 The axiom that an army marches on its stomach is as true as it ever was. But the modern army also moves on its lines of supply on wheels, tracks, wings, and hulls, on land and water, and in the air. This is logistics, once defined as the art of winning battles by getting their fussest with the mostest. This chapter of The Big Picture reports not only on today's improvements in maintaining the army's mobility, but also the constant research into still newer and better ways of keeping the army at least one move ahead of any potential enemy. An official report produced for the armed forces at the start of American participation in World War One. There was little modernization of logistics. Men and equipment moved into battle much as in Civil War days, more than 50 years before. But almost immediately there was progress, as evidenced by this Model T version of the Jeep of World War Two. And the genius who adapted the farm tractor to military use was also on the right track. But for sheer pulling power, few vehicles then could match this artillery mover with four-wheel drive, a new weapon against mud, the army's ancient enemy of movement. Scenes like this inspired the Doughboy's expression, built like a Mack truck. This vehicle packed enormous power for its day under that deceptively small hood. By contrast, here's the army's modern-day answer to mud and rough-going in cross-country heavy hauling. This vehicle, with all wheels driving, uses a unique principle to gain traction. Called the gore, it is designed to do just that, go, even under conditions like this. The cab will turn up to 90 degrees either way and literally waddle its way through the mud. The gore is more economical to operate than tracked vehicles of similar capacity. It is also easier to operate, with such engineering features as a push-button gear shift. Two models of the gore were made under the Ordnance Tank Automotive Command, a cargo truck model, and a fuel tank semi-trailer. In this test over a rugged course at Fort Knox, Kentucky, the gore shows some of its capabilities in off-road mobility. The gore has a waterproof skin, enabling the gore to swim. The treads of the large tires act like paddle wheels, propelling the vehicle like a boat, and up to three knots. The army's land vehicles, the most popular, was the Jeep of World War II. Here's its successor, called the MUT. The MUT can do everything the Jeep could do and then some. It can climb hills better, it is more powerful, yet it weighs a thousand pounds less when rigged for airdrop. The MUT has some features borrowed from the world of sports cars, such as four-speed synchromesh transmission and a low-range gear case, which can be shifted while the vehicle is moving. While it is not a swimmer, the MUT will forward hard-bottom streams. The MUT is capable of speeds up to 60 miles an hour and has improved riding comfort. Designated the M151, the MUT is destined to carry on the tradition of dependability established by its famous forerunner. The CAT, with its extra-wide treads, is a trackless train. It was developed by the army primarily as a major transit system, linking military camps in the frozen wastes of Greenland. The Arctic ice cap offers little in the way of traction for ordinary vehicles, but the CAT answers this challenge. Here at Camp Tudow, on the Greenland ice cap, sledge cars are loaded with equipment and supplies for army engineers who are building a new campsite at a considerable distance from the supply center. Loaded and linked behind the tractor locomotive, the sledges resemble huge boxcars, except that there are no rails, no roadbed for this freight train. After a snowstorm, the permanent root flags mark the invisible trail for the next train. Great quantities of cargo can be hauled at relatively low cost by these freighters of the far north. Traveling in groups, they must observe the rules of good railroading. When the CAT trains converge on their destination, they present all the appearances of a busy big city freight terminal after a blizzard. Tracked vehicles are also useful in another climatic extreme, the jungle. The army continuously tests and improves amphibious track carriers in field exercises such as this one in Panama. Those spare tires are actually rolling fuel tanks, real space savers. Swamps are only minor obstacles to the various types of amphibious tracked carriers. Modeled after the smaller but very successful tracked vehicles of World War II, they have proved invaluable in terrain impassable by other means. Before taking leave of land transportation and going on to other categories, we should pay our respects to an older means of transport which has served the army well. Time after time, when all else failed, the army mule came through. Even after army duty, as in the case of these war surplus mules being shipped to farmers in Greece, the mule continued to serve. For any salute to the army mule, must take into account the animal's cantankerous disposition. Military training never quite overcame the mule's natural indifference to authority. But in spite of his tendency