 The Big Picture, an official television report of the United States Army, produced for the armed forces and the American people. Now, to show you part of The Big Picture, here is Master Sergeant Stuart Quain. In Northern Italy today stands an outpost of the new United States Army. It is a unique organization. The Southern European Task Force, called CETAF, whose job it is to support NATO's ground forces in the area. It is a tightly packed, well-trained band of about 6,000 men. More important, CETAF comprises the Army's only operative atomic missile command in Europe. CETAF makes its headquarters in Verona, the town made famous by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In few places in the world where our troops are stationed, is there more mutual respect and admiration between troops and the native population than here in Verona. Today's Big Picture is more than the story of CETAF and our Italian allies. To see CETAF in its proper perspective, we must also consider NATO and the threat of the Communist Empire. For more than a decade now, the nations of Western Europe have been enjoying the fruits of peace. Across farmlands where warring armies rage twice in the course of half a century, farmers are again raising crops to feed a population which for years existed on a substandard diet. This is the free Europe of today, its people's living better and more richly than ever before. But it is a Europe living not without a grave threat to peace. In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed to create a defensive barrier against further expansion by Soviet Russia. The Western anchor of NATO is the United States. The defensive chain stretches northward to neighboring Canada, always a staunch defender of freedom. From Canada, the NATO line arcs out across the North Atlantic to the island of Iceland. England and the United Kingdom form the next link in the defensive chain of NATO. From England across the North Sea to Norway, then south across the narrow Baltic Strait to Denmark. Next, the free and independent Republic of Western Germany, the most recent member of NATO. Now along the western rim of the continent, the small but independent nations of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, France, the largest free nation of the European continent, played a key role in organizing NATO. Then Portugal on the southwest tip of Europe and Italy in the heart of the Mediterranean. From Italy through Greece to Turkey, the anchor nation at the eastern end of the chain. Today, the European nations of NATO, revived by American aid but no longer dependent upon it, proudly stand on their own feet. In less than 10 years, West Europe lifted industrial production, a startling 76%. Advances have not been confined to industry alone. The havoc wrought by war created an unprecedented demand for homes as well as factories. Increased employment is a natural result. Many of the traditionally seafaring countries have more than doubled the size of their pre-war merchant and fishing fleets. And like most Americans, more and more West Europeans are enjoying increased leisure time. Are some dark spots. But compared to what life was like before, for many there has been an increase in hope, a decrease in fear. Largely responsible for this resurgence in free Europe has been the North Atlantic Treaty Organization formed to protect and encourage that freedom to grow. The United States has joined with the military forces of the other NATO countries because we have come to realize that we cannot hope to maintain our own liberties if liberty elsewhere is wiped out. That is the primary stake we are pledged to defend in Europe and we are bending every effort to meet that play. In Verona, Italy is stationed one of NATO's unique military units. Famous for its historical landmarks, architecture and art, Verona is home base for the Southern European Task Force. The United States Army's only operative atomic missile command in Europe. CTAF fundamentally is a fire support unit. It is organized around weapons which have both conventional and atomic capabilities. CTAF is designed to support the regular forces of our NATO allies in Europe who might not have such a force of their own. CTAF's secondary mission is to provide logistical support for other American agencies located throughout Italy. CTAF's organization has the Army's new look. Each company or battalion is composed of a series of semi-independent units, each capable of operating without its parent unit. This means that if a situation demands a quick shift of forces, a CTAF commander can quickly and easily move his troops on an independent basis. Now here to explain CTAF's job is the man who knows it best, the commander of CTAF, Major General Harvey Fisher. The newest and probably the most unique overseas command in the United States Army today is the Southern European Task Force located here in Italy. Composed of compact mobile task groups possessing an atomic delivery capability, CTAF is especially organized to perform its primary mission of supporting our Italian NATO allies in the defense of northern Italy. CTAF is purely and simply a task force. Two of its task groups are artillery units with honest John Rockets and corporal guided missiles. Security for these weapons is provided by armored infantry battalions. These task groups are not designed to close with the enemy, nor are they designed to replace conventional infantry divisions or conventional divisions. Rather they support these divisions in their primary role of closing with and destroying the enemy. A third task group has assigned the mission of providing mobile logistical