 From Korea to Germany, from Alaska to Puerto Rico. All over the world, the United States Army is on the alert to defend our country, you, the American people, against aggression. This is the big picture, an official television report to the nation from the United States Army. And now, to show you part of the big picture, here is Captain Carl Zimmerman. Modern warfare makes new and heavy demands on the knowledge, intelligence, and judgment of the individual infantryman. The decisions he makes in combat will determine victory or defeat in battle. The job of teaching the infantryman to make these decisions is the primary task of the infantry school in Fort Benning, Georgia. A school that specializes in making leaders. A graduate of that school, now serving in Korea, recalls the training at Fort Benning. You could call this the proving ground of the infantry school. What you picked up at Benning, you apply here against the commies. Those of us who went to OCS were taught to be platoon leaders. A platoon is a pretty small unit, all right. But small units like mine, isolated on mountains, are fighting this war in Korea. As a platoon leader, a second lieutenant, you're responsible for the lives of 40 men. Fine men, good soldiers. They can take it and they can dish it out, too. You respect them, you know a lot about them. Where they come from, who's waiting for them back home. Responsibility, you really feel the pressure of that here. Sure, orders come down to you from above. Move up to such and such a hill. Stay there. Await further orders. Get going. Then it's up to you. You're the leader. Nobody to do the job for you. Nobody to lean on. You're strictly on your own. Some fine men are in your trust. Thank God they taught us how to make the right decisions back at Infantry OCS Fort Benning, Georgia. From the time you arrive to the time you leave OCS, you're on the move. You're entering the home of perpetual motion. The porter says, Columbus, Georgia and Fort Benning, right this way. Watch your step. Boy, that's sound advice for officer candidates going on trial for 22 weeks. It's an honor to qualify for that course, so smiles are in order. But you don't leave your worries about OCS in the coach car. Getting on that bus for Benning, I know I wondered whether I'd ever win those gold bars of a second lieutenant. All kinds of questions go through your mind. You wonder just what will be expected of us. What about the pressure, the training, the officers? You don't have to wait long for the answers to those questions and a lot of others. We got them straight in an orientation lecture by the Colonel, our commander at OCS, a combat veteran. As your regimental commander, I take this opportunity of welcoming you to the Infantry Officer Candidate School and the Fort Benning, Georgia. We're exceedingly happy to have you here. Now while here at this school, you will receive some of the finest military instruction that can be had anywhere in the world. You will become intimately familiar with all infantry weapons and the tactics of their employment, as well as various other military subjects. Now there is one quality that we are particularly looking for in you young men and that is the quality of leadership. The ability to lead and influence others. You will be given a very excellent course of instruction on the subject of leadership. You will be put in places of responsibility and positions of command. The Colonel went on to say that we'd run our OCS company by ourselves. That meant we'd rotate in command positions, supervise the honor code system that governs the whole OCS program. He also told us what role the cadre would play in our training. In his own words... All of the officers and enlisted men of this regiment are here for one purpose. And that is to assist you in successfully completing the course here at the Infantry Officer Candidate School. I assure you that we take this obligation very seriously and it is our intention to qualify every possible man. As a graduate of this institution and having commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army of the United States. Encouraging news. You think maybe this won't be so bad after all. Not as much work as you thought. Then the dawn comes up like thunder. You are going to work at 0500 and will work throughout the day until 2100 in the evening. Reveille will go at 500. First call or assembly will be at 0515. You'll be very busy. We found out what he had in mind. They put the pressure on right away. It's a strange new world where the signs call for perfection, where you come and go on the double, where it's hurry up and then wait. A world where you try to relax at parade rest, where everything is regulated from the distance you stand apart to the number of boots you draw. Off go your chevrons and unit insignia, the last traces of an enlisted man's past in the Army. From now on your candidate Smith or candidate Jones, all wearing the same uniform. All wearing the same OCS patch. And the same peeled onion haircuts. Yeah, they sure streamline you for the fast pace at OCS. But they also weigh you down with about 250 pounds of equipment. That includes techs and manuals for all the courses you take at OCS. Then you start wondering, is this the place for me? You look at all that gear, wonder where to store it for the first inspection coming up soon. Well, there's a lot of room in those cubicles if you're a midget. Training to be combat platoon leaders? We were getting housemaids knee and a stiff course in interior decorating. It doesn't encourage originality though. There's a regulation place for every single item. And the whole place has to be cleaner than an operating room. Inside and outside. We took a dim view of this. Finally you're ready. Almost afraid to breathe as that tactical officer makes the rounds. There's two to supervise each platoon. The attack officer is your severest critic for the next 22 weeks. You wonder, what's he looking at now? Did we forget anything? How many hours did you spend on this cubicle, candidates? Six hours, sir. I consider that six hours wasted. Wasted? I figured that man must be too mean for combat. But once you're in Korea, you understand why they're so fussy about details at OCS. Why? Because in combat, even the smallest slip-up can mean a man's life. If you forget under the pressure of OCS, then how many important things could you forget to do under battle