History

CHAPTER III

The Medical Administrative Corps¹

In December 1941, 1,470 MAC (Medical Administrative Corps) officerswere serving in the Medical Department. Of these, 77 were graduates ofthe MAC Officer Candidate School. By August 1945, 17,072 officers had graduatedfrom the MAC Officer Candidate School, and the Corps had expanded to 19,867.During the same period, the ratio of the Medical Administrative Corps tothe strength of the Army grew from 0.87 to 2.48 per thousand.²Such growth was more than a simple response to wartime expansion; it reflectedthe Medical Department's continuous efforts to relieve physicians fromthe burdens of nonprofessional responsibility. Almost without exception,officers assuming these responsibilities were graduates of MAC officercandidate schools.

OFFICER CANDIDATE SCHOOLS

Prewar plans called for the establishment of officer candidate schoolsshortly after the beginning of mobilization. Because the supply of Reserveofficers was adequate for the demands of the limited mobilization thatbegan in September 1940, however, programs for officer candidates wereheld in abeyance for nearly a year. In April 1941, The Surgeon Generaljoined the chiefs of other arms and services in requesting the establishmentof an officer candidate School.³ Through such a school,The Surgeon General hoped to train approximately 100 officers who wereneeded as instructors at medical replacement training centers. Since theseproposals had been anticipated by the Chief of Staff, a directive establishingofficer candidate schools for a 3-month period was issued by The AdjutantGeneral on 26 April 1941.⁴ Three months later, on 28 July 1941,the schools were authorized to continue indefinitely.⁵

The first class of 100 officer candidates began a 12-week program oftraining at Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, Pa., on 1 July 1941. Until thewar accelerated training, new classes enrolled every 3 months. The secondclass had an enrollment of 200 candidates, and enrollment for the thirdwas expanded to 250.⁶

¹Except as otherwise indicated, this chapteris based on two manuscripts: (1) Goodman, Samuel M.: History of MedicalDepartment Training, United States Army World War II. Volume II. A Reportof the History of the Medical Administrative Corps Officer Candidate Schools,1 July 1939 to 30 June 1944, and Supplement for Period 1 July 1944 to 30June 1945. [Official record.] (2) Armstrong, George E., and Ey, John A.:Training in the Medical Department During World War II. Chapter IX. MedicalAdministrative Corps Officer Candidate Schools. [Official record.]
²Medical Department, United States Army. Personnel in WorldWar II. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963.
³Letter, The Surgeon General to The Adjutant General, 3 Apr,1941, subject: Officer Candidate Schools.
⁴Letter, The Adjutant General to Commanding Generals, All Armies,Departments, and Corps Areas, 26 Apr. 1941, subject: Officer CandidateSchools.
⁵Memorandum, Brig. Gen. Harry L. Twaddle, Assistant Chief ofStaff, G-3, for the Chiefs of Arms and Services, 28 July 1941, subject:Officer Candidate Schools.
⁶Technical Report of Activities, Medical Field Service School,Carlisle Barracks, Pa., fiscal year 1942.

The United States entry into World War II produced a rapid expansionof the officer candidate program. Following the publication of the WarDepartment General Staff, G-3, troop basis in January 1942, it became apparentthat the Medical Department could not fill its requirements for administrativeofficers without increasing the capacity of its officer candidate school.On 16 January 1942, The Surgeon General was directed to formulate plansfor expanding the MAC Officer Candidate School at Carlisle Barracks toaccommodate 750 trainees.⁷

The capacity of the school at Carlisle Barracks was expanded by shiftingfrom consecutive to staggered scheduling. Beginning with the fourth class,on 9 March 1942, a new class of 250 candidates was enrolled each month.Since the program for a given class covered 3 months, the new scheduleresulted in the presence of three classes with a total of 750 candidates.⁸

By the spring of 1942, it was evident that facilities at Carlisle Barrackswould be inadequate to meet the demand created by the rapid activationof numbered medical units and installations and by the increasing use ofMAC officers to replace MC (Medical Corps) officers in nonprofessionalassignments. Without further expansion, the Medical Department was capableof training only 1,600 of the 2,450 MAC officers required by 1 January1943. On 11 April 1942, The Surgeon General requested authority from theCommanding General, ASF (Army Service Forces), to establish a second schoolfor officer candidates at Camp Barkeley, Tex.⁹ Permission wasgranted on 15 April,¹⁰ and on 9 May 1942, the first class wasenrolled.¹¹ Since capacity was set at 750 candidates, and classesof 250 were enrolled monthly, the school was scheduled to reach a capacitywith the enrollment of its third class.¹² The officer candidateschool at Camp Barkeley had been in operation less than a month, however,when the Medical Department began to consider expanding its capacity. On5 June 1942, the Commandant, Medical Replacement Training Center, CampBarkeley, suggested increasing enrollment to 1,000.¹³ The SurgeonGeneral, in turn, recommended that facilities be made available at CampBarkeley for training 1,500 candidates.¹⁴ On 25 June 1942, ArmyService Forces approved his request.¹⁵ By September, the demandfor MAC officers had grown to the point that the school had to be expandedfor a third time. Beginning on 28 September 1942, a new class of 500

⁷Memorandum, Brig. Gen. Harry L. Twaddle, AssistantChief of Staff, G-3, for The Surgeon General, 16 Jan. 1942, subject: Increasein the Medical Administrative Corps Officer Candidate School.
⁸See footnote 6, p. 97.
⁹Letter, The Surgeon General to Commanding General, Servicesof Supply, 11 Apr. 1942, subject: Officer Candidate School.
¹⁰Memorandum, Brig. Gen. Harold R. Bull, Assistant Chief ofStaff, Operations and Training Division, G-3, for Commanding General, Servicesof Supply, 15 Apr. 1942, subject: Additional Medical Corps Officer CandidateSchool. 1st indorsement thereto, 23 Apr. 1942.
¹¹Letter, The Adjutant General to Each Commander listed in paragraph1 b, 17 Apr. 1942, subject: Quotas for Medical Administrative CorpsOfficer Candidate School, Camp Barkeley, Tex., Class 1.
¹²Memorandum, The Surgeon General to Commanding General, Servicesof Supply, 11 Apr. 1942, subject: Officer Candidate School.
¹³Letter, Brig. Gen. Roy C. Heflebower, Commanding, MedicalReplacement Training Center, Camp Barkeley, Tex., to The Surgeon General,5 June 1942, subject: Increase in Capacity of MAC Officer Candidate School.lst indorsement thereto, 10 June 1942.
¹⁴Letter, Col. John A. Rogers, MC, Executive Officer, Officeof The Surgeon General, Director of Training, Services of Supply, 18 June1942, subject: Increase in Officer Candidate School Facilities.
¹⁵Memorandum, Col. Walter L. Weible, GSC, Deputy Director ofTraining, Services of Supply, for The Surgeon General, 25 June 1942, subject:Increase in Officer Candidate Facilities.

was enrolled every 2 weeks, instead of every 4, bringing the capacityof the school to 3,000.¹⁶ Peak enrollment was reached in July1943, when 3,011 candidates were in training.¹⁷

On 27 February 1943, the officer candidate school at Carlisle Barracks,already dwarfed by the officer candidate school at Camp Barkeley, was discontinuedto make room for an expansion of Medical Corps programs at the MedicalField Service School.¹⁸ The school at Camp Barkeley continuedto operate at capacity for another 5 months before enrollment began totaper off. On 1 July 1943, the training cycle was lengthened from 12 to17 weeks, with a proportionate decrease in annual capacity. Even with thisreduction, representatives of the Military Training Division, ASF, estimatedthat a continuation of training at existing levels would produce a surplusof nearly 3,000 MAC officers by the end of the year. Late in July, theschool at Camp Barkeley was directed to reduce its capacity to 1,000 candidateseach cycle, beginning on 1 October 1943.¹⁹

From then on, retrenchment was rapid. In August, the Assistant Commandantof the Officer Candidate School, Camp Barkeley, was notified to anticipatea reduction in the capacity of the school to 250 candidates by 1 January1944.²⁰ In October, The Surgeon General was requested by theDirector of Military Personnel, ASF to concur in a recommendation for discontinuingthe school. In reply, The Surgeon General pointed out that the MedicalDepartment was conducting a study on the practicality of using MAC officersto replace junior MC officers as battalion surgeon's assistants and mightneed the school to train additional officers. In addition, he believedthat discontinuation of the school would pose a threat to the morale ofMedical Department enlisted men, and he asked that the school be continued,if only for 50 men every 17 weeks. This proposal for a token school wasapproved by the Army Service Forces on 27 October 1943.²¹ Aclass of 106 candidates, the smallest in the history of the school, enrolledon 21 January 1944. Between January and May, no further classes were scheduled.

