Evening star., 1940-12-08
Bp A. 4. HoehHne.

snow is falling along the Canadian
border and in Alaska. and Uncle
Sans soldiers are taking to skis
to create for their country brand
new front line of defense.
For the first time in its history the
United States Army has decided to
give the merits of ski troops large
scale tryout, and is training whole
battalions of these snow soldiers to
fill in the gaps which exist in our
long and geographically varied from
tiers.
Never prone to hasty acceptance of
innovations in the fighting art, the
Army has been exceptionally leth-
argic and Indifferent to the posi-
bilities of ski warfare, having MAIN
tanned until recent months that the
long wood runners were little more
than sporting equipment.
When in 1928 the Army closed up
several of its Alaska outposts and
sent some 300 pairs of skis to Fort
Smelling, MINI, and Fort Brady,
Mich, to be used for "recreational
purposes" it looked like taps for
the future of military ski work in
America. From then on what little
skiing was done in the Army was
left up to the commandants of the
northern posts and to the soldiers
themselves, some of whom did pur-
sue the recreation" on their own
and become proficient enough to
enter local meets.
Despite the simmering of interest
which kept military skiing perhaps
half alive in this country, the War
Department took no official interest
in the matter and indeed many Off
GERS were willing to discuss at length
the alleged uselessness of the snow
warrior as related to the needs of
the United States
Consequently. it came as a dis
tinct surprise to many quarters
not the least of which was the Army
public relations corps-When the
training division of the War De-
partment recently announced the
spending of nearly S830 900 for skis,
2300 pairs of snowshoes. and other
related equipment in correspond
1ngly great quantities.
Reason for Outlay.
The reason for the outlay, the de-
partment explained, was for test
ing the ability of one or more bat
talions of each division located in
the northern areas to maneuver in
deep snow and of giving more ad-
vanced training to small groups of
selected individuals organized into
patrol units for the purpose of oper-
atlng for sustained periods of time
under all weather conditions and on
all types of terrain"
The real reason, however. and
which was not put into words, was
that the Army is looking with in
creaSing concern to our Northern
rampartS. The possibility of Brit
ish defeat must not be ignored nor
that of the empire seat moving to
Canada and continuing the fight
from there. In either case. the at
tempted invasion of Canada would
have to be considered as the next
likelihood And it is almost truiSm
to say that A. Hitler would not stop
with Canada.
Should Russia throw her lot with
the axis or should she herself be at
tackled and beaten by Germany, pos
slbly in concert with Japan, an in
vasion across the Bering Straits
and into Alaska would by no means
be out of the question. If it were,
we would not be spending the funds
we are on fortifyin9 Stewards
Folly" In this event, a fleet of
barges would be sufficient to trans
port armies across the straits from
Asia, and our first line of defense,
the Navy, might be too busily occu-
pied in other parts to prevent
landing.
knowing, therefore, that the time
has come to perfect our Northern
defenses, the War Department has
turned to new methods and has
realized that ski troops-Snowsho
troops, too-are not the least of
them. The Finnish war undoubt-
edly was big factor in Fastening
this realization.
Predicted in 1925.
AS long ago as 1925 there was at
least one Army Officer who saw the
role of the ski soldier in future wars
Writing in the United States Army
Recruiting News of March l of that
year, Capt. j. E. Uhrig of the Sd
Infantry, Fort Smelling, declared:
There can be no doubt that ski
detachmentS are an advantage as
they can move rapidly across coun-
try over snoW-covered areas similar
to cavalry on the plains. Balck in
his publication on Tactics states that
the proper sphere of ski-runners is
in patrol duty and suggests the sub
Stitution of ski-runnerS for cavalry
in winter campaigns. The writer
adds:
'Ski-runners can perform the
same duty which cavalry can per-
form on the plains; they can occupy
points in advance which are i'm
portant to use, dispute crossing with
the enemy and hold him at bay. Ski
detachments alone are able to recon-
noiter the condition of roads and
test the carrying power of snow in
advance OF command, and they
alone can furnish the connecting