TRAINING

The men of the 10th used a wide variety of uniforms and equipment, much of which was experimental, to test its endurance in frigid weather conditions. Each item was tested and graded as far as its function would allow. Cold weather gear was not a common piece of equipment in the army's list of material at that time. The training at Camp Hale consisted of winter warfare, skiing, rock climbing, mountaineering and mule handling. The training took place in the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 9000 to 12,500 feet, often under brutal weather conditions and for weeks at a time. As if nature were not enough of a challenge, the men carried rucksacks, sometimes weighing as much as 90 pounds, through snow as deep as 8 feet. Breathing was difficult at these elevations. And marching at attention to and from the stables was a frostbite-maker. After a few days, the medics educated the officers that continuing cases of frostbite could only get worse.
Care and covering of face, feet and hands took on new meaning for all the troops as each man wore a mask, two pairs of socks, and two and three pairs of gloves/mittens. Physical problems intensified, with the hiking at the 9,500 to 12,500 foot heights at Hale. As special troops, it was not easy to request transfer out, but physical reasons made a wholesale sweep. Within eight months from October 1942 to June 1943 almost 85% of the group from the New York/New Jersey area had been transferred out. Most of the recruits from the east were much to old for the physical effort required at that altitude, and many had had sit down jobs, or had never done any really hard physical work. The hikes from Hale, uphill in almost any direction, were in snow from a foot to six or eight feet deep. Snowshoes were often used in deepest snow, and trail breaking for the mules carrying loads was often accomplished using strong, unloaded mules to break trail. Many times their jumping, pushing, panting struggles tired them quickly, and they had to be replaced by another leader.
On the overnights, often in Homestake Creek Valley, in the shadow of the Mount of the Holy Cross, the troops used rubber winterized two-man tents. After entering, one closed the entrance and usually one of the vents to keep the inside warm enough to strip to long johns and sleep in just one half of the two-part sleeping bag, using the other part underneath. The men kept their clothes inside the sleeping bag so it was warmer getting dressed in the morning. Because of condensation, they would wake in the morning to find the inside of the tent coated with ice from 1/16th to 1/4 inch thick. Woe to the man who hit the low, slanted tent side causing ice to shatter all over everything. On the outside of the tent, from the top on each end, were thin cords that would be tied up into nearby bushes or trees. Because snow at night could be many inches, or as much as two feet, it was important for the guards to check the lines to be sure vent holes, just below the tent tops, stayed open. The men fired many rounds into the mountains in Homestake and other areas, and saw how difficult it was to see where the rounds landed in the snow-covered landscape. They also found that unseen snow-covered steams could lead gun-laden mules to break through the ice , with life-threatening results for mules and men, to say nothing of the mess of thawing and cleaning equipment.