Hon. BENEDICT CROWELL, _The Assistant Secretary of War_. WASHINGTON, D. C., _May 10, 1919_. DEAR MR. SECRETARY: Responding to your request, I transmit herewith a brief, nontechnical, authoritative history of munitions production during the recent war. The several chapters have been prepared in the first instance by the officers who have been directly responsible for production, and have been assembled and edited, under my direction, by Hon. Robert J. Bulkley, assisted by Capt. Robert Forrest Wilson and Capt. Benjamin E. Ling. Capt. Wilson has undertaken responsibility for the literary style of the report, and has rewritten the greater part of it, consulting at length with the officers who supplied the original material, and with officers of the statistics branch of the General Staff, in order to insure accuracy. Maj. Gen. C. C. Williams, Chief of Ordnance; Brig. Gen. W. S. Peirce, Acting Chief of Ordnance; Maj. Gen. C. T. Menoher, Chief of Air Service; Maj. Gen. W. M. Black, Chief of Engineers; Maj. Gen. W. L. Sibert, Chief of Chemical Warfare Service; Maj. Gen. H. L. Rogers, Quartermaster General; Mr. R. J. Thorne, Acting Quartermaster General; Maj. Gen. G. O. Squier, Chief Signal Officer; Brig. Gen. Charles B. Drake, Chief of Motor Transport Corps; and Maj. Gen. W. M. Ireland, the Surgeon General, have cooperated in the preparation of the material transmitted herewith. Special acknowledgment for the preparation and correction of the several chapters is due to the following officers: The ordnance problem, Col. James L. Walsh. Gun production, Col. William P. Barba. Mobile field artillery, Col. J. B. Rose. Railway artillery, Col. G. M. Barnes and Maj. E. D. Campbell. Explosives, propellants, and artillery ammunition, Col. C. T. Harris and Maj. J. Herbert Hunter. Sights and fire-control apparatus, Col. H. K. Rutherford and Maj. Fred E. Wright. Motorized artillery, Col. L. B. Moody and Lieut. Col. H. W. Alden. Tanks, Lieut. Col. H. W. Alden. Machine guns, Col. Earl McFarland and Lieut. Col. Herbert O'Leary. Service rifles, Maj. Lewis P. Johnson and Maj. Parker Dodge. Pistols and revolvers, Lieut. Col. J. C. Beatty and Maj. Parker Dodge. Small arms ammunition, Lieut. Col. J. C. Beatty, Maj. Lee O. Wright, Maj. A. E. Hunt, and Capt. C. J. Evans. Trench warfare material, Lieut. Col. E. J. W. Ragsdale, Capt. J. R. Caldwell, Capt. R. D. Smith, and Lieut. J. T. Libbey. Miscellaneous ordnance equipment, Lieut. Col. S. H. MacGregor, Maj. Bashford Dean, Capt. A. L. Fabens, and Capt. James S. Wiley. The aircraft problem and airplane production, Lieut. Col. George W. Mixter. The Liberty engine and other airplane engines, Lieut. H. H. Emmons, United States Navy. Aviation equipment and armament, Lieut. Col. E. J. W. Ragsdale, Maj. E. Bradley, Capt. Robert D. Smith, Capt. H. E. Ives, and Lieut. John M. Hammond.