1. Recap of Army Facilities

Ft. Benjamine Harrison, Indiana

Ft. McClellan - Anniston, Alabama

Camp Shenango - Pennsylvania

Ft. Lawton - Seattle, Washington

Fort Sheridan - Illinois

Port of Embarkation

Shemya

2. Conscription - the Draft

3. Selection Process

4. Shemya

5. General S. B. Buckner, Jr.

6. Major A. Brindle

7. My Outfit

8. My Buddies

9. Supply Sergeant

10. Army Medical Experience

11. Civilian Contractors

12. Potpourri

13. Returning to the States

14. Coincidences

15. Unspoken Concerns

MY OUTFIT

"With the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States began the largest mobilization

in it's history.  In March 1942, the transportation functions were consolidated into

the Transportation Division of the newly created Services of Supply. That same year,

on July 31 President Roosevelt established the Transportation Corps.  By the end of

the war the Transportation Corps had moved more than 30 million soldiers within

the continental United States; and 7 million soldiers plus 126 million tons of supplies

overseas".

The Transportation Corps was divided into many different divisions, each one performing

diverse functions,each organized differently, each requiring special skills & expertise and

each having a different Table of Organization.

A Table of Organization is a listing of how many men are required for an outfit's

function, and the different ranks that would be required.

An example would be an Infantry Company.  In those days it would be

composed of about 200 men. 

There was usually four platoons of 48 men,each platoon broken down into

squads of 12 men each.

Insignia - worn on dress uniform indicating the branch of service. Army Transport Service - Outport Unit - Harbor Craft Detachment

The Table of Organization may have been composed of a Company Commander, a

Captain, Second in Command, a First Lieutenant, four Second Lieutenants - one for each

platoon, 4 sergeants and 4 corporals - one each for each platoon - and the rest Privates or

First Class Privates.

My new outfit, part of the Transportation Corps, was officially called the Army Transport

Service - Outport Unit - Harbor Craft Detachment.

Because our responsibilities were so diverse, depending on the size of the harbor we

were servicing, the type of boats, docks, breakwaters, etc. a single Table of

Organization would be meaningless.  Since it was a new organization with little

history, one could say that it was a work in progress.

Because everyone either had a skill, or developed a skill, we were

all NCO's, (non-commissioned officers)  ie. stripes with a  T  under

the chevron standing for "Technical".

There were two types of ranks, whether for Officers or Non-coms;

Temporary & Permanent.

Those who were career Army men prior to the war, even if they

were promoted, would revert back to the rank they had when the

war ended.  A person who held a permanent rank could only be

demoted with a formal court-martial. With a few exceptions,

draftees or volunteers held temporary ranks and could possibly

retain the rank if they enlisted for another "hitch" after the war.