I had a look through this film's threads but didn't see any answers dealing with it. The lieutenant, Wolfe, calls in a strike that does at least as much damage to the unit as to the enemy. Barnes comes in and berates him for the *beep* fire mission". Wolfe is holding some kind of clear plastic item that looks like it has degree gradients for direction finding. Anybody know what it was exactly?
"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."
I think it is to give more accurate position reports using Army terrain maps. The maps had broad grid lines and you would use the plastic thing to place on the map grid to split in into smaller divisions.
shareThanks. I thought it was connected to calling in air strikes or artillery barrages on specific points but was not sure how it would be used.
"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."
I couldn't really tell but it looked like his map was in a plastic bag to keep it somewhat dry. However if was a little square piece of plastic that's a military map protractor. They're used (generally on 1:50,000 maps) for more accurate plotting within the grid square that you're in (1000 meters on a side). Using one of those protractors you can (with lots of practice) get your coordinates down to a 10x10 meter box (those numbers the LT was calling out). Anyway, I found a good site that explains how to use such a protractor if you're really interested: http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/jasonclemens/506/map_grids.html
shareThanks for that. Interesting website. I could not get into the parts for 6 and 8 digit coordinates, perhaps because the website is still under construction, but the general principle was clear.
"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."
At about 1:19 or so Wolfe has a lensatic compass on top of what looks like a military map protractor under plastic, perhaps with a map under that. Two or three minutes later Barnes interrupts him and he is still holding the protractor and/or map.
"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."
No problem. The internet is wide & deep and Google is magical. It took longer to type in what I was looking for than it took to find it.
Now my time in ROTC was over 30 years ago but man did we drill with maps/land nav over & over & over. Teaching us was a rather intense MSG with some serious units on his right sleeve (depending on which uniform he wore that day - multiple combat tours in other words) & an incredible ribbon rack (once we learned to read it - 3 silver stars for instance). Anyway, looking back I have a feeling that he was so insistent that this be second nature to all of us walking disasters was that he had more than his share of LT Wolfes along the way.
Wow, just digging into this long sealed off portion of my brain let a funny story percolate up to the surface. We would occasionally be bused down to Ft Knox to get together with other University ROTC programs for a weekend of military stuff. Land nav was always a big part of that, generally at least a 5 hour block of time to let them set up a long course with lots of points to find. I alternated with a friend of mine at being the best in our class & we finished up the course in about 2 hours (out of five available - timed event, the sooner you're done the better). He wanted to go turn our scores in (assuming that he could then sit down & eat his lunch - reasonable assumption). I started up the hill after him when another bit of military wisdom given to us by the MSG (I wish I could remember his name, he deserves the credit/infamy for this) - NEVER BE THE FIRST FEW BACK, "THEY" WILL FIND SOMETHING FOR YOU TO DO WHILE YOU WAIT. I yelled at my friend to come back but he just waved over his shoulder in my general direction....ok, fine. Diving back into the land nav course I found a nice little spot in the sun (late fall, kind of chilly), made a small fire & leaned up against (Boykin, MSG Boykin, that's his name. Hope he's still with us, great guy) a tree to eat my lunch & read a book that I always had with me. So for the next couple of hours, on a regular basis there would be a crashing in the bushes near me & out would pop a wild eyed cadet, usually hopelessly lost (if they were polite or cute I would generally help them out) & completely befuddled by this strange character leaning up against a tree, reading a book & munching on an apple - with a campfire nonetheless.... and then 'crash' back into the bushes they'd go.
Finally with about a half hour left in the five hours, I dumped my canteen on the fire & filled in the pit. gathered up lunch & book & trotted off up the hill to the tent where we had to turn in our score sheets. I turned it in (got 100%) & was told to just go sit with the others (very few) that were back. I head out back to find my very pissed off buddy because he had just spent the past 3 house (less 10 min for lunch) digging a full sized foxhole (our next block of instruction). Yep, "They" really don't like people sitting around doing nothing, especially for three hours. Oh he was pissed, especially when the story started to spread about the guy out in the woods with a campfire & a paperback. Anyhow, coming in as I did I was well within the top 10% of finishers & got maximum credit. My buddy was #1 but he was really looking like #2 by the time he dug that foxhole all by himself....
The next day MSG Boykin came up, locked me at the position of attention & in his best intimidating voice (honed as a couple of tours as a drill instructor) asked me if I was the maniac out there trying to burn down the forest. Now there was no way I would lie to this man that I respected, but he looked PISSED. I admitted that the loon leaning on a tree was me. He actually giggled (rather than his normal booming laugh), slapped me on the shoulder & said "Yeah, you're going to be one of the good ones..." In the 30 years since I don't think I've been paid a higher complement.
Thanks for this trip down memory lane, it's nice to remember when I wasn't so old or broken down.
Good story. It reminds me a little of one told by Peter Ustinov in his autobiography. He went into officer training in the British Army during WW2 and finished some course early (not orienteering, the candidates had to enter a tunnel with many dead ends and only one exit) but they assumed someone had tipped him off. He did not make it through officer training. He had been asked to write a report on the psychiatrist interviewing candidates for officer training because his superiors weren't sure about the psychiatrist. Ustinov filled in a questionnaire and the psychiatrist, he noticed, underlined the word "perhaps" three times in what Ustinov had written, writing the word "indecision" next to it. Ustinov was annoyed by this, feeling the psychiatrist had formed a negative opinion of him the minute he walked in the door. As Ustinov put it, the psychiatrist gave him a bad report and he gave the psychiatrist a worse one. Ustinov did not become an officer, he remained a private throughout his military service, and he was told the psychiatrist was removed from his post.
"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."