Watch The Big Picture - History of Maneuvers

Experience the American Journey through our country's visual heritage in this historical recording provided by the National Archives of the United States. From the U.S. Army's THE BIG PICTURE television series, 1950-1975. This film suggests the complexity and variety of modern warfare. It points out that war has changed, is constantly changing. It is being remolded by a multiplicity of new instruments, tactics, strategies, and purposes. Only one element of combat remains constant. The human one. How is he prepared for the ever-changing contest where you don't get a second chance?

The film illustrates how a civilian becomes, first, an individual soldier and second, a member of fighting units, the squad, platoon, and so forth. It explains that when units of battle group size and larger are trained in the field, the modern field training exercise or maneuver is required.

Aware of the fact that we no longer will be allowed time to get ready for war, the point is made that we must be ready now. Then the film details the exacting preparations that go into a present day maneuver. It illustrates the various kinds of maneuvers that have been held to enable our troops to fight efficiently under any conditions in any terrain, and to utilize the latest weapons and strategies. Finally, the film illustrates some of the payoffs of training with the result in combat and concludes with a presentation of the current readiness of the Army as exemplified by STRAC.

This historical recording from the National Archives may contain variations in audio and video quality based on the limitations of the original source material.

The content summary for this video is adapted from an historical description provided by the government agency or donor at the time of production release.