In the spring of 1944, retrenchment gave way to a new period of expansion.As a result of the Kenner Board's²² investigations into theutilization of Medical

¹⁶Memorandum, Brig. Gen. Clarence R. Huebner,GSC, Director of Training, Services of Supply, for The Surgeon General,3 Sept. 1942, subject: Increase in Officer Candidate School Facilities.
¹⁷Annual Report, Army Service Forces Training Center, Camp Barkeley,Tex., fiscal year 1944, with parts 1 and 2, thereto.
¹⁸(1) Memorandum, Col. Russell B. Reynolds, GSC, Director ofMilitary Personnel, Services of Supply, for The Surgeon General, 9 Nov.1942, subject: Capacity of Medical Administrative Officer Candidate Schoolfor 1943. (2) Memorandum, Col. John A. Rogers, MC, Executive Officer, Officeof The Surgeon General, for Director of Military Personnel, Services ofSupply, 20 Nov. 1942, subject: Capacity of Medical Administrative OfficerCandidate School for 1943.
¹⁹(1) Memorandum, Col. S. V. Hasbrouck, GSC, Chief, Managementand Separation Branch, Services of Supply, for Col. F. B. Wakeman, MC,Director, Training Division, Office of The Surgeon General, 26 July 1943,subject: Officer Candidate School Capacity. (2) Memorandum, Col. F. B.Wakeman, MC, Director, Training Division, Office of The Surgeon General,for the Commandant, Medical Administrative Corps Officer Candidate School,Medical Replacement Training Center, Camp Barkeley, Tex., 31 July 1943,subject: Officer Candidate School Capacity.
²⁰Letter, Capt. Thomas C. M. Robinson, MAC, Administrative Assistant,Training Division, Office of The Surgeon General, to Lt. Col. August H.Groeschel, MC, Medical Administrative Corps Officer Candidate School, MedicalReplacement Training Center, Camp Barkeley, Tex., 16 Aug. 1943.
²¹Memorandum, Maj. Gen. George F. Lull, Deputy Surgeon General,to Director of Military Personnel, Army Service Forces, 15 Oct. 1943, subject:Discontinuance of Medical Administrative Corps Officer Candidate School.lst indorsement thereto, 27 Oct. 1943.
²²On 16 Sept. 1943, The Surgeon General appointed a committeeof five officers under Brig. Gen. (later Maj. Gen.) Albert W. Kenner tostudy the utilization of Medical Department personnel.

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TABLE 5.-Numbers of enrolleesand graduates, MAC officer candidate schools, by month, July 1941-October1945

Date	Carlise Barracks		Camp Barkeley		Total
Date	Enrolled	Graduated	Enrolled	Graduated	Enrolled	Graduated
1941
July	100	-----	-----	-----	100	-----
August	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----
September	-----	77	-----	-----	-----	77
October	196	-----	-----	-----	196	-----
November	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----
December	-----	169	-----	-----	-----	169
1942
January	249	-----	-----	-----	249	-----
February	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----
March	275	224	-----	-----	275	224
April	255	-----	-----	-----	255	-----
May	263	241	272	-----	535	241
June	282	236	261	-----	543	236
July	516	240	266	238	782	478
August	-----	238	539	226	539	464
September	306	242	1,110	232	1,416	474
October	560	221	1,168	480	1,728	701
November	-----	244	1,091	487	1,091	731
December	261	248	545	928	806	1,176
1943
January	-----	209	1,628	865	1,628	1,074
February	-----	220	1,095	772	1,095	992
March	-----	-----	1,093	758	1,093	758
April	-----	-----	1,656	633	1,656	633
May	-----	-----	1,144	593	1,144	593
June	-----	-----	1,080	646	1,080	646
July	-----	-----	1,108	629	1,108	629
August	-----	-----	542	681	542	681
September	-----	-----	746	641	746	641
October	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----
November	-----	-----	201	632	201	632
December	-----	-----	-----	616	-----	616
1944
January	-----	-----	106	106	106	106
February	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----
March	-----	-----	-----	88	-----	88
April	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----
May	-----	-----	255	52	255	52
June	248	-----	-----	-----	248	-----
July	252	-----	918	-----	1,170	-----
August	253	-----	1,075	-----	1,328	-----
September	-----	-----	304	178	304	178
October	-----	208	248	-----	248	208
November	-----	192	547	540	547	732
December	485	165	-----	688	485	853

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TABLE 5.-Numbers of enrollees and graduates,MAC officer candidate schools, by month, July 1941-October 1945-Continued

Date	Carlise Barracks		Camp Barkeley		Total
Date	Enrolled	Graduated	Enrolled	Graduated	Enrolled	Graduated
1945
January	226	-----	-----	188	226	188
February	480	-----	-----	318	480	318
March	368	150	-----	191	368	341
April	322	182	-----	-----	322	182
May	-----	298	-----	-----	-----	298
June	34	186	-----	-----	34	186
July	-----	256	-----	-----	-----	256
August	-----	220	-----	-----	-----	220
September	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----
October	-----	22	-----	-----	-----	22
Total	5,931	4,688	18,998	12,406	24,929	17,094

Department personnel, table-of-organization revisions published on 9March 1944 authorized officers in the Medical Administrative Corps to fillmany positions previously reserved for the Medical Corps, including battalionsurgeon's assistant, medical inspector, hospital executive officer, andhospital registrar.²³ Since the number of unassigned MAC officerswas inadequate to fill these positions, the officer candidate schools atboth Camp Barkeley and Carlisle Barracks were revived. On 26 May, a classof 250 candidates was enrolled at Camp Barkeley, and a month later, theschool at Carlisle Barracks was reactivated.²⁴

After June 1944, the program at Camp Barkeley expanded rapidly. Fourclasses were enrolled between July and September, each with an authorizedcapacity of 500 candidates. In the following month, three classes withan authorized strength of 250 were enrolled. The 40th and final class ofthe war was enrolled on 17 November. From then on, enrollment at the schoolgradually declined. The school was closed on 15 March 1945, when the finalclass graduated.²⁵ Between June 1944 and March 1945, 3,337 candidateswere admitted to the program, of whom 2,105 were commissioned.²⁶

Training at Carlisle Barracks continued until October 1945. BetweenJune 1944 and April 1945, 12 classes enrolled, each with an authorizedcapacity for 250 trainees. By August, all of these classes had graduated.The 13th class, containing

²³(1) See footnote 2, p. 97. (2) War DepartmentCircular No. 99, 9 Mar. 1944.
²⁴(1) See footnote 17, p. 99. (2) Special Report of TrainingActivities, Officer Candidate School, fiscal year 1944. In AnnualReport, Army Service Forces Medical Field Service School, Carlisle Barracks,Pa., fiscal year 1944.
²⁵(1) Memorandum, Col. Floyd L. Wergeland, MC, Acting Chief,Operations Service, Office of The Surgeon General, for the Commanding General,Army Service Forces, 23 Feb. 1945, subject: Closing of Medical AdministrativeCorps Officers Candidate School, Camp Barkeley, Tex. 1st memorandum indorsementthereto, 3 Mar. 1945. (2) Army Service Forces Circular No. 93, 15 Mar.1945.
²⁶See footnote 17, p. 99.

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34 candidates, continued after the war ended.²⁷ On 17 October1945, the training program for MAC officer candidates came to a close.A statistical summary of enrollment and graduation at the officer candidateschools is presented in table 5.

