Part 3 - Central Pacific Base Command Section Vii - Information-Education Officer A
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PART 3 - CENTRAL PACIFIC BASE COMMAND SECTION VII - INFORMATION-EDUCATION OFFICER A. MISSION- To organize and supply information-education services for the garrison forces, to disseminate war progress and background information and to furnish orientation and non military educational materials under the operational planning of HUSAFPOA. B. ORGANIZATION- The personnel requirements for information and education activities were filled by careful selection of available personnel. 1* Angaur- One first lieutenant and two second lieutenants were made available and assigned to headquarters of this gar rison force to fill requirements prescribed by HUSAFPOA. 2# Leyte. One lieutenant colonel, one captain, and one first lieutenant were assigned from this section to Head quarters, Army Garrison Force, APO 248, as information-edu cation officers* C. SUPPORT 1. Staging. a. Cooperation was extended to information-education officers of both these garrison forces through the supply of materials and direct consultation and advice. b. Both garrison forces were put on the list for automatic distribution of Information-education materials available to this section. 2. Activities enroute- Shipboard kits for use by infor mation-education officers during the voyage were prepared and delivered. 3. Armed Forces Radio Service- A 50-watt transmitter and necessary additional equipment for an American Expeditionary Radio Station, and a crew of one officer and four enlisted men were made available for the establishment of the station at P-eiellu, While this station is not part of the garrison force at Angaur, it was close enough to give them excellent radio broadcast coverage. The station started test broad casting on 14 December 1944. 4. Information dissemination- Through the facilities of Army Transport Command, 1500 copies of Yank were flown direct to ?alau weekly for free distribution until 15- December 1944. At this time, normal distribution of Yank through post exchanges was established. D. LESSONS LEARNED AND CORRECTIVE ACTION TAKEN^ It was found to be unsatisfactory to wait for the information-education offleers of the garrison forces to request specific materials. Consequently, block shipments of such materials as are avail able will be the practice in the future. -182 PART 3 - CENTRAL PACIFIC BASE COMMAND SECTION VIII - ORDNANCE OFFICER A# MISSION- To provide all phases of ordnance service to both assault and garrison forces prior to, during, and sub sequent to the operation* B» PREPARATION. An Army corps, composed of corps troops and two reinforced infantry divisions, a separate reinforced in fantry division, and two garrison forces were mounted for this operation. Supporting ordnance units were furnished to fill requirements from HUSAFPOA* 1* Planning- Planning was based on the premise that the three infantry divisions to be employed would be similarly equipped. A subsequent change in the plan of operation, re sulting in two distinct phases, made necessary certain minor adjustments in this procedure* 2» Organization^ a. The following units were attached to assault forces: (1) 81st Infantry Division (Palaus) 104th Bomb Disposal Squad * 405th Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company (Tank) (2) XXIV Corps (Leyte) 92d Ordnance Bomb Disposal Squad 204th Ordnance Bomb Disposal Squad 206th Ordnance Bomb Disposal Squad 284th Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Company (Tank) 404th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company 632d Ordnance Ammunition Company 644th Ordnance Ammunition Company b. The following units were attached to Army Garrison Force, APO 248: ' •• 106th Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 167th Ordnance Battalion 177th Ordnance Depot Company ** 355th Ordnance Maintenance Company, Antiaircraft 509th Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Company, Field Army 879th Ordnance Heavy Automotive Maintenance Company * Attached to garrison force at completion of assault phase* -183 J ** Personnel were supplied by these units to activate the 245th Ordnance Service Platoon. This platoon remained at Ulithi. 3. Maintenance. All ordnance equipment was inspected prior to the operations to insure combat serviceability* All authorized stocks of organizational spare parts and supplies were Inspected for completeness. A complete list of modifi cations made on items of ordnance equipment is shown in Ad dendum No. 1 to this section. 