Featuring Lt. General Albert Watson, this episode of THE BIG PICTURE profiles the Third Army, now known as the United States Army Central, including training at Fort Bennning and Fort Bragg, and intensive efforts in Vietnam to train the South Vietnamese Army as well as a gigantic exercise in Iran known as “Operation Delaware”. The Third Army is a military formation of the United States Army, which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf War, and in the coalition liberation of Iraq. It is best known for its campaigns in World War II under the command of General George S. Patton.
Some of the missions of the Third Army shown in this film, which dates to the 1960s, include crowd control, firing of missiles, use of tanks and heavy arms in combat, and use of helicopters in support of ground operations. Guerrilla and counter-insurgency combat training of Special Forces and Rangers is also shown at the 13:30 mark, with commando training through 16 minutes. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 is shown at the 19 minute mark, tanks in Berlin at the 21 minute mark, and training of Vietnamese forces by Special forces at the 21:30 mark. At the 23 minute mark, a U.S. Army exercise with Iranian forces known as Operation Delaware also know as Operation Delawar. This reassured Tehran of Washington’s continued interest in the region. Annual military exercises continued with an increased Iranian naval component. In March 1965 the Shah publicly declared that Iran’s military would in the future pay special attention to the Gulf. The Gulf was of interest to Iran both for its proximity to the rich oil fields of its southwest and for the oil-rich continental shelf that lay beneath its contested waters.
Third Army is currently denoted ARCENT, headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina with a forward element at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. It serves as the echelon above corps for the Army component of CENTCOM, US Central Command, whose area of responsibility (AOR) includes Southwest Asia, some 20 countries of the world, in Africa, Asia, and the Persian Gulf.
Albert Watson II (January 5, 1909 – March 19, 1993) was a United States Army lieutenant general. He participated in World War II and fought in a number of significant battles in the Pacific Theater including the Battle of Okinawa. From May 1961 to January 1963, Watson served as Commandant of Berlin and commanded American military forces there when construction of the Berlin Wall began. A major diplomatic incident occurred when members of Watson’s staff were refused access to East Berlin. Riots also broke out during his tenure following the death of Peter Fechter. From 1964 to 1965, Watson filled the position of Commissioner of the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands. He increased Ryuku autonomy but ultimately spoke against significant lessening of American administration authority in the Ryukyus. Watson received two Distinguished Service Medals during his career.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
