 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. 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. As you sit watching me on your television screen, you are aware of the enormous changes that the electronic miracle of television has brought into your lives. For the United States Army, television promises to revolutionize battlefield communications by giving the commander something he has never had before, communication by sight. Recently, the first public demonstration of the use of television in combat was staged at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. In that demonstration, which we will show you in our first pictorial report today, we can see the full spectacular scope of the changes television may one day bring to the battlefield. A milestone is marked in the electronic revolution of the battlefield as industry and army leaders assemble at Fort Meade to witness the first public demonstration of the tactical use of television in combat. Before the demonstration starts, a briefing officer in the command post outlines the simulated combat exercise which the television cameras will follow. The battle plan calls for two coordinated attacks, a river crossing and an infantry tank assault against the aggressor's defense line. Gentlemen, when I say time, it will be in it before eight hour. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, time. A signal corps television camera records the beginning of the operation. As the armored personnel carriers push into the water, a new era in battle communications is open. Before back at the command post, this action is splashed on the television screen and the commander is given what he has never had before, instant visual knowledge of what is happening to the troops under his command. The bars we see do not appear on the TV screen, but result from filming the telecast at motion picture speed. Overhead, a liaison plane carries a camera which provides an air view of the same action. Watching this on his screen, the commander is able to maintain close control over the formation and dispersal of his amphibious vehicles. Now the aggressor begins his resistance to the attack with artillery and small arms fire. The commander can evaluate immediately the strength of this resistance. In the first crucial moment of the operation, his control is firm and constant, for the television cameras and the assault wave are giving him the incalculable power of sight. The steel protected carriers move steadily forward despite the aggressor's opposition and now the tracks of the first vehicle grip the beachhead. The technician at the controls selects this vital scene for the master screen and the observers watch closely as the carriers in the first wave land and discharge their infantrymen. Now the second stage of the operation begins, the attack on the aggressor's positions. At the moment when the first riflemen hit the beach and all of the carefully drawn details of the battle plan meet the crucial test of performance, the commander has the priceless advantage of being able to make immediate decisions based on his own firsthand observation. The riflemen move out and with them goes the television cameraman, a new and important soldier born of the electronic revolution. A three-quarter ton truck carrying a microwave transmitter has been landed and is set up to beam back the cameraman's picture. It is picked up by the receiving antenna at the TV base station and flashed by cable into the command tent where the action of the battlefield unfolds on the master screen. A flamethrower is trained on aggressor fortifications. The television camera catches this too so the commander may see the effect of this deadly weapon. The coordinated tank infantry attack is launched under cover of a smoke screen. This is the payoff, the final test of military doctrine and training and the cameraman is there to record the victory. The last of the aggressor's strong points is overrun. But the battlefield work of the camera is not yet done. The surrender by the aggressor, relayed by the cameraman, gives the commander not only visual proof of success but also a valuable opportunity to participate directly in the interrogation of prisoners. This is Ramrod 6, bring the prisoner up closer to the camera. Over. Prisoner, what is your rank? And what is your organization? Over. Captain, I'm a captain, I'm at the 107th engineers, 7th rifle division. Look at his shoulder patch and sleeve and say, I want to verify that. Captain, you're on this phone right now. Okay, that's 107th engineers, all right. Did you find any documents on that man? If so, let me have a look at him quick. It's a blueprint of a bridge, it looks like a silk river bridge, mate. Get the helicopter, Ray. Have the helicopter move in. Let me see your bottom. The demonstration concluded. General Matthew B. Ridgway, Army Chief of Staff, evaluates it for its potential benefit to the Army in combat. We have just seen an example of the imagination and forward-looking way in which the Army is seeking to increase its tactical capability. I can assure you that this attitude is indicative of the Army's approach to all of its many tasks. It is exploring to the fullest extent possible every scientific and technical advance as it occurs. We are not insted in gadgets as such, but we are very deeply insted in anything which will increase our military effectiveness. This, I am sure, is what you want too, for you appreciate how important it is that our Army be equal to any challenge. At the same time, we must be sure that what we adopt is sound and concept and practicable in action. Thus, we test new weapons and equipment and doctrine carefully and rigorously in the laboratories and in the field before adopting them. That is the standard which the Army seeks to judge itself and to judge every innovation. And that is why our splendid fighting men, such as those of the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment you have seen here today, must have the best. It is not just their lives and their success in battle, which may be at stake, but ours, the American peoples. For it is for them that we all of us serve. And that is why the Army is eager to cooperate with our American scientists, scholars, industrialists so that through the combined efforts of all, we can continue to have the finest Army