History

CHAPTER VII

Enlisted Technicians¹

Medical activities at all echelons required the services of skilledtechnicians. To keep pace with expansion, the flow of trainees was acceleratedfrom a bare trickle in 1939 to nearly 6,000 graduates a month at its peakin 1943. By the end of the war, more than 120,000 men and women had beentrained for specialized positions in Army medical units.²

PREWAR EXPANSION

The blueprint for accelerating the training of enlisted technicianswas provided by The Surgeon General's Protective Mobilization Plan of 1939.³During the first 30 days of mobilization, schools for enlisted technicianswere to be established at the Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., andat four general hospitals: William Beaumont, El Paso, Tex., Fitzsimons,Denver, Colo., Letterman, San Francisco, Calif., and Army and Navy, HotSprings, Ark. Each was to be prepared to initiate large-scale trainingin six enlisted specialties on 10 days' notice. In addition to the laboratory,X-ray, dental, and pharmacy technicians courses that were part of the peacetimeprogram, training was to be expanded to include courses for medical andsurgical technicians who had previously been trained on-the-job. All courseswere to be of 3 months' duration, and new classes were to enroll monthly.The combined enrollment of all schools was to exceed 1,000 during the firstmonth, and in subsequent months, enrollment was to expand to meet the requirementsof troop units.

When The Surgeon General's Protective Mobilization Plan was publishedin December 1939, installations charged with responsibility for trainingtechnicians were directed to prepare their own mobilization plans. Trainingprograms were not included in the plan, and each school was required toprepare a tentative course of instruction. Program guidance was providedby Mobilization Training Program

¹Goodman, Samuel M.: History of Medical DepartmentTraining U.S. Army World War II. Volume IV: A Report on the Schooling ofEnlisted Personnel, 1 July 1939-30 June 1944. [Official record.] (2) Goodman,Samuel M.: History of Medical Department Training U.S. Army World War II.Volume VI: A Report of the Training of ASF-Type Medical Department Units,1 July 1941-30 June 1945. [Official record.] (3) Goodman, Samuel M.: Historyof Medical Department Training U.S. Army World War II. Volume VII: TheHistory of the Training of Medical Department Female Personnel, 1 July1939-31 December 1944. [Official record.] (4) Stapleton, James B., andChapele, Francis O.: Enlisted Technicians. [Official record.]
²(1) Johnson, John B.: The Medical Department Enlisted TechniciansTraining Program, 1 July 1944-1 July 1945. A Supplement to Goodman, SamuelM.: History of Medical Department Training U.S. Army World War II. VolumeIV. A Report on the Schooling of Enlisted Personnel, 1 July 1939-30 June1944. [Official record.] (2) Goodman, Samuel M.: History of Medical DepartmentTraining U.S. 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, table 3.[Official record.]
³The Surgeon General's Protective Mobilization Plan, 1939.

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TABLE 11.-Capacity ofMedical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools, 1 July 1941

Installation	Monthly quotas of enlisted students									Peakload¹
Installation	Laboratory	Dental	Medical	Pharmacy	Surgical	Veterinary	X-ray	Sanitary	Total	Peakload¹
Medical Field Service School	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	100	100	100
Army Medical Center	25	25	55	25	55	30	35	----	250	625
Army and Navy General Hospital	10	5	50	10	15	----	10	----	100	250
William Beaumont General Hospital	15	25	100	20	100	25	15	----	300	750
Station Hospital, Fort Sam Houston	15	25	125	20	100	----	15	----	300	750
Fitzsimons General Hospital	15	25	125	20	100	----	15	----	300	750
Letterman General Hospital	6	10	50	8	40	----	6	----	120	300
Total	86	115	505	103	410	55	96	100	1,470

¹Total capacity during a single, 3-month period.Not necessarily the sum of three individual classes because of limits createdby housing and facilities.

Source: Annual Report of The Surgeon General, U.S. Army.Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1941.

No. 8-1, dated 9 September 1940, when the War Department published outlinesspecifying the scope of instruction and text references for each course.

Plans for the establishment of enlisted technicians schools were putinto effect late in 1940, when it became apparent that existing schoolscould not fill the requirements of a partially mobilized Army. During thefall and winter of 1940, contracts were let for construction of the fiveschools specified in The Surgeon General's Protective Mobilization Plan,and an additional school at the Station Hospital, Fort Sam Houston, Tex.As provided by the plan, a course for sanitary technicians was scheduledat the Medical Field Service School. Construction of the six new MedicalDepartment Enlisted Technicians Schools began in the fall of 1941, andby 1 April, all were in operation.⁴ The capacity of these schoolsin mid 1941 is summarized in table 11.

WARTIME EXPANSION

The schools established in 1941 were built during the first of threephases of school expansion. The second began immediately after Americanentry into the war, when it became evident that "the June 1941 levelof training facilities * * * would be grossly inadequate."⁵Construction began on schools at the following general hospitals: Billings,Indianapolis, Ind.; O'Reilly, Springfield, Mo.; Lawson, Atlanta, Ga.; andFitzsimons, and by 1 July 1942, they had enrolled their first class oftrainees. The four new Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schoolswere identical in size and capacity, each capable of training a peakloadof 1,000 students. At Fitzsimons General Hospital, the new school was combinedwith one already in operation, bringing capacity to 1,847. By October 1942,the monthly

⁴Annual Report of The Surgeon General, U.S.Army. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1941.
⁵Annual Report, Training Division, Operations Service, Officeof The Surgeon General, fiscal year 1942.

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TABLE 12.-Capacity ofMedical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools, 1 July 1942

Installation	Entering quotas first of each month								Peakload of students¹
Installation	Laboratory	Dental	Medical	Pharmacy	Surgical	Veterinary	X-ray	Total	Peakload of students¹
Army Medical Center	30	25	55	30	55	25	40	260	670
Army and Navy General Hospital	15	12	40	20	20	----	12	119	297
Fitzsimons General Hospital	67	75	295	22	257	----	67	783	1,847
Letterman General Hospital	6	7	65	7	50	----	5	140	300
William Beaumont General Hospital	20	20	125	20	125	25	15	350	800
Brooke General Hospital	20	20	145	20	125	----	25	355	770
Billings General Hospital	50	50	125	----	125	----	50	400	1,000
O'Reilly General Hospital	50	50	125	----	125	----	50	400	1,000
Lawson General Hospital	50	50	125	----	125	----	50	400	1,000
Total	308	309	1,100	119	1,007	50	314	3,207

¹Total capacity during a single, 3-month period.Because of limits created by housing and facilities, it is not necessarilythe sum of three individual classes.

Source: Annual Report, Training Division, Operations Service,Office of The Surgeon General, fiscal year 1942.

output of technical schools had more than doubled. Training capacitiesresulting from the second expansion are summarized in table 12.

