Louisiana Maneuvers

[1] Many Army officers present at the maneuvers later rose to very senior roles in World War II, including Omar Bradley, Mark Clark, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Walter Krueger, Samuel E. Anderson, Lesley J. McNair, Joseph Stilwell, and George Patton.

As war approached, there was a need to both modernize and conduct large-scale maneuvers to test all aspects of a fast-growing, inexperienced force.

He and Colonel Mark Wayne Clark picked thousands of acres of unused land in Louisiana as a good place for large-scale training.

The Blue 3rd Army would move north to intercept the invaders and drive the Red force back across the river.

The Red force was much smaller and tasked largely with positional defense for a 100-mile zone south of the city.

Source:[8] Built around a nucleus from Chaffee's 7th Mechanized Cavalry, the 1st U.S. Armored Division tested the ability of a very large combined-arms mechanized unit to move long distances, maintain troops and vehicles in combat conditions, and affect the outcome of tactical and operational-level problems.

This concept, originating with artillery officers, consisted of large numbers of highly mobile guns to be held in reserve.

Immediately after the war, the force was disbanded and the anti-tank role was formally taken over by the Infantry, Engineer and Armor branches.

The resulting amendments produced the standard "C" field ration used by U.S ground forces for the bulk of World War II.