in the world. In this way also, we shall help to ensure that the material which you, the American people, place at our disposal will be used to the best advantage. I am confident that in assisting toward our goal, military television will play an ever-increasing and significant part. A new era has opened up in the history of military communications. Sight has been added to sound to give the commanding officer instant visual command of his troops in battle. Television in combat has demonstrated its feasibility. Television will bring many changes to the American Army. But one thing that electronics will never change is the importance of the individual soldier himself. Today, throughout the world, he is doing many different kinds of jobs. Some of them well-known, some not. But all of them important. One of them, shaped into vital significance by the course of current history, is the job of patrolling the borders which separate the free world from the Soviet orbit. In Germany, where we take you now for our next report, patrols are on the border every day of the year. We will see what constitutes a typical day's activities for a patrol such as this one. I'm a platoon sergeant with Company I, 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment, the leader of this patrol. I've been over here working in border operations for a long time now. I've gone on a good many patrols. And everyone starts the same way, a thorough and careful briefing of the area we're going to cover. This is critical territory we're in. And there's no room for error in our jobs. Like everything else, of course, when you do it long enough, day after day, border patrolling gets to be pretty routine. But just the same, heavy patrol is a new experience. And you never quite get over the feeling of excitement that sets in when you start out. The territory we patrol is in Germany's historic Fulda Gap, a place that has figured pretty heavily in European history. Ever since the first barbarian horde swept through here out of the east in early Roman times, it has been considered one of the main invasion routes to Western Europe. By now, we're about as familiar a sight as the sunrise in the border towns and fields we pass through. For American patrols have been traveling these same roads day and night without let up since the end of World War II. I think probably we're almost as welcome a sight as the sunrise too. The people here are working and living as free men today. But they're also living right at the very edge of danger. They know it. And they know that our presence here is the strongest thing that stands between them and that danger. So even though life goes on in this old valley pretty much as it has for centuries, the armored jeeps of the US Army's border patrols are as important a part of the scene as a traditional ox cart. Under these circumstances, it's understandable that a special warmth has developed in the friendship between the German people and the soldiers who live among them. Wherever we stop on our trips, a group invariably gathers around to talk to us. And of course, it's easy for us to reciprocate that friendship. There isn't even much of a language problem anymore because both Americans and Germans pick up a working knowledge of each other's language pretty quickly. The chief equipment of a border patrol is alertness. All along the area, we must keep our eyes open and our ears sharp. We investigate the border from every good observation point we can find. Here, we're literally the Army's eyes. The eyes of the entire free world, in fact. So we scan the area carefully and then move on to another observation post. While we're on the road, we exchange reports with liaison planes, which observe the border area from the air in constant touch with our headquarters, too, reporting every bit of activity along our route. In an operation like this one, it's also vital that headquarters know exactly where we are at any given time. This is the high point of the daily tour, the inspection of the border itself. We have to be prepared for anything that might happen. And like in all crucial military operations, we do it strictly by the book. The men stand by their weapons to provide cover. I take another man with me. We go up right up to the iron curtain itself. Only we call it the glass curtain because you can see through it, but you can't reach through it. Attention border zone. That's a sign that everybody in this part of the world treats with real respect. There's no life here. Nothing's stirring anywhere here. So back we go to check another border point, and another, and another all along our sector. I don't know how many times I've looked out on that 10-meter strip of plowed ground which separates our world from the communist world. It's a strange feeling. I'm always glad to turn away from it, to walk back toward the world of freedom, another day's patrol land. We finish it up by going back to headquarters to check in. I give my report to the lieutenant. We don't have anything spectacular to report. No excitement, which believe me is just the way we want it. Because in this day and time, an untrammeled border between us and the commies means another day in which aggression has been checked. Off duty, we participate actively in the life of Bodd-Hersfeld, where we're stationed. We're so much a part of the community scene now that whenever there's going to be a town festival or anything involving the welfare of the community, the mayor and other civic officials always count us in. That suits us fine, because we like being a part of this community. My CO is always telling us that, on duty and off, we're sought of ambassadors for the US over here. And I guess the townspeople themselves look at it that way too. I'll have to confess, I don't feel much like a diplomat, but I do like to work with these people, but they've been mighty good to me, to all the soldiers over here in fact. Sports is my hobby, and I found lots of opportunity over here to pursue that hobby. For these people are really sports-minded. Like most German communities, Bodd-Hersfeld has a sports plot. Discuss throwing and other track activities are sports in which the Germans particularly excel. And the local officials are very generous about giving us lessons. With their help, I'm developing into a pretty good discus throw. One of the