U.S. Battalion at Tekapo

Press, 25 July 1984, Page 12

U.S. Battalion at Tekapo

For the month of July the Ist Battalion, 35th Infantry of the 25th Infantry Division has been at the Tekapo military camp on winter exercises.

The battalion is usually stationed at Hawaii, but every summer a battalion is deployed to become acclimatised to realistic cold weather training in an allied country. The American battalion is under the command of Lieu-tenant-Colonel Gene Bryson with Major Jim Campbell second-in-command. Since being in camp at Tekapo the 600 soldiers have been exposed to a wide variety of weather. From the very mild to the very cold.

They go well equipped for any weather. Although in full battle clothing there is ample protection from cold conditions with gloves, inner linings to jackets that can be attached, extra warm underwear, and over trousers for wet conditions. Their tents are well heated and if it is very cold at night they can use their Arctic-type sleeping bags instead of blankets. ■ Their day starts at 6 a.m., so they have three hours before the sun comes over the Two

Thumb range and warms the camp site. Every night there is a unit or two out on nighttime exercise, and this in sub-zero temperatures really tries them out for weak points. Despite the fact that they were all flown out here on Starlifter aircraft and were limited in the amount of equipment they could bring, they have been able to impress visitors to the camp when an open day was organised. First there was a detachment of one platoon with weapons and back packs and fapes smeared ready for battle. They were armed mainly with the M6O machine-guns and anti-tank

equipment. A motor squad with an 80mm mobile anti-tank missile gun supported them. This gun has a range of 3km and the missile trails a hairthin wire behind by which the gun aimer directs the missile. The unit is supported by a radar squad with portable radar screens which can detect a vehicle at 3km, persons at 1500 metres, and a person crawling at 500 metres. The detection doesn’t actually give a Eicture, but is recorded y buzzing in ear phones. The infantry is lightly supported with a battery of cannon firing a 105 mm shell. The cannon are towed

and when set up pegged to the ground. A special performance of a mortar squad going into action was fascinating. Other displays included the Ml 6 rifle. There were various shells, high explosives, fragmentary and dual purpose, for tactical, tear-gas and parachute star shells. At the end of the line was a first aid unit which is stationed within 500 metres of the firing line. Colonel Bryson said he and all his troops had been enchanted with the sceneiy and thought the Mackenzie country the best place in the world for field exercises.