 A U.S. Army combat team goes into action. The units move swiftly to their battle assignments. Communications link widespread troop deployments. Supplies are moved quickly to where they are needed. The superbly organized and highly coordinated combat operations of U.S. Army units is no accident. It is the result of exhaustive analysis, careful planning, and dedicated efforts by the Army's largest command. Okay, move out. United States Continental Army Command, headquarters of the U.S. soldier. Kunark headquarters, Fort Monroe, Virginia. Center of the largest and most complex training system in the world. Here I developed the plans and policies for the military education of the U.S. soldier. Located on the site of a 19th century military installation, Fort Monroe provides an historic and colorful background for this vital Army command. Old barracks buildings designed to house troops of another era are today used as offices by Kunark staff members. Side by side with memories of America's military past is the modern nerve center from which Kunark directs the military education of the fighting men and the Army personnel who support him. Arising from its essential mission of training and education, Kunark has the responsibility for providing combat-ready units for defense of the Continental United States and for U.S. military contingencies abroad. From this building, the commanding general Kunark directs more than 500,000 soldiers and 115,000 civilians at some 60 major installations and supervises the training of a National Guard and Reserve Force of more than a million men. Kunark's educational activities concentrate on two major areas of military learning. Individual training including basic and advanced instruction and unit training from squad to division. In these buildings, continuous supervision is exercised over training programs which cover an immense variety of subjects, which must be taught in today's Army. Advancing the proficiency of the individual soldier from recruit to general is Kunark's primary assignment. Every phase of military training and education is covered by training guides, directives and testing programs developed by U.S. Army service schools under the direct supervision of Kunark. They are designed for both regular Army forces and all reserve components. These plans and policies, evolved by military and civilian specialists, guide the soldier's training throughout his entire Army career. To implement its training programs, Kunark operates a nationwide network of 16 training centers and 26 service schools, adding up to a system of total education equal to the demands of modern military technology. Wherever he is sent to learn the business of being a soldier, each member of the U.S. Army feels the presence of Kunark. This is where it all begins, the transition from civilian to soldier, new sights, new sounds, new life. It takes getting used to. At Kunark Operated Reception Centers, the new men are interviewed and tested to determine basic skills and aptitudes. Every effort is made to match the man with the assignment for which he is best suited. In an Army as large as ours, that's a big job. But whatever assignment he's headed for, every soldier must take an eight-week course in basic combat training at one of the Kunark training centers. Daily schedules call for instruction in the fundamentals of military service. Command information programs introduce the trainee to Army ways. He becomes acquainted with his new role as a United States soldier and is oriented in the Army's mission. Each man must endure rugged tests. He must meet high standards of physical fitness. He must match himself against his opponent. Under the watchful eye of expert instructors, he learns the principles of marksmanship. In weapons training, scores are checked and recorded so that individual progress can be followed. The basic combat training is to produce a man physically conditioned, indoctrinated and drilled in the fundamentals of soldiers. Training programs teach each man how to fight effectively and survive on the battlefield. All phases of individual tactical training are taught, including chemo. And how to select positions from which to observe or fire upon the enemy. An important subject is protection against chemical warfare and the trainee receives basic instruction in the use of the protective mask. At the end of basic training, proficiency tests and all the subjects are given. Before any soldier moves on to further training, he must meet the basic combat readiness standards represented in his initial instruction period. Successful completion of basic training opens the way to advanced individual training offered at training centers or schools operated by Konark. Now the challenges are more demanding. Well on his way to becoming an expert soldier, the man in advanced individual training sharpens his skills, sets his sights higher and begins to take on the appearance of a professional. Whatever his military specialty, he learns it the hard way and he learns it well. To the infantryman, confidence is the order of the day. He must be secure in the knowledge that he can maneuver as a land soldier on the most difficult terrain. Weapons of great destructive power must be mastered. The rocket launcher. The flame thrower. The red eyed missile, effective against low flying aircraft. The soldier learns how to prepare a mine and to use other demolition techniques. He is taught how to render first aid in the field. Or