support. It supplies to the artillery unit's items ranging from radio tube to corporal missiles. A fourth group is our logistics command which operates our port, our supply depots, and our line of communications. A non-military but an equally important mission of CTAF is fostering a spirit of mutual understanding and mutual respect with our Italian ally as we work toward our common goals of peace and of freedom. We are convinced that a strength based on cooperation and fellowship is greater than any potential of nuclear weapons. Speaking for every member of CTAF, I wish to pay tribute to the spirit of comradeship, cooperation, and mutual respect that has been developed and that is being fostered by the Italian and the American people, military and civilian, and as they work in their common cause here in Italy. A basic and vital weapon in CTAF's arsenal is the honest John free flight rocket. Honest John is 21 feet long and weighs about three tons, but it has greater mobility than conventional artillery weapons. Honest John's launcher is a self-propelled unit which transports, erects, and fires the rocket. Final assembly of the weapon is made at the firing site. Transition from conventional artillery practice to the newer techniques of rocket artillery has been simplified chiefly because of the simplicity of the Honest John's weapon system. One of the characteristics of the Honest John is that it has no guidance or control after it has left the launcher. All the aiming is done by the launcher itself. Honest John's power plant is a solid propellant rocket charge. Speed, high maneuverability, atomic potential, and the small crew needed to launch it. All are virtues embodied in the Honest John. Big brother to the Honest John in the CTAF arsenal is the corporal surface-to-surface ballistic missile. Corporal differs from earlier ballistic missiles because it is guided after the motor is cut off as well as during the powered portion of its flight. Corporal also follows a preset trajectory but its flight path is corrected by signal from the ground radio. Its job is to provide guided missile artillery fire in support of the field army. It gives the army commander a mobile striking force with nuclear weapons capability. The nose section contains the warhead which can be varied to suit the tactical problem. Just behind the warhead is the guidance package which steers the corporal to its target. Fuel for the corporal's rocket motor is an aniline combined with an oxidizer. The combination of these two propellants is self-igniting. As soon as they meet in the combustion chamber, ignition takes place spontaneously. Because of the danger of a premature blast, every precaution is taken by the specialists as they go about the tickless job of fueling the missile. When the army felt the need to increase the range of surface artillery fire, many miles beyond known capabilities at the time, research and development brought together principles of aerodynamics, rocket propulsion, and electronic guidance to produce the corporal. The missile is supersonic and no means of interception are known. During its flight, corporal responds to orders from the ground commander. With a range of from 30 to 80 miles, the corporal is the armed force's first surface-to-surface guided missile. It combines a high degree of accuracy with tremendous destructive potential. In the hands of the CTAF specialists, corporal represents a formidable threat to any would be aggressor in the area of CTAF's operations. With only about 6,000 men, CTAF is a relatively small force in numbers. But what it lacks in size, it makes up in firepower. Supplying an army of any size is always a major problem. 250 miles southwest of CTAF headquarters lies Livorno, or Leghorn, CTAF's supply center. Because of the size of its main weapons, CTAF's supply requirements are enormous. In order to support task groups scattered throughout the mountains and plains of northern Italy, storage and supply facilities are used to their maximum. CTAF not only handles its own supplies, but is also responsible for supplying all the American agencies in Italy. The variety of goods flowing through the Livorno seaport is tremendous. A fleet of trucks is in constant movement, carrying the cargos to rail centers and airfields for shipment to dozens of locations throughout the Italian peninsula. The camp at Livorno is named in honor of Brigadier General William Darby, a hero of World War II. At Darby, as at Verona, American military personnel are on excellent terms with the civilian population, always aware that they are the invited guests of a foreign government. CTAF's mountain school, in the foothills of the Alps, is one such outpost supplied by the southern seaport of Livorno. Here CTAF troops receive instructions and training for operations in the snowy and dangerous alpine regions. When road conditions are impossible for driving or speed is essential, helicopters supply the units operating in the north. The use of helicopters for supply and transportation gives CTAF the added mobility needed in this age of possible nuclear warfare when speed and high maneuverability are so vital. Helicopters are put to additional use in this mountainous area. For well-coordinated mobility, either for attack or dispersion, top-notch communications are a must. Supply CTAF units for training and survival. At the same time, these units perform important jobs in improving CTAF's communications network. CTAF's signal school is designed to make the radio operator a mountaineer as well as a technician. Once a group has flown to a remote outpost, it will remain for days or even weeks. In protecting