Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 21, 1960)
Field classes provide experience for junior Army ROTC students (Author'd preface: East Thurs day the Army BOTC depart ment allowed me to iernm o-tnv t he junior class on their field problem so that I could record my Impressions for The Pane raid. For their co-operation In allowing me to fa* The Em erald’s first “compat corre spondent” I uni very fateful.) Ily TED MAH A It Emerald New* Editor The platoon leader stood up nnd shouted "Attack! Attack!" Forty m»n staggered to their feet lioin tlie gl ass in which they had Iain in readiness and ran shoul ' Tng toward the enemy rifles. When the two opposing forces closed, the o lemy ran out to greet the attacking plntoon. After a few minutes of joking and horse play, the platoon leader issued a few iidnunisir.itive orders and everyone sat around waiting the cadre officer to deliver the; critique of the exercises. The platoon Involved In the attac k w a * comprised of the juniors taking advanced ROTO1 at the University. The enemy were a f~w seniors who fired j blank ammunition as a part of the ficl1 problem. THE ROTC department con ducts these praetic s tactics classes to prepare juniors for; their six weeks in summer camp at Fart Lewis. Another, and more important, reason is that through the Thursday afternoon practice maneuvers the officers-to-be can get a general idea of the prob lems in leading and controlling troops in combat situations. In order to do this, «.* many realistic details as possible are Incorporated. The students wear combat fatigue clothes, carry rifles and machine-guns and are organized into the regulation chain-of-cotpmand units. The ter rain, south of Eugene, is wooded and in many parts no buildings are visible except for an ocra il ona* bam. OF OOl’KSK it is Impossible to simulate HCtual combat, and the military department does not hoj>e for this end. Only a limited amount of equipment is available. For example, it is impossible to bring down a "simulated” mortar barrage; real mortars kill and the only alternative is to pretend. Even blank ammunition must be carefully supervised, for it is lethal at a range of 20 feet. And probaMy most important of all, It is Impossible to simulate fear. Hut the purpose of the field training sessions is. as one of the cadre officers put It, "only to give you an Idea of how hard it can be to try to control a platoon.” The field exercises provide the best opportunity outside of actual combat for practicing the theories learned in the classroom. Con cepts thut seem elementary and ridiculously simple in class some how become bt Hin-torturing prob lems of Inextricable intricacy in the field. IN ADDITION to seeing the difficulties of controlling a pla- j toon, cadets can learn a number i of other situations that face a soldier in combat. For one thing, hardly anyone sees his enemy. Thursday after noon the platoon was fired upon by a sniper as it advanced toward the objective. Because the pla toon was widely dispersed, many only heard the gunfire without ever seeing the sniper. When fi nally the sniper was silenced, this correspondent was surprised to see that the enemy was only a little over 100 feet from where l lay. Later, when the assault was launched against the objective, the seniors could not be seen until the platoon had ulmoat overrun their position. ANOTHER LESSON taught on Thursday afternoons is that na I I ! Jt MT BEFOBE THE \TT\C K begins, the platoon leader holds a conference with his squad leaders and issues final instructions. ture is not always inclined to co operate with soldiers. The grass in front of the objective was high enough to slow men down as they approached the objective. It was also high enough to conceal branches and holes In the ground as well as sloppy little puddles that made walking upright some what challenging. And when it was necessary to hit the dirt, one discovered that the only things in view were several hundred blades of grass and the visor of his helmet. For variety there were sometimes bugs and ■water dog*. but not everyone was for tunate enough to run into these natural diversions. ON THIS particular day (and by coincidence, on every other particulai day) everything was wet, especially the cadets. One of them observed that “you don't even bother trying to keep dry. You just feel lucky when you accidentally go through a spot where the water isn't over your boot soles.” Another phenomena that be comes quite apparent even to the most hopelessly obtuse is that M-l's gain weight proportionate to the distance they are carried. And men grow tired. There are times when the decision to walk another hundred feet seems only an optimistic wish. Despite this, the foot soldier has been called the most mobile weapon on the battlefield. He needs no spare parts, only a minimum of main tenance. and can somehow al ways summon the strength to go a few more yards. BI T PROBABLY the strongest impression of all is the confusion that oozes over a battlefield like molasses. The simplest orders can be misunderstood and the most obvious solution to a problem can be overlooked. In the critique held immediately after the exer | cise one of the cadre officers said that “everyone's a college man and thinks his idea’s a little better.” Consequently orders get different interpretations as they pass down the chain-of-command. And though initiative in a soldier is desirable, there is such a thing as too much initiative. Thursday j afternoon theoretical Pfc's ended up giving orders not only to other Pfc’s in their squad, but to Pfc's , in other squads as well. EVERYTHING in