pressure? Yeah, there's a reason for these inspections, but that waiting and standing around was rough. There were times though, when we didn't gripe about just standing around. There just wasn't time to enjoy the scenery. But we did get in good shape for Korea. We figured, if the Chinese and North Koreans are just half as good with a bayonet as the instructors at Benning, well, maybe it's a good idea to brush up on our techniques. It wasn't exactly our idea, but in the end we had 26 hours of bayonet drill. Time well spent. We know that now. You've probably heard about the bayonet fighting in Korea. Well, we practiced our own version of the Banzai Charge. In filtration course, there's not much quiet either. We figured a wood-beam platoon leader better get acquainted with other things, like machine gun bullets, warming the air about 18 inches above your head. Those instructors keep yelling at you all the way. Number 40, get that rifle cradled in your arms as you've been told. Yeah, we know the real place where the explosions throw steel and the bullets are aimed at you. But that course is a pretty good test of a man's guts. We talked it over. Man, I'm sure gonna need a shower tonight, don't you? How about you? Certainly will after that course. What do you think of that course? I think they ought to send attack officers through that infiltration course to toughen up a little bit. Well, we'll make a man of it. Sure we'll make a man of it. Make a man of it. Well, most of us were around 18, 20 and pretty green, but you feel a lot older and more mature after 22 weeks at OCS. You learn a lot. The knowledge and training you get gives you confidence. And confidence in yourself. Part of that knowledge comes on the firing ranges. With instructors of the weapons department, you spend 317 hours. You gotta be a good shot with a .45 and with other guns mighty handy. Like the M1. The carbine and machine guns. And mortars sure work over time in Korea. We could take them apart and put them together again in our sleep. In the end, you're familiar with all the weapons used by the infantry? 21 of them, like the recoilless rifles. They'll knock out a tank or a pill box if you aim them right. You learn lots of ways to be unpopular with the enemy. They turn the heat on in other ways at OCS. When you're told to report to the attack officer, you're a worried man. What's the trouble this time, you wonder? What have I done now? You find out fast enough. I've called you in this afternoon to find out why you failed your mortar examination. You can see by this chart that you're far below the class average. On your last forward observers test, you've got an A. Now, why is there a difference in these two? So, there's no excuse for getting a poor grade in mortars. However, the better grade could be contributed to prior experience in full observation. I didn't spend as much time in the technical phase of mortars as I should have. Well, don't you believe it's just as important to spend more time on this examination than on any other piece of equipment or studies? Yes, sir. You see and hear that attack officer even in your sleep. He's always there, giving you advice or a piece of his mind, making you tell the mark, deciding whether you've got the will and the capacity to lead men. He watches the way you handle men on the drill field. He's got to be shown, especially on the day you take over the whole company. Spinelli, you're the new commanding officer tomorrow. Yeah, I saw my name up on the list. You certainly are welcome to this iron band. Thanks a lot, John. Have you got any advice from new company commander? I sure have. The company continued to get out of step on marching the class today. I saw them stop you out there. I wondered why you were stopping you on the way down. Yeah, well, just make sure you keep them in step tomorrow. I'll try out the hard. First thing the next morning, you're out there in front of the whole company. You feel like a five-star general when you give them those marching orders. Except about 200 men. And how to get them to a new class every hour, exactly at the right time, in step on the double, nobody talking in ranks. Everybody with the right equipment, proper uniforms, clipboards, and every man seated in good order. It's a far cry from the college classroom. You're rigid, sitting or standing, prepared for questions. No dreamy looks out the window. You just concentrate on those lectures covering everything from logistics and supply to how to run a mess off. You take courses in just about every department of the infantry school. Engines? Yeah, the infantry rides sometimes. For eight hours we learned about motors and maintenance of vehicles. In the home of the paratroopers, the airborne department, we got some pointers on cargo loading. Just drive your Jeep right up the ramp. Looks easy, till you try it. This kind of training gave the infantry the know-how to move equipment from Japan to Korea after the commies started trouble. Twenty-two hours with the communications department taught us a lot about radios and field telephones. Those lectures on the lensitic compass really paid off in Korea. When they tell you to move up to some hill, they usually give you the map coordinates. And if you're a graduate from OCS, they're pretty sure you can read a map. Because nobody gets his bars at Benning without some long hours in the field, making maps and learning how to plot positions on them. Our favorite pun about this course was that it might have an important bearing on our future. It sure did. With this and all the other specialized training behind you, you're ready to move on to 269 hours of tactics. How to outmaneuver the enemy. Use your men and equipment to the best advantage. You learn the basic stuff like two up, one back and feed them a hot meal, on up to how to take a hill. You got to concentrate and you do that over time when they put you on the spot. Now here's the situation. Hill one is occupied by our troops. We have on this hill a tank infantry team composed of one platoon of tanks, five tanks, and a company of infantry with their normal weapons. Hill two over there is the objective. The enemy strength on that hill is estimated as a reinforced company. They are dug in. They're reinforced with automatic weapons. No tanks have been observed in the enemy's sector over there. Now you think about it just a little bit and decide which one of the