The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1918-09-17
USE 'EM ROUGH
MOTTO OF OUR
TANK HANDLERS
'.Black Toms" Of U. S. Army
Taught How to Operate Big
Monsters at Tobyhanna
GREAT LEvELER OF RANK
Officers and Privates Study I'M
Same Classes to Learn
Teachnical Details
BY FREDERICK NJ. KERRY.
IN. r. 4. Staff CORRESPONDENTS

On. Il. A. Staff COrreSpOndent.)
Tobyhanna Pa, Sept Ill have
been watching the BLACK Toms"
learning how. to Treat En- Rough"
Here at Camp Summerall, in the
mountains of Pennsylvania, is the in
struction center for the men OF our
new service-the tank corps-or the
BLACK Toms as they prefer to be
known. Although their official insig-
mia is the picture OF tank surmount-
in gtwo salamanders unofficially the
black tomcat has been. selected by the
men as their insignia, and the motto,
Treat EN- Rough lis the inspira-
ton of the corps.
Tank men have to- be specialists.
1t requires high degree Of nerve to
get inside a perambulating steel mon
ster and amble all alone into the
Ienemy's lines with the knowledge that
every battery in reach is trying to put
a shell into you. So the tank men
have been rather carefully selected.
Practically all Of them are volunteers,
and it struck me that an undue pro-
portion of those l saw have red hair.
At Tobyhanna real tank training
begins. The recruits are concentrated
first at Gettysburg and taught infan-
try drill, but they come to Tobyhanna
to get their first look at tanks in
Sides They are organized into light
tank and heavy tank battalons.
Have Many Courses.
For three months they go to the
most interesting school that most OF
/ them have ever attended Under
Colonel w. H. Clopton,s Jr., the COM
marding officer, the courses are con-
Quoted by Captain Robert r. Has
brouck. Both have seen tank service
at the front ~ta.F
As neither officers nor men, when
they come to Tobyhanna, know any
thing about tanks, they go to school
together. The men destined to take !
care O fthe mechanism of the heavy
tank are sent to the heavy mechan-
icaf school" That course includes in
strirsion in the care, operation and
construction of the tank. The tank is,
taken to pieces and laid out, piece by
piece. sa .
Then there is the driving course"
which teaches skill in handling the
tank. This starts with simple driving
on fiat ground and ends with all the
stunts that a tank can be called upon
to purform.
Our heavy tanks will be armed with
Esix.poundEr' guns and heavy machine
| guns. There is, a school of each, be-
ginning with the names of. the parts,
and ending up with some Of the most
fancy shooting on the two big ranges
that any branch fthe service can
put up. q, ~
The peronal weapon of the tank
corps is the automatic service pistol
and every man from colonel to cook
car4aasic one u Everybody must 60
through. a gas defense school. Then
there is a course teaching men how
to steer tank by compass.
Learn to Hide Tanks.
| All the men get the course in pro
Elective camoufage," to hide the tanks
from enemy airplanes with nets, rail
road ties, pieces of sheet iron-any-
thing that may be found on a battle
field, II,
Most important is the course in rec
onnaisance, especially. for officers.
This includes minor tactics, map
reading, finding of routes, clay mod
cling of contours from maps, and act
ual field work. The Tobyhanna reser-
walton has ample room for all such
theoretical problems.
For the light tank men the, eight
mechanical school, the Eight driv-
ing" the Eight machine gun" and the
light minor repair" courses are sub
stituted for the corresponding heavy
courses. Instead of the. six-pounder
the light tank men get the 81 Mill
meter gun course. 1 i 4
The organization Of our tank corps
is modelled on the British. The bat
talon is the unit of organization. The
present strength of the tank corps is
$4,000 men. A Light Tank Company
consists OF five officers and 1O7 men;
a Heavy Tank Company consists of q
officers and 235 men, The majority
of the enlisted personnel are non-com-
nissioned officers; there are few pri-
Yates. A tank battalion consists of a
headquarters company and three COM
panies Of heavy. or. light tanks. A
tank center,Hi whichatakes the place
of the regiment, is commanded by a.
lieutenant colonel, and consists of a
headquarters, one battalion OF heavy
and two battalions Of light tanks,
salvage and repair company. and a
supply company. There is san ,ebuip-
4 ment of, motOrcyc les,e trucks, trailers,
mobile repair shop and supply wag-
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