Louisiana Maneuvers

The Louisiana Maneuvers were a series of military exercises held all over North Louisiana, including Fort Polk, Camp Claiborne and Camp Livingston, in August and September 1941. The exercise was designed to test US troop training, logistics, doctrine, and commanders.

Background

When Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, starting World War II, the United States military began preparing for eventual war in Europe. The very small peacetime U.S. Army, with far fewer troops than most European Armies, sought large bases in which to train an expanded force. Thousands of acres of unused land in Louisiana [Gilbert, Martin:"The Second World War: A Complete History", 2004] were selected by General Leslie McNair and Colonel Mark Clark as a good place for large-scale maneuver training. The area they used extended from the Sabine River all the way east to the Calcasieu River and up north to the Red River.

The U.S. Army in 1939 was largely an infantry force with supporting artillery, engineers, and cavalry, as well as combat support and combat service supporting arms. Few units were motorized or mechanized. As war approached, there was a need both to modernize the force and to conduct large-scale maneuvers to test all aspects of a fast-growing, inexperienced force.

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The Louisiana maneuvers involved half a million men, in 19 Army Divisions, taking place over 3400 square miles (8,800 km²) of Louisiana during August to September 1941.

Around 400,000 troops were divided into two equal armies of two made-up countries. The countries' names were Kotmk (Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Kentucky) and Almat (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee). These "countries" were fighting over navigation rights for the Mississippi River.cite web
url = http://www.la.ngb.army.mil/dmh/immm_hist.htm
title = The Louisiana Maneuvers
publisher = State of Louisiana National Guard
accessdate = 2008-02-07]

Lessons learned

U.S. Army fighting doctrine was based around two fundamentals: mass and mobility. The constabulary-type Army of the frontier days was based on a very high level of mobility. However, the Army that won the U.S. Civil War was based on mass. The Union Army successfully massed combat power where it was needed in a series of campaigns aimed at the heart of Confederate strength. These two legacies informed U.S. doctrine in the period leading up to World War II, and were tested in the maneuvers.

The first U.S. Armored Division was tested in the maneuvers. Built around a nucleus from Chaffee's 7th Mechanized Cavalry, the 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. The armored division concept was considered sound and led to the formation of 16 U.S. Armored Divisions during World War II. U.S. defensive doctrine was based on the perceived need to defeat German blitzkrieg tactics, and U.S. units expected to be faced with large numbers of German tanks attacking on relatively narrow fronts. The maneuvers tested the concept of the tank destroyer. This concept, originating with artillery officers, consisted of large numbers of highly mobile guns to be held in reserve. Upon an enemy tank attack, the towed or self-propelled tank destroyers would be rapidly deployed to the flanks of the penetration with the intent of taking a heavy toll of attacking tanks. Tank destroyers were supposed to employ aggressive, high-speed hit-and-run tactics against tanks. The use of these guns was distinct from the forward placement of towed antitank guns assigned as a normal part of the Infantry Regiment. The Louisiana Maneuvers' data showed that the Infantry's AT guns actually took a much higher toll of 'enemy' tanks than did the tank destroyer battalions' guns. However, the conclusion drawn was that a tank destroyer force of independent tank destroyer battalions should be raised.

In actual practice during World War II, such massed enemy tank attacks rarely happened; indeed, throughout the war only one TD battalion ever fought in an engagement quite like that which had originally been envisaged. The Tank Destroyer Command eventually numbered over 100,000 men and 80 battalions equipped with 36 tank destroyers or towed anti-tank guns each. Immediately after the war, the force was disbanded and the anti-tank role was formally taken over by the Infantry, Engineer and Armor branches.

This exercise also led to the creation of Fort Polk. It got its name from the Confederate General Leonidas Polk. Fort Polk remains a United States Army post to this day.

Casualties

Realisitic military training can lead to injuries and death due to safety risks incurred through various factors including lack of sleep, the presence of heavy equipment, traffic accidents, and the presence of firearms. During the Louisiana Maneuvers, 26 men died. Most men lost their lives from drowning in the Sabine River and vehicle accidents. One died from getting struck by lightning, and one had a heart attack at age 24. cite web
url = http://www.beau.org/~velmer/local/ww2.html
title = Battlefield of Louisiana
publisher = Velmer Lenora Smith, DeRidder Historian
accessdate = 2008-02-07]

Personnel

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, Lesley J. McNair and George Patton.

General Omar Bradley later explained how the local population welcomed the soldiers with open arms. Some soldiers even slept in some of the residents' houses. Bradley said it was so crowded in those houses sometimes when the soldiers were sleeping, there would hardly be any walking room. Bradley also noted that a few of the troops were disrespectful towards the residents' land and crops. They would tear down crops for extra food. But for the most part, residents and soldiers established good relations. [Bradley, Omar N.:"Omar N. Bradley a Soldier's Story", 1951]

References

External links

* [http://www.beau.org/~velmer/local/ww2.html World War II - Louisiana Maneuvers]
* [http://www.crt.state.la.us/tourism/lawwii/maneuvers/Robertson/Maneuvers_Stories.htm More Stories of the Great Louisiana Maneuvers]