Despite their increased capacity, Medical Department Enlisted TechniciansSchools were unable to meet the demand that developed late in 1942.⁶In October 1942, Maj. Gen. George E. Stratemeyer, Chief of Staff of theArmy Air Forces, demanded control of the technical training of all personnelassigned to the Air Forces except medical specialists, and requested thatthe Medical Department train at least 2,000 specialists a month for theAAF (Army Air Forces).⁷ Shortly thereafter, the Medical Departmentwas notified that it would be required to train more than 34,000 techniciansduring 1943.⁸

Training facilities for the third phase of expansion were provided byscheduling instruction in two 8-hour shifts at five general hospitals:Billings, Fitzsimons, Lawson, O'Reilly, and William Beaumont. Studentswere housed in training areas vacated by theater-of-operations hospitalsthat had been shipped overseas. These expedients swelled the capacity ofMedical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools by nearly 2,500 traineesa month (tables 13 and 14).

In the months between December 1942 and September 1943, technical trainingreached its wartime peak; Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schoolswere filled to capacity, and courses at other installations expanded proportionally.⁹In December 1942, the Roentgenology Section of the Army Medical Centerbecame

⁶Memorandum, Brig. Gen. C. R. Huebner, Directorof Training, Services of Supply, for The Surgeon General, 2 Nov. 1942,subject: Technical Training of Enlisted Personnel, Arms and Services Withthe Army Air Forces.
⁷Memorandum, Maj. Gen. George E. Stratemeyer, Chief of Staffof the Army Air Forces, for the Chief of Staff, 3 Oct. 1942, subject: Assumptionof Responsibility for Training ASWAAF Personnel by the AAF.
⁸(1) See footnote 6. (2) Memorandum, The Surgeon General, U.S.Army, for the Commanding General, Services of Supply, 4 Nov. 1942, subject:Training of Medical Department Technicians for Duty With the Army Air Forces.
⁹Annual Report, Training Division, Operations Service, Officeof The Surgeon General, fiscal year 1944.

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TABLE 13.-Capacity ofMedical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools, 1 July 1943

Installation	Monthly entering quotas											Total
Installation	Veterinary (SSN 250)	X-ray (SSN 264)	Medical (SSN 409)	Dental (SSN 855)	Laboratory (SSN 858)	Pharmacy (SSN 859)	Surgical (SSN 861)	Sanitary (SSN 196)	Meat and dairy inspector (SSN 120)	Equipment maintenance technician (No SSN assigned)	Orthopedic (SSN 366)	Total
Enlisted technicians schools:
Army and Navy General Hospital	----	10	62	10	10	----	27	----	----	----	----	119
Army Medical Center	25	----	60	25	25	----	60	----	----	----	----	195
William Beaumont General Hospital	25	15	245	40	20	----	375	----	----	----	----	720
Billings General Hospital	----	65	160	100	100	----	310	----	----	----		735
Brooke General Hospital	----	15	162	20	20	----	143	----	----	----	----	360
Fitzsimons General Hospital	----	137	351	185	81	20	436	----	----	----	----	1,210
Lawson General Hospital	----	60	232	106	100	----	382	----	----	----	----	880
Letterman General Hospital	----	7	68	12	7	----	63	----	----	----	----	157
O'Reilly General Hospital	----	100	122	100	100	----	377	----	----	----	----	799
Army School of Roentgenology (enlisted)	----	85	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	85
St. Louis Medical Depot	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	¹100	----	¹100
Medical Replacement Training Centers (Camps Barkeley, Grant, Pickett, and Robinson)	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	320	100	----	----	420
Named general hospitals	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	¹14	¹14
Total	50	494	1,462	598	463	20	2,173	320	100	100	14	5,794

¹Monthly average.

Source: Annual Report, Training Division, Operations Service,Office of The Surgeon General, 1943.

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TABLE 14.-Annual capacity,Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools, 1942 and 1943

Course	Annual capacity, 30 June 1942¹	Annual capacity, 30 June 1943
Veterinary technician (SSN 250)	600	600
X-ray technician (SSN 264)	1,368	5,928
Medical technician (SSN 409)	7,200	17,544
Dental technician (SSN 855)	1,308	7,176
Medical laboratory technician (SSN 858)	1,296	5,556
Pharmacy technician (SSN 859)	1,428	240
Surgical technician (SSN 861)	6,084	26,076
Sanitary technician (SSN 196)	1,200	3,840
Meat and dairy inspector (SSN 120)	-----	1,200
Equipment maintenance technician (No SSN assigned)	156	1,200
Orthopedic mechanic (SSN 366)	48	168
Total	20,688	69,528

¹Does not include the capacity of schools openedon 1 July 1942.

Source: Annual Report, Training Division, Operations Service,Office of the Surgeon General, fiscal year 1943.

the Army School of Roentgenology and was transferred to the Universityof Tennessee, Memphis, Tenn., where it harnessed the classrooms and laboratoriesof the university for training officers and enlisted students. In addition,the training of X-ray technicians at enlisted technicians schools continuedunabated. Early in 1943, the number of general hospitals conducting the3-month course for orthopedic mechanics was increased from three to 12,and the capacity of the program was expanded from 13 to 41 trainees percycle.¹⁰ Finally, in June 1943, training activities at the St.Louis Medical Supply Depot, St. Louis, Mo., were organized into the MedicalSupply Services School, and the capacity of the school for training enlistedtechnicians was expanded from 50 to 300.¹¹

Enrollment at Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools passedits wartime peak in the summer of 1943, when schools were capable of enrollingalmost 6,000 new students each month. By rnid-1943, the rate of unit activationswas declining, and demand for enlisted technicians temporarily abated.On 19 July 1943, the Director of Training, ASF (Army Service Forces), instructedthe Medical Department to sharply curtail enrollments until the end ofthe year. Quotas were reduced by 50 percent for the Army Air Forces, 25percent for the AGF (Army Ground Forces), and approximately 33 percentfor all other components and commands. The total number of trainees enrolledfrom components other than the Army Air and the Army Ground Forces between1 August and 31 December 1943 was not to exceed 9,343.¹²

By the time this directive was issued, the Air Forces had withdrawnits trainees

¹⁰Annual Report, Training Division, OperationsService, Office of The Surgeon General, fiscal year 1943.
¹¹History of the St. Louis Medical Depot, 7 Dec. 1942 through7 Dec. 1943.
¹²Memorandum, Commanding General, Army Service Forces, for TheSurgeon General, 19 July 1943, subject Specialists Schools. Inclosuresthereto.

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from the program. In November 1942, quotas demanded by the Army AirForces threatened to consume all but a small fraction of the capacity ofenlisted technicians schools. The Medical Department harnessed every availableresource to meet these demands, and by May 1943, it began to appear thatAAF medical activities had reached their capacity to absorb technicians.On 24 May 1943, the Medical Department notified the Air Surgeon that theSurgeon General's Office was being flooded by letters from disgruntledtechnicians in the Army Air Forces, and informed him that:¹³

This office is interested in the assignment of graduatesof our Enlisted Technicians Schools because of the highly adverse effecton the morale of Air Force trainees in the schools of letters from recentgraduates telling them not to take their work too seriously, that oncethey are assigned to an Air Force station they will be broken to a privateand never engage in the specialty for which they were trained anyway.

On 22 June 1943, the Air Forces notified Army Service Forces that itno longer required quotas at Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools;any further training would be assumed by the Army Air Forces.¹⁴Commanders of AAF medical activities were informed that quotas at ASF schoolswere no longer available, and they furnished specifications for on-the-jobtraining programs. The capacity of these programs was limited, however,and the results often disappointing.

