page_title: Jacob L. Devers
section_title: Armored Force
hierarchical_section_title: Jacob L. Devers / World War II / Armored Force
caption_attribution_description: English: M3 Lee tank, training exercises, Fort Knox, Kentucky. Français&#160;: Un char de combat M3 Lee. Photo prise à Fort Knox, dans le Kentucky (États-Unis), durant un entrainement en 1942. Русский: Танк М3 "Ли". Военная база Форт Нокс в штате Кентукки, учебные маневры, 1942 год.
context_page_description: Jacob Loucks Devers was a general in the United States Army who commanded the 6th Army Group in the European Theater during World War II. He was involved in the development and adoption of numerous weapons, including the M4 Sherman and M26 Pershing tanks, the DUKW amphibious truck, the Bell H-13 Sioux helicopter and the M16 rifle.
  A graduate of the United States Military Academy, Devers was commissioned in the field artillery in 1909. During World War I, he was an instructor at the School of Fire at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and did not serve in France until after the November 11 armistice ended the fighting, when he attended the French artillery school at Treves. Between the two world wars he was a staunch advocate of mechanization at a time when the idea of phasing out horses met strong resistance from conservative gunners.
  When World War II broke out in Europe, Devers was stationed in Panama. He was promoted to major general in October 1940 and took command of the newly formed 9th Infantry Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, a base whose construction he oversaw.
context_section_description: On 1 August 1941, General Marshall named Devers Chief of the Armored Force, which was headquartered at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Devers replaced a mechanized cavalry legend, the terminally ill Major General Adna R. Chaffee, Jr., who had been appointed the first Chief just a year earlier. Devers reported directly to Marshall. He was responsible for inspecting, organizing and training the Army's armored divisions and separate non-divisional tank battalions, including all non-tank personnel assigned. McNair's Army General Headquarters (GHQ) was in tactical charge of all U.S. ground forces, but GHQ specifically did not control the semi-autonomous Armored Force, which was considered a "quasi-arm". The Armored Force had complete control of its own training, doctrine and organization. In a major reorganization of the War Department in March 1942, McNair was named Commander of a new component, Army Ground Forces (AGF), which replaced GHQ. Relations between GHQ/AGF and the Armored Force were distant and lines of authority and responsibility were often unclear. McNair seemed to prefer leaving Devers alone.
  At the time Devers took command, the Armored Force had two operational armored divisions: the 1st Armored Division at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Knox, and one independent tank battalion, the 70th Tank Battalion at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. Both divisions participated in the large-scale war games of the Louisiana Maneuvers in August and September 1941, and the Carolina Maneuvers in November 1941. Despite some successes, the maneuvers revealed armored unit and equipment operational deficiencies, plus a general lack of combat readiness. Devers attributed much of the poor performance to poorly-trained junior and staff officers, but also saw doctrinal deficiencies that hampered the coordination of tanks, infantry and artillery.
  In particular, post-maneuver reports emphasized the vulnerability of tanks to antitank fire. This bolstered the pro-antitank philosophy strongly held by McNair. Devers differed, countering that the number of tank "kills" credited to antitank gunners was unrealistic and biased, feeling that "we were licked by a set of umpires' rules". McNair continued to push for an independent tank destroyer force,  while Devers argued that "the weapon to best the tank is a better tank". Nevertheless, in November Marshall authorized creation of a tank destroyer force. The Tank Destroyer Center was created, and the War Department ordered the activation of 53 tank destroyer battalions. Battlefield experience would prove that Devers was right. In combat most tanks were knocked out by other tanks while tank destroyers were mainly used as mobile artillery support. The tank destroyer program was scaled back, and tank destroyer battalions were deactivated. At the end of the war, the tank destroyer quasi-arm was disbanded.
  Before Devers' arrival, Armored Force doctrine emphasized light tanks weighing no more than 15 short tons (14 t). American doctrine held that tanks were for exploitation, not fighting other tanks. He rejected the M6 heavy tank and recommended to McNair that it be cancelled, citing its tremendous weight and concerns about its mobility and reliability. This was seen as support for this position, but Devers wanted a medium tank, preferably mounting something like a 105mm howitzer. He was appalled to find that the Armored Force's tanks were armed with nothing heavier than a 37mm gun. A new medium tank was beginning to come off the production line: the M3 Lee. Devers observed testing of one just days after taking command, and was unimpressed. American industry was unable to cast a turret large enough to hold a 75mm gun, so the M3 carried a 37mm gun, with a 75mm in a sponson. This gave it a limited traverse, rendering it difficult to engage moving targets. To make matters worse, the designers shortened the barrel to improve the M3's mobility, which Devers realized also reduced the gun's muzzle velocity, and hence its effectiveness against armor. In practice, M3 crews attempted to engage Ge
caption: An M3 Lee tank at Fort Knox
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