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

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F. A. B. DETACHMENT Lt. Col. Wages, Commanding Colonel Campbell and Staff FIELD AHTILLEHY BU Pill Each combat arm of our Army has a service board made up of practical soldiers of wide background and experience in the particular arm. These boards play a key role in the development and application for tactical use of the materiel for the arm of which they are a part. They test, improve, and on occasion, design new materiel. ln all of their activities they are guided by only one thought--that the materiel will do the job it is supposed to do under all possible combat conditions and types of handling. Their approach, therefore, is a practical one, they think always in terms of the combat soldier who is going to use the materiel. It is fitting, then, that the Field Artilleryls service board be stationed at Fort Bragg, the worldls largest Field Artil- lery Training Center. Although it is under the Army Ground Forces and not part of the Station Complement the Field Artillery Board has been located at Fort Bragg since l922, and has worked and cooperated so whole- heartedly with the Station Complement that it is more than fitting to include a brief article about it in this book. It was established in 1002, and spent its first twenty years at Fort Biley, Kansas, and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. ln its forty- two years of existence the Board has counted among its members many of the most important Hgures in American Field Artillery, the men to whom the credit must go for creating what is generally recognized as the finest Field Artillery in the world. Tables of Organization for the Field Artillery Board today provide for eight voting members, twelve test officers, and a detachment of twenty-seven men. The voting members are composed of the Board president, Colonel Alan l.. Campbell, a recorder, and chiefs of the following sections: Gunnery, Guns and Carriages, lVlotors, Communications, Ordnance, and Instruments and Survey. Test oflicers are assigned to each section where they, under supervision of the Chief of Section and with the assistance of enlisted personnel, conduct service tests of various equipment pro- posed for Field Artillery use. Reports are prepared by the test officers, and, after due study and consideration by the Board members, recommendations are made to the Com- manding General, Army Ground Forces. The roster of enlisted men, all non-commissioned officers or technicians, includes: a draftsrnan, a metcorologist, photographers, file and supply clerks, and expert mechanics for light, medium, and heavy artillery and all artillery prime movers. A small civilian staff performs the secretarial and custodial work of the Board. Because of the increased demands on the Board in war time, a battalion of light artillery has been assigned to the Board to meet the manpower requirements necessary in its work. This battalion, at present the 798th, is composed of men trained to serve all kinds of Field Artillery equip- ment. This includes the servicing and firing of weapons from the .30 caliber carbine to the B inch gun and 240 mm Howitzer, the operation of vehicles from a motor bike to the powerful Diesel high speed tractors, and the use of fire control and meteorological instruments. ln order to keep abreast of the actual battle-field per- formance of materiel the Board maintains close liaison with all fronts. Overseas reports flow in steadily, and mem- bers of the Board have been sent to various theaters as observers and instructors. Frequent conferences are held here with representatives of other branches of the service and of industry, and there are many demonstrations of new equipment. The Board serves as a clearing house for thi- many ideas and inventions that come from the troops of thc line. Finally, the Board cooperates to the fullest with Artillery units that come to it for assistance and advice. This was especially true during the expansion in heavy artillery for which Fort Bragg was the principal training center.

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Field Director Richard N. Hart and assistants. Day room equipment furnished by Red Cross. 1 l MEHIIIA RED IIHIJSS The services of the American Red Cross have been available to the personnel of Fort Bragg since l9l3, when a chapter was first established at this Post. As the num- ber of troops on the reservation continued to grow, the scope of these services increased accordingly. At the present time, in addition to the main ollice and two hos- pital sections, several branches are located throughout the Post to better serve the troops in the various areas. ln charge of Red Cross activities at Fort Bragg are Field Director Richard N. Hart and eight Assistant Field Direc- tors. Services rendered by the Red Cross to the members of the Armed Forces cover a wide variety of problems. Since these problems are so varied, it is futile to attempt to describe all the activities of the Red Cross. Suffice it to say that the Red Cross personnel on the Post are available 24- hours a day. The major services that they perform in- clude the following: they provide individual counsel and guidance, they obtain information and reports on home conditionsg and they grant loans or grants of money to enable soldiers to return home in cases of distress, sickness, or death in the immediate family. For the four year period from July l, l940 to June 30, l9-111, lO3,525 enlisted men and women were assisted with their problems by the Red Cross at Fort Bragg. Financial assistance in the form of loans or grants for emergencies, during the same period totaled 5l534O,599.39. Conscious of thc effect that personal and family prob- Welfare worlc at Regional Hospftal lems have on the ill and convalescent soldiers, the Red Cross maintains a program of medical and psychiatric social work in the Fort Bragg Regional Hospital. Work- ing under the guidance of the Medical Officers, and in co- operation with the patients and the Home Service Workers, the Red Cross Hospital worker obtains important data needed by the doctor for diagnosis and treatment. There is the task of looking after the comfort and welfare of rela- tives who may be summoned to the bedside of service men critically ill. Providing writing material, Writing letters for the incapacitated. and encouraging families to Write cheerful letters to patients are other services which go far toward alleviating worry and hastening recovery at the hospital. The recreational and entertainment activities which the Red Cross provides for convalescing soldiers help to fill in the long hours that the soldier must en- dure during his period of recovery. Shortly after December 9, 19411. because of its size and the efficient operation of the military sctup here. Fort Bragg was designated as one of the training centers for Assistant Field Directors. Several hundred Assistant Field Directors have received this training for domestic and overseas as- signnients. The Red Cross is a long-established link between the military and home fronts. From the far corners of our country this cross-How of Red Cross service safeguards the welfare of the enlisted men and women and their families both in peace and in war. Conducting occupational therapy.

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-1 -- -1-fr 1 :vu .e:.,..w-.al A I55 mm gunshell burst over the Field Artillery Board Effect Field. A 'formidable array of Field Artillery materiel. One of each standard The Gunnery Section makes important studies ot the effect ot all artil- item of Field Artillery materiel as well as numerous items of test and lery projectiles. foreign equipment is maintained. Mortars, generally considered an Infantry weapon, have been tested and A forward observer in action. found suitable 'For Field Artillery use. V V Lu Ready to launch a balloon. The F. A. B. Meteorology Section furnishes metro messages tor all Artillery units at The F. A. B. mechanics service the I55 MM Howitzer M-I, Fort Bragg. one ot the numerous weapons lrept for use in board tests. s