4# general Supply, Requirements for ordnance general supplies were based upon applicable T/0 and E's augmented by certain special equipment necessitated by nature of the oper ation. a. Each infantry division was provided a 20-day supply of Class II and Class IV items. Supplies were set up in two separate increments to permit dispersion in loading, thus reduc ing the possibility of complete loss of any item. Standard no menclature list N-8 was used as a basis for quantities of items furnished pertinent to all "AM through HFB group material. Necessary adjustments in allowances were made to provide for additional or special equipment accompanying the division and its attached units. Vehicular maintenance was supplied on the basis of number and type of general and special purpose vehicles to accompany the division on the operation. Consumption date, as compiled by the CPBC ordnance officer was used as a basis for determining quantities of items to be supplied. b. A similar plan to that used in the Marianas opera tion for equipping units with cleaning and preserving material was used. A company pack and a field artillery firing battery pack were prepared and distributed among small units within divisions and attached troops. In addition, bulk cleaning and preserving material was furnished division ordnance officers, c. An estimated 30-day replacement allowance of major items, as determined by the corps ordnance officer, were pro vided division ordnance companies. Necessary accessories ac companied the major items in order that equipment would be available for immediate on-the-spot replacement. A list of major items furnished each reinforced infantry division is shown in Addendum No. 2 to this section* d# Special emphasis was placed on stocking the 284th Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Company with parts for LVTs, in view of the anticipated amphibious nature of the operation. e. A 30-day supply of Class II and IV items was au thorized to accompany the garrison force troops. All main tenance companies carried^a basic load of f&op supplies. -184 Garrison force supplies were prepared to facilitate disper sion in loading* A limited number of major item replace ments were provided. f. Certain special equipment was authorized and pro vided assault elements for this operation, A list of equip ment that accompanied each Infantry division is shown in Ad dendum No. 3 to this section* g. The 13th Air Service Group was provided with an initial 30-day supply of common-type ordnance material re quired by one heavy bomber group to be located at Angaur* The 1884th and 188?th Engineer Aviation Battalions were each pro vided with a 30-days supply of maintenance parts for vehicles to be employed in airfield construction at Angaur. 5. Ammunition supply> The quantities of ammunition made available to units is shown in Addendum No. 4 to this section. 6« Training- Ordnance units were given technical train ing, including special schools and field problems in supply and maintenance, combat training, Including jungle training, Intensive swimming, physical conditioning, and weapons train- Ing. C, SUPPORT, The greater part of resupply was effected by direct shipment from the continental United States, augmented by Issues from CPBC depot stocks. 1. Initial plan. The initial plan for resupply of the assault phase contemplated the use of two direct maintenance shipments, each of which would consist of a 30-days supply for one Army corps. Requirements were submitted 10 June 1944, on this basis. Loading plans contemplated the use of five ships for each of the two maintenance shipments. At the time of submission of requirements, the operational plan called for the entire corps to assault one target. Accordingly, it was believed practicable to effect a maximum dispersion of ordnance supplies over the five vessels. Maintenance supplies were set up for specific major items. The block designation indicated the vessel or vessels on which loading was to be accomplished. The proposed loading plan accomplished balance loading for all supplies other than those included in two blocks. Maintenance parts included In those blocks pertained largely to artillery and fire equipment for which it was not deemed practicable to break down quantities on five separate vessels. To illustrate the procedure used in determining the major item basis on which quantities of maintenance parts for a particular major item were computed, the following example is cited: Major item ~ " ~ V Truck, 2£ ton, 6x6 Total number in Corps 2500 Basis of requisition 'for Block FF-6) 100 Number of blocks per vessel 5 Thus, each vessel would contain maintenance parts for 500, 24 ton trucks* This procedure was used throughout in determining basis for requisition submitted for maintenance parts pertinent to a given major item. a. Subsequent to submission of requirements, two changes occurred in the operation plan. The first change was the breakdown of the operation into two phases; the second change was diversion of approximately two-thirds of the force to the Southwest Pacific Area for participation in the Leyte operation. These changes in plans resulted in comparable changes in the assault phase resupply shipments. Final loading of the two shipments was accomplished on four vessels (each shipment). Thus, blocks originally scheduled for vessel No. 5 were necessarily distributed over the remaining four vessels* The first resupply shipment (7.5) departed from the West Coast on or about 10 August 1944. Vessels No. 1 and No. 2, proceeded to the Palaus Area in support of Phase I of the operation. Vessels No. 3 and. No. 4, were diverted to Guam. The second resup ply shipment (8.0) departed from the West Coast on or about 5 Sep tember 1944. Vessels Nos. 1, 2, and 3, were ultimately diverted to Leyte in support of USAFPOA units participating in the SWPA operation.