UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II

The Army Service Forces

THE ORGANIZATION AND ROLE OF
THE ARMY SERVICE FORCES

by
John D. Millet

CMH Logo

CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY
UNITED STATES ARMY
WASHINGTON, D. C., 1998


Library of Congress Catalog Card Number : 53-617


First Printed 1954-CMH  Pub 3-1


. . . to Those Who Served


Foreword

If a reader expects to find a uniform pattern of treatment in the similarly upholstered volumes of this series, he will soon discover his-error on reading this one. The author has chosen to relate the story of the Army Service Forces by concentrating on the activities of its organizer and commander, Lt. Gen. Brehon B. Somervell. As a staff officer to General Somervell during the war and one who was personally acquainted with his views, particularly on matters of organization, Professor Millett is exceptionally well qualified to deal with his subject in the manner he has chosen.

Some may complain that the biographical approach, with all the advantages it has in enabling an author to bring life and action into a narrative, has serious limitations when used in dealing with the history of an institution, such as the Army Service Forces. Others, familiar with the atmosphere in which the agency operated, may differ with the emphasis on this or that episode or problem that resulted from seeing its history mainly through the eyes of its wartime chief. Yet it must be recognized that the huge conglomeration of activities that constituted Army Service Forces had its chief element of unity, its one common denominator, in the driving energy and aggressive personality of its commander. This infused his organization with a sense of common purpose that many a smaller and functionally better integrated organization lacked. Necessarily General Somervell's impact on the various components of the Army Service Forces was uneven and certain problems received more of his attention than others. This was particularly true of organizational matters which General Somervell considered the key to operational success. The changes he sought to introduce were many and basic. As was to be expected, they often met with opposition, especially from some of the technical services which resisted the bridle the more because of their traditional freedom of action.

The perspective of the author is that of the "top side" rather than of the official at the operational level. Little attempt has been made to go into detail on the many activities and responsibilities of the Army Service Forces. For more complete information concerning them, the reader can look to other volumes of United States Army in World War II.

Washington, D. C. 
15 January 1953

ORLANDO WARD
Maj. Gen., U.S.A.
Chief of Military History

vii


The Author

John David Millett, Ph.D., LL.D., President of Miami University, earned his doctorate in political science at Columbia University where for a number of years he also served on the faculty. His experience as an adviser and administrator in government agencies and in the field of higher education has been extensive. Among these may be mentioned service on the National Resources Planning Board, the Committee on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, The President's Committee on Administrative Management, and the Commission on Financing Higher Education. For the last-named organization, he served as Executive Director. During World War II he was commissioned and brought to Washington to serve on General Somervell's staff as an expert adviser on organizing the newly created Army Service Forces. He also acted as the wartime historian for that command. Through both training and personal experience he was the logical person to prepare this particular volume.

Washington, D. C.
15 April 1953

LEO J. MEYER
Colonel, Reserve Corps
Deputy Chief Historian

viii


Preface

This account of the Army Service Forces in World War II had its origin in the general effort of the Federal Government to record wartime administrative experiences. On 4 March 1942 President Roosevelt wrote to the director of the Bureau of the Budget expressing his interest in the steps taken to keep a "current record of war administration" and urged their extension wherever possible.

The War Department in turn issued instructions on 15 July 1942 for the commanding general of the Army Service Forces to appoint an historical officer and to arrange for an historical program. This communication was addressed also to the commanding generals of the Army Ground Forces and of the Army Air Forces. I was initially appointed historical officer of the Army Service Forces by General Somervell. As a member of the Administrative Management Branch in the Control Division of Army Service Forces headquarters, I participated actively in many organizational studies and in time, assumed other current staff responsibilities within the Army Service Forces. Thus, from the beginning, I had an opportunity to observe organizational experiences at close range.

In the two months preceding my departure from the Army in January 1946, I dictated a draft account of the major organizational events in the history of the Army Service Forces from 9 March 1942 to the end of 1945. This account was deposited in an historical file along with various historical records prepared within the Army Service Forces during the war. Subsequently, the Office of the Chief of Military History invited me to revise and extend the original draft, and this volume for the series United States Army in World War II is the result.

