Evening star., 1936-08-02
ID. c. HEADS INVITED
AS CAMP GUESTS
Militia Commander Asks
Commissioners to Indian
town Gap August Fl.

- COMMISSIONER MELVIN C.
HAZEN, president of the
Board of the District of CO.
~ lumbia Commissioners, and
his two associates on the commits
sion, George E. Allen and Col. Daniel
I. Sultan, have been invited to at
tend the encampment Of the Dis
trict of Columbia troops at Indian
town Gap, Pa, on the afternoon Of
August 81. At that time the Dis
trict of Columbia militia units will be
in the field with other troops of the
29th National Guard Division, Of
which they are a part.
The invitation was extended on be-
half of Maj. Gen. Milton A. Reckord
of Maryland, commanding the 29th
National Guard Division, by Col.
John w. Oehmann, commanding the
12lst Regiment of Engineers Of the
local Guard. In letters to each of the
Commissioners Col. Oehmann point
ed out that division review will be
rendered the Governors of the States
contributing troops to the division. the
Commissioners and other distinguish
ed guests at that time Col Oehmann
also told the Commissioners that it
would give him great pleasure to have
the Commissioners as guests OF the
regiment overnight. The District units
in camp at that time. in addition to
the Engineers. will be the Special
Troops, 29th Division, and the lst
Battalion, l04th QuartermaSter Regi-
ment. 1t will be the first time that
the entire division has ever been
called into the field as a unit for
training since it was organized with
the citizen troops of this city and the
States of Maryland and Virginia.
Maj. Gen. Reckord pointed out
that the concentration of the divi-
sion this Summer will give the outfit
an opportunity to show itself on the
movement to goodly portion of the
people Of the Sd Corps Area. many of
| whom have never seen good sized
body of troops of the 29th Division.
He added that if this area is ever
threatened it will be the 29th Divi-
sion. the Blue and the Gray. or units
Of it, that will be the first in the field.
Gen. Reckord said that it does
not necessarily have to be a war to
call the troops into the field, and
| pointed out that last Spring when
the rivers were roaring disaster Ma
tional Guardsmen Of the area rem
dered great and valuable service
Here in Washington, he said, the
260th Coast Artillery, with its search
lights, furnished the illumination for
two nights by means of which dikeS
in the lower part of the National
Capital were thrown up. Up at Cum
berland Col. George Henderson. the
division operations officer, turned out
with several hundred men and for six
| days rescued food victims. main
tanned order. directed defensive meas
ures against the food, safeguarded
property and did all the innumerable
and valuable things soldiers can do
when crises such as these overWhelm
| the civil community. Col. William
r. Dunlap up at Pittsburgh COM
mander of the 29th Division Howitzer
Regiment. mobilized his men and
took command Of the Pittsburgh
area.
The division commander said that
the movement toward the point of
concentration this year is progress
sive one. That has been Influenced
by the amount of motor transporta-
ton available and by consideration
of our needs for facilities for small
arms firing. The movement table,
therefore. he said, is a four-phase
affair. The Virginia brigade Of In
fantry, with the 18th Field Artillery
attached, will be modified first at
Front Royal, Va. The Maryland In
fantry will mobilize at the State res
ervation at Cascade, Md. Division
headquarters, special troops, Engi-
neers, medical regiment and all Ar
tillery except that with the Virginia
brigade, will move in one bound from
their home stations to the Indian
town Gap camp. The division avi-
alton unit will concentrate at Mid
dletown, Pa, which will be their base
throughout the period.
The various movements from home
stations to these centers will begin
on August 8. The Virginia brigade,
with attached Artillery, will move
from Front Royal to Indiantown Gap
on August 10, crossing the Potomac
at Williamsport, Md. The Maryland
Infantry Brigade will move from Cas-
cade, Md, to Indiantown Gap on
August IL. BY the afternoon of that
day, according to Gen. Reckord, the
concentration of the division will be
complete. These movements will be
by motor truck mainly. However,
some of the more distant units will
have to travel by train. but they are
said to be few.
The primary object of this training.
he said, is to test how the componentS
of the division work together. The
major test, the peak of the training,
will come with the first four days of
the second week of the encampment.
On Monday, August II, the entire
forces of the division will move out
of camp as single unit to demon
strate what it can do with both divi-
sional attack and divisional defense.
Each maneuver will take two days.
The problem in defense will be the
first. Troops will operate as under
war conditions, marching to assembly
positions, bivouacing in the open air
overnight and proceed to organize,
occupy and defend the positions des-
ignated. On Wednesday and Thurs
day, August 19 and 20, the division
will operate in the role of attacker.
This operation also will require over
night bivouac in the field. He ex-
planned that the organization of the
forces for the attack will be carried
out under cover of darkness and with
daybreak will come somewhere the
forward thrust of the main attacking
force under the cover of supporting
fires and movement of adjacent In
fantry and with the barrages and
concentrations Of all the Artillery.
The Engineers will have streams to
bridge, the Medical Service will have