Short Problem 7
From the 'Infantry School Mailing List'
The following problem appeared in the first semi-annual volume of the Infantry School Mailing List, which rolled off the press in 1931. (This periodical, which might well be described as a journal in all but name, replaced the collections of mimeographed instructional materials that the US Army Infantry School sent out to subscribers in the 1920s.)
For the philosophy behind theses problems, please see:
The problem calls for players to step into the shoes of the commanding officer of an infantry battalion of the type being tested at the Infantry School in 1931..
Your battalion consists of three rifle companies (each of three large rifle platoons) and a machine gun company (of four four-piece platoons).
For more about these units, please see:
PROBLEM NO. 7
‘It is the customary fate of new truths to
begin as heresies and to end as superstitions.’
Thomas Henry Huxley
SITUATION
A flank battalion is attacking to the east. It holds hill B and the western edge of woods W. The forward limit of the hostile battle position seems to be well in front of A, as indicated on the sketch.
REQUIREMENT
Scheme of maneuver of the battalion.
ALTERNATE REQUIREMENT
The forward limit of the hostile battle position is on hill A. There do not seem to be many troops on the forward slope. What is the scheme of maneuver of the battalion?
How to Play
I invite paid subscribers to to use the comments section to share their own answers to the questions posed.
I will post the original (1931) solutions to the problem, as well as my own commentary, on Sunday, 5 July 2026.
Sources
‘Infantry Problems’ Infantry School Mailing List (Fort Benning: US Army Infantry School, 1931) Volume 1 (1930-1931) page 40 (Internet Archive)
The Internet Archive preserves scans of microfilmed copies of all thirty volumes of the Infantry School Mailing List. However, it catalogs them under the heading of the Infantry School Quarterly, which succeeded the Mailing List in 1947. (Internet Archive)
The Hathi Trust provides links to scanned-from-paper copies of some, but far from all, issues of the Infantry School Mailing List (Hathi Trust)
The quotation from Thomas Henry Huxley comes from ‘The Coming of Age of the Origin of the Species’ Nature (6 May 1880) page 1 (Hathi Trust)
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