OVERSEAS PATIENTS EVACUATED AND AWAITING EVACUATION

In July 1943 the construction of new general hospitals was prohibited. At the same time, a 20-percent increase in housing at general hospitals was authorized without any new construction in order to provide better facilities for reconditioning patients. The necessary housing has been provided in available barracks and in C. C. C. and N. Y. A. camps taken over by the War Department. An extensive reconditioning program has been undertaken in order to insure that men returning to military duties are fully capable physically of performing the work expected of them.

A number of station hospitals will be made into general hospitals in order to care for the increased load expected to be placed upon these facilities during 1944 and 1945.

A special study of patients evacuated from overseas in November and December 1943 revealed that out of every 100, 83 were suffering from disease, 9 had nonbattle injuries, and 8 had battle injuries.

MAINTENANCE OF EQUIPMENT

As more equipment is turned in by troops embarking for overseas and with the increased depreciation of equipment in the hands of troops in training, the load placed upon the repair shops of the Army Service Forces becomes larger. During the month of March 1944, $100,000,000 worth of unserviceable equipment was turned over to A. S. F. base of heavy maintenance shops. The month's total was 56 percent larger than the amount turned over in February. Of all the equipment on hand in these shops during March, 62 percent was ordnance equipment, including motor vehicles. Another 18 percent was made up of quartermaster items.

Of all unserviceable equipment coming into shops during March, 95.6 percent had been disabled through fair wear and tear; another 3.2 percent was submitted for modification.

The size of the maintenance burden recently placed upon A. S. F. shops has been greater than their immediate capacity. At the end of March, base or heavy maintenance shops had a backlog of approximately 22 months' work. This was 35 percent greater than the backlog at the end of February. Of the work on hand on March 31, 81.9 percent was awaiting repair or was in process of repair; only 17.4 percent was held up awaiting the arrival of spare parts.

A. S. F. medium maintenance shops in service commands had 7 percent more employees at the end of March than in February. Of this personnel, 72.4 percent was civilian; 14.2 percent prisoners of war.

Particular efforts are now being made to reduce the backlog of maintenance work and to handle increased loads hereafter. Prisoner of war labor in maintenance shops is being increased. Additional civilian labor is being taken on where available. Work loads among various shops are being equalized. The assistance of commercial facilities is also being obtained. During the month of March, 16.5 percent of equipment processed by fifth-echelon shops was sent to commercial shops for repair.

I might say we do not want to increase our facilities for maintenance much beyond what we have, because we feel that by sometime in August or September we will catch up with this backlog; consequently, we do not want to rush out and spend a lot of money for increased facilities and then be through with them in September.

ARMY SERVICE FORCES TRAINING

During the calendar year 1943 the Army Service Forces had in training an average of 642,707 persons. This includes all officers and enlisted trainees in schools, units, and replacement training centers.

A. S. F. trainee strength on March 31, 1944, was 465,000 persons as is shown in chart 30. The considerable reduction occurring in March of this year resulted from curtailment of the Army specialized training program. It is expected that trainee strength will increase in the remaining 3 months of the fiscal year 1944.

The A. S. F. trains a wide variety of units from companies to brigades. Since many of the units are companies and battalions, the individual number of these units is large. On March 15, 1944, there were 1,699 units in training under the A. S. F. The total enlisted strength of these units was approximately 258,000 men. All of these units are intended for assignment to tactical organizations in the United States or overseas.

Besides unit training, the Army Service Forces provides replacement training for units in the United States and overseas. Schools are operated for individual training of service and supply personnel of the Army Ground Forces, the Army Air Forces, and A. S. F. trained units. Čivilian schools have been used by the Medical Department, the Corps of Engineers, the Ordnance Department, the Quartermaster Corps, the Signal Corps, and the Provost Marshal General (for military government).

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The A. S. F. also operates special training units to provide basic education to illiterates inducted into the Army. The numbers receiving this type of training are shown in chart 31. Peak strength of 30,000 persons in these units was reached in February 1944. Average strength of special training units during March was 29,000. You notice those have dropped off a little recently.

At the end of the calendar year 1943 there were 149,000 persons in training under the Army specialized training program. In February the War Department decided to curtail this program in order to meet the personnel needs of combat units in training. As a result, the program was reduced from 128,000 men on February 29 to 34,000 at the end of March, as shown in chart 32. The major part of the program hereafter will consist of professional training for medical, dental, and veterinary students, and training for 17-year-old high-school graduates enrolled in the enlisted reserves.

PERSONAL SERVICES

CHAPLAINS

Through the Office of the Chief of Chaplains, the Army Service Forces ministers to the spiritual welfare of the Army. Chapels have been constructed at all major military installations housing troops, and chaplains have been assigned to military units.

At the end of the calendar year 1943 there were 7,000 chaplains in the Army, of whom 2,700 were overseas. The services held by chaplains and the persons attending these services in the course of a single year now number in the millions. During each month of 1943 each chaplain on an average conducted 19 religious services. He made 14 visits to hospitals and guard houses.

By the end of 1943 casualties among chaplains totaled 103, of whom 19 had been killed in action; 33 were prisoners of war; and another 31 had died of accident or illness.

It is impossible to overestimate the contributions which the chaplain has made to the welfare of officers and enlisted men during the war.

MORALE SERVICES

Through the Morale Services Division the Army Service Forces assist troop commanders and instructors, in providing information to soldiers about the cause and course of the war. Surveys are made from time to time to determine enlisted men's attitudes about training, about food, and about other subjects of interest to the War Department. This information is used in preparing training programs and in providing services for military personnel. Special films have been made and presented to military personnel only, depicting the course of the war and the work of the United Nations.

As one phase of the work performed by the Morale Services Division, a weekly newsmap is prepared and distributed. The increased circulation of this newsmap since 1942 is shown in chart 33. In March 1944, 163,000 copies was the was the average weekly circulation among the armed forces. Twelve thousand copies per week were distributed to war plants within the United States.