The sub., 1945-11-08
Summary of Army Service Forces
 Report for 1945

production of such miracles as ra- dar, penicillin and the atomic bomb, General Brehon Somervell, Com manding General of ASF, recently made his report for the fiscal year 1945 to Secretary of War Patter- son and General Marshall, Chief of Staff.
 "The miracle that produced all the other miracles" reported Gen. eral Somervell, twas something even more American than any one of them. It was the organiza- tion and vitalizing of this vast ma- chine. It was the miracle of man. agement.
 Tt was the business of marshall ing into one cohesive group the knowledge, power and determina- tiou which made it possible to mo- bilize and direct the almost limit less capacity of this nation to serve the needs of the combat elements of the Army. It was the creation of a will and power that brooked no interference and was undaunted by any obstacle, to create and sup ply the weapons of victory, to fur nish the necessary services for those who swept our enemies from the field.
 "The ASF came into being, 1t be- gan to function, felt it's way, put on speed and power, procured and de- livered the goods around the world, two billion dollars worth month. It produced more varieties of equipment and supplies than any other organization ever has att tempted to gather together. It kept count on these items, stored them, held them in reserve, shipped them where needed, constantly reduced complicated procedures, saved time and dollars and pieces of paper and ton-miles and manhours and overhead. It took the best out of business and put it into the busi- ness of war"
 Victory in the greatest war of all times has come through the leadership, skill and courage of our fighting men," declares Gen. eral Somervell in his report. "ASF gave a full measure of support to these men in every quarter of the globe. The knowledge that this was done is ASF's reward for the brains, sweat, courage and perse- verance devoted to the task by it's millions of soldiers and civilians, men from the profession, industries, capital and labor"
 Thereupon General Somervell quotes what he calls the "braSh and boastful slogan of the ASF:
 "The Impossible We Do at Once; the Miraculous Takes Little Lon ger"
 The first year after the organi- zation of ASF, he reports was de- voted to doing the impossible, the second two years saw the achieve ment of the miraculous.
 General SOmervell's dramatic recital of the story of the ASF is high official tribute to the mag nitude of the civilian contribution to the winning of the war. Accord ing to his account, even the otfi- cers' staff of the ASF was almost wholly made up of men from civil life. By the end of the second year after the unification of the Army's supply, technical and ad- ministrative forces into a single unit, according to the report, "only 3 per cent of the ASF officers were professional soldiers; the others had come from civil life, had put on the uniform and gone to work"
 Never in human experience continues General Somervell, had men attempted to do so much so fast, to manufacture on so im- mense a scale, to ship so many tons of freight, to move so many men, to purchase so many million dollars worth of anything, to de- sign so many machines, to weld so many diverse activities together and to attempt so much in new and untried devices"