The army behind the armyPowell, E. Alexander (Edward Alexander)
History
The army behind the army
Powell, E. Alexander (Edward Alexander)
United States. Army; World War, 1914-1918 -- United States
Although, upon our entry into the European war, preparations were
immediately begun for the complete motorization of the various
trains—ammunition, engineer, sanitary, and supply—which comprise the
divisional trains, each of these sections was still controlled by
the corps or department to which it pertained. In other words, the
ammunition trains were controlled by the Ordnance Department so far as
the procurement of vehicles and the supply of personnel was concerned;
the engineer trains were under the control of the Corps of Engineers;
the sanitary trains were under the Medical Corps, and only the supply
trains came under the jurisdiction of the Quartermaster Corps. It must
be understood, however, that the divisional trains were assigned to
and became a part of the division itself, being, therefore, under the
direct command of the divisional commander. As might have been expected,
this system resulted in inefficiency and confusion because of municipal
officers in control. Instead of all motor activities being directed by a
single head, each of the staff departments using motor vehicles had its
own ideas and worked along its own lines. Thus, the Corps of Engineers
had designed and was manufacturing various types of vehicles adapted
to engineering work. The Signal Corps was producing vehicles designed
for carrying radio equipment, photographic laboratories, and the like.
The Medical Corps was experimenting with various types of ambulances,
dental wagons, and mobile laboratories, while the Ordnance Department was
dividing its allegiance between the tractor type and the model known as
the “Quad” or four-wheel drive. Thus it was that for many months after
the declaration of war the motor activities of the army were distributed
among several arms of the service, with the inefficiency and duplication
of effort which invariably results from decentralization.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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