Organization and Administration

The MAC Officer Candidate School at Carlisle Barracks was establishedas a function of the Medical Field Service School. The chain of commandran from the Commandant of the Medical Field Service School, through theAssistant Commandant, to the Officer Candidate School battalion commander,who was responsible for the conduct of the course. The battalion commander,in turn, was assisted by class directors who were responsible for the administration,housing, messing, and training of officer candidates. For administrativepurposes, candidates were organized into companies and platoons. Coursesin training, sanitation, military art, and administration were taught byOfficer Candidate School instructors, under the supervision of the correspondingacademic departments at the Medical Field Service School. Classes in logistics,field medicine and surgery, chemical warfare, infantry and armored forcetactics, and dental and veterinary medicine were taught by regular MedicalField Service School instructors.

The MAC Officer Candidate School at Camp Barkeley was established aspart of the Medical Replacement Training Center, and the Commandant ofthe Medical Replacement Training Center was also the Commandant of theOfficer Candidate School. Responsibility for the operation of the schoolwas vested in an assistant commandant, who reported directly to the Commandant,Medical Replacement Training Center. Trainees were organized on a battalionpattern, the number varying in proportion to the total enrollment. A battalioncommander, assisted by class directors, supervised the housing, messing,and administration of each battalion. In contrast with Carlisle Barracks,the academic and administrative departments were organized as an integralpart of the school (charts 1 and 2).

Program of Instruction

The MAC Officer Candidate School was designed to produce officers trainedfor a wide variety of duties in tactical units, hospitals, and other medicalinstallations. By the end of 1944, the responsibilities of MAC officershad grown to the point that they were expected to fill more than 60 nonprofessionalpositions. Members of the Corps served in positions ranging from adjutant,supply officer, and transportation officer, to hospital administrator,and battalion surgeon's assistant. Programs had to be broadly based anddesigned to include as many subjects as possible. Specialized trainingwas postponed until after commissioning.

The curriculum of the officer candidate school included a variety ofsubjects, some required by the War Department, and others related specificallyto Medical

²⁷Special Report of Training Activities, OfficerCandidate School, fiscal year 1945. In Annual Report, Medical FieldService School, Carlisle Barracks, Pa., fiscal year 1945.

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CHART 1.-Organizationof the Medical Administrative Corps Officer Candidate School, CarlisleBarracks, Pa., 1942

Source: Annual Report, Medical Field Service School, CarlisleBarracks, Pa., fiscal year 1942.

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CHART 2.-Organizationof the Medical Administrative Corps Officer Candidate School, Camp Barkeley,Tex., 1942-43

Source: Annual Report, Medical Replacement Training Center,Camp Barkeley, Tex., fiscal year 1943. Part 2. Medical Administrative CorpsOfficer Candidate School.

Department activities. In general, subjects were in six major categories:Administration, tactics, logistics, training, sanitation, and chemicalwarfare. These categories were usually divided into subcourses or blocksof related material. The subject of administration, for example, was organizedto provide candidates with a detailed knowledge of the forms, regulations,and procedures related to general, company, and hospital administration,to the procurement and distribution of supplies, and to military law.

The course in tactics was usually divided into four subcourses. Onesubcourse provided trainees with a basic knowledge of the organizationof the Army; the organization and functions of a theater of operations;the organization and employment of combat arms (fig. 5); and the combatprinciples related to attack, defense, security, and special operations.A second was designed to give candidates a working knowledge of the organizationof the Medical Department; the organiza-

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FIGURE 5.-Class in antimechanizeddefense, Camp Barkeley, Tex., 1943.

tion, functions, and employment of medical units at all echelons; themedical evacuation system in the field and its relationship to the armor service it supported; and the functions of MAC officers within thissystem. The third subcourse dealt with maps and map reading; and the fourthconsisted of a field exercise and bivouac, focusing on application of principlesacquired in the first three subcourses.

Instruction in logistics was similarly divided into four subcourses.In the subcourse on motors and motor maintenance, candidates acquired anunderstanding of the Army system of preventive maintenance (fig. 6). Asecond block of material presented problems facing a MAC officer planningtroop movements for medical units in the field, and a third introducedthe problems of field supply. As in the case of tactical training, thefinal phase of instruction was a practical exercise integrated into thebivouac.

The course in training was designed to prepare candidates to serve asinstructors. Of the 12 subtopics included under this heading, nine werebasic to the training of all military personnel: Military courtesy, ceremonialparades, unit inspections, dismounted drill tactical exercises, interiorguard duty, marches and physical training, first aid, and customs of theservice. These subjects were presented from the standpoint of both theinstructor and the student. In addition, the program for

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FIGURE 6.-Officer candidatesparticipate in application and inspection of preventive maintenance, CampBarkeley, Tex., 1943.

officer candidates was supplemented by three subcourses designed toprepare them to become instructors. The first of these was a subcoursein the techniques of instruction, based on War Department Technical Manual21-250, "Army Instruction," dated 19 April 1943, which includedpractice teaching, lesson presentation, selection of training aids, anduse of testing devices. In the second, trainees were given a working knowledgeof the construction of master and weekly training schedules, and were familiarizedwith the documents governing Medical Department training. The final subcourse,combat orientation included a study of combat psychology, U.S. war aims,and methods of orientation instruction.

The block of material related to sanitation was designed to orient candidatesto military sanitation under field conditions. One phase of the coursewas designed to familiarize trainees with the control of respiratory, intestinal,venereal, and insectborne diseases. A second phase dealt with the selectionof campsites and with sanitary surveys, reports, and orders. Field exercisesin the use of sanitary expedients and the supervision of sanitation wereconducted during the trainee's bivouac.

The purpose of the course in chemical warfare was to qualify candidatesto serve as unit gas officers. Course topics included the characteristics,uses, and factors determining the use of chemical agents; individual, collective,and tactical protection; first aid for gas casualties; decontaminationmethods and materials; chemical weapons and munitions; and chemical warfaretactics. In all phases, special emphasis was placed on the methods of orientingenlisted men to chemical warfare (fig. 7).

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FIGURE 7.-Class in theidentification of chemical warfare agents, Camp Barkeley, Tex., 1943.

The program for MAC officers was seldom static. War Department directivescontinuously translated the lessons of combat into new training requirements,and schools frequently adjusted the structure and substance of their ownprograms to reflect the experience of medical units and the growing responsibilitiesof the Corps.

The 12-week course for MAC officer candidates established at CarlisleBarracks in 1941 was an outgrowth of the prewar noncommissioned officerand Reserve officer refresher courses conducted at the Medical Field ServiceSchool. Anticipating the inauguration of a school for officer candidates,the Commandant of the Medical Field Service School directed school departmentheads to begin planning an officer candidate program on 10 April 1941.On 5 May 1941, the school was formally authorized to prepare a program,and on 28 June, the program received War Department approval.²⁸

The initial program at Carlisle Barracks scheduled 561 hours of instruction.The largest block of time, 218 hours, was allotted to the activities controlledby the Department of Training. A total of 150 hours was assigned to theDepartment of Administration, making its single area of responsibilitythe most heavily weighted subject in the program. The remaining hours weredivided among the Departments of Military Art, Sanitation, and Logistics.

During the first few months after the school began operation, the programunderwent a series of changes. By 1942, however, a version had been developedthat would remain stabilized until the school closed in February 1943.In its final form,

²⁸(1) Letter, Maj. F. B. Wakeman, MC, AssistantChief, Training Subdivision, Planning and Training Division, Office ofThe Surgeon General, to the Commandant, Medical Field Service School, CarlisleBarracks, Pa., 5 May 1941, subject: Officer Candidate Schools. (2) Letter,Maj. E. D. Liston, MC, Acting Executive Officer, Office of The SurgeonGeneral, to the Assistant Commandant, Medical Field Service School, CarlisleBarracks, Pa., 12 June 1941, subject: Officer Candidate Schools. 3d indorsementthereto, 28 June 1941.