Fortunately for AAF medical units, the Air Surgeon's decision to withdrawfrom the MDETS (Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School) programdid not produce a serious shortage of technicians in the Air Forces. Indeed,the Air Forces remained so heavily overstocked with technicians that, inSeptember 1944, the Air Surgeon agreed to release approximately 1,100 enlistedtechnicians to Army Service Forces in exchange for an equal number of limited-servicepersonnel with AGCT (Army General Classification Test) scores of 100 orbetter.¹⁵ In October 1944, AAF medical activities were notifiedthat it was again possible to send trainees to schools under the controlof Army Service Forces.¹⁶

In the autumn of 1943, schools were able to abandon the double-shiftplan and return to normal scheduling. Training continued at a reduced paceuntil April 1944, when an increasing need for loss replacements and a spateof new unit activations under the preactivation program renewed the demandfor trained technicians.¹⁷ For a short period, enrollment atthe Medical Department Enlisted Technicians

¹³Memorandum, Col. F. B. Wakeman, MC, Director,Training Division, for the Commanding General, Army Air Forces (attention:The Air Surgeon), 24 May 1943, subject: Misassignment of Graduates of MedicalDepartment Enlisted Technicians Schools.
¹⁴2d Memorandum Indorsement, Brig. Gen. Robert W. Harper, AssistantChief of Air Staff, Training Division, to Commanding General, Army ServiceForces, Military Training Division, 22 June 1943, to Memorandum, Col. F.B. Wakeman, MC, Director, Training Division, Office of The Surgeon General,for Director of Military Training, Army Service Forces, 4 June 1943, subject:Technical Training for Enlisted Personnel, Arms and Services With the ArmyAir Forces.
¹⁵(1) Memorandum, Col. Floyd L. Wergeland, MC, Director, TrainingDivision, Office of The Surgeon General, for Director, Military Personnel,Army Service Forces, 6 Sept. 1944, subject: Medical Department Specialistsfor Numbered ASF Medical Units. (2) Letter, The Adjutant General to theCommanding General, Army Air Forces, 10 Sept. 1944, subject: Transfer ofMedical Department Specialists to the Army Service Forces.
¹⁶Letter, Col. O. K. Niess, MC, Director of Administration,Office of the Air Surgeon, to Commanding General, Personnel DistributionCommand, Atlantic City, N.J., 14 Oct. 1944, subject: Training of EnlistedPersonnel in Army Service Forces Medical Department Schools.
¹⁷Army Service Forces Circular No. 104, 15 Apr. 1944.

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Schools was restored almost to its former levels. After June 1944, however,enrollment continually declined.

After the invasion of Europe, the demand for general servicemen in thecombat arms became so intense that few were available for technical training.In their place, the Medical Department accepted an increasing number ofwomen, and by April 1945, more women than men were graduating from enlistedtechnicians schools.¹⁸

As the war neared an end, enrollments dwindled, and it became necessaryto close many schools altogether. In October 1944, the course for X-raytechnicians at the Army School of Roentgenology was discontinued. The MedicalDepartment Enlisted Technicians School at Letterman General Hospital closedon 8 December 1944, followed by those at Billings and O'Reilly GeneralHospitals in March 1945. The schools at Army and Navy General Hospitaland the Army Medical Center were discontinued a few weeks later. The MedicalDepartment Enlisted Technicians School at Lawson General Hospital officiallyclosed on 15 July 1945. By the end of the war, only the schools at Fitzsimons,William Beaumont, Brooke, and Wakeman (located at Columbus, Ind.) GeneralHospitals remained in operation. The numbers of enlisted technicians whograduated from Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools for theperiod June 1939-September 1945 are as follows:¹⁹

Medical specialty	Number¹
Medical	35,736
Surgical	43,587
Advanced medical and surgical	2,775
Dental	10,463
Laboratory	8,859
X-ray	8,537
Pharmacy	2,518
Veterinary	1,624
Total	114,099

¹Totals include both men and women.

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT ENLISTED TECHNICIANS SCHOOLS

The organization and administration of Medical Department Enlisted TechniciansSchools followed patterns established for Special Service Schools duringthe interwar years.²⁰ Variations in size resulted in a varyingnumber of officers being assigned to administrative duties, and positiontitles were adjusted to reflect the degree of specialization. Variationsin size and title, however, serve only to mask the basic similarity ofadministrative organization.

¹⁸See footnote 2(l), p. 213.
¹⁹(1) See footnotes 1(1) and 2(2), p. 213. (2) Annual Report,Training Division, Operations Service, Office of The Surgeon General, forfiscal year 1945.
²⁰(1) Army Regulations No. 350-105, 1 Oct. 1938. (2) Army RegulationsNo. 350-110, 6 Oct. 1936. (3) Army Regulations No. 350-1000, 28 July 1933.(4) Army Regulations No. 350-1030, 28 June 1933.

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CHART 5.-Typical organizationof a Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School, 1944

Source: Annual Report, Medical Department EnlistedTechnicians School, Billings General Hospital, Fort Benjamin Harrison,Ind., for fiscal year 1944.

Each school was under the direction of a commandant, who in every instancewas the commanding officer of the installation to which the school wasattached. The title is misleading for, with the exception of establishingpost policies affecting the school, the post or hospital commander rarelytook an active part in school administration. Responsibility for the operationof the school was vested in the assistant commandant and, under his jurisdiction,in the executive officer, the director of training, the battalion commander,and other administrative officers. The most important division of responsibilitywithin the staff was between the director of training and the battalioncommander or director of military training. The director of training wasresponsible for academic phases of instruction. He supervised the preparationof subject material, texts, training aids, and schedules. Under his guidance,the directors of academic divisions prepared programs and supervised trainingin their respective subjects. Typically, an academic division was createdfor each technical program, so that the training division was divided intoX-ray, dental, laboratory, medical, surgical, and pharmacy sections. Asecond major administrative division, under the battalion commander orthe director of military training, controlled students outside the classroom.Through student companies, this division was responsible for inspections,guidance, physical training, and discipline.

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Officers responsible for other administrative functions, such as themess officer, the housing officer, and the supply officer, were controlledby either the executive officer or the adjutant (chart 5).

The physical facilities housing Medical Department Enlisted TechniciansSchools were similar to their administrative organization. Schools in buildingsof prewar vintage, such as the Professional Service Schools at the ArmyMedical Center and the Army School of Roentgenology, varied widely, butthose housed in new construction were much alike. Schools constructed in1942 at Billings, O'Reilly, Fitzsimons, and Lawson General Hospitals werepractically identical. Each was constructed according to a single masterplan, consisting of from 11 to 16, 63-man barracks (63-M), five 63-manbarracks modified as classroom buildings, one 1,000 man mess, one largerecreation building (RB-1), six small recreation buildings (RB-4), oneofficers' quarters and mess (QM-40), a storehouse (SH-7), and an infirmary(I-2). Buildings were usually heated by individual hot-air, forced-circulationfurnaces, although a few had steam heat or stoves. Academic buildings weredivided into classrooms according to plans approved by The Surgeon General,and schools were permitted to make modifications to meet local requirements.

