Pictorial Review, Volume II, Number 5: Imperial Ethiopian Army training (Amharic-English poster distributed in Addis Ababa)
A bilingual Amharic-English picture-sheet on Ethiopian Army infantry training. Photographs show machine-gun and 81mm mortar crews, a recoilless-rifle lesson given by a US advisor, ammunition being unpacked and a squad leader giving the order to fire. The text credits US advisory services, training and materiel and states a goal of an 'independent, secure position in the Free World'. The tell is glittering generalities, with the phrase 'the Free World' attached to US-assisted training.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- April 1, 1959
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- U.S. Information Agency (predecessor: State Department International Information and Educational Exchange Program), Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East series
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Eisenhower Administration
- Leader
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- Cold War
- Source
- Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 306, Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work; NARA RG 306)
U.S. Information Agency / Department of State, April 1, 1959. National Archives, Record Group 306 (NAID 6948754, 306-PPB-14i).
Text on the object
ስዕላዊ፡ መጽሔት። PICTORIAL REVIEW Volume II Number 5 Constant drilling brings the units up to top efficiency. Typical of the alert men in the Second Brigade are these .30 caliber heavy machine gunners. The Imperial Ethiopian Army has a long tradition as defender of the nation's freedom. Its abilities constantly are being improved through new techniques and the addition of modern weapons to the defensive arsenal. Substantial help in this effort has been provided by the United States through its Military Assistance Program in the form of advisory services, training both in Ethiopia and abroad, and materiel. Two units which recently put the new weapons and training into active use are the 11th and 12th Battalions of the Second Brigade, First Infantry Command. Battalion officers and men successfully concluded firing of infantry support weapons at Nazareth. Other exercises are planned for the First Infantry Command in coming months. The goal: to help Ethiopia maintain its independent, secure position in the Free World. Brigadier General Yacob Gebre Leoul, left, commander of the First Infantry Command, and Colonel Jagama Kello, Commander of the 12th Battalion, observe as crewmen prepare to fire live ammunition from an 81mm. mortar. Giving instructions to the crew is Lt. Regassa Gabre-Mickael, 11th Battalion Training Officer. Major A. C. Bunnell, of the U. S. Military Assistance Advisory Group in Ethiopia, gives directions to men working with the 57mm. recoilless rifle. Major Bunnell and M/Sgt. Ray Wire are MAAG advisors. Ammunition is unpacked for the 81mm. mortars. "Fire" is the command given by this squad leader. In this series of pictures, crewmen fire the 81mm. heavy mortar.
Masthead Amharic 'ስዕላዊ መጽሔት' reads, literally, 'Pictorial Magazine'; the English text is as printed.
Amharic body text and captions (parallel to the English) are not transcribed; only the Amharic masthead is.
