THE BIG PICTURE: HOW TO PREPARE FOR WAR

I am children but Allah adjutant general of the state of Tennessee have you ever been to Cape Canaveral and seen the launching of a missile very few have had that opportunity but the National Guard is ready to show you by film how to get ready for modern warfare join with us now as special guest of the 14,000 man Tennessee national God the United States Army presents the big picture an official report produced for the Armed Forces and the American people you it started out pretty much the same as any saturday morning in a new england spring the Sun shone down on the same houses it's been shining down on every spring for the last 300 years four hours you see is an old town brushed everywhere with the Sun warmed marks of our history and tradition and a walk through the park at the edge of town is like a walk into the American past here once the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the world yes we live among signs of the past but that doesn't mean we live in the past especially in the spring that's the time we seem to shake the cobwebs off and get cracking on what has to be done choice for example of all shapes and sizes requiring brain as well as brawn first on my list this day putting our lawn into shape after winter is given it a beating that is when the neighbors kids give you a chance to get some work done I was not to get very far it was 150 p.m. by the First Parish meeting house clock when the call came hello oh it's just a second I'll column tad telephone loring yeah I'll be right over don't worry I'll see you later hey dad dad now what about the screens in the touch-up on the cards I'm sorry honey they'll have to wait you it's an eight minute drive to the National Guard nike ajax site whether the alert is practice or the real thing I have to get out there quickly me and the rest of the guard while those of us heading to the Nike side are moving there fast in town other Guard units are arriving on the double alerts like these give other elements of the National Guard an opportunity to test its ability to react to emergency the men are deployed from the armory to key locations throughout the area in accordance with plans worked out in precise detail this is our God from conditioner is 205 minute status this is 53 Roger all spaces this is the vco battle stations battle stations pick up Rita prison sir I just computer operator present sir Rogers NPR prefer my GF isn't this writer lvg person Roger watch patrolman Roger on deck packed operator ready for action sir roger computer ready for action Ryder ldt you any friends you sir roger empty I ready for action sir but Kiki are ready for action sir right I have an incoming aircraft designate all phases of the BPO prepare for action prepare for action market area colleges rich services for Roger my god this is 503 a stone battle station at 58 not far from the coast of Massachusetts an unidentified flying object has been detected a blip on a radar scope has sent into action a large group of trained Guardsmen throughout a wide area of New England this may be it at our Nike site we're ready and deployed around strategic points are other Guardsmen crucial defense plants which might be targets reservoirs to must be guarded perimeter security for our missile sites is essential within minutes of the alert Air National Guard Jets are aloft in support of the Air Force mission and this unidentified blip has caused it all has come to think of it caused me to leave my wife stranded on a sunny Saturday afternoon my mind still troubled to her parting words it's only prompted Oh one thing is clear she doesn't understand what the guard means to me to us I can still remember the first night I reported from my to our drill at the armory my first guard unit was a tank outfit and on the floor of the armory was a stripped-down turret assembly of a tank training of the National Guard is carried out in the court with tough active army standards all-new enlistees without prior military service except those with special skills are required to take six months of active duty training at an army training center that means we're past the basic training stage training is on a unit basis in our unit right in our own hometown two hours a week at night we learned the ins and outs of mastering tanks in combat thousands of Guard officers and enlisted men are enrolled in army service schools taking either resident or extension courses since I was interested in electronics I was anxious for technical training that would allow me to transfer to a National Guard nike missile site i was given plenty of opportunity for advancement both in rank and technical specialty but i had to prove myself prove that I could work with men in the guard you can rise as high as your interest ability and experience will take you by no means are we restricted to an armory floor now and again during the year on weekends and for a two-week period during the summer we go in for rugged training exercises training can only be as modern as the equipment used the Army National Guard maintains more than 3,200 tracked vehicles including some 2,400 tanks an idea of the immensity of our country's national guard is the more than 5,000 Army and Air Guard units in more than 2,600 communities they play a very droll from manoeuvres in over 100 degree heat to the freezing cold of the Arctic scattered up and down the windswept coast of Western Alaska are members of a unique fighting force the Eskimo Scouts of the Alaska National Guard they have the mission of reporting any unusual movement observed in the Bering Sea and assisting in emergency rescue operations the cold breath of the Siberian mainland is only 38 miles away a long way from Alaska is our 50th state bamhi and beautiful Hawaii the National Guard bears a major defense responsibility in the Hawaiian Islands nike hercules batteries on oahu the main island are manned