Chief of Section Sgt. Merlin C. Tubbs sets elevation on the huge searchlight. The lights can burn for 1 hour and 45 minutes before their carbon sputters out. The carbon electrode can be replaced in 3 to 4 minutes. (Hal Slate/Stars and Stripes)
If you can't see it you can't shoot it.
To help the 7th Inf. DivArty see in the dark, the 7th FA Searchlight Platoon is always ready to throw some light on the situation.
The platoon has a lot of light to throw, too. The giant 60-inch searchlights, mounted on 2½-ton trucks, are rated at eight million candlepower.
At pencil beam, they can throw a shaft of light 20,000 yards and burn steadily for an hour and 45 minutes before their carbon arcs sputter out. They can be replaced in three to four minutes.
The platoon has a variety of jobs - it may be assigned the tactical mission of general support, director support or a combination of the two. It may be attached by platoon, or any of the six individual sections may be attached to another unit or assigned an illumination mission.
The 7th FA Searchlight Platoon was organized in March, 1955.
Chief of Section Sgt. Merlin C. Tubbs sets elevation on the huge searchlight. The lights can burn for 1 hour and 45 minutes before their carbon sputters out. The carbon electrode can be replaced in 3 to 4 minutes. (Hal Slate/Stars and Stripes)
Standing beside a searchlight as is flashed on near camp is Pfc Elias M. Negron of the searchlight platoon. (Hal Slate/Stars and Stripes)
A surprising reflection of Wallace is mirrored in the inner surface of the searchlight drum. The reflected image comes not from Wanden himself, but from another reflection on the other side of the cylinder. (Hal Slate/Stars and Stripes)
A searchlight mounted on a 2½-ton truck is tested near Camp Casey, South Korea, in 1957. (Hal Slate/Stars and Stripes)
Pvt. Wanden L. Wallace fits a new carbon electrode into a 60-inch searchlight. (Hal Slate/Stars and Stripes)
