Combat Village!
To give new and returning GIs a taste of what they could expect in the often-vicious house-to-house and hamlet-to-hamlet struggle that units had experienced in the first stages of the war in Korea, a “Combat Village” was constructed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
These images are from some 75 years ago this month, January, 1951.
A squad from Company B, 83rd Engrs., Fort Sill, Okla., closes in on a house at the newly-opened Combat Village. 17 January, 1951. Photographer: Sgt. R.R. McGaffin. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive. SC 364247
Through billowing smoke, three men from Company B, 83rd Engr. Bn., Fort Sill, Okla., push on toward the next house in realistic training at Fort Sill’s Combat Village. 17 January, 1951. L-R they are: Pvt. Virgil Burns, Pvt. Jim McDermott and Pvt. Bill Young, all of Omaha, Neb. Photographer: Sgt. R.R. McGaffin, 4th Det., 4050th ASU TAC. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive. SC 364249
Pvt. Glen Hauer signals men behind him to hold up as they close in on a house at Combat Village. The men on the left are: Pvt. John Salsberry, Leavenworth, Kan., and Pvt. Donald Pickering, Abilene, Kan. All are with Company B, 83rd Engr. Bn., Fort Sill, Okla. 17 January, 1951. Photographer: Sgt. R.R. McGaffin. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive. SC 364248
A .50 caliber machine gun crew from the 46th Engr. Const. Bn. at Fort Sil, Okla., prepares to open up on an approaching enemy tank during a realistic training problem on the Fort Sill range. Pointing out the enemy is Pfc. Delbert Nelson, Dallas, Texas, to Pvt. Charlie Shanks, Big Spring, Texas, and Pvt. J.C. Bauer, Houston, Texas. The gun fired blank ammunition to add realism to the training. 3 January, 1951. Photographer: Sgt. J.D. Hall, 4th Det. 4050th ASU TAC. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive. SC 364245
Sgt. Charles H. Hague, Boerne, Texas, marches an “aggressor” prisoner back to the command post for interrogation during field maneuvers of the 46th Engr. Const. Bn. at Fort Sill, Okla. The prisoner is Pvt. Willie Martinez, of Los Alamos, N.M. Hague is with “B” Company of the 46th. Martinez is with “A” Company. 3 January, 1951. Photographer: Sgt. John D. Hall. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive. SC 364246
Ironically, following the blunting of the Chinese spring offensive in 1951, the war in Korea became very static, one of trenches and hills, resembling more the combat of the Great War, and required totally different tactics than those imparted at the Combat Village.