 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. A cornerstone of the Army's job overseas is the defense of Western Europe. And defense of Western Europe can mean defense against potential enemy air attack. Our first story on today's Big Picture is about the 34th anti-aircraft artillery brigade. A brigade on constant alert for their positions in West Germany are just seconds away from possible enemy aggression. This is a fire mission. The red flag is up. The guns of this big brigade are ready to fire. But there is more than loading and firing to operating a large force of anti-aircraft artillery. At home base, thousands work to keep the outfit ready at all times. There are hundreds of vehicles in the unit's motor pool. Keeping them moving is a big and important job. More speed and mobility are essential if the brigade is to counter effectively any potential enemy air attack. Radar technicians periodically check all their equipment. The firing of every gun is in some way controlled by radar. Guns are inspected daily to make sure they are in first rate firing condition. For the guns must be ready to go into action or spring to new defensive positions at the shortest possible notice. Ready for any alert that may be sounded. The anti-aircraft operations center is the focal point of operations. Here it is decided where the brigade will concentrate its fire. Information from various parts of Europe is plotted on its wall map and gun positions are diagrammed on its blackboard. Anti-aircraft intelligence is provided by early warning radar and is recorded in the anti-aircraft operations center. This data is needed to plot missions on the early warning plotting board. It is at the operations center that officers of the unit gain a clear idea of the constantly changing picture in their area. And as conditions demand, orders are given to shift the positions of the battalions which make up the brigade. The alert is sounded. The big brigade goes into action. Each battery gets its orders. It's time to move out. Over 20 different kinds of vehicles stream past the assembly point and into position in the convoy. Trucks, half-tracks, jeeps, tanks, mission for today, cross the Rhine River, debark and establish defensive positions on the far side. The brigade waits to be transported by landing craft of the Rhine River patrol. The vessels are used so that the river may be forwarded in the shortest time. Then roll aboard with the knowledge that this may be no mere maneuver but a decisive counter measure against a possible sneak attack by a potential aggressor. While the convoy clamors up the ramp, full-track anti-aircraft weapons are posted a short distance away to stand guard against would-be enemy air attack. Loading continues during the first hour after dawn. And as each vessel fills with soldiers and equipment of the big brigade, another stands by to take its place. Quickly, the vessels make their way along the Rhine, hugging the shore as they move upstream. The quiet and peaceful scenery stands in sharp contrast with the tenseness of these soldiers on the alert. As one nears its goal, others are just starting out. A steady flow of men and machine spanning the river. On route, the men have a chance to scrutinize the Rhine shoreline. On the far side, advance units are already deploying throughout the surrounding area. And soon, the entire brigade is safely across, moving into its predetermined defensive position. Guns are set up as quickly as possible. Each man has his assigned task and sets about his work with calm efficiency. These men know their jobs. Camouflage nets are put over weapons and vehicles. It is essential that the positions of the brigade be well concealed from possible enemy air observers. In addition to nets, natural cover is used whenever available. Radar too is camouflaged, bright shadows playing in the midday sun. Dinner is carried to the men in the field. The unit's field kitchens follow wherever it goes, and hot food is always available. The meteorological van is set up, and skilled soldiers compute weather data, filtering in from stations in other parts of Europe. Balloons are sent aloft to provide up-to-the-minute information on the upper atmosphere, information which is vital to accurate firing of anti-aircraft artillery. The balloons are carefully followed by visual tracking devices. Inside the van, impulses from the balloon's airborne radio apparatus are received, along with other information and interpreted by skilled technicians. There are few idle moments on this manure. Men are kept busy practicing gun drill, keeping trained skills razor sharp. Friendly jets from a nearby air base give the unit's gun crews realistic experience in tracking aircraft. As the afternoon grows dark, radar keeps watch over the countryside, and suddenly guns spring into action. A simulated mission is ordered, and blank ammunition puffs from the muzzles of the Big Brigade's weapon. The one-day maneuver has come to an end. Camouflage nets come down. Guns are loaded on their vehicles, and tired men move through the heavy German night back to their home base, weary from the day's toil, but proud in the knowledge they are helping to defend the democratic nations of Western Europe, proud in the feeling of a job well done, tired, but ready for tomorrow's alert. In another phase of their intensive training, men of the Big Brigade test their skills by firing live ammunition on the Totendorf anti-aircraft artillery gunnery range. There, they fire side-by-side with our British NATO allies, along with other American units. English soldiers prepare a fire mission as the Americans wait their turn. Throughout the range, soldiers of nations united in the defense of the free world have an opportunity to observe each other in action. Officers of the new German army are shown American anti-aircraft guns, cooperation between armies strengthening the defense of Western Europe. An important section of the Totendorf range prepares drone planes, radio-controlled artillery targets, or RCATs for short. Each RCAT carries a loft, radio apparatus, and a parachute. The radio will allow a technician on the ground to control the RCAT's flight. Equipment is carefully tested so that the drone will be sure to obey the commands relayed to it by the controller. The target plane is on the way and British guns commence firing. In starts to work, or a steady flow of RCAT's streamed skyward. Now it's the Americans turn. Soldiers and men wait for the target plane. This is a tense time, for here is the culmination of months of hard work. The drone comes into range, the cat is hit. It parachutes to Earth, preserving the valuable equipment it carries. And