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the program consisted of 576 hours of instruction. A growing emphasison tactics and organization was accompanied by an increase in the timeallotted to the Department of Military Art from 81 hours to 110. By thesame token, the time devoted to logistics was increased from 34 to 48 hours.A relative decline in the emphasis placed on basic military training andsanitation was apparent in the reduction of the hours assigned to the Departmentof Training from 218 to 162, and a reduction of the program of the Departmentof Sanitation from 72 hours to 55. The program in administration was onlyslightly altered, declining from 150 hours to 139. Three blocks of timewere reserved for the professional departments: 7 hours for the Departmentof Field Medicine and Surgery, 4 hours for the Department of Dental FieldService, and 4 hours for the Department of Veterinary Field Service. Otherinnovations included 15 hours of instruction by a Chemical Warfare Serviceliaison officer and 3 hours of training by a British liaison officer.²⁹

The program established by the Officer Candidate School at Camp Barkeleyin mid-1942 was essentially the same as the program already in effect atCarlisle Barracks. When the school began, its administrative staff andtraining cadre were recruited entirely from the instructional staff atCarlisle Barracks. Programs of instruction, lesson plans, and instructionalaids were transplanted from the parent school with only slight modification.Minor variations developed as time passed, but until mid-1943, the programsat Carlisle Barracks and Camp Barkeley were nearly identical.

On 1 July 1943, the programs at all officer candidate schools were extendedfrom 12 to 17 weeks. Since the school at Carlisle had been suspended inFebruary, the new program was put into effect only at Camp Barkeley. Theaddition of 190 hours of training made few basic alterations in the program.A majority of the time, approximately 100 hours, was allotted to activitiescontrolled by the Department of Training. Twenty hours were added to thebivouac, and 50 were divided among the academic departments. The remaining20 hours were reserved for company activities.³⁰

When the school at Carlisle Barracks was reactivated in May 1944, itsprogram was patterned upon the one already in effect at Camp Barkeley.With minor alterations, both programs remained in effect until the endof the war. During the final year of the war, no major modifications werereported.

The allocation of hours to courses and subjects provides only a crudeindex of the trends and changes in the MAC officer candidate program. Substantivechanges were frequently masked behind the similarity of course titles andobjectives. Manuals were revised, lectures rewritten, and approaches changed,all with no apparent alteration in the program. In January 1942, for example,a group of officers from the Medical Field Service School visited the headquartersof the

²⁹Program of Instruction, 12-Week Officer CandidateCourse, 1942. Medical Field Service School, Carlisle Barracks, Pa.
³⁰(1) Letter, Capt. Thomas C. M. Robinson, MAC, AdministrativeAssistant, Training Division, Office of The Surgeon General, to Lt. Col.George E. Armstrong, MC, Assistant Commandant, MAC Officer Candidate School,Medical Replacement Training Center, Camp Barkeley, Tex., 21 May 1943.(2) Letter, Col. George E. Armstrong, MC, Assistant Commandant, MAC OfficerCandidate School, Medical Replacement Training Center, Camp Barkeley, Tex.,to Capt. Thomas C. M. Robinson, MAC, Training Division, Office of The SurgeonGeneral, Army Service Forces, U.S. Army, 9 June 1943.

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Armored Force at Fort Knox, Ky., to determine what could be done atCarlisle Barracks to improve medical service supporting armored units.Until this time, lessons at the school had focused on the square divisionand cavalry auxiliary troops, with 2 or 3 hours allotted to discussionof the Armored Force. After school officials toured Fort Knox, the curriculumwas reorganized to feature the triangular division and the Armored Force.A request by the commandant for two tank hulls that could be used as trainingaids illustrates the responsiveness of school authorities to reports fromthe field:³¹

* * * Since our conversation with the authorities at Fort Knox and ourobservations there, particularly our observation of a demonstration bytrained medical soldiers of the evacuation of the wounded from tanks, otherconfirmatory evidence of the need for these tanks here has come to my attention.An officer of high rank of the Royal Army Medical Service has told me ofan instance in Libya where the body of a dead soldier had to be dismemberedbefore being removed from a tank. He inferred that this horrible procedurecould have been avoided. An officer of our Army recently in command ofa tank regiment has told me that he had personal knowledge of an incidentwhere a soldier of his regiment was killed in a tank and that it requiredfour hours to get the body out.
It is obvious if such undesirable incidentsas those described can be avoided by proper training in the field and properteaching here that all the necessary aids should be provided.

Later in the war, the subcourse in supply conducted by the Departmentof Administration at Camp Barkeley was similarly adjusted when problemswere reported in transferring supplies from the Zone of Interior to thetheaters of operations.³² Neither of these adjustments resultedin a reallocation of training time, nor in a change in course title.

Educational Procedures

Techniques of instruction.-At both Camp Barkeley and CarlisleBarracks, classes were conducted either by members of the school's academicdepartments or by platoon leaders and their assistants. Usually, sessionsattended by an entire class were conducted by instructors from the academicstaff, and platoon leaders took over when the class was divided into sectionsfor practical exercises or review sessions. At both schools, platoon leadersconducted a majority of the classes in subjects such as map reading, firstaid, drill and command, and physical conditioning (fig. 8). Platoon leadersalways taught under the supervision of the academic staff, which was responsiblefor preparing the lesson outlines for practical exercises as well as forselecting forms and other instructional aids. Outlines were so detailedthat they frequently included even diagrams to be drawn on the blackboard.

Classes at the schools were conducted according to approved Army trainingdoctrine. Demonstrations, conferences, and practical exercises were thefavored techniques. Lectures were deliberately held to a minimum. A studyof the relative

³¹Letter, Brig. Gen. Addison D. Davis, Commandant,Medical Field Service School, Carlisle Barracks, Pa., to The Surgeon General,30 Mar. 1942, subject: Request for Instruction Aids (Tanks).
³²Memorandum, Maj. Gen. James C. Magee, The Surgeon General,for Commanding General, Medical Replacement Training Center, Camp Barkeley,Tex., 23 Apr. 1943, subject: Training in Medical Supplies.

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FIGURE 8.-Activities atofficer candidate school, Camp Barkeley, Tex., 1944. (Top) Field applicationof map reading techniques. (Bottom) Candidates negotiating water jump onobstacle course.

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use of training methods in 502 scheduled hours of instruction at CampBarkeley revealed that 179 hours were spent in conferences, and 172 inpractical exercises. Demonstrations accounted for another 67 hours, andonly 11 hours were used for lectures. Lectures were scheduled even lessfrequently than examinations, which were allotted 24 hours.

Programs at the schools stressed observation and participation. A medicalbattalion had traditionally been assigned to the Medical Field ServiceSchool to provide demonstrations. When the officer candidate school wasactivated at Carlisle Barracks, the battalion had assumed responsibilityfor conducting demonstrations for officer candidates in much the same manneras the academic departments assumed the responsibility for their instruction.During its first year of operation, the demonstrations for the officercandidate school at Camp Barkeley were provided by men from the trainingbattalions at the Medical Replacement Training Center. The quality of demonstrationswas difficult to maintain, however, because of frequent changes in thepersonnel of the units. The problem was resolved by the establishment ofa special demonstration platoon. By mid-1943, when the school had reacheda capacity of 3,000, the platoon had an authorized strength of 60 men.These units allowed the schools to provide demonstrations ranging fromdismounted drill to the deployment of medical units in the field.

Academic departments at both schools used practical exercises to supplementclassroom instruction. As part of the program in administration, candidateswere required to complete forms and records used by company headquarters,field installations, messes, hospitals, military courts, and boards ofofficers. Field exercises in the selection of sites for medical installationsand the use of maps were an integral part of the training provided by theDepartment of Tactics. To prepare candidates for the possibility of gasattacks, the Department of Chemical Warfare conducted gas mask drills andexercises in the use of chlorine and tear gas chambers. Under the programof the Department of Training, students practiced teaching and first aid,constructed course schedules, and participated in road marches and dismounteddrill.

Emphasis on practical exercises was particularly intense during theclass bivouac, a highly organized 6-day exercise that had its origins ina half-day demonstration presented for officer candidates by units of theMedical Replacement Training Center at Camp Barkeley. By stages, the exercisewas extended to include an overnight bivouac, a 3 1/2-day bivouac, andfinally, a 6-day exercise. During bivouac, candidates participated in fieldand map problems and practiced the skills required for the operation ofmedical units in the field. Practical application of classroom trainingin sanitation was provided, for example, by making a selected group oftrainees responsible for sanitation in the bivouac area. Every phase ofthe exercise was designed to translate some aspect of theory into workingknowledge.

