U.S. preparations for a possible military showdown in Europe picked up momentum. At midweek the Pentagon ordered increased training and a standby for 148,000 Army Reservists and National Guardsmen. At week's end the Defense Department announced that 40,000 U.S. troops will move immediately to Western Europe to reinforce the 250,000 men already deployed there in five combat-ready infantry and armored divisions.
In other moves, more armored personnel carriers were ordered overseas to provide U.S. infantrymen with necessary mobility. The 6,500-man U.S. garrison in West Berlin received first shipments of fast-firing (750 rounds a minute) M-14 rifles to replace obsolescent Garands...
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