 For an army division, you can make your birthday as loud as you want. Traditionally, the 3rd Infantry Division, now stationed in Germany, celebrates its anniversary with an artillery salute and formal parade. With the battalions of the 3rd March German counterparts, sister battalions, which work with the 3rd in its vital role as part of the NATO shield. In such as this, tradition plays a deservedly central role, because no unit in the army has a prouder history of service than the 3rd Infantry Division. That history began in World War I, and it was on the battered fields of France that the division won its nickname, the Marne Division. In July of 1918, the last great German offensive of the war was launched, and the 3rd Division was to bear the brunt of it at a river called the Marne. As the battle moved to a climax, a worried French corps commander sent a message to the 3rd's commanding general. Can you hold the sector? General Joseph T. Dickman replied, New-Western Hollande, we shall remain here. This answer, today the division's unofficial motto, was no idle boast. For three days, the 30th and 38th Regiments of the 3rd stymied two entire German divisions at the Marne. Something had to give, and it was the Germans. It was a turning point of the war, a defeat so shattering for the enemy that he was unable to mount another offensive for the remaining four months of the war. Two weeks later, the 3rd was back in the thick of battle, playing a key role in the 48-hour attack which helped wipe out the Sommiel salient. It went on through 26 days of unrelieved combat to help crack the Hindenburg Line and capture 2,000 prisoners. Thus began one of the most illustrious histories of service of any American combat division. A division which over the years would number among its members such men as George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mark W. Clark, Lucian Truscott, and John W. Iron Mike Daniel, and which, when war came again, would be ready. World War II, after assault landings in North Africa and helping win the Allied victory there, the men of the Marne division hit the beaches of Sicily at Licata. By nightfall they had a broad beachhead and some 3,000 prisoners. They moved on to Palermo and Messina. Next came Salerno, Casino, and Anzio, and the breakout, which led the 3rd swiftly into Rome. Still another landing into southern France and on into Germany. In 531 days of combat, only the Marne division fought the Germans on all fronts of the war. It won a presidential unit citation in World War II, and by war's end, Marne men wore 10 campaign battle stars more than any other American division. Experience gained in World Wars I and II stood the division in good stead when it went into combat again in Korea. Marne men were in Korea within 3 months after the unannounced communist attack by North Korea, and the division stayed and fought until the fighting was over and beyond. Along the way, its men earned 6 more campaign stars and 2 presidential unit citations. 11 more of its fighting men won the Medal of Honor, bringing the division's total to 49 more than any other division. Its past history is proud, and its rich heritage serves to motivate its men in the present. The 3rd is a working division, with a vitally important part to play in the defensive role of NATO. The modern mechanized infantry division differs little from an armored division. It just has more mechanized infantry battalions, while an armored division has more of its power in tank battalions. Either way, it makes more of fighting force that can deliver its power quickly, when and where it's needed, and in amounts tailored precisely to the need. Under the army's reorganized objective army division concept, called RODE, flexibility is the key note. No necessity to swat a fly with a sledgehammer, but if massive force is called for, that too can be arranged and on short notice. With few exceptions during the yearly training cycle, any given week will find the individual units of the division engaged in a tremendous variety of training programs. Proficiency in individual weapons, crew-served weapons, vehicle operation, the full spectrum of combat skills is a major objective of this training. It is made as realistic as possible. To keep the division's cutting edge sharp, training is constant. Maximally, basically the field mask consists of the face blank to include the eye lenses. The eye lenses are thin, fragile. The M-60A1 tank is a 105mm main gun. Approximately one fourth of the way back to the gun tube, you'll find a bore evacuated. We are now ready to disassemble the M-85. The first step is to remove the barrel. Now the back plate will be removed from the weapon. Now the cover group. Its duty assignment in Germany means that the men of the third division must be ready to do their job in any kind of weather on any of the widely varied types of terrain in the area. This includes mountain operations and specialized troops of the third get plenty of practice on high, steep ground covered with ice and snow. And on a larger scale, on more familiar terrain, the frequent ATTs keep the fighting battalions of the division in trim. ATT stands for Army Training Test and the wording is accurate. The objective is training and it certainly puts to the test every element of a fighting unit's capability. Under the watchful eyes of graders who keep track of every aspect of the action, battalion-sized units spend a full week in the field on each Army Training Test and a busy week it is. In the ATT, the full range of a modern battalion's firepower comes into play. Grenade launchers, mortars, recoilless rifles, red-eye, the foot soldiers, anti-aircraft rockets, and on up to the long-range Sunday punch of rockets like the Honest John. Perhaps a still closer, more intense look at individual skill and performance is provided by Miss Bing. The Mechanized Infantry Squad Proficiency Course. Like the Army Training Test, Miss Bing checks the ability to