move into a village where a hidden enemy may be waiting. In several of Konark's advanced individual training centers, special instruction is given in Army operations in Vietnam. Advanced individual training is carried on in every Army specialty, either at training centers with troop units where the men receive on-the-job training, or at one of Konark's 26 specialized Army schools. Army curricula reflect the latest advances in the military arts and sciences. Transportation school at Fort Eustis, Virginia conducts studies in the movement of men and equipment on land, air, and water. Classes and navigation teach transportation personnel methods of operating boats and amphibious craft. Transportation companies learn to load and unload cargo in offshore operations when supply at dock installations is not possible. Instruction in this difficult technique emphasizes safety as well as economy in the handling of costly military supplies. The challenge of many missions can be met only by a system of education in combat and combat support skills that work constantly toward raising standards of individual performance. A Konark classroom may be anywhere from the deck of an amphibious vehicle on Chesapeake Bay to a field at Army Aviation School Fort Rucker, Alabama. Here and at Fort Wolters, Texas, Konark helicopter schools train chopper pilots in the use and maintenance of their equipment. Army Aviation plays a critical role in U.S. military operations. Pilot training programs are constantly updated to reflect the latest principles in maneuver and coordination with ground elements. The success of Army Aviation in Vietnam is due largely to exercises conducted in 1964 at the Fort Benning Infantry Center in Georgia. In coordination with the U.S. Army Combat Development Command, Konark developed the instructional materials and provided troops and facilities for an intensive aerosol testing program. The unit used in this test, the 11th Air Assault Division, became the nucleus of the famous first cavalry division Air Mobile deployed to Vietnam. New concepts in the use of the helicopter were given a thorough trial. Air Assault techniques proven here were incorporated into Konark training program, adding a dynamic chapter in the progress of specialized Army education. In Konark schools and training centers, a thorough program of instruction rounds out the Army's military education system. From mechanics to bakers, from the Women's Army Corps to the Corps of Engineers, communications, military police, civil affairs, judge advocate. Each Konark school and training center is structured to fill an urgent Army need. The Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina prepares the soldier for unconventional military operations. Students are exposed to the complexities of potential special warfare situations. Counterinsurgency tactics are taught to cope with guerrilla actions. Special Forces soldiers learn how to live and fight in hazardous land areas and extremes of climate. Through frequent field exercises and problems developed by the school, the men learn how to respond with the proper actions to ensure survival and the success of their mission. Defense Against Air Attack is the specialty of the U.S. Army Air Defense School, Fort Bliss, Texas. The intricate mechanism of air defense equipment calls for skilled operators who man their posts round the clock at Nike Hercules Bases, which protect American population and industrial centers. A program of training alerts pose simulated problems for the air defense soldiers. The air defense school also teaches courses in the firing of tactical missiles, such as the Hawk, for enemy air targets at closer range. At Fort Sill, Oklahoma, artillery school students move from classrooms of firing range for practice in modern artillery operations. Courses in conventional weapons emphasize training with various types of howitzers. The weapons of unconventional warfare require the learning of special skills, which prepare the artillerymen for tomorrow's battle concepts, as well as today. Perhaps no other educational system demands as much flexibility as the Army's network of schools and training centers. Periodic changes in weaponry require constant review of Konark programs to make certain that instruction keeps pace with latest advances in military technology. Both in the schools and training centers, up-to-date audio-visual instruction is used. In addition to training films and film strips, closed circuit television has a variety of applications in Army education. Konark has several mobile TV units deployed in Army installations to provide instant closed circuit transmission of military educational programs. Demonstrations of military techniques are standardized for presentation to soldiers throughout the widespread Konark establishment. Benefiting from the most sophisticated methods of instruction, the soldier enters the next phase of his military education, unit training. Now, as a specialist in his particular field, he learns how to work with other soldiers to coordinate his actions, to operate as a member of a combat team. Unit training welds the skills of groups of men into efficient, smoothly functioning military forces. Though each man retains his individual initiative, he moves with his unit in prescribed problems aimed at teaching coordinated maneuver on the battlefield. The single soldier and the single piece of equipment give way to the squad, the company, the battalion. Lessons well