Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-11-12

Army Service Forces.
The Army Of the United States mum.
bers today nearly 8000,o00 men, These
men must be clothed and fed and sup
piled with the means to hight. The
best In food, clothes and weapons IL
none too good for them ard to supply
these manifold needs Is but q part of
the duty Of the Army Service Forces.
Requirements
For every 100 rifles carried into COM
bat, so replacement rifles must be sup
piled during the year; for every 100
machine guns, IS replacements must
reach the combat area. Each soldier
must have some so items Of personal
equipment. For each soldier overseas
about six ship tons Of equipment must
be delivered, and ton q month must
follow each man-all the necessities Of
life and the weapons of battle, unending.
tonnages Of goods comprising some
TOO 900 different items.
To transport these supplies from fac
tories to far-flung global fronts the
Nations railroads have been marshalled
into the greatest transportation move
ment Of all time. Ships of every char
acter have been compressed into service,
plying the seven seas. Thousands Of
transport planes follow the air courses
across oceans, deserts and even the great
hump" of the Himalayan Mountains.
Consider, again, the Heterogeneous
character of single order for supplies
for one of our overseas bases: 100 pneu-
matte drills, 40 pile drivers, 200 water
pumps, 100 tractors, 235,000 pairs of
shoes, 10000 rounds of mortar ammuni-
ton, 100 miles of finch pipe, $4,000
21h-ton trucks, millions of cigarettes,
tons of food, candy, coal, louise powder,
vaccines and electric washers.
Weapons of Total War
All are weapons In total war, even to
the minutest item of a nations econ
omy. All of a nations economy and all
Of a nations people are soldiers pro-
viding the continuous iow from factory
to military depot, to port Of embarka-
ton, to convoy, to overseas base, to the
fighters in the field.
The invasions of North Africa, Sicily,
Italy, France, the Pacific atolls and the
Philippines were spearheaded by port
battalions and repair crews of the en-
gineers, by signal corpsmen, by various
branches Of the Transportation Corps
and by other specialists-all elements Of
the Army Service Forces. But they were
all part Of the invasion armies, under
direct command of Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower or Gen. Douglas Macarthur
and their field commanders.
The Army Service Forces, as such, Is
not yet three years old But the COM
ponents that went into its creation are
as old as the Army itself-some Of them
going back to Colonial days.
Beginning the Job
The International situation in Europe
began to take shape and to point to-
ward war with the pact OF Munich
on September %, 1898. The subsequent
events and invasions eliminating in the
fall of France faced the United States
with the necessity of rearming for de-.
Tense and mobilizing its industry. for
possible war. This preparedness move.
ment occupied US during the period from
the middle Of 1910 to the end of ls41.
Then came Pearl Harbor. Further
expansion of our munitions program and
of our armed forces became mandatory
and Immediately 50.
Pearl Harbor found not only our in
dustry unprepared for our actual entry
into war but the Army as well. Pro-
cedures were geared to peacetime opera
ton.
For years the departments and
agencies of the Federal Government
had had reputation for being handi-
capped in their operations because Of
the complicated administrative and
operating procedures commonly referred
to as red tape"
The About Program
Total war made imperative the elm
nation Of all nonessential steps In adj
ministration and operation Of Govern
ment business. Especially was this true
in the Army, which faced the tremen-
dous task of expanding the armed forces
and the countrys production. Early it
became apparent that closer co-ordina.
ton of the various elements Of plan
ming, procurement and distribution was
mandatory
To provide an overall, about program
of requirements the Army supply pro-
gram was developed. This showed item
for item, the types and quantities Of all
materials required for our armed forces
and the needs of other Allied nations
which must necessarily draw upon
American production. America, then,
truly became the arsenal of democracy.
Covering estimated requirements for
the years 1912, 1913 and 1914. the supply
program was basically long range plan,
valuable primarily as a target for in
dustry. The needs Of the armed forces
were promised upon the conclusions Of
a comprehensive study. made jointly by
the War and Navy Departments to de.
termine the contribution of the war ef.
fort by the United States in terms of
armed forces suff1cient to insure victory.
Requirements Of United States produc.
ton. for the accredited Allied nations
were based upon review Of the requests
filed by those nations.
Revising the Program
Measured in terms of coverage and
volume the supply program represented
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