toward insubordination, the mule performed many miracles of supply transport. This stubborn but sure-footed animal for decades was considered indispensable as a cargo carrier on the most rugged terrain. Is he really indispensable? What about this strange beast of burden? The mule has a right to be suspicious about this mechanical monster. Maybe he senses a rival. There's nothing reassuring to the animal kingdom in the vehicle's 12-mule power engine. Nor in the way all its wheels turn for instant steering. Now the mule's worst suspicions are confirmed. The vehicle actually is his replacement. Its simple, flat-top body makes it easy to load and unload. With no cab, windshield, bumpers, or fenders, the mechanical mule goes almost anywhere its four-footed namesake can amble. It carries far more cargo than any live mule and is adaptable for moving supplies, miscellaneous gear, and even troops or litter patients. It kick or balk at water crossings. One of the biggest advantages of the mechanical mule is that the driver can dismount and guide it from cover. The mechanical mule displays more motorized maneuverability. A victim of technological progress, the mule was retired from service with full honors on December 15, 1956. Another category of vehicles is used by the Army when it goes to sea. Largest of the tractor transports is the amphibious armored personnel carrier called an LVTP-5. Here it is put through its paces by men of the 4th Infantry Division in an exercise off San Juan Island, Washington. The carrier conceals its bulk by virtually submerging, offering a very small target. Armor cover all around and overhead protects the men from air bursts and small arms fire. The carrier can defend itself with the guns and its blister turret, or hide within its own smoke screen. And only when it reaches shore does it reveal its size. Another class of seagoing vehicle is represented by the LARC-5, a 5-ton amphibious truck. Essentially it's a boat on wheels, or if you like, a truck that floats. Either way, a useful piece of equipment on land or water. At home in heavy surf, the LARC-5 and a larger version, the LARC-15, are prime movers of cargo from ships to shore where there is no harbor. A giant in this series of amphibians is the BARC, a floating barge on wheels. Its tires are over eight feet in diameter. Crew for the BARC is four men, with two men assigned to port and two to starboard. Like the LARC amphibians and its predecessor of World War II, commonly called the duck, the BARC shifts power from wheels to propellers when it enters the water. Operating as a lighter, the BARC provides ample capacity for cargo transfers of up to 100 tons. LARC can handle heavy equipment with ease. Its roomy deck accommodates the largest vehicles. Even these awkward pieces of construction machinery present no loading problem. As a vessel, the BARC has sufficient motive power to make headway and moderate to heavy seas. One of the biggest advantages of the BARC size is that it can carry heavy-duty equipment ashore to improve its own landing area or to build a harbor if necessary. As a troop carrier, the BARC is surpassed only by conventional ships. It can carry as many as 200 men and their combat gear on land or sea. We're getting into still another category of army vehicles. It looks like the driver of this one got too close to the water. He seems to be stuck in the sand. Well, there's a dandy solution to the beach parking problem. This early model air car has no wheels. It hovers on a cushion of air generated under it by two aircraft engines driving ducted propellers in the hood and trunk. Skimming over land or water with equal ease, the experimental air car can develop speeds up to 60 miles an hour. It can travel over any unobstructed surface at an altitude of 6 to 9 inches. Maneuvering is accomplished by opening ports which divert the air flow through adjustable veins. In this way, air performs the functions of propulsion, braking and steering as well as suspension. The air car is capable of turning on its own axis and can carry a payload of 1,000 pounds. It seats four men who ride into a new realm of combat mobility aboard this vehicle. Here's a concept of air transport which is typical of the pioneering spirit of Army aviation research. This kite-like flying machine is called the flex wing. Combining the maneuverability of the glider with the storage ease of the parachute, the flex wing has a nylon wing attached to a collapsible framework which unfolds for use like an umbrella. It can fly at speeds of up to 100 miles an hour or slow down to land at almost a walk. Theoretically at least, it can be made in any size. Here's still another experimental Army aircraft. This one incorporating vertical takeoff and landing capability with high speed in the air. Once the research craft is airborne, the engines are tilted forward in conventional fashion. Landing and hovering, blasts of the plane's ducted propellers are directed straight down. This type of craft eventually may replace many of today's planes and helicopters. When these ideas and