Training aids.-In addition to practical exercises, schools frequentlyused audio, visual, and physical training aids to reinforce lessons andprovide experience not readily available in the classroom. Both schoolsmade maximum use of training films, filmstrips, and slides provided bythe War Department. At Camp Barkeley, an officer assigned from the schoolreviewed all new films received by the

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FIGURE 9.-Portable publicaddress system, one of the training aids used by the MAC Officer CandidateSchool, Camp Barkeley, Tex., 1943.

Visual Aids Library of the Medical Replacement Training Center, andevaluated their potential for use in the officer candidate program. WarDepartment training aids were supplemented by large-scale charts, maps,and diagrams designed for specific lessons by the art departments at theMedical Field Service School and the Medical Replacement Training Center,Camp Barkeley.

Schools made use of almost any device that would aid in presenting material.At Camp Barkeley, a truck-mounted public address system was used to presentclasses and demonstrations in the field (fig. 9). Both schools used installationssuch as gas chambers, obstacle courses, and infiltration courses to supplementclassroom instruction, and at Camp Barkeley, the motor pool and maintenanceshops were used as training aids for the course in logistics.

To illustrate the echelons of medical support and to depict the chainof evacuation from the frontlines to the Zone of Interior, the Departmentof Tactics at Camp Barkeley constructed a miniature battlefield that wasapproximately 60 feet wide and 350 feet long (fig. 10). The first 212 feetof the demonstration area portrayed the tactical deployment of an infantrydivision and its medical support. Roads, buildings, medical installations,bridges, tanks, and ambulances were constructed to scale. The remainingportion of the area contained miniature models of all medical

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FIGURE 10.-Miniature battlefielddepicts chain of evacuation from frontlines to Zone of Interior, Camp Barkeley,Tex., 1943.

installations in the corps and army areas, the communications zone,and the Zone of Interior, not necessarily constructed to scale. An artificialpond represented an ocean separating the theater of operations from theZone of Interior. A second demonstration area at Camp Barkeley housed asanitary exhibit containing equipment used in the disposal of animal, human,and kitchen wastes; the sanitary control of field messes; delousing; andmosquito control (fig. 11). Still another area contained examples of hastyentrenchments.

Two- and three-dimensional training aids had important roles in theprograms of MAC officer candidate schools. At times, they became so extensivethat the distinction between observation and participation lost meaning.

Tests and critiques.-Tests and critiques were an important partof the curriculum at all officer candidate schools. At both Medical Departmentschools, tests were designed to serve three purposes: to evaluate studentachievement, to measure the effectiveness of the training program, andto reinforce training received in the classroom.

The construction and administration of tests at MAC officer candidateschools were a departmental responsibility. Instructors for each courseor subject were required to submit questions to the heads of their departmentscovering material they had presented in class. Department heads, in turn,passed these questions to a review board that determined the validity ofquestions and approved the test in its final form. Such boards usuallyconsisted of the department head and at least one

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FIGURE 11.-Sanitary demonstrationarea, MAC Officer Candidate School, Camp Barkeley, Tex., 1943.

representative of the Department of Training who was familiar with thetheory of testing. Schools relied almost exclusively on objective examinationsconsisting of multiple-choice, completion, and true or false questions.On occasion, candidates were required to complete forms used in MedicalDepartment administration and to solve problems requiring the use of mathematics,maps, and symbols.

To qualify for commissions, candidates were required to achieve a gradeof 75 in all subjects. When a candidate failed tests in two subjects, hisrecords were automatically brought before a board of officers, commonlyreferred to as the Benzine Board, that reviewed his status as a candidate.Failure in the subjects of map reading or administration could also bringa candidate before the board. Candidates considered unlikely to succeedwere dismissed.

Since tests were also designed as a training device, examinations werealways followed by a period of review and discussion. Usually, the nextclass session following the test was set aside for a discussion session.Trainees were provided with the correct answers to questions they had missedand were allowed to discuss problems they found difficult. Critiques werealso scheduled at the conclusion of bivouacs and field problems.³³

³³ See footnote 17, p. 99.

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Standards for Commissioning

The rate of attrition among candidates for commissions in the MedicalAdministrative Corps was the second highest in ASF officer candidate schools.³⁴Between July 1941 and October 1945, MAC officer candidate schoolsenrolled 24,929 candidates and graduated 17,094 with commissions. Thirty-onepercent of all candidates, or a total of 7,835, failed to complete thecourse. Twenty-one percent of the candidates enrolled at Carlisle Barrackswere relieved before graduation, and nearly 35 percent of the traineesat Camp Barkeley were either "washed out" or allowed to resign.³⁵A year before the end of the war, the contrast between the two schoolswas even more marked: 13.9 percent of the candidates at Carlisle Barracksfailed to graduate, while at Camp Barkeley, the rate was 34.1 percent.³⁶In September 1944, the high rate of attrition at Camp Barkeley focusedthe attention of the Medical Department and the Army Service Forces onthe standards of selection and retention for MAC officer candidates.

By November 1942, War Department procedures for selecting officer candidateshad been standardized in a single regulation emphasizing leadership, ability,and experience.³⁷ Local commanders were directed to encourageenlisted men with an AGCT (Army General Classification Test) score above110, who had completed basic training and demonstrated a capacity for leadership,to apply for officer candidate school. Applicants for MAC Officer CandidateSchool were required to have a year of college training or a year of experiencein administrative or managerial positions. After preliminary testing andscreening, applicants were selected by reviewing boards appointed by commandersresponsible for filling quotas. Since many of the qualities required inan officer candidate were intangible, standards were subject to varyinginterpretations, some more stringent than others.

After a visit to Camp Barkeley in September 1944, the Director of theSchool Division, ASF, notified The Surgeon General that he was dissatisfiedwith the quality of trainees in the officer candidate school. Candidateswere being selected on the basis of applications submitted months earlier,when the school was operating at a reduced capacity. Many had since becometechnicians or noncommissioned officers and had no desire to become officers.Candidates reporting from service command installations, he observed, "hadabsolutely no military background for the course." The Surgeon Generalwas asked to determine the sources from which improperly qualified personnelwere being received.

In response, the Medical Department conducted a study of five classesat Camp Barkeley and three at Carlisle Barracks. The gross rates of attritionat the two schools, including several classes still in session, were 22percent and 8 percent, respectively (tables 6 and 7). The highest rateof failure was among candidates from

³⁴Memorandum, Capt. John M. Gracie II, MAC,Executive Officer, Training Division, Office of The Surgeon General, forDirector of Training, Services of Supply, 9 Sept. 1944, subject: Attritionof Officer Candidates.
³⁵(1) See footnotes 17, p. 99, and 27, p. 102. (2) Special Reportof Training Activities of the Officer Candidate School, fiscal year 1946.In Annual Report, Field Service School, Army Medical DepartmentSchools, Army Service Forces, Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston,Tex., fiscal year 1946.
³⁶See footnote 34.
³⁷(1) Army Regulations No. 625-5, 26 Nov. 1942. (2) Army RegulationsNo. 625-5, 12 Sept. 1944.

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TABLE 6.-Attrition ratesof trainees for Officer Candidate Schools, Camp Barkeley, Tex., 1944

Source	Total enrollment	Total dropped	Rate of failure Percent
Army Air Forces	231	92	39
Service commands	685	228	31
Foreign service	192	46	23
Army Ground Forces and Defense Commands	423	53	12
Army Service Forces Training Centers (Med)	567	60	10
Ports of embarkation	20	2	10
Army Service Forces	55	5	9
Total	2,173	486	22

Source:Memorandum, Col. A. W. Chilton, GSC, Director, School Division, Army ServiceForces, for The Surgeon General, 19 Sept. 1944, subject: Selection of OfficerCandidates for the Medical Administrative Corps, lst indorsement (Tab A),9 Oct. 1944, thereto.

the Army Air Forces, and the lowest was experienced by those from ASFtraining centers.