general went wrone. The platoon leader sadly mentioned that he had been! lulled seven ot ttght times. The i cadre sergeants, who acted as referees, noted that the platoon had been wiped out about three times. But the mistakes everyne made were more helpful as lessons than the successes. In the critique, one of the officers said he was "glad things happened the way they: did, because one thing that is always true is that something is always bound to go wrong. If ' everyone had done everything right, no one would have learned ' anything.” THE LESSONS learned Thurs- j day were not great revelations tc anyone; it is doubtful that any one was surprised by anything, except possibly by the fact that no one broke his ankle in the pot holes. The important thing was that the cadets were made aware by personal experience of some of the things that could possibly happen to them when they must lead real soldiers in a real com bat situation. Certainly they are not crack troops after three hour's practice every Thursday - IF YOU WERE . . . Sitting in the stands during the bottom of the ninth inning, with the score tied, two on and Willie Mays coming to bat, what would you do? You should get right up | and proceed immediately to Taco Time because any time is Taco Time. TACO TIME 13th & HIGH Sigma Delta Chi initiates studertf; Sigma Delta Chi, men's pro- later. fessional journalism fraternity, initiated six new members into the Oregon chapter Thursday. ; They were James Boyd, Keman j Turner, Tong Suhr, Jonathan Marshall, John Simpson and Keith Powell. ONE CANDIDATE for admis sion, Gary Sala, was unable to be present, ard will be initiated afternoon; but, should they ever be involved in a war, they will never live to be even adequate troops without the kind of train ing provided on Thursday after noons. Sigma Delta Chi is a profes sional organisation for men in the news-editorial field of journalism. The group holds bi-monthly luncheon meetings where guest speakers from the professional world of journalism are speakers. THE XKXT meeting will be held Tuesday at noon when War ren Price, acting dean of the School of Journalism, will taik on his Washington, D.C. trip '’■'be e he was n \aided the Sigma Delta Chi award for journalism .e-seirrh. Frofcrsor John Hulteng is the •hapter mVisor. POn Campus A&lWmanj r (Author of “I Was a Teen-age Dwarf,” “The Mont/ Loves of Dobie GiUisetc.) EUROPE MADE SIMPLE: NO. 2 I-ast week we discussed England, the first stop on the tour of Europe that every American college student is going to make this summer. Today we will discuss your next stop, France—or the Pearl of the Pacific, as it is generally called. To get from England to France, one greases one’s body and swims the English Channel. Similarly? to get from I’ranee to Spain, one greases one’s body and slides down the Pyrenees. As you can see, the most important single item to take to Europe is a valise full of grease. No, I ain wrong. The most important single item to take to Europe is a valise full of Marlboro Cigarettes. Oh, what a piece of work is Marlboro! If you think flavor went out when filters came in, treat yourself to a Marlboro. The filter works perfectly, and yet you get the full, zestful, edifying taste of the clioice tobaccos that precede the filter. This remarkable feat of cigarette engineering was achieved by Marllxiro’s research team—Fred Softjrack and Walter Fliptop—and I, for one, am grateful. But I digress. We were speaking of France—or the Serpent of the Nile, as it is jxrpularly termed. First let u* briefly sum up the history of France. The nation was discovered in 1492 by Madame (Guillotine. There followed a series of costly wars with Schleswig-Holstein, tlie Cleveland Indians, and Cajrtain Dreyfus. Stability finally came to this troubled land with the coronation of Marshal Foch, who married Lorraine Alsace and had tliree children: Flopsy, Mojisy, and Cliarlernagne. This later ljecame known as the Petit Trianon. fefWww ikb titab&t&fa. Marshal Foch—or the Boy Orator of the Platte, as he was affectionately called—was succeeded by Napoleon who intro duced shortness to France. Until Napoleon, the French were the tallest nation in Europe. After Napoleon, most Frenchmen were . able to walk comfortably under card tables. This later became known as the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Napoleon was finally exiled to Elba where he made the famous statement, “Able was I ere I saw Elba,” which reads the same whether you spell it forwards or backwards. You can also spell Marlboro backwards—Oroblram. Do not, however, try to smoke Marlboro tiaekwards because that undoes all the efficacy of the great Marlboro filter. After Napoleon’s death the French people fell into a great depression, known as the Louisiana Purchase. F'or over a cen tury even-body sat around moping and refusing his food. This torpor was uot lifted until Eiffel built his famous tower, which made everybody giggle so hard that today France is the gayest country in all Europe. Each night the colorful natives gather at sidewalk cafes and shout “Oo-la-la” as Maurice Chevalier promenades down the Chamjjs Elysees swinging his Malacca cane. Then, tired hut happy, everyone goes to the louvre for bowls of onion soup. The principal industry of France is cashing travelers clieeks. Well sir, I guess that's all you new! to know about France. Next week we'll visit the Land of the Midnight Sun— Spain. {£>11)60 Max Sbuluiaa * * * Next iteek, this week, every week, the best of the filter cigarettes is Marlboro, the best of the non-filters is Philip Morris; both available in soft pack or tlip-top box.