developments are on the way to becoming realities, the Army's aerial tasks are served ably today by these many specialized aircraft. All operational and each designed for a particular function. Copters also have been developed for specific tasks. Both categories range from light to medium capacity. The minimum landing requirements of the rotary wing craft, combined with the speed of the fixed wing planes, gives the Army the flexible mobility it must have in the air from headquarters down to the front lines. The bird dog is named for its primary job of spotting targets for artillery. As a liaison plane, it can also be used for dropping emergency supplies. Worthy descendant of the World War II fire control reconnaissance planes, the bird dog operates easily from small improvised landing fields. It's much larger than the bird dog, but with its powerful turboprop engines, it needs little more runway to get up and go. Canopy gives both the pilot and observer a good look around. The Mohawk also carries cameras and radar for reconnaissance. Moving small units along the battlefront to places where they can do the most good is the specialty of the beaver, a rugged utility plane. Twist out from under the noses of the enemy, this combat team can be working 100 miles away in less than an hour. Once by the otter, big brother to the beaver, this plane can carry 10 combat-equipped troops in addition to the pilot. Without the troops, it will transport six litter patients or 2,000 pounds of cargo. But the otter is still small and agile enough to use tight, roughly surfaced fields. Versatile workhorse for rugged airlift operations is the twin-engine caribou. The remarkable craft will provide swift, medium-range airlift for 32 combat troops and their equipment or a full 6,000 pounds of priority cargo. And its ability to take off and land on short runways in remote areas is amazing for an aircraft of this size. The caribou is one answer to the Army's need for its own means of accomplishing large-scale air movement of troops and supplies. As the largest fixed-wing aircraft presently used by our ground forces, it has proven itself to be a vital factor in the Army's ability to react instantly to a developing situation and to do so in sufficient force to make that reaction decisive. Outstanding characteristic of Army air mobility is its helicopter force, battle-proven in Korea as an invaluable aid in reconnaissance, resupply, rescue and a host of other duties. One of the better features of the helicopter is its ability to go almost anywhere. This makes it invaluable as an air ambulance when moments saved mean lives saved. This turbine-powered Iroquois holds a number of world helicopter records, a feature of the Shawnee, sometimes called the Flying Banana. The Shawnee is a transport-class helicopter capable of carrying up to 20 troops at more than 100 miles an hour within a range of 200 miles. It will also lift 3,000 pounds of cargo or lend a hefty hand to disabled aircraft. Large numbers of troops are involved in a fast movement. The Army calls on the Choctaw. This veteran of the helicopter service carries up to 18 fully-equipped troops. The Choctaw also can ferry a jeep or equivalent load with its sling hoist. Any concept of mobility must take into account the remarkable agility and precision of movement demonstrated by the well-trained Army pilots of these four Su helicopters as they put on an aerial square dance. This maneuver would mean nothing on a battlefield, but the capability of the craft to perform it and the skill needed by the pilots are great assets in combat. This one-man helicopter, it answers many requirements for extending the soldier's freedom of movement. Here's a gadget several steps closer to the ultimate in personal military transportation. Straight out of science fiction into practicality, the rocket belt is undergoing comprehensive testing by the Army. This demonstration on the lawn of the Pentagon attracted considerable attention, official and otherwise. The men enacting the roles of minute men emphasize the progress in science for military purposes since the Revolutionary War. Strapped into the unique device, our test pilot is ready to blast off. Let's see how this fantastic device might be used in combat. Just as this man can leap across 100 yards of water, a company of troops outfitted with these belts could scale a cliff or vault a chasm almost instantly. The ability to move troops, their equipment and supplies is the first requirement of military operations today. The greater the Army's mobility, the greater its power to strike back at aggression, to counter man threats against our freedom and that of our allies in the free world, to augment and sustain the advantages of our technological superiority over opposing forces. Great strides have been made in Army mobility on land and sea and in the air. But there is no resting on the laurels of success in these fields. Research and development must and does continue into new and still better means of maintaining the Army's maximum capability to move swiftly against any enemy.