Combat Developments Command: “The Test of Battle” 1967 US Army; The Big Picture TV-701

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“This film explores the operation of the U.S. Army Combat Developments Command Experimentation Command at Fort Ord, California. Footage reveals the creation and operation of a military field laboratory for the evaluation of new concepts in tactics, organization and equipment for the Army.” Combat Developments Command’s functions were transferred to the new Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) in 1973.

US Army “The Big Picture” episode TV-701

Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

When was TRADOC established and Why ?

Established in 1955, the Continental Army Command (CONARC) was responsible for all the active units and armies in the continental United States (CONUS) as well as training centers, schools, and doctrine development. The only activity for which it was not responsible was combat developments, which were the purview of the Combat Developments Command (CDC), which was established in 1962. By the early 1970s, it was evident that the span of control for CONARC was too large for a single headquarters. The Chief of Staff of the Army, General Creighton W. Abrams Jr., initiated Operation STEADFAST, which was carried through by his Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General William E. DePuy. As a result of Operation STEADFAST, CONARC was inactivated, and on 1 July 1973, two new organizations were activated in its place: the US Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) assumed control of the Active Duty armies and units in CONUS and the US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) assumed control of training centers, Army schools, and doctrine development. In addition, CDC was inactivated and TRADOC also assumed the mission of combat developments…

Wikipedia license:

Established 1 July 1973, the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) is a command of the United States Army headquartered at Fort Eustis, Virginia. It is charged with overseeing training of Army forces and the development of operational doctrine. TRADOC operates 37 schools and centers at 27 different locations. TRADOC schools conduct 1,304 courses and 108 language courses. The 1,304 courses include 516,000 seats (resident, on-site and distributed learning) for 443,231 soldiers; 36,145 other-service personnel; 8,314 international soldiers; and 28,310 civilians.

The current commanding general of TRADOC summarizes its function as an organization to design, develop, and build[1]: minute 6:50 to 9:50 the Army. Thus, the three major commands of the Army (TRADOC, FORSCOM, and AMC) shape its present and future “men and materiel”…

History

TRADOC was established as a major U.S. Army command on 1 July 1973. The new command, along with the U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), was created from the Continental Army Command (CONARC) located at Fort Monroe, Virginia… CONARC, and Headquarters, U.S. Army Combat Developments Command (CDC), situated at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, were discontinued, with TRADOC and FORSCOM at Fort Belvoir assuming the realigned missions. TRADOC assumed the combat developments mission from CDC, took over the individual training mission formerly the responsibility of CONARC, and assumed command from CONARC of the major Army installations in the United States housing Army training center and Army branch schools. FORSCOM assumed CONARC’s operational responsibility for the command and readiness of all divisions and corps in the continental U.S…

…The individual training responsibility had belonged, during World War II, to Headquarters Army Ground Forces (AGF). In 1946 numbered army areas were established in the U.S. under AGF command. At that time, the AGF moved from Washington, D.C. to Fort Monroe. In March 1948, the AGF was replaced at Fort Monroe with the new Office, Chief of Army Field Forces (OCAFF)… In February 1955, HQ Continental Army Command (CONARC) replaced OCAFF, assuming its missions as well as the training missions… In January, HQ CONARC was redesignated U.S. Continental Army Command. Combat developments emerged as a formal Army mission in the early 1950s, and OCAFF assumed that role in 1952. In 1955, CONARC assumed the mission. In 1962, HQ U.S. Army Combat Development Command (CDC) was established to bring the combat developments function under one major Army command…