In most respects, school facilities proved adequate. The only complaintoccurring repeatedly in annual reports centered on problems of heatingand ventilation. Schools in the South were almost unbearably hot duringthe summer, and those in the North faced dual problems of winter cold andsummer heat. The Medical De-

TABLE 15.-Medical DepartmentEnlisted Technicians Schools operated during World War II

Installation	Date opened	Date closed
Army Medical Center	1 Apr. 1941	31 Mar. 1945
Army and Navy General Hospital	1 Apr. 1941	11 Aug. 1944
William Beaumont General Hospital	1 Apr. 1941	31 Dec. 1945
Fort Sam Houston (Brooke)	1 Apr. 1941	Still in operation on 31 Dec. 1945
Fitzsimons General Hospital	1 Apr. 1941	Still in operation on 31 Dec. 1945
Letterman General Hospital	1 Apr. 1941	8 Dec. 1944
Army School of Roentgenology, Memphis, Tenn	4 Jan. 1943	15 Oct. 1944
Medical Supply Service School, St. Louis Medical Depot¹	16 Feb. 1942	5 Jan. 1946
Billings General Hospital	6 July 1942	17 Mar. 1945
Lawson General Hospital	1 July 1942	15 July 1945
O'Reilly General Hospital	6 July 1942	17 Mar. 1945
Fitzsimons General Hospital	1 July 1942	Still in operation on 31 Dec. 1945
Station Hospital, Fort Huachuca	18 Nov. 1943	23 Sept. 1944
School of Reconditioning Instructors, Camp Grant and Fort Lewis	5 June 1944	29 Sept. 1945
Wakeman General Hospital	11 Aug. 1944	Still in operation on 31 Dec. 1945
Optical Course School, St. Louis Medical Depot.	13 Sept. 1943	23 Sept. 1944

¹Designated as a school on 3 June 1943.

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partment Enlisted Technicians School at Lawson General Hospital, forexample, reported that:²¹

An unsuccessful attempt was made prior to constructionof the school to have some type of central heating or individual gas heating.Each building was equipped with individual hot air coal furnaces, and thebuildings have not been satisfactorily or efficiently heated during thewinter months. It is felt that this has interfered with the proper trainingof the students in classrooms and laboratories. All classroom buildingsare poorly ventilated and should be equipped with ventilating fans suchas have been recently obtained for the dental and laboratory buildings.

Schools frequently complained of poorly lighted classrooms and of theinconvenience of conducting classes in converted, temporary barracks.

Between 1940 and the end of the war, formal training of Medical Departmentenlisted technicians was conducted at 16 schools or installations (table15).

PROGRAM GUIDES

All but one of the enlisted technicians schools activated in 1941 wereunder the direct control of The Surgeon General. Although not designatedas Special Service Schools, they bore the same administrative relationshipto The Surgeon General by virtue of being established at named generalhospitals exempt from corps area control.²² The schools openedon 1 July 1942, at Billings, O'Reilly, and Lawson General Hospitals, weresimilarly under the control of The Surgeon General. The sole exceptionwas the school activated at the Station Hospital, Fort Sam Houston. Notbeing located at an exempted station, the school fell under the jurisdictionof the VIII Corps Area, and all communications between The Surgeon Generaland the Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School at Fort Sam Houstonwere channeled through the VIII Corps.

The reorganization of Army Service Forces in August 1942 altered theadministrative relationship between The Surgeon General and the MedicalDepartment Enlisted Technicians Schools. Service Commands replaced theolder Corps Areas, and were placed under the control of Army Service Forces.When named general hospitals lost their exempted status and were placedunder Service Command control, the Medical Department Enlisted TechniciansSchools also fell under their jurisdiction. The only exceptions were schoolsat the Army Medical Center and the St. Louis Medical Depot-installationswhich retained their exempted status.²³

The reorganization of August 1942 did not materially affect the influenceof The Surgeon General over training programs and doctrine. These functions,as well as assignment and relief of instructors, were assumed by the CommandingGeneral, ASF, and in turn delegated to the chiefs of the technical services.Although removed from direct command, The Surgeon General remained in controlof doctrine and programs at Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schoolsthroughout World War II.

²¹Annual Report, Medical Department EnlistedTechnicians School, Lawson General Hospital, Atlanta, Ga., fiscal year1943.
²²Army Regulations No. 170-10, 10 Oct. 1939.
²³Army Regulations No. 170-10, 10 Aug. 1942.

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The channels through which control was exercised were altered severaltimes during the war. Before mobilization, draft outlines for technicalcourses were developed by the Professional Service Schools at the ArmyMedical Center and submitted to the Office of The Surgeon General for review.After being approved, they were forwarded to The Adjutant General for WarDepartment review. Responsibility for drafting course outlines shifted,however, when the Medical Department began to gear its training programfor mobilization. In August 1940, the Office of The Surgeon General completedthe draft of a general program guide which was approved and published bythe War Department on 9 September 1940 as Mobilization Training ProgramNo. 8-1. A section of this publication established the training qualificationsfor Medical Department technicians, and outlined the major subjects tobe included in technical courses. In November 1940, the Office of The SurgeonGeneral issued a circular letter which outlined courses in greater detail.Together, these programs governed training at Medical Department EnlistedTechnicians Schools until August 1943.²⁴

Since neither publication provided guidance beyond listing subjectsrequired in each course and allotting time to major blocks of material,schools were responsible for developing their own schedules of instruction.As a result, courses devoted to a specific subject varied significantlyfrom school to school. In 1942, for example, the number of hours scheduledfor hematology in the Laboratory Technicians Course varied from as fewas 16 to as many as 80. The time devoted to anatomy in the X-ray TechniciansCourse varied from 15 hours to 60, while in the Pharmacy Technicians Course,68 hours were scheduled in prescriptions at one school, and 180 hours atanother.

In April 1943, the Training Division, Office of The Surgeon General,began a study of course content at the Medical Department Enlisted TechniciansSchools that revealed wide variations in emphasis within courses. Thatsummer, the Training Division developed a program guide designed to insurestandardization.²⁵ The guide was approved by the next highestechelon, and published on 29 August 1943, as an ASF (Army Service Forces)memorandum.²⁶ This program guide controlled training for maleenlisted technicians through the remainder of the war. The program guidefor female technicians was developed at the Army and Navy General Hospital.²⁷While these guides reduced the amount of variation between courses, neithereliminated it entirely.

In developing courses, schools reduced lectures and emphasized "learningby doing." Following an introductory lecture, almost every schooldevoted the bulk of classroom time to on-the-job training. The school atthe Army and Navy General Hospital reported in mid-1943 that "somemonths ago we requested all instructors to limit their straight lecturesto twenty-five minutes, devoting the remainder of

²⁴(1) Mobilization Training Program No. 8-1,9 Sept. 1940. (2) Circular Letter No. 79, Office of The Surgeon General,7 Nov. 1940, subject: Training of Medical Department Personnel.
²⁵Memorandum, Col. R. W. Bliss, MC, for Director of MilitaryTraining, Army Service Forces, 4 Aug. 1943, subject: Training Program forMedical Department Technicians.
²⁶Army Service Forces Memorandum No. S350-44-43, 29 Aug. 1943.
²⁷Memorandum, Maj. John W. Graves, MC, Assistant to Chief, SchoolBranch, Training Division, Office of The Surgeon General, for the Commandant,Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School, Army and Navy General Hospital,Hot Springs, Ark., 4 Nov. 1943, subject: Training Programs for MedicalDepartment Technicians (WAC).

