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Government issue number 11B20P is a
highly specialized piece of Army ordinance which has been known to
function for extended time spans without fuel, maintenance or
supervision, operating solely on a built-in, inexhaustible supply of
what is known at Ft. Benning as "guts." |
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The single "raison d'etre" for Support
Command is the mud-stained, sweet-soaked, battle-hardened line doggie
the boonie rat, the ground-pounder, the crunchie, the dogface, the
grunt, --11B20P.
He needs his mail and an occasional
newspaper. He needs a medic to care for his feet, and a chaplain to
care for his soul. He needs new clothing when the jungle shreds his
old one. He needs weapons and ammunition that work when his life
depends on them; and that means they must work every time. He's a
fighter, and does not have time to worry whether his personnel and
finance records are in order. He considers himself very lucky if he
gets a hot meal once a day. |
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To insure that 11B20P, the airborne
infantryman, has more than his own fortitude to sustain him, there
exists in within the 101st Airborne Division a vast complex of men and
material known as Support Command. |
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Support command devotes itself
entirely to 11B20P, because 11B20P has the second hardest job in the
world.The first hardest job in the world belongs to the man on the
other side, who has to fight them. |
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