 We're apt to think of the earth as being pretty small from the point of view of the astronaut exploring outer space Perhaps it is But from the point of view of the ground forces of the United States Army The earth is tremendous To these ground forces and especially to the US Army Corps of Engineers the atomic age has not made the world any smaller To the contrary the earth seems bigger To defend the free world today more of the earth must be mapped than ever before More of the earth must be traversed than ever before and more of the earth must be moved than ever before The United States Army Corps of Engineers is keeping step with these problems Carrying out an increasingly difficult mission right here on earth in this the space age An official report produced for the armed forces and the American people Now to show you part of the big picture here is Sergeant Stuart Queen Whatever happens out in space The defense of these United States is going to continue to be a problem involving such time-honored items as the bulldozer the grader and On occasion they pick and shovel We have such items as these on the one hand and on the other That remarkable power plant the nuclear reactor capable of supplying power to a city under the ice This vastly different equipment tells a little about what the Corps of Engineers is doing today in the nation's defense Equipment the latest the best and enough for our defense needs is The result of a continuing partnership between the Corps of Engineers and American industry The American people are probably not fully aware that this partnership With its years of experience in working together Is a very strong and real element in the nation's defense? What the Corps of Engineers has called upon to do in the space age and the progress that is being achieved now with the help of American industry This is today's story on the big picture mapping the earth Traversing it with bridges and tunnels and moving it physically out of the way when necessary Are among the basic responsibilities of the US Army Corps of Engineers The engineers were among the first professional soldiers to serve our country and they continue to be engineer soldiers Their mission has been simply defined to aid the advance of friendly forces and to impede the advance of unfriendly forces How this mission repeatedly has been accomplished often under fire is well documented in our country's history In the Revolutionary War with pick and shovel as well as musket Engineer soldiers built and defended the first ramparts of our freedom as the nation expanded westward often through hostile territory Engineer soldiers relied upon carbines no less than wrenches and hammers To build the bridges railroads and forts that help to secure the west World War one with fixed bayonets as well as wire cutters and mine detectors They help clear the way for Allied forces to advance In World War two Machine guns were fired from bulldozers when necessary to defend the airstrips which had to be built Today as always the Corps of Engineers relies on the most up-to-date and effective hardware and weapons To carry out a mission which requires that building and fighting often go on together As soldiers the US Army engineers rely on weapons only when they must But as engineers they are always concerned with the hardware for building and building is their daily business Building practically anything the army needs When the army needed the world's largest office building to carry on the business of the war the engineers turned to and built it from the Pentagon to a pillbox from a warehouse to a hospital The engineers are responsible for the design construction and maintenance of installations serving the army Some army installations are as large as cities so the engineers build cities too To maintain these installations the engineers supervise the supply of electric power In some overseas areas they design build and service as city-sized electric power plant Building the storage plants and pipelines for petroleum is another responsibility of the US Army engineers Throughout the continental United States and in dozens of our bases overseas Millions of cubic feet of storage space must be provided for this vital material and Thousands of miles of pipeline laid for its distribution wherever it is needed Bridge building has been an engineering specialty since the time of antiquity and it still is Sometimes the army needs a bridge that will support the weight of a locomotive or a convoy of trucks And that will endure for a century the engineers do it and other times a more temporary kind of bridges needed and fast That's still other times the army needs a bridge It can take along with the advance of its troops So the engineers designed and built the scissors bridge which goes right along with the troops Engineers are responsible for the supply of pure water and they purify it themselves when necessary It is usually necessary for troops in the field and once in a while in times of civil emergency such as a flood It's necessary for the engineers to purify drinking water for everybody right here at home Here's another core of engineers responsibility Comouflage Sometimes an entire army camp must be camouflaged Against the prying eyes of enemy observers and cameras in the air at other times the enemy must be deceived by letting him see Things that really aren't here's another job entrusted to the combat engineer the dangerous job of planting landmines This is consistent with the mission of impeding the enemy when enemy minefields have to be cleared The engineers do that dangerous job to consistent with the other part of their mission Helping friendly forces to advance Here's still another job milling lumber By an act of Congress the US Army Corps of Engineers is charged with the responsibility of supplying to all the armed forces The most basic building material of all lumber Building always and fighting when they must the men and officers of the Corps