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the hour to oral quiz and review."²⁸ Similarly, theschool at William Beaumont General Hospital reported that demonstrationswere included in almost all lectures. The Medical Department Enlisted TechniciansSchool at Lawson General Hospital reported that "students are taughtlaboratory procedures by lectures, demonstration, and by actually performingover and over again the various procedures. Performance of the procedures,under close supervision, is the most important part of their training."²⁹After a month of formal course work, student laboratory technicians spenta major portion of their time in training laboratories, where, under closesupervision, they practiced procedures they would later perform independently.In courses for medical and surgical technicians, the latter part of trainingwas devoted to practice in model hospital wards. In every course, emphasiswas practical, rather than theoretical. The guiding principle was to teacha technician to perform a duty, without necessarily understanding why itwas done in a given way. The short period of time allowed for trainingpermitted no other approach.

Until August 1943, courses for medical, surgical, dental, X-ray, andlaboratory technicians were divided into two major phases. The first phasewas conducted in the school and included both formal and applied training.The second phase consisted of on-the-job training at the hospitals to whichthe schools were attached. At Fort Sam Houston, for example, student laboratory,dental, and X-ray technicians spent 2 months in the school, and a thirdmonth at the VIII Corps Area Laboratory, the Central Dental Laboratory,or the Station Hospital X-ray Clinic. Medical and surgical techniciansspent the last part of their training working in hospital wards.³⁰

Under the training program published by Army Service Forces in August1943, the length of the laboratory and X-ray courses was increased from3 to 4 months and of the medical and surgical courses from 2 to 3 months.Most schools used the added month to increase the proportion of time devotedto practical training; time spent in on-the-job training at hospitals remainedunchanged. The Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School at FitzsimonsGeneral Hospital, for example, increased the period of formal trainingfor surgical and medical technicians by 6 days, and the period spent inmodel wards by 10 days.³¹ At Billings General Hospital, extrahours in the same courses were used, in part, to add a week of field training,so that students could practice operating aid stations and evacuating patientsunder adverse conditions.³²

The amount of field training varied both between schools and betweencourses. The Equipment Maintenance and Repair Course was marked by a totalabsence of field training, while more than one-third of the instructionscheduled for the

²⁸Annual Report, Medical Department EnlistedTechnicians School, Army and Navy General Hospital, Hot Springs, Ark.,fiscal year 1943.
²⁹See footnote 21, p. 222.
³⁰Annual Report, Enlisted Technicians Service School, MedicalDepartment Station Hospital, Fort Sam Houston, Tex., fiscal year 1942.
³¹Annual Report, Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School,Fitzsimons General Hospital, Denver, Colo., fiscal year 1944.
³²Annual Report, Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School,Billings General Hospital, Indianapolis, Ind., fiscal year 1944.

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Sanitary Technicians Course was conducted out-of-doors under field conditions.Most technical courses, however, fell between these extremes. A surveyconducted early in 1945 indicated that two Medical Department EnlistedTechnicians Schools conducted very little field training, primarily becausefacilities were not available. Five schools reported that student medicaland surgical technicians participated in field exercises stressing theoperation of battalion aid stations, emergency medical treatment, and theloading and unloading of ambulances.³³ More field training wasincluded in the medical, surgical, and X-ray courses than in any of theothers. Some courses, such as pharmacy, did not lend themselves to out-of-doorstraining, while others, such as the course for laboratory technicians,developed skills that were easily transposed to the field.

In addition to course-oriented field training, students at Medical DepartmentEnlisted Technicians Schools were required by War Department and MedicalDepartment directives to participate in "Concurrent Basic MilitaryTraining." The bulk of this training was designed to keep traineesin a state of physical fitness and to refresh their knowledge of subjectssuch as dismounted drill. A few subjects, such as sanitation, were alsoapplicable in the field. In August 1943, the amount of time devoted toconcurrent basic military training was standardized at 72 hours for 3-monthcourses, and 108 hours for 4-month courses. Each student was required toattend from 4 to 8 hours of field sanitation, emergency medical treatment,and individual security.

TECHNICAL TRAINING

Medical and Surgical Technicians

At most schools, the training of medical and surgical technicians wasorganized as a single program. Typically, trainees attended classes togetherduring the first month or two of the course and were separated only duringthe final, on-the-job phase of instruction. At that point, medical technicianswere assigned to medical wards, and surgical technicians to surgical wardsor the surgical service. Initially, course length was set at 2 months,but this length proved inadequate to provide trainees with time to practiceapplying the knowledge they acquired in formal classes. In August 1943,when the Medical Department reorganized technical training, course lengthwas extended to 3 months. The additional time was used to expand the scopeof the course and to increase the amount of practical training providedin the classroom. Throughout the war, trainees were provided with a monthof on-the-job training in hospital wards. At first, this phase of the programwas conducted at the general hospital adjacent to the school, but in mid-1944,the program was expanded to include "satellite" hospitals inthe same geographic area.³⁴

³³Goodman, Samuel M.: History of Medical DepartmentTraining U.S. Army World War II. Volume XI: Medical Department EnlistedTechnicians Schools Special Reports. Questionnaire Returns on History ofSchools 1 July 1939-30 June 1944. [Official record.]
³⁴(1) Letter, Lt. Col. Charles H. Moseley, MC, Deputy Director,Training Division, Office of The Surgeon General, to Director of MilitaryTraining, Army Service Forces, 24 June 1944, subject: Applicatory Trainingfor Medical and Surgical Technicians. (2) Memorandum, Col. Floyd L. Wergeland,MC, Director, Training Division, Office of The Surgeon General, for Commandant,All Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools, 18 July 1944, subject:Assignment of Medical and Surgical Technicians, and inclosures thereto.

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FIGURE 31.-Utilizing amannikin which separates the organs of the body, a Medical Corps officerinstructs medical technicians in anatomy at the Enlisted Technicians School,Brooke General Hospital, San Antonio, Tex., in 1942.

After August 1943, the program for medical and surgical techniciansconsisted of 12 weeks of intensive training designed to prepare soldiersfor service at all types of medical units and installations. Lectures anddemonstrations were most common during the first month of classes, whentrainees were introduced to the fundamentals of their specialties. Duringthis period, instruction focused on subjects such as anatomy and physiology,hygiene and disease prevention, ward procedure, ward management, and emergencymedical treatment (fig. 31). Classes were designed to prepare the studentfor practical training during the last 2 months of the program. Subjectswere introduced through lectures and demonstrations, but emphasis was placedon student participation and practical exercises in which classes werebroken down into small groups so that each student would be able to practiceprocedures under an instructor's supervision.

