 weapons coupled with the fighting skill of the American soldier stands ready on the alert all over the world to defend this country you the American people against aggression this is the big picture an official television report to the nation from the united states army now to show you part of the big picture here is sergeant steward queen primary supporting arm of american infantry from the era of muzzleloaders to atomic projectiles is the epical story of field artillery the king of battle today on the big picture we're going to tell this story it begins at bunker hill and has grown in importance ever since until right now the hard-hitting fast-moving field artillery team is the most powerful army unit on the battlefield let's watch the story of artillery history it has always been the man on foot has taken and held the ground but seldom has he been alone today many weapons support him in his ground gaining mission and the most powerful is artillery word goes back a platoon is pinned down a concentration of enemy is discovered a regiment needs support before jumping off all along the battle line the communications network passes the word for artillery fox trot oscar bravo fire mission coordinates six seven five two three azimuth four nine oh enemy concentration will adjust and artillery is delivered but let's go back to the beginning of american artillery let's go back to 1776 this is the cannon that fought with washington a muzzleloader that had to be swabbed after each round to ensure that no sparks would set off the next round prematurely a primitive weapon but good enough to pound the british at bunker hill support the successful attack at trenton and aid in the defeat of cornwallis at york now army was often ill-equipped but it fought its battles and it won and in the conflict american artillery was born by the time of the civil war artillery had increased both in size and power at guettysburg the decisive battle of the war artillery played a dominant part on the third day of the battle the confederate general pickett led a furious charge against the union center the union artillery opened up with schottenshell in 30 minutes pickett lost 5 000 men the south never recovered from guettysburg this was the last of the dashing hell bent for leather horse drawn artillery for world war one revolutionized the whole concept of artillery two huge armies hammered each other across a shattered no man's land neither able to penetrate the other in such a situation artillery became the primary weapon its development was rapid the telephone enabled commanders for the first time to really exercise control over artillery fire artillery became so potent that infantry could move only with difficulty armies couldn't maneuver without exposing themselves to withering artillery fire the war settled down to a stalemate movement was the problem movement of both men and guns as one american artillery officer put it however easy it may be to move guns about on a map to do so in a country congested by troop movements overbroken ground with poor roads requires much thought time effort hardship patience tact and system movement was the problem any army must move to win but in the rain soaked fields of france general mud took command of all forces almost all operations became effectively bogged down as the war progressed trucks came to replace forces as the prime mover of artillery but the problems still remain for each gun move there had to be a movement of personnel ammunition spare parts repair agencies rations and general supplies and sometimes just moving the truck was hard enough the problems were complicated further by the huge proportions that field guns were achieving towards the end of the war often 16 inch guns mounted on railroad tracks were used to support frontline operations it was the allied news argon offensive that finally broke the back of the german army although artillery contributed to stalemating the war it also contributed to the victory in fact huge numbers of american artillery played a dominant for 1500 pieces of artillery were massed along a 16-mile front but tremendous barrage preceded the attack and continued intermittently during the day it was the first of november 1918 by 7 p.m. of that day all objectives had been achieved the american army had rolled forward an unprecedented five and a half miles over a land shattered by artillery for the first time in the history of warfare artillery caused more casualties than any other weapon on the battlefield massed fires were employed for maximum destruction the world war one 70 percent of all casualties were due directly to artillery fire the king of battle had earned his name with the end of the war the american army came home and americans settled down to a generation of uneasy peace then came a new word nazi and behind it a new face adolf hitler under hitler germany was recast into a totalitarian military state with ambitions that stretched around the globe here in america president roosevelt signed our first peacetime draft bill americans of all shapes and sizes got ready for war years later at a place called pearl harbor war came in war two we found ourselves fighting in two major theaters on opposite sides of the world and men and equipment had to get to both places to most everybody a pacific isle was a beautiful happy place but the japanese warlords changed all that and we had to put things right again that although pacific islands may have once been beautiful in a war they are tough to fight on movement again became the big problem particularly for artillery for the most part ammunition and supplies had to be lugged over jungle trails on human backs and as always when general mud takes command of operations everything bogs down but wars don't wait and the american army learned to move and fight in the jungle as before artillery became the primary supporting weapon artillery gained new prominence in the pacific it became the most effective weapon against the by-charge of the japanese use and new techniques of fire enabled guns all up and down the front to concentrate their fire on one