The present volume is based on the earlier draft and on other materials which were not then readily available. In addition, it relies heavily on the complete personal files of General Somervell which have been preserved intact and which for the first time are here used as the basis for a published work. But this account has not been prepared solely from official documents and other papers. I was present at meetings and conferences of which no records were ever kept, and have tried to convey the impression left by these discussions in various generalizations and observations. In such instances the reader will of course find no footnote references.

ix


In addition, I have had the active assistance of General Somervell, the commanding general of the Army Service Forces in World War II. I first became acquainted with General Somervell in New York City in September 1936. It was my privilege to be associated in a small way with his work as head of the Army Service Forces in World War II. His aid in providing me with his personal recollections of persons and events is gratefully acknowledged. The assistance of a personal friend, Maj. Gen. Clinton F. Robinson (USA retired), has been equally invaluable.

In my conversations with the chief historian of the Office of the Chief of Military History, it was agreed that any organizational account of the Army Service Forces would be inadequate which did not give proper emphasis to the personality of its commanding general. This story of the Army Service Forces, then, has been told from the point of view of its commanding general. At the same time, this is not meant to obscure the fact that the work of the Army Service Forces was accomplished by thousands of persons in and out of uniform scattered throughout the world. I would not belittle the contribution of any one of them.

The focus of attention throughout this volume has been the organizational experience of the Army Service Forces. It was impossible here to tell the full story of the many vital problems of the ASE These accounts will be found in other volumes dealing with the production, supply, and administrative activities of the Army.

I have been conscious of the very different audiences who might be interested in this record. This is not a "popular" history. Its primary purpose is to provide a record of events which would be available to and could be used by others who, in subsequent years, might have related responsibilities. In other words, the primary audience would be future administrative officers, plus a few others interested in comparable administration experiences. This concept has provided me with a general frame of reference.

Yet in endeavoring to tell a complete story about the Army Service Forces' organizational experience, it was necessary to discuss many of the substantive problems and major issues confronting agencies of the War Department. These are matters which are probably of much more general interest than administrative history. For example, the three chapters dealing with the relations of the Army Service Forces to the War Production Board are in many ways a separate episode which may be of more extensive interest than other chapters dealing with the internal organization of the Army Service Forces. But in thus weaving together many different events and circumstances, the effort was made to retain a central thread of unity. It was simply this: what was the Army Service Forces, how did it come to be, what was it supposed to do, and how did it do it?

It was perhaps inevitable in writing this account to tell primarily the story of controversies. The Army Service Forces was a controversial administrative experiment. There are some in the Army and elsewhere today who would ban all discussion of the Army Service Forces and who wish never again to see anything resembling an offspring. This attitude may disappear with time, but it has been one of my chief aims to explore the many controversies and differences of

x


opinion which arose so that others may more accurately assess the basis of the hostile reactions. General Somervell too was a controversial figure. If he is to be known solely by what his critics have said about him, then a most distorted picture of an able officer and administrator will be perpetuated. I have endeavored to place this picture back in proper focus. I cannot satisfy the partisans of General Somervell, and there are many. Nor can I expect to soothe the ruffled feelings of all those who think they were harshly treated by General Somervell. This account is friendly but at the same time, it is hoped, balanced.

It has not been my purpose here to chronicle all the activities and achievements of the Army Service Forces. Any such attempt of necessity would have been an almost endless one. Nor has it been my purpose, as easy as such an effort would have been, to stress only the accomplishments, the satisfactory relationships of so many individuals in the Army Service Forces, both with one another and with members of other military and civilian agencies. My purpose rather has been to help clarify the misunderstanding that now exists, and that otherwise might well continue to exist, with regard to the real nature of the Army Service Forces.

After completion of the original draft of this volume, other responsibilities prevented me from giving full personal attention to revision of the manuscript. The Office of the Chief of Military History made available the services of Dr. Jonathan Grossman who checked references, investigated other sources of materials, and edited sections of the manuscript. His assistance was both thorough and sympathetic. Much of whatever merit the present volume may have belongs to Dr. Grossman's generous assistance. I have also had the help of many other persons in reviewing the manuscript and checking its facts. These are too numerous to mention in full, but I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr. Kent Roberts Greenfield, Chief Historian; Lt. Col. Leo J. Meyer, Deputy Chief Historian; Dr. Richard M. Leighton, Chief of the Logistics Section; and Dr. Stetson Conn, Chief of the Western Hemisphere Section. In addition, I appreciate greatly the careful reading of the entire manuscript by Lt. Gen. LeRoy Lutes, who succeeded General Somervell in command of the Army Service Forces. Mr. David Jaffé was editor of the volume, Miss Nancy L. Easterling did the copy editing, Mrs. Pauline Dodd prepared the index, and Miss Margaret E. Tackley was the photographic editor.

