Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-11-26

held against counterattack piece of g
supplies.
As. the great supply branch of the
Corps has probably the most compL-
Gated task in total warfare. Its officers
and men-they number now half mil
hon-must perform the essential and
some of the least glamorous duties of
the military organization. Usually the
airmen, the tankmen and the infantry
men get the headlines in combat, but
their efforts would be of short duration
without the ever necessary presence of
the supply troops. They all constitute q
team that pulls together for victory.
Food, Clothes and Equipment
The quartermasters mission is pri-
marily to feed, clothe and equip the
Army with everything except combat
weapons and vehicles. In doing this the
corps is the largest purchasing, storage
and distribution organization in the
world. Its operations extend along &c.
600 miles Of supply lines.
Its base of operations, naturally, is
the United States. But it obtains food
and supplies also from friendly Allies
in overseas theaters when our own needs
are lacking.
The Quartermaster Corps purchases
all types of supplies and foodstuffs and
maintains purchasing agents in nearly
every town in the country The list of
its suppliers, especially in the field of
perishable foods, is large and subject
to frequent changes. Because of this 1t
is difficult to present full picture of
purchases for full year period.
Procurement Program
Take for example the procurement
program for the third quarter of this
year, July l through September 80,
when 1874 contract awards totaled
81 ,265, 101, 745. OF this amount $129, 281,-
$50 was expended for perishable sub
sistence, $491 TAG ,287 for nonperishable
subsistence, $148,707,87O for clothing
500 1858, 500 for equipage and $12O,858,-
22s for general supplies. Also the pro-
gram included $185, $685. worth of
textiles, 1868 ,134,575 for fuels and lubri-
cants and $29,094,2 42 for warehouse and
Service equipment.
Excluded from these totals are count
less numbers of contracts for purchases
under $4,000. Also omitted are local
procurements by post quartermasters
at camps and stations and contracts let
by the remount depots which procure
and train horses, mules and dogs.
The Quartermaster Corps was estab-
lished June is, ITS and shared, as part
OF the ragged Continental Army, the or
deal Of Valley Forge. Since then it has
alternately mushroomed to great size in
times of war and shrunk to minute pro-
portions in times of peace. Each sue
ceeding war, except this one, found it
operating with meager resources at the
outset.
A Years Start
This time the Quartermaster Corps
got years start in expanding and
preparing for the immense job ahead.
In 1910 it was given the task for the
first time of building shelters, feeding,
clothing, equipping and supplying the
Nations first peacetime draft army. BY
a million men. 1t had erected various
ordnance manufacturing facilities, ex-
pending more than $500 100000 for
emergency construction of over $50 prof.
ects located at 200 different stations in
this country, the Panama Canal Zone,
. Puerto Rico and Hawaii. This construc-
ton program was well under way when
%ro, of IN he ~ Tn,
gineers late in 1941.
Similarly, the Quarternlaster Corps
handled all early transportation, includ-
ing operation of the Army Transport
. System and some 5000 harbor boats.
When the Transportation Corps was set
a up in March, 1912, it took over this task.
Motor transport was handled by quar-
termasters until August /, 1912, when
= the Ordnance Department took over
procurement and assignment of hun
dreds of thousands of transport vehicles.
When the Japs Struck
The day the Japs struck at Pearl Har-
Dor the Quartermaster Corps had
strength of about 7,750 officers and more
than 100000 enlisted men. Two great
replacement and training centers were
established at Camp Lee, Va, and Fort
Warren, Wyo. These performed the
major portion Of expansion to the pres
ent force of about half million highly
trained men. The men were taught, also,
to use the weapons of the foot soldier
Thousands of civilians stated the
depots and other installations in various
capacities and the corps recruited more
than hundred of the Nations best
minds in the field of science and indus
try to perform as specialists.
That, in brief, is the organization of
the Quartermaster Corps for its part in
total war. At the head of the vast organ
ization is Maj. Gen. Edmund B. Gregory,
appointed Quartermaster General on
April l, 1910, and reappointed when the
customary four years term expired His
is the overall supervision Of the greatest
supply job known to military history.
He started, almost from scratch, to build
an organization to supply lines that were
to extend around the world. A West
Pointer, he is now reaping the dividends
of % years of experience as Quarter
master officer
Civilian Economy Benefits
-t Much of what the Quartermaster
Corps has done in concentrating the
research work of years into the immedi-
ate needs of total war, will be reflect
ed undoubtedly in postwar civilian
economy. Housing, clothing, food and