spot at one time bonsai charges were stopped dead in their tracks the key to success in battle and this is the result of firepower enemy destruction from island to island the american army fought forward and finally won but at the same time halfway around the world in the deserts of north africa american forces were fighting another phase of the same war the desert created its own problems but it was open terrain and it allowed the american army to employ its mobility and firepower with airstrikes aiding the artillery hill 609 will long be remembered the key to the german defense it took a terrific pounding from american artillery the german army in africa was no more tunis and beserte rejoice but across the Mediterranean lay italy and a town called anzio their artillery helped secure the beachhead then up the rocky spine of italy the american army advanced fighting for the high ground moving up the valleys and always with the support of artillery mountain bastion called casino the germans made their strongest resistance artillery pounded their positions around the clock and when the infantry took anything there wasn't much left but casino was the strong point of the german line the air force teamed up with artillery to smash it trance the american army made spectacular progress then came the german counter attack it was here during the european campaign that a new weapon came into use against the germans mass rocket fire this is the result of firepower surrender of the enemy as in world war one artillery continued as the king the most powerful weapon on the battlefield out of the chaos of the second world war came imperial communism the free world got a taste of its aggressive intent in a little country called korea outnumbered from the start american commanders traded manpower for firepower and once again artillery came to dominate the battlefield the weapons that fought the korean war were basically the same as in world war two but the technique of gunnery was vastly improved using a simple target grid system any infantryman could become an artillery observer he could call for fire support and the artillery could deliver it rapidly wherever it was needed word comes into fire that charlie company in the attack is pinned down information on the position of the enemy weapons and placements is plotted then this information is cranked into the guns charlie company needs artillery support and gets it as friendly shells overhead after the first barrage range and azimuth are adjusted then the command is given fire for effect the hill is quiet now the chatter of machine guns and the dull thump of mortars has stopped the men of charlie company move out and up and secure the hill firepower once again has played its part in the victory and this is the price of firepower millions of empty shell cases grossly outnumbered in korea we traded manpower for firepower and fought the communist armies to a standstill but artillery can never rest on past performances and today perhaps there are more new developments in artillery than ever before today true mobility has been added to firepower to make for flexible artillery able to meet the modern concepts of battle here ammunition is air delivered to an artillery battery in the field but supplies and ammunition are not the only things that can be air delivered by helicopter here a battery commander gets his orders to move to a new position 20 miles away over rough mountainous terrain how many hours or even days will it take in the modern american artillery it can be done in a matter of minutes if artillery is to live on the atomic battlefield it must have this capability of rapid movement this may look like a piecemeal operation and the hard way to move a gun from here to there but artillery is heavy and for the sort of transportation this gun is going to get it's easier to take a little at a time gun carriage goes first harry is on the move at once the copter that carries the crew also totes the gun barrel in a matter of minutes they will be in action again 20 miles away and this is the terrain they are bypassing here's a little fellow a brand new addition to your army's firepower family no it's not a tank but a light highly mobile 90 millimeter gun maneuverable and fast enough to be hard to hit light enough to be transported by air and with a punch big enough to knock out a tank this is the new self-propelled 90 millimeter gun here's the big bertha of your army's conventional artillery the 280 millimeter cannon capable of battlefield maneuverability with its twin tractor units it also is capable of delivering an atomic punch to an enemy many miles away this is the most powerful finest example of conventional field artillery in the world today in artillery concepts weapons and strategy these small rockets of world war two have grown up to become a major source of firepower on the modern field of battle here a corporal missile lumbers into position capable of ranges greater than conventional artillery and capable also of accurate delivery of atomic warheads guided missiles like the corporal honest john and the red stone have brought a new concept to the battlefield a concentrated strength to launch the offensive no longer is there safety in massed numbers any massed concentration of strength now is an open invitation to destruction by atomic missiles and with the atomic missile the artillery now as never before certainly is the king of battle with devastating firepower that is the knockout punch of america's new artillery that is why today more than ever before the artillery has earned the name king of battle now this is sergeant steward queen inviting you to be with us again next week for another look at the big picture the big picture is a weekly television report to the nation on the activities of the army at home and overseas produced by the army pictorial center presented by the united states army in cooperation with this station you too can be an important part of the big picture you can proudly serve for the best equipped the best trained the best fighting team in the world today the united states army