as RCAT after RCAT floats down, the British observe the results of American marksmanship. Our guns stand guard over the countryside, ready to defend against targets more formidable than drone planes. The red flag goes up, the guns are waiting, the men of the big brigade are ready, a powerful deterrent to any potential aggressor. The manning of guns is not the only job of the United States Army in western Germany. It is also concerned with the saving of lives. Here then, in our next story, are the men in white who stand behind our soldiers in khaki, as they have throughout our military history. World War I, men of the International Red Cross Ambulance Corps drove over the shell-starred roads of France and Germany, moving the wounded from the trenches to hospitals in the rear. Transportation was slow and often unreliable, and many died who in a later day might have lived. World War II, a wounded soldier had a much increased chance for life. Corporal Corman fought by the side of advancing infantry, fought not to destroy the enemy, but to save lives, fought not with guns, but with knowledge. In the early days of the war, it was sulphur and blood plasma, later on, penicillin and whole blood. And the wounded were sped to mobile surgical hospitals by new and faster methods, providing more effective ways of moving casualties to the rear before life ebbed away. In addition, men were moved by such ingenious devices as this tramway, and even by ice sled. In 1950, Korea, the helicopter rushed the wounded from the hills to the hospitals in a matter of minutes, and a greater percentage survived than in any war in history. Today, realistic maneuvers in West Germany, soldiers fall in simulated combat, and men of the Army Medical Service have a chance to test the latest techniques of military medicine. Although no one has actually been injured, it is presumed that more than 2,000 are wounded, and Corman processed them with the same care and speed which would be used in an actual emergency. Practice to save lives, practice which will prove invaluable if war should come again. In the atomic phase of the maneuver, thorough decontamination procedures are followed by men in the proper protective clothing. Those with external radiation contamination are sent to field showers for a soap and hot water cleansing. Only after a positive radiation instrument checked are the men permitted to return to duty. In another area, enemy strafing has wounded two sentries on a lonely country road, summoned by a patrol, an ambulance rushes to the scene, and first aid is administered. These men will pass through many hands before they are restored to health, and at each stage, they are tagged to show the nature of their wounds and the treatment given. First step is the aid station, buried deep in the West German woods. On the way, a Corman has started life-giving blood plasma flowing into the blood vessels of the wounded. This is the first of many transfusions which this man will receive. The medics on this maneuver know that the sooner the wounded get whole blood, the greater their chances of survival. At the aid station, each case is diagnosed and sorted, and arrangements made to move the wounded to the rear. The less seriously wounded go by ambulance, moving swiftly through quiet German towns at dawn. Many are taken from the ambulances and evacuated to the rear by hospital train. A full complement of doctors and Corman is carried on the train, and special kitchens prepare meals for hurt and hungry soldiers as they roll toward the haven of hospitals in the rear. Other casualties are placed on amphibious ducts for transportation across open country. The duct's ability to move over both land and water makes it an especially valuable aid for medical evacuation when roads have been blocked off. In addition, ambulances load on landing craft to cross the Rhine River. In this maneuver, it is assumed that all bridges over the Rhine have been knocked out by enemy bombers. This is the only way the river can be forwarded. The more seriously wounded are flown from the battle area by helicopters. Their goal is the evacuation hospital a few short miles behind the front lines. Ambulances wait to meet the helicopters as they land. Gentle hands lift the wounded from their airborne litters. These helicopters are bigger, faster and better equipped than those used during the Korean War. The casualties are sped to the nearby tents of this modern surgical hospital. First step for some is the X-ray tent. Here train technicians and radiologists work speedily to take X-rays which will later be useful to surgeons at the hospital. Laboratory technicians determine the blood types of newly admitted patients. They prepare cultures when necessary. Men at microscopes, backing the hospital's surgical teams. The evacuation hospital has most of the facilities of an up-to-date big city installation. Combat soldiers are only minutes away from the finest of medical care. Reassurance for our fighting men as they prepare for battle. Doctors change the cast on the arm of a recent casualty now well on his way to full recovery. In the hospital's wards, nurses minister to the needs of six soldiers, comforting them as women through the ages have comforted those fallen in battle. Kind and competent hands, working to make the wounded well. And these nurses share the rugged life of the soldiers in the tent city that is a modern field surgical hospital. But there is always time to be a woman. And of course, the wash must always be done by hand. But their main place is in the wards and operating rooms, working side by side with the doctors of the US Army Medical Corps. In surgery, a doctor of the evacuation hospital prepares for an operation. In this maneuver, it is presumed a seriously wounded man lies on the table requiring immediate surgery. Transfusions will make up blood loss during the operation. The anesthetist begins her work and the operation starts. The goal of this medical evacuation maneuver has been to make sure that every fallen soldier has the greatest possible chance for life. And to bring the severely wounded speedily to the skilled hands of the surgeon and his supporting team. It is in their hands that the well being of America's armed might lies. It is our men of medicine who fight the Army's quiet war to save men's lives. And if shooting war should come again, the men and women of the Army's Medical Corps will be there to see that the wounded shall live. Now this is Sergeant Stuart Queen inviting you to be with us again 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 Army Pictorial Center. Presented by the United States Army in cooperation with this station.