Camp Edwards Infiltration Course
Camp Edwards Infiltration Course
A soldier’s experience in his own words.
It was a culmination of the basic training regimen, crawling through a 100-yard infiltration course. There were mud-filled lanes for the soldiers to crawl through, while six. 30-caliber machine guns fired live rounds 30 inches off the ground. Explosives were set to slew mud and debris on the advancing soldiers.
Here is Henry C. Allen’s account.
I was so scared that I didn’t know if my trembling legs would help me over the top of the long trench. My time came, and in the next few minutes were terrifying. I was drenched in sweat. My face and neck, my back and my chest. My mouth was totally dry, and I was breathing heavily
I finally reached the point where I was to slip out of the trench and begin crawling toward the stationary machine guns. Bullets flew past me just inches over my head. Then, without a warning, a simulated mine exploded no less than five feet from me. Fortunately, I kept my body flat to the ground. After what seemed like an eternity, I crawled past the machine guns and was ordered to stand and join a group of soldiers that had preceded me. Nurses had to crawl the course as well.