HISTORY OF M COMPANY

By

SFC W.M. Nesby

Company M, 196th Infantry Regiment was originally given federal recognition as Hq & Hq Co, 1st Battalion, 196th Inf. Regt in Brookings, SD on 24 Sept. 46. The unit was commanded by 1st Lt. Lester Grohs with a strength of approximately 40 enlisted men. Colonel Earl M·Minier was battalion commander at the time of federal recognition.

The company attended Camp Rapid, Rapid City, S. D., in the spring of 1948 for the first encampment after the war. There was no encampment in the summer of 1947.   During the two weeks of camp the unit went through some basic training, such as firing on the rifle, carbine, and 45th caliber pistol range.  One of the most vivid memories of Camp Rapid for most of the personnel was the constant rain.  Although a discomfort, it was easily taken in stride by most of the men.

Between Camp Rapid and Camp Ripley drills were carried on at the Brookings, S. D., armory, twice a week during the months of September and May. Drills were suspended during the summer months (after the encampment) because so many of the men were college students who could not attend drill during the months when school was not in progress.

Camp Ripley, Minn. encampment was held during the first two weeks of June in 1949. During this camp various schools were· held for greater specialized training of the men. The men went on the different ranges again to familiarize themselves more thoroughly with the different weapons with which an infantry company is armed. The entire regiment went out on bivouac for two days to teach the men about field work.  Co M was taught squad tactics and also offensive and defensive actions. After this training the unit returned to camp and a few days later entrained for home station.

In September of 1948, Lt. Grohs resigned his command and 1st Lt. Gale Anderson became company commander. He remained as CO until Christmas when he resigned to take a position in Illinois.  On the 19 Sept. 49 the unit designation was changed to CO M, 3rd Bn,196th Inf Regt. 1st Lt. Dale Brchan was promoted to captain and took over the unit at this time. 

Co M entrained on 11 June for Camp McCoy, Wisc., where the camp for the summer of 1950 was to be held. The specialized training was carried on to a greater extent there, with more technical training being stressed. Range firing was held as usual, and also the units went out on another bivouac. After the camp, Co M again took a train to Brookings, where they were to separate until the following September.

On 7 Aug. 50, by direction of the President of the United States and General Order 119, Hq 5th Army, the
196th Inf Regt was alerted to be called to active federal service on 1 Sept.  At this time Co M numbered 85 officers and men.  During the stay at the armory in Brookings after 1 Sept., everyone was kept busy packing equipment, weapons, and in fact, everything the company possessed. Some of the men were discharged at this time to finish school, or for physical reasons.

Co M left for Camp Carson, Colo., on Friday 8 Sept. 50 on a special troop train together with the company from DeSmet, S. D. On Saturday morning the company arrived at Camp Carson and began to unpack all equipment and get settled in the barracks. The following Monday the company began Army training. For the first few days this consisted merely of cleaning up all areas and making the quarters as homelike as possible, for this was to be their home for an indefinite period of time. In a few days the company began training. The men were split
up into two different schools called the pre-cycle and the cadre. The pre-cycle training was more basic, but was used to train the newer men in the Guard units and give them the fundamentals of drill and discipline so that they would be capable of training the newer men if the need should arise. These two schools continued until 1 Nov. when they were discontinued. On 19 Nov. 69 men joined the unit. The majority of these men were from Pennsylvania and Texas, with a few from Oklahoma.

Training began immediately for these men. They were given all of the phases of basic training and following this they were given advanced training in the crew-served weapons of the company. These men stayed with the company until 14 Mar when the greater majority of them were shipped to Camp Kilmer, N. J., and to Ft Lawton, Wash. Approximately 40 of these men were kept here until 23 Apr, when 14 of them were shipped to Ft Benning, Ga. The 20 men who were left of the original group are still with the unit.

On 3 Jan 51, 1st Lt. Frederick L Goss assumed command of the company from Capt. Brchan, who was transferred to Service Company, 196th Inf Regt.  On 23 Jan 51, 53 more men were assigned to Co M for training and they were attached to the 6th Provisional Company for their first seven weeks of basic training. At the end of this training they were assigned to the different platoons of the company to continue their advanced training. These men began taking unit training with Co M on 30 Apr 51.

Fifteen more men joined the unit on 25 Mar and are now training with the unit. On 6 Apr 51, 49 men were taken into the company and are now in the process of taking basic training with the 11th Prov Co. After this training is completed they will begin unit training with the other men taking training.  In March 1951 the company began training in squad tactics after completing their training on crew-served weapons. These tactics continued to advance from squad to platoon, to company, to battalion problems. In conjunction with these problems the unit took part in several bivouacs. The unit also took part in all of the problems that the battalion had.