It should be remembered that I alone stand responsible for the statements of fact and opinion expressed. The Office of the Chief of Military History has not censored my observations in any way, even though it has been critical of certain points of view contained in the manuscript. Despite what the term "official history" may imply to many, this volume represents personal judgments, which, it is hoped, few will consider unreasonable on the basis of the evidence presented.

Columbia University
15 April 1953

JOHN D. MILLETT

ix


Contents

Chapter   

Page

INTRODUCTION   

1

The Choice of General Somervell To Command the ASF

2

Characteristics of the Choice

6


PART ONE
The Creation of the Army Service Forces

I THE WAR DEPARTMENT AND ARMY ORGANIZATION AT THE BEGINNING OF WORLD WAR II 

11

Changes in the National Defense Act

13

The Pershing Reorganization

16

Developments Between 1921-1941

18

II THE REORGANIZATION OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT

23

Reorganization of the OUSW

26

Reorganization of G-4

28

The Reorganization of 9 March 1942

36

Some Problems of the Reorganization

39

 

PART TWO
The Role of the ASF in the War Department

III THE PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY ACTIVITIES OF THE ASF

45

Lend-lease

49

The Relation Between Strategy and Supply

53

IV STRATEGY AND SUPPLY: EARLY PHASES

57

BOLERO

59

North Africa

60

Operations in Europe, 1943

62

The Post-Casablanca Trip

63

The TRIDENT Conference

67

The Build-up for OVERLORD

68

The Early Campaigns in the Pacific

69

The QUADRANT Conference

70

V STRATEGY AND SUPPLY: FINAL PHASES

73

The Cairo and Tehran Conferences

79

Preparations for OVERLORD

80

Italy and France

81

Supply Crisis in the European Theater

83

Malta and Yalta

86

The War in the Pacific

86

Potsdam

89

Other Overseas Operations

90

VI SERVICES FOR THE ARMY

93

Medical Service

93

Communications and Photographic Activities

96

Construction

98

Personnel

99

ASF Relations With G-1

104

Police Activities, Internal Security, and Custody of Military Prisoners

105

Legal Activities

106

Fiscal Activities

106

Postal Service and Publications

108

The Management of Posts, Camps, and Stations

108

Training

109

VII THE ASF AND THE OPD

111

VIII THE ARMY AIR FORCES AND THE ASF

124

Procurement and Supply Relationships

125

The Conflict Over Post and Base Management

129

The Controversy Over Allotment of Funds

134

IX THE SOMERVELL PROPOSALS FOR WAR DEPARTMENT REORGANIZATION

138

X THE TRANSFER OF ASF ACTIVITIES TO THE WAR DEPARTMENT STAFF

148

Public Relations

148

Budgeting

150

The Civil Affairs Division

153

Research and Development

154

National Guard and Executive for Reserve and Reserve Officers' Training Corps A, fairs

155

Postwar Planning

155

Counterintelligence

155

XI FURTHER RECONSIDERATION OF THE ROLE OF THE ASF

157

The AGF and the ASF

158

Somervell Raises a Basic Issue

163

The Effort To Resolve the Issue

165

The War Department Decision

168

The Relations of the ASF and the AAF to the Technical Services

168

XII SOMERVELL'S RELATIONSHIP WITH PATTERSON AND MARSHALL

173

The Under Secretary

173

The Chief of Staff

177

PART THREE
The Role of the ASF in Industrial Mobilization

XIII THE ASF AND THE WPB: EARLY ATTEMPTS TO DEFINE RESPONSIBILITIES

185

The Industrial Mobilization Plan 

186

Industrial Preparation for War

187

The Creation of the WPB

189

The Army-WPB Agreement

190

Trouble Start

193

The Agreement on Field Offices

198

XIV THE ASF AND THE WPB: THE CONTROL OF RAW MATERIALS

201

Revision of the Priorities System

203

Allocating Raw Materials

207

XV THE ASF AND THE WPB: THE CONTROL OF PRODUCTION

213

Production Scheduling

220

Reconversion

226

Smaller War Plants

233

XVI THE ASF AND OTHER CIVILIAN AGENCIES CONTROLLING PROCUREMENT RESOURCES

236

Research and Development

236

Special Handling of Food, Petroleum, Rubber

239

WMC and Labor Relations

243

Price Control

246

Housing and Community Facilities

250

The Once of War Mobilization

251

XVII THE ASF AND CIVILIAN AGENCIES CONCERNED WITH MILITARY SUPPLY AND DEFENSE

254

Ocean Transportation

254

Rail Transportation

262

Lend-lease

266

Civilian Defense

267

XVIII PROCUREMENT COLLABORATION WITH THE NAVY

269

Desirable Organization for Army-Navy Collaboration

277

XIX THE PROCUREMENT ROLE OF THE ASF

281

Military Procurement

282

Did the Army Want Control of the Civilian Economy?

