved out with a minimum loss of time. To prevent armored equipment from bogging down in water-soaked terrain, ingenious operational methods have been devised. This daisy chain hookup is one answer to the armor soldier's problem of getting his vehicle across soggy ground. Maintenance lessons well learned in training come in handy when armor equipment needs repair or replacement in the field. Whatever the nature of the assignment, the essential mission of the armor soldier and his unit remains fixed to conduct combat armor operations against the enemy. In some cases, armor acts as a support force for infantry operations. Frequently, armor is used as an independent assault force to achieve certain objectives. More often, it will be employed as part of a combined arms team, receiving support from the air cavalry and fire support from field artillery. There is mobility and firepower, joined in highly organized, flexible units to meet the shifting fronts of unconventional warfare. To maneuver quickly for defense or offense, to turn ambush into rout, to conduct successfully independent or support operations, these are the capabilities of the well-trained U.S. armor soldier and the potent versatile armor equipment he uses. To ensure a continuity of finest armor equipment, the armor and engineer board at Fort Knox conducts a program of tests and advisory services on all major items in the armor inventory. The armor agency at Fort Knox has the responsibility for developing new concepts in equipment and fighting doctrine. Armor plans for tomorrow include this flame-resistant tanker suit to provide greater protection for members of the tank crew. Already in development is this new amphibious battle tank, the MBT-70, a joint project between the U.S. and the U.S. On the drawing boards for tomorrow are ingenious new armor devices designed to help the armor soldier fight more efficiently. Armor has come a long way since the early Scottish war cart and the Da Vinci tank. You have seen some of the means and methods that have made the armor and mechanized forces of the United States the powerful combat arms they are today. This painting, hanging in the armor school headquarters at Fort Knox, symbolizes the role of the mounted soldier. From the days of the U.S. Army cavalry to the present, he has fulfilled the urgent military need for swift response. Today's armor soldier moves to battle on mounts of ever-increasing speed and power to seek and strike the enemy, to deter further aggression, and regardless of the number of soldiers that are under further aggression, and regardless of terrain or weather, to accomplish his assigned combat mission.