During the second month, training centered on first aid and emergencycare of all injuries and diseases common to wartime medicine. The topicsstudied included inflammation and infections, wounds and burns, gas casualties,and injuries to various regions of the body. The last half of the monthwas devoted exclusively

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FIGURE 32.-Surgical techniciansin training at the Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School, LettermanGeneral Hospital, San Francisco, Calif., view a demonstration of operatingroom techniques.

to surgical and ward techniques (fig. 32). The final month of the programwas spent working in hospital wards, learning the duties of a ward attendantunder the supervision of a nurse.³⁵

Advanced Medical and Surgical Technicians

In August 1942, the Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School beganto provide 3 months of advanced training for selected individuals who hadcompleted the surgical and medical technicians courses.³⁶ Thepurpose of the course was twofold: to prepare male technicians to replacenurses in forward areas, and to train graduates of the basic courses whohad been selected to remain at the

³⁵See footnote 26, p. 223.
³⁶See footnote 9, p. 215.

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FIGURE 33.-Dentaltechnicians study full dentures under close supervision of two Dental Corpsofficers. Such applicatory classes were part of the training of dentaltechnicians in the Enlisted Technicians Schools of the Medical Department.

schools as instructors. A few lectures were included in the program,but the bulk of the training was conducted in hospitals, where traineescould understudy nurses on duty in the wards.³⁷ While the programwas in operation, courses were established at all Medical Department EnlistedTechnicians Schools except those at Wakeman and the Army and Navy GeneralHospitals. Training was temporarily halted in May 1944, but resumed inJuly to provide additional instructors for Medical Department EnlistedTechnicians Schools. Despite the program's apparent success,

³⁷Final Report, Medical Department EnlistedTechnicians School, O'Reilly General Hospital, Springfield, Mo., 1 July1944 to 15 March 1945.

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FIGURE 34.-Class in dentalhygiene and prophylaxis.

these highly trained technicians were never awarded an occupationalspecialty and could not be recognized in tables of organization. In March1945, the Medical Department was directed to discontinue the course becauseit was not designed to fill table-of-organization vacancies and could notbe justified by the troop basis.³⁸

Dental Technicians

The 12-week course for dental technicians was designed to prepare studentsto serve either in a dental laboratory as a prosthetic technician or ina dental clinic as a chair assistant. At most schools, the first 8 weeksof the course were devoted to the fundamentals and mechanics of dentallaboratory procedures. Trainees in both subspecialties attended classesin dental and oral anatomy, prosthetic materials and metallurgy, toothcarving, full and partial dentures, and various aspects of tooth repair.During the final month of the program, trainees were split into two groupsfor on-the-job training. Those slated to become laboratory techniciansworked in laboratories and attended extra classes in dental prosthetics(fig. 33). Those scheduled to become chair assistants received specialtraining in roentgenology, dental records, dental hygiene, and chair assistance(fig. 34).³⁹

³⁸Annual Report, School Branch, Part B.In Annual Report, Training Division, Operations Service, Office ofThe Surgeon General, fiscal year 1945.
³⁹Medical Department, United States Army. Dental Service inWorld War II. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1955.

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FIGURE 35.-Practical trainingin the laboratory.

Laboratory Technicians

In April 1941, a 3-month version of the prewar course for laboratorytechnicians was established at each of the Medical Department EnlistedTechnicians Schools. The purpose of the course was to train enlisted mento perform routine laboratory tests at any type of medical unit. Theirstudies included bacteriology, parasitology, serology, hematology, andsome entomology.⁴⁰ Emphasis was always on the practical exercise,and in August 1943, the course was lengthened to 16 weeks, to provide moretime for practical training (fig. 35).

X-ray Technicians

In common with other technical courses, the program for X-ray technicianswas divided into two phases. For the first 2 months, trainees attendedlectures and participated in practical exercises designed to translatetheory into technical ability. During this phase, their studies includedanatomy, physics, fluoroscopy, radio-

⁴⁰Final Report, Medical Department EnlistedTechnicians School, Lawson General Hospital, Atlanta, Ga., 22 June 1945.

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FIGURE 36.-Instructionin darkroom technique.

graphic materials, and darkroom techniques (fig. 36). By far, the largestsingle block of their time was spent in practicing the use of X-ray equipment.Students were trained to operate both the equipment common to fixed hospitalsand the special equipment, darkrooms, and generators used in field units.⁴¹During the final month of training, students were assigned to the localgeneral hospital for on-the-job training. At the Army School of Roentgenology,which was not attached to a general hospital, students worked in the X-rayclinics of two nearby civilian hospitals. Toward the end of the war, theywere also sent to Kennedy General Hospital, on the outskirts of Memphis,Tenn., and to the X-ray department of the U.S. Army General Dispensaryin Memphis. When course length was extended from 3 to 4 months in 1943,the additional time was used to bolster the school phase of training.

Pharmacy Technicians

The Pharmacy Technicians Course was established in 1939 to improve thequality of enlisted men assigned to pharmacies in Army hospitals. The programof the new course included lectures and practical exercises in organicchemistry, pharmaceutics, arithmetic, applied bacteriology, materia medica,toxicology, dispensing, drug identification, pharmacy administration, andMedical Department

⁴¹See footnote 37, p. 228.

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supply procedures. The course began on 15 September and the first classof 19 men was graduated on 31 May 1940.⁴²

In April 1941, when training began at the Medical Department EnlistedTechnicians Schools, a 3-month course for pharmacy technicians was establishedat each school. Class capacities were never large, and by 1943, the relativelylarge number of pharmacists received by the Army through Selective Servicehad relieved the shortage of technicians. In March 1943, courses were discontinuedat the Army Medical Center, and at Army and Navy, Letterman, and BrookeGeneral Hospitals. Training continued on a reduced scale at the MedicalDepartment Enlisted Technicians Schools at William Beaumont and FitzsimonsGeneral Hospitals until May 1945, when the wartime program was discontinued.In contrast with most technical courses, the course for pharmacy technicianswas conducted exclusively at the schools. Only one school reported sendingtechnicians to work at a hospital, and in that instance, on-the-job trainingwas limited to a single week.⁴³

Sanitary Technicians

The monthlong training program for sanitary technicians required byThe Surgeon General's Protective Mobilization Plan was established at theMedical Field Service School on 9 September 1940,⁴⁴ and twoclasses graduated that fall. A third class was enrolled in April 1941,and classes continued to be held each month until November 1941, when thecourse was discontinued.⁴⁵ Responsibility for training sanitarytechnicians was then transferred to Medical Replacement Training Centers.⁴⁶

Medical Equipment Maintenance Technicians

The Medical Maintenance Technicians Course was established at the St.Louis Medical Depot in January 1942, and the first class began the followingmonth. The directive establishing the program clearly outlined its scopeand purpose. The course was to be of 3 months' duration, and cover packing,unpacking, assembly, installation, and care of X-ray equipment, sterilizers,and other expensive and highly technical items of Medical Department supplyand equipment. In the selection of students, careful consideration wasto be given to their adaptability, intelligence, and mechanical ability.The minimum educational qualification was a high school diploma. It wassuggested that an officer be appointed who could con-

⁴²(1) Circular Letter No. 39, Office of TheSurgeon General, 14 Aug. 1939. (2) Letter, Col. George R. Callender, MC,Director, Army Medical School, Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., toThe Adjutant General (through channels), 5 June 1940, subject: Report ofEnlisted Technicians Course in Pharmacy.
⁴³Annual Report, Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School,Brooke General Hospital, Fort Sam Houston, Tex., fiscal year 1943.
⁴⁴Letter, Brig. Gen. Robert Brooke, Commandant, Medical FieldService School, to The Adjutant General, through The Surgeon General, 9Aug. 1940, subject: Programs.
⁴⁵4th Indorsement, Letter, The Adjutant General, War Department,to the Commanding General, Fort Bragg, N.C., 22 Sept. 1942.
⁴⁶Letter, The Surgeon General to Commanding Generals, AllMedical Replacement Training Centers, 19 May 1942, subject: Sanitary Technicians.