288


PART FOUR
Internal Organization of the ASF

XX THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 

297

Creation of the Transportation Corps

298

General Depots

300

Adjustments in Responsibilities of Technical Services

302

Internal Organization

304

Field Installations of Technical Services

305

Technical Service Duties of Army- Wide Scope

308

XXI THE SERVICE COMMANDS

312

The Service Command Reorganization

314

Pressure for Decentralization

317

The Mission of the Service Commands

319

The Supervision of Class IV Installations

326

The Handling of Labor Supply Problems in the Field

329

Organization Within Service Commands

332

XXII THE EVOLUTION OF ASF HEADQUARTERS 

338

The Merging of the 0USW and G-4

338

The Administrative Services

347

General Organization of the Staff   

 351   

The Technical Services as Staff Divisions   

354

Interstaff Relations

357

A Functional Staff 

359

XXIII THE MANAGEMENT OF THE ASF

364

Urgency 

366

Chief Lieutenants

369

Sense of Organization 

371

The Quest for Unity 

373

Management Improvement

376

Personnel Management

378

Budget Administration

383

Public Relations 

384

Legislative Relations

346

XXIV THE PROPOSED ASF REORGANIZATION OF 1943

397

The ASF Organization Situation in 1943

397

The Preparation of an Alternative Organization for the ASF

400

Consideration of the 1943 Plan

405

The Public Controversy

408

The Plan Dropped 

411

Lessons of the Episode

414

EPILOGUE 

417

Somervell's Departure

419

The Dissolution of the AS

421


Appendix

A KEY PERSONNEL OF THE ASF, 9 MARCH 1942-31 DECEMBER 1945

428

B DOCUMENTS ON THE RELATIONS WITH THE AAF: POSITION OF ASF IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT

433

C DOCUMENTS ON THE RELATIONS WITH THE AAF: RELATION OF SUPPLY AND SERVICE AGENCIES TO COMBAT FORCES

437

D ASF RELATIONS WITH WPB

442

E NELSON-SOMERVELL CORRESPONDENCE IN 1942

446

F STIMSON LETTER TO SENATOR REYNOLDS ON ORGANIZATION OF AN OFFICE OF WAR MOBILIZATION AND CIVILIAN VERSUS MILITARY RESPONSIBILITY FOR PROCUREMENT

452

G STIMSON-KNOX AGREEMENT ON ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS OF THE PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE WPB

457

H STATEMENT BY UNDER SECRETARY ROBERT P PATTERSON ON RESPONSIBILITY FOR MILITARY PROCUREMENT BEFORE THE SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE INVESTIGATING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE PROGRAM, 77TH CONGRESS, 2D SESSION, 16 DECEMBER 1942

458

I THE DUTIES OF THE ARMY SERVICE FORCES

461

GLOSSARY 

464

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 

469


Tables

1 Comparison of Medical Service, World War I and World War II

96

2 Technical Service Field Installations

306

3 Proposed Service Command Realignment

403


Charts

1 Organization of Service Command Headquarters, 8 December 1943

334

2 Organization of the Services of Supply, 20 February 1942

340

3 Organization of the Services of Supply, 16 February 1943

341

4 Organization of the Army Service Forces, 10 November 1943

342

5 Organization of the Army Service Forces, 20 July 1943

353

6 Organization of the Army Service Forces, 15 August 1944 

355

7 Postwar Logistic Organization Within the War Department, Proposed to Patch Board, September 1944

423


Illustrations

General Brehon B Somervell

  

Lt Gen Wilhelm D Styer

4

Lt Gen LeRoy Lutes   

6

The Chiefs of the Technical Services   

310

Typical ASF Installations in a Camp   

320

Commanding Generals of the Service Commands and the MDW   

322

Weekly Staff Conference   

375

Secretary of War Robert P Patterson   

420

The illustrations are from the files of the Department of Defense


page created 8 July 2002


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