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In Episode 10 of Ninety-Pound Rucksack, host Christian Beckwith explores how John McCown and his fellow citizen-soldiers overcame traditional military doctrine to prepare for mountain warfare—and in the process, reshaped the Old Army into one of the mightiest forces the world had ever known.
Show Notes and Resources: www.christianbeckwith.com
The episode includes interviews with Ninety-Pound Rucksack Advisory Board Members:
Lance R. Blyth: Command Historian of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM); Adjunct Professor of History at the United States Air Force Academy. David Little: “living historian” for the Tenth Mountain Division Foundation. Sepp Scanlin: military historian and museum professional; served as the 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum Museum’s Museum Director.Key Points:
The draft and the enlistment of citizen soldiers changed the US Army from a rigid, authoritarian, all-volunteer institution into one of the mightiest forces the world had ever known. The development of Officer Candidate School (OCS) created an industrial-style assembly line that produced junior leaders to lead the citizen army into combat. The innovative Junior Officers’ Plan, which was developed to train officers for the mountain troops and then return them to the unit, preserved institutional knowledge critical to the mountain troops' ability to fight in cold weather and mountainous terrain. A specialized division designed to fight in extreme conditions had to adapt the Army's standard flatland, warm-weather military strategies to mountain warfare.Featured Segments:
A vivid recreation of a conversation between John McCown and his peers at Ft. Benning, Georgia, highlighting: their takeaways from Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union and the impact of winter on his army's defeat their frustrations with traditional Army tactics and its inability to recognize the importance of specialized training their resolve to embody the change they knew the mountain troops would need in order to fulfill its mandate An overview of the Army's transformation from an all-volunteer force into one led by citizen-soldiers like John McCown. Detailed analyses of Officer Candidate School, the Junior Officers Plan and the need for a purpose-built encampment for the mountain troops.Patron Support:
A special thank you to our community of patrons for making our research possible. Join us at www.patreon.com/NinetyPoundRucksack to support the show and access exclusive content.Sponsorship Acknowledgments:
CiloGear: Makers of the finest alpine backpacks. Visit cilogear.com and use code "rucksack" for a 5% discount and a matching donation to the American Alpine Club. Snake River Brewing: Wyoming's oldest and America's most award-winning small craft brewery. Discover their beers at snakeriverbrewing.com.Partnership Acknowledgments:
The 10th Mountain Division Foundation: The mission of the Tenth Mountain Division Foundation is to honor and perpetuate the legacy of the soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division past, present, and future by doing good works that exemplify the ideals by which they lived. American Alpine Club: Supporting climbers and preserving climbing history for over 120 years. Learn more at americanalpineclub.org. The Denver Public Library: The Denver Public Library: The Denver Public Library's 10th Mountain Division Resource Center is the official repository for all records and artifacts related to the World War II-era 10th Mountain Division. The 10th Mountain Division Descendants: The 10th Mountain Division Descendants: The 10th Mountain Division Descendants, Inc. exists to preserve and enhance the legacy of the WWII 10th Mountain Division and 10th Mountain Division (LI) for future generations. -
Illuminating a pivotal moment in both military and outdoor recreation history, this groundbreaking episode reveals the collaborative efforts of America’s leading mountaineers to equip the 10th Mountain Division for war. Featuring original research and exclusive interviews, the episode details the audacious climbs and expeditions used to test the mountain troops' gear—and that revolutionized the American outdoor recreation industry in the process.
Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-episodes/gear-heads-part-2-episode-09/
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Episode 8: Gear Heads, Part 1 is the first segment of our two-part mini-series that examines the equipment, clothing and food developed, at great expense, for the 10th Mountain Division. Not only did this development make the soldiers’ ability to train for cold-weather and mountain offensives like Riva Ridge possible; post-war, it catalyzed the explosive growth of America’s nascent outdoor recreation industry as well.
Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-episodes/gear-heads/
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With this special bonus episode, the 10th Mountain Division’s commanding officer, Major General Greg Anderson, and its Command Sergeant Major Nema Mobar identify some of the lessons learned from the Division’s World War II inception and the relevance of those lessons to its efforts to rebuild its military mountaineering identity, culture and capacities.
What has changed between the original division and its contemporary counterpart, and what remains the same? What has the current division learned from its own history and how is it using those lessons to guide its rebuilding process? And how can America’s climbers and skiers, inspired by the service of our forebears, support the division as it strives to reconnect with its roots?
Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-podcast/10th-mountain-division/
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Featuring original and previously unpublished research, Episode 7 reveals the untold story of H. Adams Carter, the Harvard Five, and their groundbreaking efforts to make the 10th Mountain Division the best-trained, best-fed, best-equipped mountain unit in the world.
Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-episodes/mountain-intelligence-episode-07/
The Harvard Five—Carter, Bob Bates, Terry Moore, Charlie Houston and Bradford Washburn—were pioneers of American mountaineering during the 1930s. When World War II erupted, they harnessed their extensive expertise on the mountain troops’s behalf. The hub of their efforts was Carter’s intelligence work, which established the cornerstone of American mountain warfare doctrine.
Despite their pivotal roles in the 10th’s development, their contributions have remained hidden from the public eye—until now. Join us as we uncover the forgotten saga of these trailblazers and their profound impact on the foundations of American mountain warfare.
Available only to patrons, the Unabridged version of Episode 7 features the complete transcript of the episode, as well as bonus content for this and all other episodes.
To become a patron and unlock these and other perks, go to https://www.patreon.com/NinetyPoundRucksack
Please consider becoming a patron. Patrons allow us to pursue the show’s journalistic and educational objectives as we inform and inspire the public about the Division’s living legacy. In return, patrons receive access to all Unabridged episodes, including bonus content, supporting documentation, historic imagery and exclusive interviews.
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Episode 6 follows the mountain troops to Mount Rainier National Park where, in the middle of February 1942, they began their ski training at one of the best places a soldier could ever learn to ski—a place called, appropriately enough, Paradise.
Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-episodes/ninety-pounds-of-rucksack/
Available only to patrons, the Unabridged version of Episode 6 features the following exclusive interviews:
Bonus Episode 1: an interview with professional trainer and world-renowned alpinist Steve House on the training protocol put together for the mountain troops by The American Alpine Club Bonus Episode 2: an interview with Kit DesLauriers, the first woman to ski the seven summits, on the regiment’s ski mountaineering training from the perspective of the modern ski mountaineer Bonus Episode 3: The original recordings of the songs the 87th's Regimental Glee Club used to sing at Paradise Lodge on Mount Rainier, including the one that gave Ninety-Pound Rucksack our titleTo become a patron and unlock these and other perks, go to https://www.patreon.com/NinetyPoundRucksack
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Episode 5 explores the pivotal period from late 1941 until early 1942 when the War Department activated the 87th Infantry Mountain Regiment, America’s very first test force for cold-weather and mountain warfare, and it prepared to train in Paradise Valley on the flanks of Mount Rainier.
Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-episodes/ninety-pounds-of-rucksack-episode-05/
The episode includes interviews with McKay Jenkins, the author of The Last Ridge: The Epic Story of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division and the Assault on Hitler’s Europe, and Lance Blyth, the Command Historian of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and an Adjunct Professor of History at the United States Air Force Academy.
Available only to patrons, the Unabridged version of Episode 5 features the complete interviews with Jenkins and Blyth, as well as historic photos, a transcript of the episode and a complete chronology of events leading up to the ski training that began in Paradise Valley in Mount Rainier National Park in February 1942.
Patrons are the heart of Ninety-Pound Rucksack. Their support allows us to pursue the show’s journalistic and educational objectives as we detail the Division’s living legacy. In return, patrons receive exclusive access to Unabridged content for all episodes.
If you haven’t already, please consider becoming a patron. Our goal with Ninety-Pound Rucksack is to inform and inspire the public about the Division’s living legacy. Patrons make that possible. In return, they receive access to all Unabridged content.
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Episode 4 takes a deep dive into the US Army's experimental ski patrols of 1940-1941, as well as the events that led to the activation of the 1st Battalion (Reinforced), 87th Mountain Infantry at Ft. Lewis, Washington—the unit that would eventually become the 10th Mountain Division.
The episode also explores John McCown's 1941 expedition to British Columbia's Coast Range, which he made before enlisting with the mountain troops, and features an interview with writer Will Holland, who has been working on a screenplay about McCown for over two decades.
For show notes and additional resources, including an overview of characters introduced in this episode, please visit our website.