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tact the major suppliers of X-ray equipment and sterilizers and arrangefor instruction from representatives of those concerns.

Almost without exception, the first instructors were provided by medicalequipment manufacturers. In most instances, instructors even furnishedthe tool kits and instructional aids. By the end of the first year of operation,the course had stabilized into a 12-week program covering X-ray equipment,sterilizers, anesthesia apparatus, resuscitators, electronic equipment,and basic military training. The course consisted of practical exercisesand on-the-job training, interspersed with a minimum of informal conferencesand lectures. Classes were kept as small as possible, and many practicalexercises were conducted in the maintenance and repair sections of thedepot. Other exercises were conducted with nonserviceable equipment turnedover to the school by the depot.

Veterinary Technicians

In common with other prewar courses, the length of the Veterinary TechniciansCourse was reduced to 12 weeks in August 1940. In April 1941, courses forveterinary technicians were established at the Enlisted Technicians Schoolsat the Army Medical Center (fig. 37) and at William Beaumont General Hospital.Training was confined to these two institutions throughout the war.

FIGURE 37.-A Veterinarycorps officer instructs a class of veterinary technicians at the Army VeterinarySchool,
Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

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FIGURE 38.-Technicianpracticing use of portable optical equipment.

The program in veterinary technology was designed to train enlistedmen to perform a variety of duties. After courses were standardized in1943, one-third of the program was devoted to meat and dairy hygiene. Thesecond third was devoted to animal management. The remaining time was spenton subjects such as forage and grain inspection and administration.⁴⁷

Optical Technicians

The program for optical technicians was established on 13 September1943. The course was designed to train students who had a civilian backgroundin optical work to prepare and dispense optical equipment in the field.During their 6 weeks at the St. Louis Medical Depot, trainees learned tooperate mobile and portable optical units, to fit lenses into both normalframes and gas masks, and to make emergency repairs and alterations (fig.38).⁴⁸

⁴⁷Program of Instruction for Veterinary Techniciansat the School for Medical Department Technicians, 18 Mar. 1943. InAnnual Report of Technical Activities, Medical Department ProfessionalService Schools, Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., fiscal year 1943,Section V: School of Medical Department Technicians.
⁴⁸Annual Report, Army Service Forces Medical Supply ServiceSchool, St. Louis Medical Depot, St. Louis, Mo., fiscal year 1944.

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Orthopedic Mechanics

In contrast with other enlisted technicians, orthopedic mechanics weretrained as apprentices. By understudying and assisting experienced craftsmenin orthopedic workshops, trainees learned to measure, fabricate, and fitbelts, supports, braces, splints, and shoes for orthopedic patients.⁴⁹The first course began in September 1940, when two enlisted men were enrolledat Walter Reed General Hospital for 12 months of on-the-job training. Theirtraining was cut short after 9 months, however, and they were graduatedin June 1940. During the next 2 years, course length was shortened to 3months; the program was expanded to include two more general hospitals,but enrollment remained small. Between June 1941 and June 1943, only fivemechanics graduated. Early in 1943, the demand for orthopedic mechanicsgrew steadily, and the number of hospitals conducting courses was increasedfrom three to 13 by 1944. The capacity of the program was increased from13 trainees per cycle in 1943 to 45 by 1944, where it remained until theend of the war.

Other Courses

The overwhelming majority of technicians trained during the war weregraduates of the Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School, the MedicalSupply Service School, and the apprenticeship for orthopedic mechanics.In addition to these programs, the Medical Department established coursesto train small numbers of enlisted personnel in other specialties.

Typical of these courses was the 2-week Dental Equipment Course establishedat the Ritter Dental Manufacturing Co., Inc., Rochester, N.Y., in February1942. The course was designed to train enlisted men to pack, unpack, install,and service dental equipment used by Medical Department units and installations.The first series of courses was conducted between 2 February and 25 April1942, and the second series was held between 6 July and 12 September thesame year. A total of 264 enlisted men were graduated.

Throughout the war, a course in blood plasma technique was conductedat the Army Medical Center for selected graduates of the Laboratory TechniciansCourse at the Center's enlisted technicians school. Since the purpose ofthe program was to train men to serve in plasma banks, instruction focusedon the operation of blood donor centers and plasma laboratories. Courselength was set at 4 weeks, and enrollment was irregular. Fewer than 50technicians graduated during the war.⁵⁰

Beginning in June 1944, courses were established at the Army MedicalCenter, and at DeWitt, Brooke, and Mason General Hospitals to train smallgroups of enlisted technicians to operate and maintain electroencephalographs.The course was offered until November 1945 when it was discontinued. Courselength varied between 8 and 14 weeks.

⁴⁹See footnote 10, p. 217.
⁵⁰Medical Department, United States Army. Blood Program in WorldWar II. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964.

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In mid-1944, the Medical Department began to train men to serve as instructorsin physical reconditioning programs. The School for Physical ReconditioningInstructors was established at the ASF Training Center, Camp Grant, Ill.,on 3 May 1944, with a capacity for training 300 enlisted students every6 weeks, and the first class enrolled at the beginning of June. The coursewas designed to familiarize students with the emotional and mental problemsof convalescent soldiers, to provide a knowledge of games and recreationalactivities useful in rebuilding physical vigor, and to develop the trainee'sleadership abilities. The program included subjects such as passive andactive exercises, posture relaxation, gymnasium activities, games, relays,tournaments, swimming, and similar activities, as well as basic militarysubjects. When Camp Grant closed, the school was transferred to the trainingcenter at Fort Lewis, Wash., where it was discontinued on 29 September1945.⁵¹ Between June 1944 and September 1945, 1,314 instructorshad graduated from the program.

ENLISTED WOMEN

Despite being the last of the technical services to accept members ofthe Women's Army Corps, the Medical Department became their single largestemployer. By the end of the war, some 20,000 Wacs (enlisted members ofthe Women's Army Corps), or more than one-fifth of the entire Corps, wereemployed by medical installations. As long as well-trained civilians andenlisted men were available, The Surgeon General was reluctant to acceptenlisted women. In the autumn of 1943, the Medical Department began acceptingabout 200 women a month for training as enlisted technicians. Early in1944, when the Medical Department suffered the loss of some 5,000 techniciansto the Infantry, The Surgeon General asked for an extensive program torecruit Wacs for the Medical Department. Within months, more than 4,000women had been recruited. From mid-1944 until the end of the war, Wacsplayed an increasingly important role in Army medical service.⁵²

Since one of the purposes of the program was to recruit skilled womenfrom the civilian sector, many Wacs recruited for the Medical Departmentrequired no further technical training. In addition to recruiting technicallyskilled women, recruiters were authorized to accept high school graduateswith an AGCT score of 100 or better for training as technicians. The programproved so popular that training facilities had to be continuously expanded.

