ARMED FORCES: Forces on the Ground

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¶Commanded Eighth Army (1955) and U.N. forces (1955-57) in the delicate cease-fire period when the U.S. nursed its local allies (South Korea, Japan, Nationalist China) into shape to carry more of their own defense load. Specifics: he put down South Korean riots against U.S. troops (provocation: the U.S. agreed to Communist truce supervisors), spearheaded the Defense Department's successful efforts to solve the land crisis which threatened permanent political unrest on Okinawa, the U.S.'s main Far East defense position.

¶Pushed steadily toward combat readiness when, as Max Taylor's Vice Chief (1957-59), he got a running start into his own term.

Revolutionary War. Soldiers everywhere know that the Army that Lem Lemnitzer will take over has already plunged into a period of basic changes. "It's a damned revolution,'' said a head-shaking first sergeant on San Francisco's Angel Island. Samples of the revolution: MISSILES IN THE SUBURBS

At Battery A, 45th Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade, near suburban Arlington Heights, Ill. last week, blackbooted soldiers in fresh-starched fatigues worked over radar screens and Nike missile launch gear. Amidst the familiar incense of hot electronic equipment they chanted their trade litany as they practiced tracking on unsuspecting airliners: "Interlock held. Interlock cheated . . . Line volts O.K. . . . Three-quarters, three-quarters . . ."

It was no place for sad sacks or boneheads. Only two of Battery A's 129 men had less than eighth-grade education; 91 had finished high school and nine college; and most had volunteered for missilery to get technical schooling.

Eyeing the inverted chevrons of the Army's new technician class. First Sergeant Leonard T. Berry deplored the Army's changes over his 19 years. "If I try to get 50 guys to parade, I can't do it." he growled. "They think all they have to do is out there in the pits." Old Soldier Berry still insists on the traditional Friday night "G.I. Party" if the battery's comfortable barracks looks unscrubbed. Suspiciously, he watches such innovations as midmorning (9:30-10) coffee breaks, midafternoon Coke breaks, mechanical potato peelers, dishwashers. EDUCATION IN THE RANKS

Space-age hardware like Nike drove the Army into a search for skilled manpower. In "Operation Meathead" (1957-59), the Army discharged 75,000 untrainables, as a byproduct cut stockade (prison) population from 6,300 to 1,500. slashed its overall courts-martial rate 22%. Its multimillion-dollar education program in 1957-58 qualified 40,000 enlisted men for high-school diplomas, by 1962 will put 1,200 in colleges. Half of the Army officers who do not have college degrees have signed up for courses. RANGERS FOR TOUGHNESS

The Army's Ranger course at Fort Benning, Ga. has spread through all branches some 4,600 elite young officers and NCOs who know from bitter training experience what it takes to fight with a fast-moving battle group in the toughest campaigns.