of Engineers have a big job Because they have so many jobs building bridges laying mines Generating electricity and purifying water Constructing hospitals and Digging ice tunnels Big jobs many jobs Whose successful accomplishment depends upon the know-how of men the performance of equipment and the reliability of the source of supply equipment and supply The basic components for the successful accomplishment of any Corps of Engineers mission Let's take a look at the men Here are some of the men who compose the uniformed ranks of the engineers First and foremost, they are soldiers of the United States Army But they are also specialists in the many arts of military engineering Just as any soldier knows how to assemble or disassemble his weapons The engineer soldier depending upon his mission knows how to assemble or disassemble a water pump a gasoline engine A steam turbine or an electric generator Part of the time the engineer soldier is a student learning another part of the time He is an instructor teaching at other times in research and development. For example, he may be a draftsman a design engineer a research chemist or metallurgist or a nuclear scientist and at other times the engineer soldier is an administrator Responsible for the efficient utilization of thousands of employees and many millions of dollars worth of equipment These employees compose the civilian ranks of the Corps of Engineers. They may be skilled office workers They may be experts in patent law, finance, purchasing, transportation or any other business specialty And other civilian employees of the Corps of Engineers are themselves engineers Representing any of the engineering specialties whose technical and scientific Contributions are vital to the atomic-age United States Army The systematic teaching of engineering in this country had its origin in the United States Military Academy at West Point Here in the early 19th century a great impetus was given to engineering both military and civilian By Superintendent Sylvainus Thayer often referred to as the father of the Military Academy Let us go back for a moment to America during his time. The vast area of the West was unexplored and unmapped These lands which were eventually to mean so much to the nation's growth and progress awaited more organized attempts at exploration than those undertaken by small groups of hardy pioneers At the time West Point had begun to educate its young cadets in civil engineering Courses included mathematics, physics, geology and mineralogy Other colleges offered courses in the liberal arts. The word engineer meant military engineer And not until civilian schools of engineering were later established was the expression civil engineer added to our language West Point, foremost engineering school of the nation during this period, was to provide the brains and skill for opening the American West. First the waterways, the primary means of early communication were improved Construction of canals and locks was under the supervision of the Army's Corps of Engineers, graduates of West Point And in small groups, West Pointers were sent out by the Army with the mission of finding routes for future railroads They entered the vastness west of the Mississippi Traveling thousands of miles, these tiny units laid out paths for practically all the great transcontinental railways During their survey, they were concerned with such matters of scientific interest as geology and mineralogy The reports of these Army engineers were later to guide those who went west, the miners, the farmers, the ranchmen Some years after the Pacific Railroad surveys, West Point graduates were on hand in the building of the railroads, frequently as civilian engineers This extraordinarily difficult and rapid construction was dependent upon a nucleus of talent that could be found nowhere else in the world The emphasis upon technical training at West Point played a definite role in our physical expansion and technological development Also, these years laid a foundation for that close cooperation between industry and the Corps of Engineers Which resulted in achievements such as the Great Transcontinental Railroad From the building of the Panama Canal to the present, this tradition of cooperation between military and civil engineering has been maintained Harbors together with inland waterways, the great projects of flood control All under the Army's Corps of Engineers rely upon the support rendered by American industry Today, while the curriculum has greatly changed, there is still a heavy emphasis upon engineering In addition to civil engineering, cadets study chemical, mechanical, electrical, electronic and nuclear engineering Professional specialties which contribute to the know-how of the men of the Corps of Engineers The know-how of men, the performance of equipment and the reliability of the source of supply We've seen some of the men and the tradition from which they have come Now, something about the equipment At one time, the Army engineers were called pick-and-shovel soldiers Because that was about all the equipment they needed except their rifles But the engineer soldier in the atomic age may ask for almost anything in the book Is the book, the list of equipment managed by the Corps of Engineers for use not only by the Corps itself But also by other components of the Army, by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps The variety of equipment literally ranges from an asphalt mixing plan for paving a road or airstrip To the small special tools used to repair it In terms of size Engineering equipment varies from a pile driver to matic hammer From a liquid oxygen plan for use at a missile site To a spray gun and to range from the commonplace to the uncommon Engineer items include special spider webs used in the manufacture of precision optical equipment Some engineer equipment is measured by the mile Others are measured by the millimeter Some engineer equipment is called