move, communicate, and deliver fire on an enemy, but on the smaller, more personal scale of the Mechanized Infantry Squad. Quick reaction is the Mechanized Infantry's stocking trade and performance on the Miss Bing range is measured by ticks of the clock. The Third Division has been part of the NATO Shield in West Germany since April of 1958. Over the years, its deterrent force has been strengthened by the addition of new units and weapons. Its Mechanized Infantry forces are typical of this increased mobility and firepower. The Mechanized Infantryman of today's Army assumes the role of foot soldier only when he has arrived at his combat objective. He arrives fresh and able thanks to the rapid cross-country mobility and protecting armor of his personnel carrier. The Miss Pick ranges provide varied terrain and the tests take full advantage of this to try the skill and ability of its combat units. On every level, from Division Command Post to Company and Squad, the Third Division maintains a ceaseless polishing, testing, and improving of its ability to meet any challenge it may be called on to face. Field problems and tests, however, only do part of the job. Live firing demonstrates the ability to deliver hits upon a given target. The Division's ranges provide for just that. There's no better way to gain the swift, yet unhurried and effective teamwork of crew-operated weapons than practice and more practice. Weapons crews of the Third Division get plenty of it. This includes the Division's hard-hitting Sheridan as well. Mobility is useful to get within range of a target. Once in range, you have to be able to hit. Target of opportunity, range 900 to 70 degrees. Alpha tango, fire center of sector, will adjust. Over. Highly mobile computer facilities for directing the fire of the Division's artillery are an integral part of today's Army. Lightning calculations of range, elevation, correction factors, these enable the self-propelled 155s of the Third to put their projectiles on target faster and more accurately than ever before. Combat proficiency in the use of firepower means not only a high level of individual and crew skills, but the ability of commanders to maneuver their forces in response to constantly changing situations. Periodically, units of the Division are given the order to move out on an operational readiness test to see how well all the various skills work in combination. Unexpected developments are provided by troops who play the role of aggressors. Before the Division's mechanized units get fairly rolling, they may find themselves in the middle of an ambush. They may have to deal with simulated chemical warfare, in addition to, or combination with, more conventional forms of enemy action. If the men of the Third Infantry Division find their days and weeks pretty well crammed with activity, this is surely nothing new to them. Soldiers who have worn the blue and white patch have always been in the thick of the action wherever it was since the unit began over half a century ago. The weapons, equipment, tactics, the fighting structure of the unit itself have changed over the decades. The fighting spirit remains the same. Their responsibility today is to stay ready for combat and by that very readiness to help assure that actual combat will not occur. This is the meaning and the mission of the NATO Shield, of which the Third Infantry Division is a part. What Marnmen learned in World War I, World War II, and Korea stands them in good stead today. The sheer combat statistics regarding this unit are impressive. The number of crucial battles fought and won. The number of times the entire unit has received citations for its combat effectiveness. The unmatched number of its men who have won the right to wear the nation's highest award, the Medal of Honor. But statistics are cold. Only when we remind ourselves that the numbers refer to men and their lives and their effective actions in the face of hardship, danger and death, only then do the statistics come into focus in their real meaning. And the gist of that meaning is this. The Third Infantry Division has been from the first and now is ready. But the fact is to keep such a highly mechanized unit ready takes much more than constant training. It takes, for example, maintenance, lots of it, and skilled trained specialists to do it. Lots of them. The arithmetic of it goes something like this. The division has thousands of combat troops. To give them the necessary mobility takes many hundreds of machines. Each machine has many moving parts. Each part has to be looked after. Men of the 703rd Maintenance Battalion, for example, state their job requirement briefly. To be able to repair anything that doesn't fly and isn't medical or cryptographic. A separate maintenance unit devotes itself to the things that do fly. And there are many of these, too. The Division's Air Mobile Troop includes a platoon of gunships, an air scout platoon and an air mobile rifle platoon. Now more arithmetic. With hundreds of thousands of parts working, any given day sees a lot of them being replaced. More than anyone could keep track of with a parts list and a sharp pencil. A micro-filmed file, electronic scanning, such things make it possible to keep work orders up to the minute, show the exact status of vehicles in repair or awaiting spare parts, or return to user units after repair. Units do much of their own maintenance work, sending vehicles to the maintenance battalions only for major repairs. For small parts, the country store concept works like this. Can I have a sergeant? I need one each of H64, one each of H69 and two each of number 11. Larger or bulk orders, on the other hand, are either trans-shipped at the warehouse directly to bin's earmarked for specific units, or stored for pickup by the using unit. This storage may be either in the supply warehouse or an outdoor supply dump depending on the nature and bulk of the items being held. On a divisional level, the vast daily