Class 33 at Camp Barkeley, which. had an attrition rate of 48 percentat the end of the 12th week of training, was thought to provide "amuch truer picture than the summary of all classes." In this class,63 percent of the failures were attributed to lack of leadership, and candidatesfrom the service commands accounted for 64

TABLE 7.-Attrition ratesof trainees for Officer Candidate Schools, Carlisle Barracks, Pa., 1944

Source	Total enrollment	Total dropped	Rate of failure Percent
Army Air Forces	6	3	50
Service commands	246	25	10
Foreign service	12	3	25
Army Ground Forces and Defense Commands	42	5	12
Army Service Forces Training Centers (Med)	434	24	6
Army Service Forces Training Centers (other than Med)	6	1	17
Ports of embarkation	3	0	-----
Miscellaneous	2	0	-----
Total	751	61	8

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percent of those dropped from the course. Candidates from the Army AirForces, accounting for 25 percent of the enrollment, had already lost 58percent of their number.

The attrition rate at Carlisle Barracks was appreciably lower, but candidatesfrom the service commands still accounted for the bulk of the losses. Ofthe 751 students enrolled, only 61 had been dropped from the program. Thisrelatively low rate of attrition was attributed to a basic difference inthe interpretation of the training mission at Carlisle Barracks:

* * *Resignation accounts for 18 percent of the total dropped from the threeclasses. All other students were dismissed; last time 20 percent of thetotal attrition was dropped for lack of leadership and approximately 50percent failed in academic studies. The policy of "suggested resignations"has not been pursued at the school at Carlisle, with the result that figureson these classes are not comparable to the Officer Candidate School atCamp Barkeley. Academic failure versus lack of leadership may be consideredan indication of a difference of emphasis between the two installations.³⁸

Since the use of outdated applications had been eliminated by a revisedversion of the regulation governing officer candidates issued on 12 September1944, the Medical Department believed that there would be fewer disinterestedcandidates. The major problem was the lack of leadership and military backgroundprevalent among candidates sent by the service commands, and the markedsuccess of candidates from ASF training centers, who had either servedas cadre or attended officer candidate preparatory schools, seemed to leadto a solution. The rate of attrition among candidates from the servicecommands could be significantly reduced if men who had served for longperiods in technical or administrative positions were given preschool trainingin drill and command at service command installations.

After reviewing the study submitted by the Medical Department, the Directorof Military Training, ASF, concluded that the contrast between the attritionrates at Camp Barkeley and Carlisle Barracks was difficult to reconcilesince both schools operated under the same program of instruction and WarDepartment doctrine and received many students from the same sources. Hedirected the Officer Candidate School, Camp Barkeley, and the Eighth ServiceCommand to inspect the school "to determine the reasons for the veryhigh rate of attrition" and submit a "report of action takento relieve the high attrition rate."

In its reply, the Eighth Service Command focused on the standard ofsuperior performance set by platoon leaders at Camp Barkeley and concludedthat "based upon the high standards and superior performance of dutiesrequired of candidates for graduation from the MAC Officer Candidate School,Camp Barkeley, that the present rate of attrition is not high." Theschool was determined to maintain these standards and had little controlover injudiciously and carelessly selected candidates with inadequate backgroundswho used the privilege of resignation to escape the rigors of training.Living conditions at Camp Barkeley were also cited as

³⁸Memorandum, Col. A. W. Chilton, GSC, Director,School Division, Army Service Forces, for The Surgeon General, 19 Sept.1944, subject: Selection of Officer Candidates for the Medical AdministrativeCorps. 1st indorsement, 9 Oct. 1944, with inclosures thereto; and 2d and3d memorandum indorsements, 21 Oct. 1944 and 14 Nov. 1944.

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contributing to trainee discontent. Recommendations for reducing theattrition rate at Camp Barkeley included screening candidates more carefully,eliminating the privilege of resignation, and establishing flexible quotasthat would allow boards to select only qualified applicants. On 22 November1944, the Director of Military Training, ASF, asked the Surgeon General'sOffice to review the Eighth Service Command's report.

The Director, Training Division, Surgeon General's Office, refused toendorse the Eighth Service Command's analysis. He agreed that candidateswere occasionally selected by hasty or haphazard methods but denied thatselection procedures had to be spelled out in greater detail. The standardsdefined in existing regulations were adequate, and commanders who failedto meet their responsibilities could be dealt with through command channels.Since The Adjutant General allocated quotas on the basis of reports ofavailability submitted by local commanders, he believed that the flexiblequotas suggested by the Eighth Service Command would add little to theexisting system. In any case, both schools received candidates from thesame sources, a fact which led the Director, Training Division, SGO, tobelieve that Camp Barkeley and Carlisle Barracks had different philosophiesof training:³⁹

* * * Itis evident that a gross discrepancy exists between the two MAC OCS whichcannot be lightly explained away by citing "exacting demands of platoonleaders and officer instructors for superior performance." There isno evidence that graduates of the Medical Administrative Corps OfficerCandidate School, Camp Barkeley, are superior to graduates of the schoolconducted at Carlisle Barracks, and it is therefore considered presumptuousto state that the standards established at one institution are in any waysuperior to those of another. * ** It can be reasonablypresumed that no less "exacting standards" are in force at theMedical Administrative Corps Officer Candidate School at Carlisle Barracks.The factor of the basic philosophy involved at both institutions contributesmaterially to the rate of attrition. The high rate of attrition leads tothe belief that the philosophy employed at one installation is to "seehow many candidates can be kept from becoming officers" and, at theother, "to help as many get through as possible." Normal standardsof performance of duties, commensurate with the demands of military service,for officer candidates are desirable. Unattainable standards or standardsset at such level as to render their attainment by a major group selectedfor the training involved are considered wasteful of time, funds, and humanenergies.

While quarters and living conditions at Camp Barkeley did not equalthose at Carlisle Barracks, they were as good as those at many other officercandidate schools, and the Director, Training Division, Surgeon General'sOffice, did not think they were responsible for the rate of voluntary withdrawalat Camp Barkeley. He believed that candidates withdrew because a policyof suggested resignations had been adopted by the school, and that candidateswere under continuous pressure to resign. In sum, he charged that the privilegeof resignation had been abused by the school, and not by the candidates.

Two weeks before the Director, Training Division, SGO, submitted hisreview, the officer candidate school at Camp Barkeley was notified thatit was to be phased

³⁹Transmittal Sheet, Office of the Directorof Military Training, Army Service Forces, to The Surgeon General; Director,Military Personnel Division, Army Service Forces, in turn, 22 Nov.1944, subject: Selection of Officer Candidates for the Medical AdministrativeCorps. 1st indorsement, 11 Dec. 1944, with inclosures thereto.

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out of the program.⁴⁰ His review marked the end of officialdebate over the problem of attrition at MAC officer candidate schools.In addition to providing insight into the training program at Camp Barkeley,the debate demonstrated the degree to which differing interpretations couldalter the standards governing the selection, training, and commissioningof officer candidates.

Negroes

Negro students were enrolled at both MAC officer candidate schools.Between 1942 and 1945, a total of 260 Negroes, or an average of seven perclass, were enrolled at Camp Barkeley (table 8). In the same period, 127Negroes, or an average of five per class, were enrolled at Carlisle Barracks.⁴¹Since enrollment was small, segregation was impractical, and Negro candidateswere integrated not only into classes but also in barracks and messes aswell.

Statistics compiled at Camp Barkeley indicated few differences in theperformance of Negro and white officer candidates. As a group, Negro candidateswere slightly less successful than white trainees: 60.8 percent of theNegro trainees graduated from the course, compared with 65.4 percent ofwhite candidates. By the same token, however, Negro candidates were moreoften successful than were candidates sent by the Army Air Forces, servicecommands, ports of embarkation, and theaters of operations. Negro traineeswere relieved for academic and physical reasons more frequently than whitetrainees, and less frequently for lack of leadership. The rate of resignationwas slightly below that of other candidates.

ADVANCED TRAINING

The MAC officer candidate program was designed to produce junior officerscapable of relieving doctors, dentists, and veterinarians from a wide varietyof nonprofessional responsibilities. In many cases, members of the MedicalAdministrative Corps were assigned to positions requiring preparation beyondthat provided at officer candidate schools. As the war continued, MAC officersassumed an increasing number of duties previously assigned to officersof the professional corps, and opportunities for advanced training increasedproportionally.