Italy's northern frontier, CTAF troops are prepared not only to survive here but to fight too. Supplies are also brought in by air, saving hours of dangerous climate. In many places, the Alps present serious obstacles to radio communications. Units such as this set up relay stations from peak to peak to supplement the normal telephone line circuits. Thanks to stations such as this, CTAF commanders and their staffs maintain effective control over the activities and deployment of their firing units throughout northern Italy. A knowledge of skiing is a must for many of the American troops stationed in the area. Friends work well together, and the ski school in the Dolomite Alps is a perfect example of Italian-American cooperation. The Italian Alpine soldiers teach young Americans of CTAF first the fundamentals of skiing, then later how to fight on skis. It's a tough school and demands great physical fitness of the students. Skiers from childhood, the Alpini are perfectionists and demand the same from their willing pupils. CTAF operates chiefly in the foothills of the Alps, where frequently the snow is deep and movement, except on skis or by plane, is all but impossible. The ski instruction is primarily for CTAF's infantry elements. These are the men who defend the launching sites of the honest jobs and corporals. Their job is to fight off guerrilla bands and to protect the missiles and lodgers from enemy paratroopers. The fact that many of these novice skiers had never been closer to skis than in a sporting goods store before coming to Italy doesn't present too much of a problem. Under expert guidance, the American infantrymen learn fast. A good showing by the fast-improving skiers brings a round of congratulations from the Italian command. Although there are strong centers of Italian communists in the area, the CTAF troops have won a place for themselves in the hearts of the Italian people, both because of their friendliness and for their willing assistance in time of local disaster. The Southern European Task Force can deliver atomic firepower, but successful military operations, even in the atomic age, still depend upon the infantrymen. He and he alone can seize and hold important terrain. Italian and American troops train together on small arms ranges. Respect and understanding between the soldiers of these two allied nations is fostered during the frequent military training exercises. South of Verona at Naples is NATO's headquarters for Southern Europe. To maintain combat effectiveness, combined field maneuvers are frequently ordered. The maneuver calls for the Italian troops to fight a delaying action against an invader from the northeast. Despite firm Italian resistance, the enemy continues his attack, advancing swiftly south. The Italian troops offer just enough resistance so that the invader is forced to show his hand, revealing his primary pattern of attack. Now, after taking the brunt of the enemy's first assault, the Italian commander sees how the enemy has committed himself. He relays his information to all NATO control centers, but counter-attack is ordered. Attack deep in the enemy homeland and to cripple his lines of supply, SeaTap is moving its rocket launches into strategic positions. Honest Johns will be used against the enemy's forward elements, the corporal against reserve concentrations, supply depots, and command headquarters in the rear. Previous training exercises, firing sites for the rocket launchers have been selected. Whatever route an enemy might take, SeaTap has pre-plotted just how best to reach him with its missiles. Meanwhile, NATO ships cruising in the Mediterranean lend their weight to the resistance. Seconds after the first news of the attack is received, NATO jets are airborne. Every phase of the exercise is closely examined and evaluated by NATO commanders, enforcing the enemy to concentrate. Simulated casualties are quickly moved from the combat zone to hospitals in the rear. The use of helicopters in rescue and medical aid has reduced military casualties enormously. In the exercise, every arm of NATO's forces plays a well-coordinated role to bunch up his troops, making them ideal targets for our guided missiles. Their pre-selected firing sites and are thrown against the enemy. It will later perform a secondary job. It's the invading hordes of the enemy from the east. The Navy too hurls its guided missile. Carrier-based planes return to pick up a second payload to rain on the aggressor's forces. Amphibious troops are landed to attack the enemy on his flank. Practicing vertical envelopment now complete the mopping up operation. Since its creation, NATO has come a long way in organization, manpower, and weapon. Where relatively little defense existed before, 15 free nations have built a modern air, sea, and ground organization. Through the addition of such forces as CTAF, NATO's strength continues to grow. This strength helps assure peace for the community of North Atlantic nations. But all Italians may understand the whys and wherefores of this futuristic army, which is stationed in their backyards. But most understand what dangers lie to the north. And CTAF, with all its push button and conventional arms, serves as a strong reminder that America is prepared to act firmly in the face of any threat to the free world. Now this is Sergeant Stewart Queen inviting you to be with us again next week for another look at your army on The Big Picture. The Big Picture is an official television report for the armed forces and the American people, produced by the Army Pictorial Center, presented by the United States Army in cooperation with this station.