For those who want more, an unabridged version of Episode 4 is available exclusively to our patrons. Please consider becoming a patron. By becoming a patron, you not only get access to all unabridged episodes, including historic photos and bonus content not available anywhere else; you allow us to pursue the show’s journalistic and educational objectives as we inform and inspire the public about the Division’s living legacy.
Thank you to our patrons for supporting the podcast and helping us to continue producing engaging and informative content.
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The Drumbeats of War: Episode 3 explores the 10th Mountain Division’s backstory in the lead-up to America’s entry into World War II.
The episode includes abridged interviews with Chris Juergens, PhD, the Anschutz Curator of Military History at History Colorado, on the history of Germany’s mountain troops, and Sepp Scanlin, the former director of the 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum Museum, on the resistance the idea of an American mountain division faced from within the War Department.
The episode also includes an overview of Minnie Dole’s Herculean efforts to establish a ski division, as well as the way world events—and America’s climbers—helped persuade military leaders that maybe we really did need a mountain division after all.
See here for show notes and resources.
Available only to patrons, the Unabridged episode of Episode 3 also includes:
Unabridged versions of both interviews A complete chronology of events leading up to General George Marshall’s decision to conduct exploratory ski patrols in the winter of 1940-41. A narrative account of the involvement of The American Alpine Club members H. Adams Carter, Bob Bates, Bill House, Walter Wood Jr. and Dr. James Grafton Rogers in the lobbying efforts for a mountain division. -
Episode 2, Part 2 delivers a deep dive into the state of American and European climbing before the war, as well as how the rise of the Third Reich caused some of the best German and Austro-Hungarian mountaineers to emigrate, influencing climbing and skiing in America and contributing to 10th Mountain Division’s fighting skills.
Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-episodes/the-state-of-the-art-climbing-part-2/
The episode, which is told through the experiences of John Andrew McCown II, includes interviews with Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard; Chris Jones, the author of Climbing in North America; and Howard Koch, a veteran of the 10th who learned to climb with fellow 10th soldier David Brower before the war, and who fought alongside John McCown on Italy’s Riva Ridge during it.
Please consider becoming a patron. Patrons allow us to pursue the show’s journalistic and educational objectives as we inform and inspire the public about the Division’s living legacy. In return, patrons receive access to all Unabridged episodes, including exclusive content, supporting documentation, historic imagery and unique interviews.
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Episode 2, Part 1 provides a sweeping overview of the history of skiing in America as told through the experiences of one of the 10th Mountain Division’s greatest unsung heroes, John Andrew McCown II. Episode includes interview excerpts with Paul Petzoldt, the Teton climbing legend who would join the 10th Mountain Division at Camp Hale in 1942 and be put in charge of developing its mountain rescue system.
Episode also includes an extended interview with Dr. E. John B. Allen, professor emeritus of history at New Hampshire’s Plymouth State University and the author of numerous books, including From Skisport to Skiing: One Hundred Years of an American Sport, 1840–1940, on the evolution of skiing in America before the war.
Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-podcast/state-of-the-art-skiing-part-1/
Please consider becoming a patron. Patrons allow us to pursue the show's journalistic and educational objectives as we inform and inspire the public about the Division’s living legacy. In return, patrons receive access to all Unabridged episodes, including exclusive content, supporting documentation, historic imagery and unique interviews.
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This episode explores how the 1939 Soviet invasion of Finland catalyzed the creation of the 10th Mountain Division… with a little help from the National Ski Patrol System, the United States Army, and a couple of twenty-something climbers from The American Alpine Club.
Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-podcast/the-winter-war/
Please consider becoming a patron. Patrons allow us to pursue the show's journalistic and educational objectives as we inform and inspire the public about the Division’s living legacy. In return, patrons receive access to all Unabridged episodes, including exclusive content, supporting documentation, historic imagery and unique interviews such as this.
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Ninety-Pound Rucksack is a podcast about the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division and the dawn of outdoor recreation in America. Join host Christian Beckwith, former editor of The American Alpine Journal and founding editor of Alpinist Magazine, and an advisory board of the 10th Mountain Division’s foremost experts as we immerse ourselves in the living legacy of America’s original mountain warriors.
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In this episode, podcast host Christian Beckwith details how a search for the roots of Teton mountaineering led to a podcast (and book) about the US Army's 10th Mountain Division and the dawn of outdoor recreation in America.