Many advanced training programs for the Medical Administrative Corpswere outgrowths of programs initially designed for medical, dental, andveterinary officers. Frequently, training opportunities were provided forMAC officers by integrating them into courses established for the officersthey were replacing. MAC officers who were assigned to medical replacementtraining centers, for example, were trained in pools originally establishedfor officers of the professional corps. Those assigned to administrativepositions at large hospitals were allowed to

⁴⁰Letter, Lt. Col. Wayne A. Starkey, MC, Chief,School Branch, Training Division, Office of The Surgeon General, to Lt.Col. John A. Nave, Assistant Commandant, MAC Officer Candidate School,Camp Barkeley, Tex., 28 Nov. 1944.
⁴¹(1) See footnotes 6, p. 97; 27, p. 102; and 35 (2), p. 115.(2) Special Report of Training Activities, Officer Candidate School, fiscalyear 1943. In Annual Report, Medical Field Service School, CarlisleBarracks, Pa., fiscal year 1943.

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TABLE 8.-Number and percentageof candidates who enrolled and graduated or who failed to complete theMAC Officer Candidate Course, CampBarkeley, Tex., classes 1-40, inclusive, by Army component, age, race,source, and education

Category	Total enrolled		Graduated and commissioned			Candidates relieved
						Relieved by board action						Resigned on own request		Transferred to later class or Carlisle Barracks		Miscellaneous
						Deficient academically		Lack of leadership		Physically disqualified		Resigned on own request		Transferred to later class or Carlisle Barracks		Miscellaneous
Army components	Number	Percent	Number	Group percent	Class percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Regular Army	3,783	19.9	2,300	60.8	18.5	166	4.4	266	7.0	28	0.7	869	23.0	132	3.5	22	0.6
National Guard	1,152	6.1	754	65.4	6.1	60	5.2	71	6.2	6	0.5	212	18.4	45	4.0	4	0.3
Special Services	13,960	73.5	9,306	66.6	75.0	545	4.0	1,243	9.0	120	0.9	2,256	16.1	434	3.0	56	0.4
Reserve Officers' Training Corps	103	0.5	48	46.6	0.4	4	3.9	13	12.6	5	4.9	22	21.4	11	10.6	---	---
Age
Under 21	404	2.1	302	74.7	2.4	14	3.5	51	12.6	1	0.2	28	7.0	8	2.0	---	---
21-30	14,751	77.6	10,196	69.0	82.2	542	3.7	1,146	7.8	112	0.8	2,279	15.4	436	3.0	40	0.3
31-40	3,594	19.0	1,813	50.4	14.6	204	5.7	381	10.6	42	1.2	970	27.0	163	4.5	21	0.6
41 years and older	249	1.3	97	39.0	0.8	15	6.0	15	6.0	4	1.6	82	33.0	15	6.0	21	8.4
Race
White	18,725	98.5	12,240	65.4	98.6	736	4.0	1,580	8.4	155	0.8	3,318	17.7	615	3.3	81	0.4
Colored	260	1.4	158	60.8	1.3	38	14.6	11	4.2	4	1.5	41	15.8	7	2.7	1	0.4
Miscellaneous	13	0.1	10	77.0	0.1	1	7.7	2	15.3	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Source
Defense Command and Army Ground Forces.	4,479	23.6	2,969	66.3	24.0	203	4.5	337	7.5	26	0.6	798	17.8	124	2.8	22	0.5
Service Commands	3,406	18.0	1,925	56.4	15.5	145	4.3	319	9.4	50	1.5	811	23.8	134	4.0	22	0.6
Army Air Forces	2,870	15.1	1,501	52.4	12.1	156	5.4	271	9.4	29	1.0	798	27.8	101	3.5	14	0.5
Army Service Forces Training Center.	5,681	30.0	4,576	80.4	36.8	148	2.6	368	6.5	28	0.5	436	7.7	108	2.0	17	0.3
(Camp Barkeley)	(1,891)	(10.0)	(1,660)	(87.8)	(13.4)	(32)	(1.7)	(57)	(3.0)	(7)	(0.4)	(100)	(5.3)	(27)	(1.4)	(8)	(0.4)
(Camp Grant)	(721)	(3.8)	(601)	(83.3)	(4.8)	(12)	(1.7)	(54)	(7.5)	(1)	(0.1)	(43)	(6.1)	(8)	(1.1)	(2)	(0.2)
(Camp Ellis)	(661)	(3.5)	(610)	(92.3)	(4.9)	(3)	(0.5)	(23)	(3.4)	(2)	(0.3)	(10)	(1.5)	(12)	(1.8)	(1)	(0.1)
(Fort Lewis)	(1,631)	(8.6)	(1,249)	(76.6)	(10.0)	(59)	(3.6)	(134)	(8.2)	(9)	(0.6)	(149)	(9.1)	(29)	(1.8)	(2)	(0.1)
Ports of embarkation	171	0.8	89	52.0	0.7	7	4.1	12	7.0	2	1.2	53	31.0	7	4.1	1	0.6
Foreign Service	2,172	11.4	1,212	55.8	9.8	113	5.2	258	11.9	20	0.9	432	20.0	131	6.0	6	0.2
Army Specialized Training Programs.	117	0.6	94	80.4	0.8	---	---	15	12.8	---	---	4	3.4	4	3.4	---	---
Miscellaneous	102	0.5	42	41.2	0.3	3	3.0	13	12.7	4	4.0	27	26.4	13	12.7	---	---
Education
Grammar	895	4.7	410	45.8	3.3	81	9.0	41	4.6	3	0.3	328	36.6	26	3.0	6	0.7
High School	5,478	28.8	3,499	63.9	28.2	295	5.4	368	6.7	35	0.6	1,095	20.0	175	3.2	11	0.2
College	6,333	33.4	4,209	66.5	34.0	247	4.0	516	8.1	75	1.2	1,033	16.3	217	3.4	36	0.5
College Graduate	6,292	33.1	4,290	68.2	34.5	152	2.4	668	10.6	46	0.7	903	14.4	204	3.2	29	0.5
Pharmacists	1,033	5.4	600	58.1	4.8	36	3.5	147	14.2	7	0.7	204	19.7	35	3.4	4	0.4
Warrant officers	130	0.7	77	59.2	0.6	3	2.3	5	3.8	3	2.3	35	27.0	7	5.4	---	---
Verbal orders	214	1.1	171	80.0	1.4	3	1.4	14	6.5	---	---	21	9.8	5	2.3	---	---
Total	18,998	100.0	12,408	65.3	100.0	775	4.1	1,593	8.4	159	0.8	3,359	17.7	622	3.3	82	0.4

Source: Annual Report, Army Service Forces Training Center, Camp Barkeley,Tex., 1 July 1944 to 1 April 1945. Part 2: Medical Administrative CorpsOfficer Candidate School.

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participate in the job-understudy programs available through hospitaltraining pools. By the end of the war, members of the Medical AdministrativeCorps were attending almost every nonprofessional course offered by theMedical Department, including the Medical Field and Sanitary InspectorCourse, and the courses in supply and maintenance at the St. Louis MedicalDepot, St. Louis, Mo. A number of officers also attended courses and schoolsoutside the Medical Department, including the Adjutant General's School,Fort Washington, Md., and the Ordnance Automotive Maintenance Course.

