 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
March Order
took up so much space that there was no room for the simulated warfare of the infantry.
By the time we moved to the desert, it was clear that the experiment was a failure, and we
had to turn in the extra trucks.
Probably the biggest benefit of the experiment, so far as our infantry was
concerned, was that they learned the technique of entrucking and detrucking: that is,
getting on and off. That doesn't sound like a very complex skill, but it had various facets.
After hours of practice, they learned to form into groups of about thirty - I think that's
how many a truck would carry - about a truck length apart, instead of all crowding in one
area and milling around. And each man learned the location all the foot - and hand-holds
he would need to scramble aboard without delaying the man behind him. Lieutenants
with stop watches used to stand by and check the time it took a particular squad or
platoon to load, and it had better not be too long, or they would get extra practice at night
or on weekends.
When Major Costain first joined us at Camp Barkeley, he had seen infantry of the
43rd Division loading onto trucks and had formed an opinion about infantry's ability to
entruck. So at the end of a field exercise, when he saw a fleet of trucks coming to pick up
an infantry battalion a mile or so ahead, he said to himself, "I'll go back and March Order
the 915th and move out ahead of them, before the road gets blocked. "
But before he could even get back to our CP in the field, here came the same trucks,
laden with infantry and headed for the barracks. They were probably home by the time
our last battery was on the road.
The infantry got plenty of chance to use their skills, for they did not always walk
in combat. Several other means were employed when we had to move too far and too fast
to march on foot.
The most satisfactory was to temporarily attach Quartermaster Truck Companies
to the Division for the specific purpose of moving infantry forward. They operated like a
taxi service: when the infantry got to their destination and de-trucked, quickly and in
good order, they thanked the truckers and went about their business of fighting, giving no
thought for parking lots. The Truck Companies drove back out of the combat zone and
waited for their next job.
But truck companies were not always available, so other expedients were used.
The first time I saw infantry riding on tanks [On the outside: The inside of a tank is pretty
snug] was in Task Force Weaver, early in the Glamour War. After that it became
common practice. Sometimes there were so many men clinging to every irregularity that
offered a hand/foot hold that the tank hull and turret were nearly invisible. A tank is not
nearly as luxurious as a stretch limousine, but it beats walking. Barely.
And if and when they came under fire, they jumped off and advanced under cover
of the tank's fire (cannon and machine gun), protecting the tank from the approach of any
enemy infantryman with a panzerfaust (a hand-held anti-tank weapon like our bazooka)
or a Molotov cocktail. Infantry and tanks made a good team.
75
|
 |
|