best sports in all Germany is hunting. There's lots of game, but it's not like the US. There are no public game preserves. They're all private. So it's a real treat, but not by any means a rare one, to be invited to a German sportsman's private grounds. We wait in the blind until the Robux show up. If you like to hunt, this is about as exciting a climax to a day as you could find. We share with French and British soldiers the responsibility of policing the East-West borders. So periodically we all get together for some fun of our own. Have you ever seen a three-way tug-of-war? It's rough. I'm the captain of the US team, and I can tell you it's hard work. It's a big thrill to win one of these meets, but more important, it's a great experience to meet these fellows on the field of sports. There's always a ceremony with one of our meets, one that really grips you. It's March in front of you on a parade ground at Bodhurst fell. You watch the stars and stripes and your regimental colors pass and review. And you realize fully what an international character there is in the border soldier's life. Yes, the ceremony on the parade grounds of Badhurst fell emphasizes the international aspect of the border soldier's life. The tradition of military service is rich with ceremony. Ceremonies of many kinds linking the present to the proud and honorable past. For our last report today, we bring you a story of one such ceremony. That of retreat, with an original music score composed and conducted by the United States Army band. All military customs, the most respected, the most cherished and meaningful is that of retreat. In the double drama of sunset and ceremony with the attention of all hands riveted on the national emblem, a military man feels somehow privileged. Here's the kind of honor and respect our flag deserves. Here, well symbolized is the devotion of his own life to the service of his country. Because of the deep importance of retreat, the writers of your screen magazine have searched history for the origin of the ceremony and uncovered its roots deep in the past during the crusades of the 11th to 13th centuries. As the sun began to set, the G.I. Joe of that banished army listened for those musical notes which he knew as retreat or the evening ceremony. It was a signal to return to camp, to cease the activities of the day. It was the time for setting the watch and putting out the campfires. Even the bugle call now used was first sounded then and has come down to us through 900 years. The sounding of retreat through the British army had its origin as far back as the 16th century. Then it was called the watch setting and the watch was called by drumbeat. In those days, the terms retreat and tattoo were one and the same. The ceremony, as quoted in 1727, was this. Half an hour before the gates are to be shut, it is generally at the set of the sun, drummers of the port guards are to go on the ramparts and beat a retreat to give notice to those without that the gates are to be shut. As soon as the drummers have finished the retreat, which they should do in less than a quarter of an hour, the officers must order the barriers and gates to be shut. In the general orders of the Duke of Cumberland, a distinction is made between the two ceremonies. Retreat, he said, is to be beat at sunset, whereas tattoo is to be beat at eight, nine, or 10 o'clock at night. And what of tattoo? Now here we have something colorful from the 17th century campaign of King William III in the Low Countries. In those days, all active operations ceased in the late autumn and the rival forces went to billet in towns and villages surrounding the battlefields. The Inns were the social centers of the day and were busy enough in the evenings. The only way to clear the Inns was to stop the blow of ale. This was done between 9.30 and 10 p.m., when a drummer marched through the billeting area beating a call. Upon hearing it, the Dutch innkeepers remarked, doden taptoe and turned off their taps. The word taptoe was used officially for some time, but finally gave place to the familiar tattoo. Getting on to our own country, it may be said that our military ceremonies derived largely from the 17th century British army. In colonial days, a pipe and drum corps would march through the streets of a camp or garrison playing loudly. Each soldier was required to, quote, repair to his tent or quarters and remain therein. Quoting the regulations of Baron van Steuben. The retreat is beat at sunset for calling the roll, warning the men for duty, and reading the orders of the day. We do not know for certain when the flag became the center of the ceremony. Marine orders from 18.5 tell the sergeant of the guard to have the halyard's man that the flag may be in due time attended to at retreat meeting. And so the ceremony grew in dignity and interest with the various branches of the service leaving their marks. Currently at every army installation garrisoned by troops and with either bugler, field music, or band, retreat is first played, then there is the call to attention and the hand salute. The lowering of the flag is begun on the first note of the national anthem or to the color and is governed so as to be completed at the last note of the music. Navy regulations state that this ceremonial lowering of the national anthem at sunset shall be known as evening colors and that no ceremony shall take place when a ship is underway. For as long as there is daylight, a ship's identification must be visible. The Marines, so colorful through the years, began about 1870 to put emphasis on the retreat ceremony, elaborating it at Marine Headquarters, Washington to the once a week sunset parade. Here, crack exhibition troops embellished the ceremony with unique drills, but the heart of it all is the flag. We hope the military of every branch and rank will take renewed pride each day in a tradition so deeply rooted. In it, as Admiral Jewett once said, we honor the emblem not only of national authority at home, but of liberty and progress throughout the world. And thus with retreat ends the soldier's day. This is Sergeant Stuart Queen inviting you to be with us next week for another look at the big picture. The United States Army in action. 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 US 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.