page_title: Civil Affairs Staging Area
section_title: Observations by Commander Boekel
hierarchical_section_title: Civil Affairs Staging Area / Operations and Training Division / Language Branch / Observations by Commander Boekel
caption_attribution_description: English: Japanese language training at the Civil Affairs Staging Area(CASA)in the Spring of 1945.
context_page_description: The Civil Affairs Staging Area also known as the Civil Affairs Holding and Staging Area was a combined U.S. Army, U.S Navy military formation authorized by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on June 18, 1944, during World War Two for military government theater planning, training and provision of military government personnel to areas of the Far East liberated from the Empire of Japan, including East China, Formosa and Korea. CASA had two divisions: The Operations and Training Division focused on language instruction and execution of civil affairs duties at a local level. These duties varied greatly and, as an example, included mass feeding of civilians, camp sanitation, provision of medical supplies, containment of epidemic diseases, labor relations and rodent control. The Theatre Planning & Research Division developed plans for military government at a national level such as control of Japan's economic institutions, control of Japan's education system and methods for increasing the overall supply of food throughout, not only Japan, but also previously occupied areas like East China.
context_section_description: An interesting and significant observation of the language experience of the officers was made by the Acting Commanding Officer, Colonel Boekel, in his weekly report to the Commander, Civil Affairs Division (CAD), dated 25 August 1944. He wrote,
  "I have made it a practice, whenever possible, to audit the language refresher conferences being conducted here under the supervision of the five language sergeants. I derived the very clear impression that the practical vocabularies of the CASA Officers and their ability to weave the spoken words into a simple sentence structure were woefully inadequate. I gained the impression too that the vocabulary thus far achieved had to do principally with the ordinary amenities of gracious living and that no special effort had been made thus far to teach Civil Affairs officers a vocabulary and language structure which would enable them to make practical applications thereof in simple Civil Affairs tasks. Motivated by the foregoing impressions, we prepared a questionnaire. Today one hour was devoted to the procurement of ninety-one (91) CASA officers' self-evaluation of their Area E linguistic ability. In addition, the five sergeant language instructors were directed to regard themselves as the average CASA linguist and, without consultation with each other, to furnish a rating of the average CASA officer in the same questionnaire...the more significant facts brought out in the questionnaire. The officers in rating themselves claimed a vocabulary which averaged 704 words, and asserted their ability to use 208 words fluently, 275 words fairly well and 192 with difficulty. The Japanese sergeant instructors, in rating the average CASA. officers, gave them credit for the retention of a 204 word vocabulary of which they could use 97 fluently, 70 fairly well, and 82 with difficulty. The answers to interrogatory 4 in the questionnaire (i.e., the Civil Affairs problem) indicate that 71% of the officers consider that they are not sufficiently qualified in the use of the language to accomplish the Civil Affairs mission therein stated. If of this percentage figure there is added the qualified "yes" answers, then only seven (7) officers or approximately 8% themselves equal to the questionnaire language task and 92% are unqualified. Four of the sergeant instructors stated emphatically and one of them qualified that the average CASA officer would not be able to handle the language part of the Civil Affairs mission in question. The instructors had been working with these officers for only two weeks and therefore their basis for judgment was perhaps not sufficient. As to the method of instruction at CATS (Civil Affairs Training Schools), the preponderant opinion seems to be that more emphasis should be placed on conversation and drill in the actual vocabulary required for the accomplishment of the Civil Affairs mission."  Perhaps in part as a result of this investigation, vocabularies and drill materials developed at CASA did emphasize the use of Civil Affairs situations, and were therefore realistic and practical. A large amount of such material was developed at CASA.
  Language work was initially included in the Interior Training Section of the Planning, Processing and Training Branch, Functional Division, with Major Wilbur L. Williams, CMP, as Section Chief. There were two language supervisors, 1st Lt Harold K. Brown, INF, and 1st Lt Suyeki Okumura, INF. Instruction was carried on initially by five enlisted instructors of Japanese ancestry, S/Sgt Hironobu Hino, T/4 Randolph K. Ideue, T/4 Clarence M. Kimura, S/Sgt Masaru Nakagawa, and S/Sgt Paul J. Sakai, The Divisional reorganization of 22 November 1944 set up separate Language Section, with Major Myron I. Barker, AUS, as Chief of Section, and 1st Lt Suyeki Okumura, INF, as Assistant Chief. Two additional Japanese language informants arrived at the end of December, and fifteen more arrived 5 January 1945, bringing the total to twenty-two. In February, eleven Navy officers were assigned to the Language Section for duty. They constituted a research and pro
caption: CASA officers receive Japanese instruction from a language sergeant.
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