The first programs exclusively for members of the Medical AdministrativeCorps were the courses in mess and motor management at the Medical ReplacementTraining Center, Camp Barkeley. These courses, established at the suggestionof the Commandant, Medical Replacement Training Center, were designed tofill the need of fixed installations and field units for administrativeofficers trained in these fields.⁴² The Mess Management Course,conducted at the Camp Barkeley Cooks and Bakers School, emphasized themanagement of hospital messes, mess sanitation, purchasing methods, andthe completion of forms used by mess officers. The Motor Transport Officers'Course was conducted at the center's Motor Transport School and providedtraining in the operation and maintenance of all types of vehicles usedby the Medical Department, the administration of motor convoys, and theproblems of day and night driving under tactical conditions. Each month,a group of officers graduating from the Officer Candidate School at CampBarkeley was selected to attend these courses and retained at the centerfor an additional 4 weeks of training. Between June 1942 and April 1945,278 and 289 officers graduated from the Motor and Mess Management Courses,respectively.⁴³

In mid-1943, the Medical Department began developing a series of specialtraining programs for the Medical Administrative Corps. On 11 June 1943,Army Service Forces notified the chiefs of the administrative and technicalservices that they were required to provide continuous training for allsurplus officers held in replacement pools.⁴⁴ Since the MedicalDepartment anticipated a surplus of MAC officers by 1 January 1944, plansfor training them in special pools were submitted to the Army Service Forceson 7 July 1943.⁴⁵ On 14 August, the service commands and theMilitary District of Washington were provided with the names of stationand general hospitals that had been selected to conduct pool training.⁴⁶

The pools established for the Medical Administrative Corps, in the summerof 1943, were designed to supplement facilities already available at MedicalDepart-

⁴²Letter, Brig. Gen. Roy C. Heflebower, CommandingGeneral, Medical Replacement Training Center, Camp Barkeley, Tex., to TheSurgeon General, 5 June 1942, subject: Courses in Mess Management and MotorTransport for MAC Officers.
⁴³See footnote 17, p. 99.
⁴⁴Army Service Forces Circular No. 39, 11 June 1943.
⁴⁵Memorandum, Col. R. W. Bliss, MC, Chief, Operations Service,Office of The Surgeon General, for Director of Military Training, ArmyService Forces, 7 July 1943, subject: Replacement Pools for MAC Officers.
⁴⁶(1) Memorandum, Lt. Col. Charles H. Moseley, MC, Chief, TrainingDoctrine Branch, Training Division, Operations Service, Office of The SurgeonGeneral, and Capt. T. C. M. Robinson, MAC, Administrative Assistant, TrainingDivision, Operations Service, Office of The Surgeon General, for Director,Training Division, Office of The Surgeon General, 19 July 1943, subject:Conference on Officer Pool Training, 19 July 1943. (2) Memorandum, Maj.Gen. Norman T. Kirk, The Surgeon General, U. S. Army, for Commanding Generals,First through Ninth Service Commands and Military District of Washington,14 Aug. 1943, subject: Replacement Pools for Medical Administrative CorpsOfficers.

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ment replacement pools. While awaiting assignment as fillers or replacements,officers in the pools were provided with an opportunity to understudy membersof the staff in positions ranging from adjutant and registrar to medicaldetachment commanders. Training was conducted under the pool program inhospital administration originally designed for officers in the Medicaland Dental Corps. Since all MAC officers were graduates of officer candidateschools, the program was modified to eliminate basic training.⁴⁷

School for Battalion Surgeon's Assistants

In the fall of 1943, The Surgeon General decided to replace one of thetwo surgeons assigned to battalion aid stations with a specially trainedMAC officer who would be known as the battalion surgeon's assistant. Despitefears that such officers might assume unwarranted diagnostic powers, TheSurgeon General was confident that with special training they could replaceone physician and relieve the second from many of the distractions of detachmentadministration and tactical employment.

Fortunately, approximately 1,500 MAC officers were in replacement poolsin the Zone of Interior at the time The Surgeon General made his decision,and beginning in January 1944, successive groups of these officers wereordered to report to a newly established School for Battalion Surgeon'sAssistants at Camp Barkeley.⁴⁸ Between January 1944 and January1945, approximately 2,000 officers graduated from the course. The secondclass, which began late in February 1944, contained more than half of theofficers enrolled during the year that the school was in operation. ByMarch, replacement pools were empty, and the school began enrolling recentlycommissioned officers. Each of the five classes enrolled between March1944 and January 1945, when training was suspended, contained between 99and 178 trainees.⁴⁹

The 6-week course for battalion surgeon's assistants focused on subjectsthat would qualify a nonprofessional lieutenant in the Medical AdministrativeCorps to assume responsibility for a battalion aid station and assist thebattalion surgeon in the treatment of casualties. A total of 140 hoursof training time, or almost half of the scheduled 300 hours of instruction,were devoted to subjects related to field medicine and surgery, includingemergency medical treatment, treatment of chemical casualties, transfusions,chemotherapy, and use of penicillin. Fifty hours were devoted to the tacticaluse of battalion aid stations in the attack and retrograde movements, and42 hours were devoted to field sanitation. The balance of the time wasallotted to administration and military training. Two weeks of the coursewere spent in field exercises.⁵⁰

Although designated as a separate school, the School for Battalion Surgeon'sAssistants was managed in conjunction with the MAC Officer Candidate Schoolat

⁴⁷See footnote 46 (2), p. 122.
⁴⁸See footnote 2, p. 97.
⁴⁹See footnote 17, p. 99.
⁵⁰Training Program for Assistant Battalion Surgeons (MedicalAdministrative Corps Officers), 7 Dec. 1943.

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Camp Barkeley. The assistant commandant of the MAC Officer CandidateSchool acted as the assistant commandant of the School for Battalion Surgeon'sAssistants, and most of the officers teaching at the school were instructorsat the Officer Candidate School. Classes in field medicine and surgerywere conducted by members of the Medical Corps who were assigned to theschool by the War Department.⁵¹

In May 1945, the Surgeon General's Office decided to train 500 additionalbattalion surgeon's assistants for employment in the Pacific theater. Sincetraining at Camp Barkeley had already been discontinued, the course wasshifted to the Medical Field Service School, and the program was revisedto reflect conditions in active theaters.⁵² On 7 July 1945,a class of 102 officers was enrolled, of which 100 graduated on 4 August.A second class of 100, enrolled on 11 August, was disbanded after the militarycollapse of Japan.⁵³

Physical and Educational Reconditioning Officers

Plans for an Armywide program for reconditioning convalescent soldierswere developed by the Surgeon General's Office early in 1943, and by April,the program was theoretically underway. Until early 1944, however, onlya few hospitals established successful programs. Uncertainty continueduntil March 1944, when the Army Service Forces issued tables of organizationfor reconditioning programs in general hospitals and made the Army ReconditioningProgram a service command responsibility.⁵⁴

At the request of the Office of The Surgeon General, courses for educationaland physical reconditioning officers were established at the School forPersonnel Services, in April and May 1944. Both courses were placed underthe control of a newly created Department of Reconditioning headed by aMedical Department officer. Outlines for the courses were developed atthe Office of The Surgeon General by members of the Reconditioning andTraining Divisions.⁵⁵

The Physical Reconditioning Officers' Course was a 1-month program focusingon physical and neuropsychiatric disorders, kinesiology and physiology,remedial exercises, developmental and adaptive exercises, and the administrationof the Army Reconditioning Program. In the 4-week course for educationalreconditioning officers, material on exercises was replaced by instructionin the philosophy and methodology of education, guidance, and prevocationalcounseling. Educational reconditioning officers were also oriented to recreationalactivities that included dramatics, radio programs, and music.

⁵¹See footnote 17, p. 99.
⁵²Letter, Brig. Gen. R. W. Bliss, Chief, Operations Service,Office of The Surgeon General, to Commanding General, Army Service Forces,Director of Military Training, 31 May 1945, subject: Training of MedicalAdministrative Corps Officer Candidate School Officers as Battalion SurgeonAssistants.
⁵³Goodman, Samuel M.: History of Medical Department Training.United States Army World War II. Volume IX: Medical Department TrainingActivities, 1 July 1945-2 September 1945. A Supplement to Historical Monographsand Supplements Covering the Period 1 July 1939-30 June 1945. [Officialrecord.]
⁵⁴Medical Department, United States Army. Organization and Administrationin World War II. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963.
⁵⁵Loughlin, Richard L.: The Medical History of the United StatesArmy in World War II. Reconditioning. [Official record, 1946.]

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The table of organization for reconditioning programs included manyofficers in addition to members of the Medical Administrative Corps. Theprogram at each hospital of 500 beds or larger was directed by a MedicalDepartment officer, and his assistant for physical reconditioning couldbe either a MAC officer or an officer with the requisite background fromany other corps in the Army. The position of Educational ReconditioningOfficer could be filled by an officer from any branch of the Army who hadexperience in morale services.⁵⁶ Between June 1944 and October1945, a total of 679 officers graduated from the course for physical reconditioningofficers. In the period from May 1944 to October 1945, 635 graduated fromthe Educational Reconditioning Course.⁵⁷

⁵⁶Army Service Forces Circular No. 73, 11 Mar.1944.
⁵⁷See footnote 55, p. 124.

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