United States Military Academy Camp Buckner - Mortar Yearbook (West Point, NY)

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THE BUCKNER STAKES 'fjmv ' 2 . k Q Nag ww :M x X

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f QW Wx A f' HX 'ii Y ,l' 'f -- Vw-, Z FA! 5 1,-,g . ' f- K , f., 4 f 7 ,f ff xii- ,QE ,Sas A Gfxfj T- Y f ' .ff F9341 if 351 A 7, ' , 447 .,., mfs,-T f' -' ' -N pg f,, 6j jg K K , X 'T T if - ' F.-71e..::s ' xo 1 f 5 , i rf, Y ' ltfxlliii ,Nw Nw M. lim.. -fwfr I'II101T With a rumble, a wheeze, and a roar we tore up half the county with those big M-48s. The trails were rough, but the tanks were rougher and by the time we finished even the Air Force files were convinced that Armor, with its Firepower, Mobility, and Shock Action had what it takes to win battles, and win them decisively. We had a chance to play with the radios and fire on Range l. And for those few who didn't see them, I assure you, the geese were there, all eight of them. The tactical problem really showed us what Armor can do. And as we started the attack on our objective we found that riding beats walking in more ways than one, sixty per cent grade or not. And when Lieutenant Glassmeyer told us about driving a tank through Napalm, a few more of our fears about the tin coffins were dispelled. They just don't make can openers that big. We ate Armor chow, talked Armor talk, and breathed Armored air, and when we finished, we were tankers to a man.

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The Buckner Stakes was the pay off of all the training we had all summer. A 2,500 yard course complete with woods, roads, streams, mud, and bushes, packed with twelve stations measuring each individual's ability to solve a problem having to do with basic weapons and skills is run one day every sum- mer and this year for some reason was no ex- ception. Heats started running right after break- fast while most of us returned to barracks, ancl began to wonder just what was happen- ing out there when our classmates started coming back covered with sweat and mud, When we finally got going though it wasn't bad at all. The hour it took most of us to run it went more like ten minutes, as we tied knots in our hands with barbed wire, forgot to put aerials on radios and found leveling a mortar for speed an almost impossible task. Thanks to some unbreakable balloons on the carbine range the committee came out a little ahead on that one, but our M-l's were still accurate and few dropped any points at that station. With the two hundred yard sprint for the finish line the summer for all practical purposes was over and we were ready to go back to the Point and tell the other classes what a tough summer we had and awe them with our tales of how well we did. lt was the feeling of accomplishment we had after posting a gocd score on the stakes that made everything seem worthwhile. All the times we heard Good morning gentle- men welcome to your first hour of instruction in .... All the meals in the field. Mother dIdn't cook like that, she didn't like stew. All the other instructions and field training, all of it paid off here, and it will later. We learned a lot this summer, from everybody. lt was two months well spent.