flow of items into supply centers and on out down the line to those who need them can only be handled by computerized equipment and skilled technicians. Key to the system is the familiar punched card used in a variety of data processing machines, including this card processor which can read 600 cards per minute and print a readout of 600 lines per minute. Sounds like a lot. It takes it all to get the job done. A variation of the same system using punched cards is used to simplify and speed up personnel processing of all kinds. Special orders, morning reports, sick call lists, and so on. This vastly eases the record-keeping workload of tactical units, leaves more time free for things that only people can do face to face. I think that will be a permanent assignment. Specialist Amato has wanted you to get all the forms there for the man to fill out. Here, sir. You get them to fill out the forms, make sure we get a news release done, and top one if you go get the man and I'll talk to him. Private Taylor, on behalf of all the personnel and headquarters company, I'd like to welcome you to the division headquarters. As you know, you have been selected based on your scores, which are very good, to be a light vehicle driver in the headquarters company, more specifically my driver. I will brief you after you end process on your specific duties, but right now I'd like to present you with a history of the 3rd Infantry Division, which dates back to 1917, and also a company SOP, which I'd like you to read over at your earliest convenience. And in the 3rd, an integral part of personnel work involves career counseling. I think you choose a school in this field. Some of the most popular electronics courses in this field is the ADP or the Power Force, which is located in Portland, New Jersey. Stationed as they are in West Germany, the men of the 3rd Division have frequent occasion to work with and train with their counterparts in the Army of the Federal Republic of Germany. One week it may be a joint workout on the familiarization range. The next, a river crossing on maneuvers. Put it on, Steve. The straps in the back, they're tightened up. The air coming in here, as you can see from the meter, is approximately 200 kilopounds per centimeter. The air comes from these tanks, down in through these valves which are turned on, up the hose, and into the regulator. Now it's drawn in as he breathes in. New arrivals to the Division are given the opportunity to get to know more about the area in which they serve and the German people, among whom and with whom they work as a part of the NATO shield. The view across here shows us a landmark of East Berlin and of West Berlin. In the front, the right top, historic place in German history, being rebuilt presently to be used again. In the back, a radio tower already situated in East Berlin, about a year old, in the center of attraction, recently. These tours are a regular part of the Division's effort to make sure that each man of the unit learns something of the background, culture, past history, and current way of life of his German hosts. For many of the Marne men, this also means taking part in the program to give him a working knowledge of spoken German. The Marne Division does everything it can to encourage its men to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of German culture and language. And along the sectors of the Berlin Wall, monitored by other free world nations, they gain an insight into the world behind the wall. As you can see from here, through the gates, the buildings on the other side, they look very modern. This is something you'll see as a whole near to the bottom. Not all the education gained by the men of the Third has to do with their West German duty environment, however. The Third Division has schools of its own. This is a period of time as the new era. We're in an era of computerization, an era of advanced technology, and an era of advanced weapons. You must prepare yourselves to become a part of this new era. You must become proficient in all fields of leadership, weapons, tactics, instructor training, and leadership. The Third Division's NCO Academy is known as a demanding course and is a vital source of season, small unit leaders for the division. Its curriculum covers a lot of ground. Your blast takes up 50% of the total energy expended by the nuclear detonation. Your heat takes up 35%. Your radiation takes up 15%. Students learn how to use training aids when they assume the role of teacher themselves. However, I do have a few suggestions. First of all, in the initial introduction, this should have been used as a gain-attention step, allowed it to stay out in the audience, and as you were trying to explain it, have it move when it caused the students to focus their eyes on your training aid itself. During the explanation stage, a demonstrator should have mounted the platform for you, thereby demonstrating those parts of the aircraft that you were trying to show so that you didn't get yourself all mixed up in your different parts. The infantry soldier who continues deeply enough into the division's training school program may find himself taking part in the test for the expert infantryman's badge. It is a distinction not easily won. Only 12% of those who try for the EIB qualify the first time around. Wherever his tour with the Marne division may lead him, combat unit, service school, support unit, technical specialty, the soldier who serves with the third is part of a fighting team on an important mission. He is helping to serve notice by his presence and with his skill, his teamwork, his firepower, that the Army Division, which won the proud name Rock of the Marne in its impossible stand on the banks of the Marne River in 1918, is ready. Still ready, always ready. The third infantry division mechanized United States Army. And the Army of the Nation We shall remain the message clear at play Not to threaten but to water The Rock of the Marne We shall