by guardsmen many key cities and industrial centers throughout the United States are now protected by nike missile sites man by National Guardsmen an important part of the active Army's air defense team although most of the guardsman involved are part-time soldiers each unit has a nucleus of full-time technicians who maintain the equipment and guard the skies against enemy attack 24 hours a day 365 days a year that's why we in the guard feel good about being part of a hard-hitting powerful deterrent force with its 21 infantry divisions and six armored divisions Oh coupled with the ground forces is the striking power of the Air National Guard which has important defense responsibilities in interceptor and tactical reconnaissance using high-performance jet aircraft backing up the fighting arms are hundreds of combat support units ranging over many different specialties guard units maintain and rebuild millions of dollars of urgently needed equipment communications tools weapons medical supplies disaster strikes a community the equipment and the men are on the spot to help and quickly from the west coast to the eastern seaboard we're on call by state governors and local emergencies for we Guardsmen have a kind of dual status we're reservists of the United States Armed Forces and also members of the National Guard of our own state so really a tax dollars spent on the National Guard does double duty it helps pay for a large military organization trained to defend our country in time of emergency it is also a local organization ready for immediate action when disaster strikes well the guard had agreed to my transfer to Nike duty as soon as the nike site was taken over from the active army not far from town i got valuable technical training that actually increased my civilian earning power at my job a military organization men but its members as civilians who stay right in their hometown unless of course the flag goes up the extra income comes in handy too we're paid in regular army or Air Force rates the way I look at it what makes the National Guard unique is its civilian character it's been that way since 1636 when the first state militia was founded right in this area men who serve in the guard go on working or studying in the normal way of civilian life while getting their training they go on maneuvers with their friends and neighbors their hometown buddies put in another way civilian in peace soldier in war and that's just the way the guard puts it in I am the guard our Creed the pageant of our history that every Guardsman knows so well civilian in peace soldier in war of security and honor for three centuries I have been the custodian I am the guard I was with Washington in the wilderness fought the wily warrior and watched the dark knight vow to the morning at Concord bridge I fire the fateful shot heard round the world I've led on Bunker Hill my footprints marked the snows at Valley Forge I pulled a muffled or on the barge that bridged the icy Delaware I stood with Washington on a sun-drenched heights of Yorktown I saw the sword surrendered I am the guard I pulled the trigger that loosed a long rifles havoc at New Orleans these things I know I was there the hill at San Juan built the fury of my charge the fire plains and mountains of the Philippines echoed to my shout I am the guard the dark forests of the Argonne pleased with my barrage chateau-thierry crumble to my cannonade under the arches of victory I marched in Legion I was there I am the guard I've bout briefly on Grimm corridor then saw the light of liberation shine on the faces of my comrades through the jungle and on the beaches I fought the enemy be battered and broke him I raised our banner to the serene air on Okinawa i was there i am bigar I scrambled over Normandy speeches I was there I am the guard across the 38th parallel I made my stand I flew magali I was there I was there when the raging waters boomed down the valley i cradled the crying child in my arms and saw the terror leave her eyes I moved through smoke and flame at Texas City the stricken knew the comfort of my skill I dropped the food that fed the starving beast on the frozen fields of the West and through the towering drifts I plowed to rescue the maroon I faced forward to the tornado the typhoon and the horror of the hurricane these things i know i was there i am the guard i have brought a more abundant a fuller a finer life to our youth wherever a strong arm and valiant spirit must defend the nation in peace or war wherever a child cries or a woman weeps in time of disaster there i stand i am the guard for three centuries a soldier in war a civilian in peace of security and honor i am the custodian now and forever i am the guard pack alpha Juliet 15 now designated friendly repeat track alpha Juliet 15 now designated friendly return to normal status all stations this is a big deal zoom normal operation the blip on the radar screen turned out to be a friendly plane that had wandered off course the alert is over but the next object the radar scope picks up may not be as friendly an wasn't home but she had left a note for me Ted if you look in the kitchen you'll find an apple pie just baked a peace offering okay honey if I gripe now and then about the time the guard takes you away from me well call it a woman's privilege or something I should know better anyway I finished the raking so there have gone shopping with the Menace be back soon wherever a strong arm and valiant spirit must defend the nation in peace or war wherever a child cries or a woman weeps in time of disaster there I stand I am the guard for three centuries a soldier in war a civilian in peace of security and honor I am the custodian now and forever I am the guard the big picture is an official report for the armed forces and the American people produced by the army pictorial centers presented by the Department of the Army in cooperation with this thing