US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Bragg, NC)

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1l 1 i P SIPEARIIEAD 0F THE ATTACK N Infantry Division is the basic arm of an army. Around it and for its support all other branches of the Army are built. Without the Infantry, there just wouldn't be an army. Of course, as most of us know, an Infantry Division is not composed entirely of foot troops. There's almost every component of the Army Ground Forces within an Infantry Division-Artillery, Engineers, Signal Corps, Medics, Reconnaissance Troop, Quartermaster Company and other special troops. Briefly, an Infan- try Division is an entity in itself, capable of subsisting and fighting on its own. The battle mission of an Infantry Division is to take and hold territory. Before the Infantry there is nothing but the enemy. In every battle, the doughboy and his outfit are in the thick of things, 'way up front where the payoff is either life or death. We are the first to occupy territory, and we occupy it by our own sweat and suffering and blood. And we hold it, fighting like hell for every inch of earth. Once we get a foothold, we push on and on, retreating only when there is no other way out. Technically, a United States Infantry Division is a triangular division. This means that in each division there are three combat teams, with each combat team composed of an Infantry Regiment and a Battalion of Artillery. Supporting and servicing each combat team is a company of Engineers and a company of Medics. And supporting the Division as a, whole are the various special troops. Broken down, an Infantry Regiment is made up of three combat battalions and one provisional battalion that functions as a service unit for the battalion. In each Infantry Battalion there are three rifle com- panies, one heavy weapons company and a headquar- ters company. In the Infantry Division Artillery there are four bat- talions--three light Field Artillery Battalions and one medium. A Field Artillery Battalion is composed of five batteries, three firing batteries, a headquarters battery and a service battery. Attached to on Infantry Division are a Battalion of Engineers, a Signal Company, a Quartermaster Com- pany, an Ordnance Company, a Reconnaissance Troop, a Medical Battalion and a Headquarters Company. While an Infantry Division primarily moves by foot, the mechanized strength of the unit is immense. All field pieces and heavy weapons are motor-drawn. The Artillery generally moves by truck, as do all special troops. The fire-power of a modern Infantry Division is tremendous. With thousands of small arms, hundreds of machine guns and mortars, plus the several light and medium field pieces, an Infantry Division can concentrate thousands ot pounds of ammunition on a specific area in the shortest possible time. Though battle tactics differ in various circum- stances, an Infantry Division is generally given a spe- cific objective to take or a definite area ro hold. Its battle-tront varies in size, from a few hundred yards to several miles, depending entirely on its specific mission at a particular time. ' In a military campaign in total war, an Infantry Division gives and receives the active cooperation of all branches of the Army, plus definite assistance from the Navy. Prime examples of this cooperation between all arms of the services were the invasion of North Africa, the campaign in Sicily and the current campaign in Italy. In all three phases in this war, Infantry Divi- sions spearheaded the attacks with the support of other branches. The usual tactics were first to have the Air Corps plaster the immediate objective with thousands of tons of bombs, next, to have the Navy's heavy guns bombard it, and while this was in progress foot soldiers moved in and took over. Quite properly, the Infantry has been called the Queen of Battle. Since ancient times, the Infantry has carried the brunt of battles. Throughout recorded history, it has always been foot troops who captured and held ground. And, more than ever, it has been proven in this war that the Infantry is the one indis- pensable branch of the Army. It is not easy to be a good lnfantryman. The train- ing is the most rigorous, the life is often monotonous, and seldom is there any glamour or glory attached to the foot soldier. But there is a lot of inner-satisfaction in knowing that you are doing a tough job to the best of your ability. When you're in an Infantry Division, you can take a fierce and sincere pride in the knowl- edge that you have gone up against tough men and pitted your strength, mental and physical, against them, and that you were not found wanting. As Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, com- mander of the Army Ground Forces, recently put it: To the Infantry belong the strong.

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. r . .6 H I, f .J A f if We ' Fi Ar i it Q. to - ARK cCL RE coiowii U. S.A. CHIEF OF STAFF, 'I00th INFANTRY DIVISION Colonel Mark McClure was born in Anderson, Indiana, on February 6, l898, and attended DePauw University before he was a ointed to the United States Military Academy in l9l8. Upon his graduation from West Point in l922, he was PD commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Field Artillery and assigned to the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He was later transferred to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and in l926 was promoted to First Lieutenant. An assignment at Fort Meyers, Virginia, preceded his appointment to the faculty of the United States Military Academy. In l935 he was promoted to Captain and transferred to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, where he remained until l938, when he returned to attend the Command and General Stalf School. He was then assigned to the Office of the Chief of Field Artillery and in July, l94O, he was promoted to Major. Re- maining in Washington, D. C., he was promoted in December, l94l, to Lieutenant Colonel. When this office was absorbed by the Headquarters of Army Ground forces in May, l942, he was selected to attend another course at the Command and General Staff School. He was later assigned to the 95th Division as G-3, where he remained until August 22, I942, when he was promoted to Colonel and transferred to the lOth Division as Chief of Staff.