learned from the drill sergeant in basic training show up in combat teams sharpened for action. It's still school days for the soldier as his Army education continues, moving progressively to more complex levels of military operations. A field test against ambush. When this unit goes into jungle combat, it will know the answers. In advanced unit training, Konark stresses the coordination of multiple battle elements in combined arms, live fire exercises. Various tactical units are brought together to form a combat team. The units solve the simulated problem in assault, in which live ammunition is fired at targets representing the enemy. The purpose of the exercise is to enhance soldiers' skills and build confidence within and between the elements of the combat arm. The payoff of individual and unit training comes with full-scale maneuvers of all U.S. armed forces. Here military educational programs and policies are put to severe trial. Exercise Clove Hitch 3 in early 1967 deployed Army, Navy, and Air Force units to Puerto Rico for a joint field test of total battle concepts. In all joint maneuvers, unit commanders are briefed and familiarized with details of the scenario for the war games, study Army units in action, and evaluate the soldier's performance against the background of his training. In this way, Army educational policies are constantly reexamined in the light of the soldier's actual experience. Conarch observers move with all U.S. combat forces to report any areas of training that may require improvement. The training and detainment of combat readiness of the Army's reserve components, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard, is a major Conarch mission. These forces, with a ready reserve of more than a million men and women, play a vital role in the security of our country. In summer encampments, local training centers, and through resident and non-resident school instruction, individual reinforcements and units from detachment to divisional size receive military training in the latest tactics, logistical support concepts, and technological advancements on new Army equipment. The citizen soldier is trained to take his place if required with the nation's active military forces. The ready battle units of the Continental Army Command are available for deployment to trouble areas on short notice. These Army strike forces are a powerful arm of the United States Strike Command, or strike arm, which controls combined military task groups, the movement of its large numbers of men and equipment. Conarch headquarters at Fort Monroe employs a computer facility. Information on ready personnel and equipment for all Conarch units is recorded on punch cards. The cards are sorted into categories. The information is transferred to tapes. This bank of information, swiftly available to all command elements, provides a mastered data file for the movement of units throughout the nationwide Conarch network. When a run is made on the computers, results may be reproduced on a high-speed printer for distribution to the military agency's concern. In military emergency, time is vital. Capability for quick response is essential to the success of Conarch's mission of supplying adequate strike forces. At Fort Monroe, Conarch's Emergency Operations Center, manned day and night, alerts the Continental Army Command to international crises, as well as situations in the United States that may require the use of Army troops. A status chart of current Conarch units based in the United States presents an immediate readiness profile for use in scheduling troop deployments. Logistics of men and transport required for a particular military emergency are evolved by Conarch planners who have direct access to all latest information. The Emergency Action Console provides the operation center with a rapid and efficient means of communicating with other headquarters. The war room of the Emergency Operations Center is used for top-level Conarch emergency sessions, where troop actions are initiated in response to instructions from the Joint Military Chiefs of Staff. A vivid demonstration of Conarch's ability for quick response to military emergency was the deployment of U.S. troops to the Dominican Republic in 1966. Within hours, members of a combat-ready force were on the scene and engaged in their peacekeeping assignment. The increasing number of U.S. Army missions has put a heavy burden on the Continental Army Command. Today's soldier must be trained and cross-trained to serve in many capacities. He may be Freedom's Outpost in Korea, Germany, or Vietnam. He may stand in Alaskan snow on Desert Sand or in Silent Honor to his unknown comrades of early awards. He is not only a fighting man, he is a civic action soldier helping local inhabitants in disrupted areas. Together, combat and combat support units form an expert military establishment. Conarch is trained and deployed many hundreds of units, ranging from two and three man detachments to divisions to Southeast Asia. Over a quarter of a million well-trained, highly motivated troops. U.S. military operations in Vietnam have proved beyond doubt that our army is stronger and more capable than any in history. Military success is the result of team effort of skilled individual soldiers working together in well-trained combat-ready units. This is the purpose and the goal of the Continental Army Command. To organize, train, and maintain in combat-ready condition the finest army in the world.