Word: mountainous
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...summer, the Army's mountain trooper sheds his skis and white suit-and his glamor. Then he looks like any other soldier except for a cocky ski cap, sole reminder of the days when he whooshed down slopes and tramped the peaks on snowshoes. Last week, somewhere in the West, he plodded up a narrow mountain path, holding the bridle of an opinionated mule. The view he saw was mostly the rump of the mule ahead; the sounds he heard were the clip-clip-clop of mule hoofs, labored breathing, an occasional heavy stumble over stone...
...Meets Mule. To many a mountain soldier, spring with its mules was a comedown. When trooper met mule, man & beast were mutually suspicious. The Army began a glamorizing campaign, argued that mules were smarter, surer-footed and more playful than horses, hung a sign: "Through These Portals Pass the Most Beautiful Mules in the World" (see cut, p. 62). Result: many a ski trooper volunteered to work with the animals, now thinks that mules as well as skis have their points...
...summer march, a mountain unit like the 87th Infantry Mountain Regiment (first in the U.S. Army) has four components: 1) hand-led mules with equipment (weapons of various calibers, tents, stoves, etc.); 2) mules with supplies (food and extra ammunition), traveling 52 in a herd with 16 soldiers mounted; 3) trucks, which leave the troops to bypass rough terrain; 4) men on foot...
...file their estimated materials needs for the last quarter of 1942, and to tell what they did with the materials allocated them last spring. These reports will provide millions of statistics. The real test of Purp will be what use, if any, WPB can make of such a mountain of figures...
...tactical possibilities in snatching gliders from the ground were enough to awe a Clausewitz: troops and material could be swiftly collected and swiftly delivered here & there in the heat of battle, in places impossible for airports. A mountain range could be filled with troops overnight. (A glider can land in a small clearing, stop almost instantly.) Since the gliders can be picked up again, commanders could accelerate emergency shipments to areas far distant from supply dumps. Mayhap tank-toting gliders will whoosh down to buttress surprise offensives...