methods that you want to use to attack this objective with the tank infantry team. You consider all the angles and then make a decision. Maybe you'll make the wrong one first time on the sand table, but you're learning to make the right decisions in Korea. From the sand table you move into the field. Here's where you apply everything you've learned from logistics to how to brief your men. Patrols have reported that aggressor has established only outpost position on west bank of river in our regimental zone. These are the known aggressor positions that have been reported by S2. The 1st Battalion will attack at 1545, 5 November, cross the Chattahoochee River, seize objective 11, continue attack on order to seize objective 12. I will cross with the second wave. You're under pressure pretty close to combat conditions. You've got to keep your head, make the right decisions. And from the banks they'll be watching you. Crossing rivers in Korea is pretty similar. Of course we weren't paddling toward the Chinese or the North Koreans, they're not on the far bank of the Chattahoochee. Yeah, a simulated battle can be pretty nerve-wracking and full of surprises. Partman had worked overtime putting on a show course. Now this was a spectacle but we were too busy to watch all of it. We were learning the teamwork it takes to win a battle. Learning that you got to think in terms of the group. Each man doing his job from securing a boat to taking a ridge. Each tactical problem taught us something new. In fact you expect a new experience every day at OCS. But one thing never changes. It's always hurry up and then wait. But three times a day it was always something worth waiting for at the head of the line. Something to concentrate on. There was time while eating a daydream about that pot of gold, second lieutenant's bars. We'd reach the 18th week. That's when you get your senior status. And that was something to smile about. You get some privileges and a new helmet liner, a blue one to replace the olive draft. Blue Beatles the underclassmen call you. It feels like they're giving you a million bucks instead of a helmet and a blue shoulder tabs. As you put them on your face to face with a future officer, you hope, all slicked up for the senior parade. At OCS they say, if you've come this far you've learned one thing if you've learned nothing else. You've learned to walk with your head high, your back straight, your chin square. You've learned to be as tall as a Georgia pine. Graduation is just four weeks away and life becomes a little easier. Back in the company area you don't have to double time. You rate a salute from underclassmen. There's more time for relaxation, but you're not over the hump yet. A lot can happen in four weeks. You still face a fourth and final rating by the men in your class. And you in turn have to rate them on their command ability, their strengths and weaknesses right down the line. A report frankly hinged on one question, how you feel about serving with this man in combat. Behind closed doors a panel of officers meets periodically to judge men rated low by their classmates and tack officers. They get a chance to plead their cases then hear recommendations. The school reasons it's better to weed an unfit man out of OCS than let him graduate and go on to risk the lives of other men in battle. But the final decision on the candidate comes from the top. I think we might graduate this young man. His picture shows him to be a good rugged looking individual. His marks in leadership and in weapons are reasonably satisfactory. Yes, sir. And if you notice his fellow students think very highly of him. And for that reason I'm willing to take a chance on him. And that means you graduate. You finally made it after 22 weeks of pressure and 968 hours of instruction. It's a proud moment when they call off your name and you step up on that platform. You've counted the minutes to this moment for weeks. Never sure whether you'd be around. Now along with that certificate you accept a lot of responsibility and you're sworn in as a second lieutenant. Having been appointed a second lieutenant. Having been appointed a second lieutenant. Army of the United States. Army of the United States. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. That I will support. That I will support. And defend. And defend. The Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the United States. Against all enemies. Against all enemies. Foreign or domestic. Foreign or domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That I take this obligation freely. And I take this obligation freely. Without any mental reservation. reservation or purpose of evasion and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter. So help me God. This was our oath and for most of us our farewell to Benning. Those words follow me had a real meaning for us now. Some OCS grads remain for more instruction in other departments of the infantry school. The trains infantrymen from private to Colonel where the famous infantry leaders of today have studied or taught. But where just one name is prominently displayed on a plaque. I looked at it for the last time. Not the name of a general calculator was a crippled dog who spunk and determination were admired and remembered. He made better dogs of us all says the plaque and most of us feel that the infantry school has made better men of us all prepared as for what we're doing now here in Korea leading men moving out to fight. A lot of other units are needed in this show but it still takes the foot soldier well trained and well led the men who take the positions and hold them the men of the infantry. Success and battle is still measured off by the foot soldier and the merit of the infantry school must be measured in the accomplishments of its graduates serving in Korea and in other parts of the world. Judged on that basis the school remains second to none as a place where good leaders are trained and developed to direct troops into battle where they gain the confidence to say follow me remember this insignia the combat infantry badge take pride in the man who wears it for he has seen combat with a great body of men the infantry next week on the big picture the army on wheels the army in the air the story of the transportation corps this is Captain Carl Zimmerman embodying you to be with us then 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