tonnage Other equipment is poundage And other equipment or supplies as in a photographic or engraving laboratory is called for by the ounce By the mile or by the ton by the pound or by the foot by the inch or by the ounce Many thousands of different items of equipment and supply must be purchased stored and distributed by the Corps of Engineers Because of the broad responsibilities of the engineer mission a great variety of equipment is required Nevertheless to affect every practical economy Engineer supply management officers keep inventories as low as possible by the avoidance of duplication By standardizing basic equipment and by the elimination of all obsolescent equipment and parts The inventory of essential engineer equipment is big enough to make it big business And the Corps of Engineers handles it like a business At such engineer supply control points is this the most up-to-date electronic business machines are employed To maintain accurate readily accessible records and to expedite the business of purchasing and distributing any item of equipment From a power shovel to a sandbag Repairing engineer equipment is big business in itself At engineer maintenance depots nearly a hundred million dollars worth of equipment was overhauled or repaired last year alone This represents a return to the taxpayer of more than five dollars for every dollar spent An economical operation for any business Whether by thousands of units such as nails rivets and bolts Or by dozens of units such as bulldozers and tractors Or singly such as a prefabricated bridge being airlifted overseas All of these vital items of engineer equipment bear the trademark of american industry For only in close cooperation with industry can the Corps of Engineers Maintain the third component essential to its mission the reliability of the source of supply The source of supply for much engineer equipment is the heavy industry of america such as the steel mills and rolling plants and the manufacturers of construction vehicles of every description Another source of supply is the small industry of america The die casters fabricators and jobbers who turn out thousands of quality controlled items whose variety defies description The partnership between the Corps of Engineers and american industry which began with the birth of this nation has never ceased Today through research and development It is more vital to our national security than ever before It is vital because of the rapidly changing military requirements of the atomic age Day engineer equipment designed for the army must not only perform efficiently But it must be as small as possible as light weight as possible and as rugged as possible To achieve ruggedness and portability The design and redesign of equipment begins on the drawing board as engineer officers and engineer representatives of industry Put their heads together in partnership This partnership pays a dividend when the results of research and development are put to a test Here tens of thousands of pounds of engineer equipment is being airdropped to speed positioning on the ground where it will be needed Another dividend of research and development is the design of entirely new equipment such as this mechanical mine layer This machine opens the earth Plants a mine and covers it over in one continuous operation an operation mechanized to the needs of modern war This machine digs trenches and a lot faster than they can be dug by hand This machine detects crevices in the ice fields And helps assure the safe passage of troops and vehicles across this remote frontier of our defense system There is an unexpected dividend resulting from the research and development laboratories of the core of engineers Dividends which pay off directly to the public interest One of these is improved firefighting apparatus Developed by the engineers for their own use but mighty useful too for civilian firefighters Another dividend for the public interest is a new and improved insecticide sprayer Originally developed by the core of engineers for use in pest control and other spraying devices Large and small Undoubtedly there will be many civilian applications for one of the engineer's most important new developments in the field of nuclear power This nuclear reactor Designed and tested at the engineer research and development laboratory for belvoir virginia We'll make it possible to bring nuclear power and light and heat to one of our army installations in the frozen north At camp century on the greenland ice camp the u.s. Army core of engineers is meeting one of the great challenges of modern times The construction of a city under the ice powered by a nuclear reactor A massive equipment is called for and prefabrication has been essential Once again the core of engineers has worked in close partnership with industry Transportation of equipment over the ice cab proves an extraordinary accomplishment in itself The core of engineers is responsible for the installation of the equipment and the operation of the power plant Reactor which makes possible this entire experiment a tiny power plant that can provide for the needs and comforts of an army garrison Living in a human deep freeze, which a few years ago would have seemed fantastic The entire military city is being built and maintained by the u.s. Army core of engineers Which is continuing to fulfill its mission in the atomic age What about the future? Well the moon and the planets are made up of earth too Earth that will have to be moved and traversed and mapped Wherever they may be called on to go the engineers will accomplish their assigned mission U.s. Army core of engineers has a motto from the french meaning let us try Let us dare let us do and in continuing partnership with american industry. They will The big picture is an official report for the armed forces and the american people Produced by the army pictorial center presented by the department of the army in cooperation with this state