Evening star., 1941-08-17
Army 10 GET Tests
OF Pontoon Bridges
In War Maneuvers
Seventh Corps to Cross
Arkansas Streams in
Preliminary Games
- the Associated Press.

- the AsSCcltteo FreSs.
WITH THE ARMY IN SOUTH
WEST ARKANSAS. Aug. le.-The
most extensive use Of pontoon
bridges In the Arny's modern his
tory will high light two weeks Of
maneuvers, starting tomorrow night
for the 100000 troops Of the I'd
Army.
The rolling river bottoms between
the ouachita and Red Rivers. an
area 10 miles wide, thick with
scrubT underbruSh and swampy
marshes, will serve as vast labora-
tory to prepare the soldiers for
even more difficult spanning Of
streams in Louisiana's network of
rivers and bayous next month when
they rnaneuver against the Sd Army.
The war games will get under
way with Maj. Gen. Robert c.
Richardson, jr., sending the 10000
troops of his 7th Army Corps across
the Little Missouri River tomorrow
night.
Will Shift Eastward.
IN the fnal three days, the action
will shift eastward to an area strad-
ding the Ouachita River, with the
five infantry divisions, the I'd Cav
airy Division and the 1st Armored
Division jockeying across the stream
IN an even more extensive and dif-
fcult use Of pontoon bridges.
The Ouachita is a much wider
river than the Little Missouri and
It's tricky currents will make the
job Of laying bridges a tremendous
undertaking.
1t. Col. Mason Young, 7th Army
Corps engineer ofiicer, was busy to-
day making plans for the night
time erection Of the bridges tomor-
row.
The corps has three light pontoon
eompanies-the7 10th from Fort Du-
pont, Del; the 18th from Fort Nc
Clellan, Ala, and the 77th from
Fort Custer, Mich.-each with 750
feet OF bridging capable of support
ing heavy truck movements. Each
OF the three square divisions of the
Seventh Corps has a regiment Of
combat engineers to erect the
bridges.
Fort Belvoir Troops.
For extremely heavy equipment
the 86th Engineer Battalion from
Fort Belvoir, Va, will provide 1000
feet of heavier, sturdier pontoon
equipment. These bridges will be
erected by the 43rd (combat) Engi-
neers from Camp Robinson, Ark.
The 84th Engineers Battalion from
Fort Belvoir will join the troops
September !.
Soldiers on foot and machine guns
will be transported across smaller
foot bridges erected on small pom
toons carried by each engineer resi-
nnent of the divisions. They also
use metal assault boats, each carry.
ing 8 to 10 man.
Gen. Richardson will direct the
Arkansas war games during II Of
the II days. His three 10, ,o0o-man
square divisions-the 9th (New
York; from Fort Mcclellan, Ala:
the 35th missouri, Nebraska and
Kansas from Camp Robinson, Ark,
and the 33rd ullinoiS from Camp
Forrest, Tenn-with the 18th Field
Artillery (TenneSsee) Brigade from
Camp Forrest, will maneuver against
q token enemy during that period.
Will Oppose Cavalry.
The 10th Cavalry (Ohio) from
Camp Forrest, rated by 1t. Gen.
Ben Lear, and Army commander,
as one OF the best regiments in the
7th Corps, will use its 1900 men
with fast-moving scout cars and
horse troops that operate easily in
heavy-thicketed areas-as an enemy
theoretically equal to that OF the
corps 10000. Observation planes
will operate with both sides
With the problem ended, all 130,-
900 men will move on September /
into North Louisiana. where they
will be joined by the l2,000 men
and 1000 vehicles of the and Ar
nored Division. Then, under di-
fection Of g. II. G., Gen. Lear will
send his vast army against that OF
1t. Gen. Walter Kreuser.