Big Picture: DEW Line

Year Published: 1978-03-02

Creator: Department of Defense.

Format: 16mm/video file

Description: National Archives and Records Administration ARC Identifier 2569628 / Local Identifier 111-TV-359 Big Picture: DEW Line DVD Copied by Katie Filbert. Role of Army Transportation Corps in Artic shown on "THE BIG PICTURE" -- The complex, far-flung network of preparedness by which America keeps itself ready to fend off attack is the story behind this THE BIG PICTURE film presentation. Beyond the United States, far to the North, stretches the latest link in the gigantic network of sight and sound, the remote radar stations of the Distant Early Warning System which we call the DEW Line. To erect these stations in regions few men had ever seen a short decade ago was an achievement of great proportions. To man them, to keep them operating, to bring in adequate food, clothing, and equipment is another gigantic task -- and a continuous one. The job of carrying supplies and equipment to those remote arctic stations belongs to the Army Transportation Corps. "DEW Line" was filmed by two camera crews whose members followed the East and West Coast Task Forces through their special DEW Line training at Fort Eustis; departure in convoy from Hampton Roads, Virginia, and Seattle; rigors of the trip through the Arctic ice pack; preparations for discharge; and the difficult and diversified conditions encountered at the actual unloading sites. Today the frozen Arctic is a link in our vast chain of defense -- a chain kept strong by many hardworking individuals, not least of whom are the much traveled men of the Army Transportation Corps.