Imperial Valley press., 1942-03-15
by
Peter
Edison

WASHINGTON. March II - Ji.s
how thoroughly the War Denar.-
men. has grabbed itself by its o@..
boots;rao> ala Aly,u itself 4 severe
snakeaD won't be appreciated ii.
fQll details are announced on -
Amy general staff reorganiz@tio.
which goes iu,u effect this week
Mos. sensational, ot 'he shifts coa-
Gems the new Service of SOpaS
which now swallows completely tse
ID QuartcrWu~'tr Corps, the, ,Ordn-
ahee Department 'At adjutant AeH-
ais department. and the Whoia
administrative and supply functions
q, the A,my. ON.y tWo comba.
branches OF the Army The air for
T. aaG the ground iOrCes-are ey-
..4ded .rom the Service of Supply
ID ne yommandial general of the
SOS. Ma Gen Brclou B. Somer-
veil. taus becomes one of the mos
!n4gogts0, mon in the Army. being
exceeded IN ImUOrt3uCr 10y only the
saiaf Of >dft anal being of eQul
position with the TWO lieutenant
generals commanding the air and
e.oG&d forces. though SomerVeu is
cnly a major general as yet
Gathering all these miScel-
laneouS departments INTO one
administrative basket is a trem-
mendouS move towards simpIi-
fication of Army proc edure. IL
has potentialitieN for tying in
lot of red tape which has bound
up Army routine for many
years.
Oyer-simplifvina. the SOS Will
I'm TO do everything lor Il soldier
except fight
Exclusive of aircraft and flying
which viii e'Ill be ord
ared by the air force. lie SOS will
determine the soldier requirements
.ol food. clothing. shelter. health
equipment. weapons. anlmun.tioa
This W,.S tOgmcrIy ~, .Cb q. G-1
ne supply section Of the general
staff
Cnce those requirements are de
ermined. the SOS VIII take care of
- determining where
md how all these requirements can
3e met. Il is at this lovel thai Re
SCS viii lie in win the 2otiyities
# the War Production Board WAica,
Eough still outside TIE War De-
)drtment as q civilian organization
Kill act as )hc gO-betWeen for the
Amy and civilian industry to insure
lie soldiers getting what the9 need
sAen they need it
sOS Troops
Facilities for procurement deter
mined. tie new SOS VIII le, the
for equipment
Contracts let the SOS Will super
lse the production for the Army.
Here Lieut. Gen. William s Knud-
I'll. as director Of production &c"
he Army. Will be III command Pc
uliarly. General KnuCsen Will be
he highest ranking officer in the
'CS, serving under Major General
Storage and distribution be-
comes the next function of the
SOS and here again the new
far-reaching authority of the
sos becomes apparent for all
the corps area commanders of
the Army have been brought
under Service of Supply ad-
miniStratiOn. The whole SOS,
in fact, becomes an organization
to supply fully equipped fight
ing men and to keep them sup
piled. Even the transportation
of these fighting men to the
zones of combat and the trans
pOrtatiOn of supplies TO the task
forces is an SOS job.
This means there will be SOS
oops with each Of the tax forces.
j receive these supplies and 70 keep
g supply lines operating Immedi-
teIy behind the various fronts. But !
n the basis Of the Army needing
5o OF three soldiers behind the
mes for every soldier a. tLr front. I
ran be sr"u 'LW I'll" SOS vii be
: far tur biggest Dg1IuiHulon in /
he Army.
MOTHER IDEA
al tAie cou... "' u.o Ms,usat
hon thcrc are thr fir, lslI4gs !
movement ~" luEMa III Dro- :
Jeement functions away fgom the :
III" and grouping them %l'a the "
REQUIREMENT branches Of Iar Navy.
p Maritime Commission, the !casr-