Evening star., 1943-06-20
Army, Navy Training
Joint Amphibious
Force for Invasions
Hund-Picked PesonneI
Learning Technique Of
Stormine Hostile Shores
By WILLIAM J. WHEATLEY

FdnQ-p picked Objects ana men
with enough stamina to survive one
of the toughest conditioning courses
devised, are being formed into a
powerful Army-Navy amphibious
force which probably would spear
head American troops in an invasion
of Europe.
The Navy, disclosing formation of
the striking force last night,
said units are being trained on both
the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts.
Some of the units already had been
tested in the operations against
Attu Island.
The West Coast force is under
Rear Admiral Francis w. Rockwell,
who personally directed the landing
operations on Attu. The force on
the Atlantic Coast is under the di-
rection of Rear Admiral Alan F..
Kirk.
The forces, which now number
untold thousands of soldiers and
bluejackets, are ready to carry out
with speed, precision and perfect
coordination the most difficult of
military assignments-a landing on
a fortified hostile Shore" the Navy
said.
The officers and men selected for
training in split-second attack
against an enemy-held beach are
drilled in every detail and contin-
gency which might confront them
Even before being sent to the active
theaters they are taken aboard YES
sells of the type from which, they
will operate to simulate landings
against opposing" forces in as near
actual service conditions as it is
possible to give them, short of en-
emy contact.
Trained in All Tasks.
The Navy said that on the At
lantic coast, especially, selected
Army and Navy units are going
through an arduous training pro-
gram, acquiring the high skill need
ed for joint land, sea and air opera
tions They are studying the reports
OF the activities of the British Com
mando operations and of the Amer
ican landings in the Solomons
North Africa and the Aleutians.
The training program is destined
to drill the two forces thoroughly
IN all of the details of such complex
operations. Every officer and man
In the force is required to understand
not only his own task, but the part
that will be playea by other units
involved. In this training, differ
enceS in Army and Navy practices
and Technology must be ironed out
so thoroughly that there will be no
misunderstanding when the attack
Ing force heads for the beach.
The training is divided into two
parts: First, the indoctrination of
commanding officers in the strategy
tactics and techniques of joint op-
Grafton; second, training of the
many specialists needed to carry
out landing operation; third, basic
training in the use of highly spe-
cialized amphibious equipment.
and fourth, advanced training by
way of joint exercises of all units
in the force under simulated battle
conditions.
Picked Officers Assigned.
Naval officers assigned to these
forces are selected from the fleet and
from the midshipmen's schools on
the basis of outstanding records in
the service or in the classroom, and
Tor excellent physical condition. En-
listed men are picked from boot
camps and specialists schools By
the same method. According to the
Navy, the result of the careful
screening is young and enthusiastic
group, capable of meeting the ex-
traordinary demands of its danger
GUS assignment.
AT the amphibious training bases
the men study seamanship, plotting
and navigation; drill in gunnery.
ship and plane Identification, and
the highly intricate communications
methods which are used to carry out
a landing. Day and night they go
out to sea in their landing craft.
coming back to the beach again and
again, until they can bring the ships
through all kinds of wind and
weather to safe landing on the
shore.
Some groups are assigned to small
boats that carry in the waves of
assault troops and their equipment.
Others learn to maneuver the larger
craft which can land large detach-
mentS of infantry and armored
forces. Still others are assigned to
units where, with Army troops, they
practice landing on the enemy shore,
establishing and organizing the
beachhead for succeeding waves of
troops.
Loading of Ships Stressed.
Finally, group selected after
rigid physical examination joins
similarly picked Army units, and
together they train jointly for serv-
ice in scouting. and raider detach-
ments. These are assigned the
duties of landing by stealth on the
enemy shore ahead of the actual
landing force to reconnoiter and
eliminate obstacles that might i'm
pede the progress of the assault.
In another branch of the opera
tionS, the Army transport quarter
masters study the all-important
subject of the loading of cargo YES
sells and transports to be used in
future operations. Working with
large scale models of the ships at
tached to the amphibious force and
scale models of equipment that will
be used, the supply officers work out
the intricate problems of loading the
ships so that the equipment can be
unloaded swiftly and in the proper
sequence when the landing is made.
1t is after all of this preliminary
training and hardening is COM
pleted, that the force is sent to ships
for further drilling under simulated
combat conditions.