The first Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School for membersof the Women's Army Corps was established at the Army and Navy GeneralHospital on 9 September 1943, in facilities that had been used for 3 yearsby the school for male technicians.⁵³ Housing was remodeledto meet the standards of the Women's Army Corps, and, as far as possible,male instructors were replaced by qualified

⁵¹Loughlin, Richard L.: The Medical Historyof the United States Army in World War II. Reconditioning. [Official record.]
⁵²Treadwell, Mattie E.: The Women's Army Corps. United StatesArmy in World War II. Special Studies. Washington: U.S. Government PrintingOffice, 1954.
⁵³Annual Report, Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School(WAC), Army and Navy General Hospital, Hot Springs, Ark., fiscal year 1944.

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FIGURE 39.-Laboratoryprocedures. (Top) Enlisted WAC technician receives supervised on-the-jobtraining in laboratory procedures. (Bottom) Dental Corps officer teachesWAC dental technician to make dental plates.

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TABLE 16.-Women's ArmyCorps technicians trained in Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools,1 July 1943-30 June 1944

Installation	X-ray (SSN 264)	Medical (SSN 409)	Dental (SSN 855)	Laboratory (SSN 858)	Surgical (SSN 861)	Total
Army and Navy General Hospital.	68	352	70	67	395	952
Station Hospital, Fort Huachuca, Ariz. (Negro only).	6	38	6	5	39	94
Total	74	390	76	72	434	1,046

Source: Annual report, Training Division, Operations Service,Office of The Surgeon General, fiscal year 1944.

members of the Women's Army Corps. In January 1944, Negro enlisted womenbegan attending classes at a school established for them at Fort Huachuca.Both schools provided courses for medical, surgical, X-ray, dental, andmedical laboratory technicians (fig. 39) as shown in table 16. With oneexception, courses for WAC (Women's Army Corps) technicians were a monthshorter than those for men because they omitted the final 4 weeks of on-the-jobtraining.⁵⁴ The programs for male and female dental technicianswere identical.

As recruiting intensified in the summer of 1944, the facilities of theMedical Department Enlisted Technicians School at the Army and Navy GeneralHospital became increasingly inadequate. Since the school could not beexpanded at the hospital, it was shifted to Wakeman General Hospital, whereit was eventually expanded to a capacity of 790. The first classes enrolledon 11 August 1944.

During the final year of the war, separate training programs for Wacswere eliminated at Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools. InOctober 1944, the Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School at FortHuachuca was discontinued, and the Army began training Negro women at theschool at Wakeman General Hospital. The following month, coeducationaltraining began at the schools at Fitzsimons and William Beaumont GeneralHospitals. In December, a month of on-the-job training was establishedfor WAC medical and surgical technicians, making these programs identicalwith those for male technicians. Coeducational training was establishedat Brooke General Hospital in January 1945, and at Lawson General Hospitalin March.

By January 1945, the influx of WAC trainees had created a shortage ofWAC housing at all enlisted technicians schools. Eventually, the MedicalDepartment was able to gain ASF authorization for a special 16-week combinedmedical and surgical technicians course at Northington and Foster GeneralHospitals, located at Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Jackson, Miss., respectively.The new program provided half a day of formal instruction, and half a dayof on-the-job training. By July 1945, 105 technicians had been trainedunder the new program.

⁵⁴See footnote 9, p. 215.

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Women's Army Corps Hospital Orderlies

The only Medical Department training program that met with failure wasthe course for hospital orderlies. Women who enlisted for general servicein the Women's Army Corps were not required to meet the same standardsas those recruited for training as Medical Department Technicians, andby 1944, a large backlog of low-grade workers had accumulated in WAC trainingcenters. At the request of the Women's Army Corps, an experimental programdesigned to train such women to replace male hospital orderlies was establishedin August 1944 at Nichols and Mayo General Hospitals, located at Louisville,Ky., and Galesburg, Ill., respectively. During the next few months, 140women were enrolled in the 8-week program. In October, however, an inspectionrevealed that such women were incapable of performing heavy physical workand required so much supervision that they added to the nurses' workloads.In November, the course was discontinued.

Women's Army Corps Table-of-Organization Units for GeneralHospitals

Beginning in September 1944, operations in Europe placed increasingstrain on Medical Department resources. Repeated transfers of enlistedmen to the combat arms and mounting patient loads led the Surgeon General'sOffice to ask for 8,500 enlisted personnel-men or women-who could be trainedas technicians. In addition, The Surgeon General asked for 5,000 civiliannurses' aides and recommended that all the enlisted technicians be women.⁵⁵

At this juncture, the Director of the Women's Army Corps, Col. OvetaC. Hobby, sensed an opportunity to revive schemes for the establishmentof WAC table-of-organization units. Already disturbed by complaints thatWAC technicians were being required to perform duties beneath their station,and reluctant to recruit more women unless their status could be guaranteed,Colonel Hobby took her case directly to Gen. George C. Marshall duringthe closing days of 1944. As a result of this conference, and a second,concerning competition with civilian nursing aides on 5 January 1945, GeneralMarshall directed the Medical Department to cease recruiting civilian nurses'aides and to prepare tables of organization for Women's Army Corps hospitalcompanies.

The tables of organization drafted by representatives of the SurgeonGeneral's Office and the Women's Army Corps called for 100 enlisted womenand one WAC officer per hospital company. Nineteen women were to be trainedas medical clerks, and the balance as medical and surgical technicians.Since all were to be technicians or skilled clerks, the lowest rating wastechnician, fifth grade. Companies were to be allotted to named generalhospitals in proportion to the number of beds, and hospitals desiring suchcompanies could requisition them.

⁵⁵(1) Medical Department, United States Army.Personnel in World War II. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office,1963. (2) See footnote 52, p. 236.

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The training of WAC hospital companies was conducted without major difficulties.The Third WAC Training Center at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., was turned overto recruits, and the basic training program was condensed so that medicaltraining could be conducted at the same post. Since the directive establishingthe program required trainees to report to their hospital assignment notmore than 12 weeks after reporting for basic training, the training periodfor medical technicians was shortened to 6 weeks. The usual 4 weeks ofon-the-job training was postponed until trainees reported to their dutystation.

Instructors for the course were provided by the Fourth Service Commandupon recommendation by The Surgeon General. The nucleus of the trainingstaff came from the Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School, LawsonGeneral Hospital, and the program was conducted under the command of Lt.Col. James M. Dunn, MC, former assistant commandant of the school at LawsonGeneral Hospital. The staff of the medical and surgical section ultimatelyincluded 28 medical officers, three Medical Administrative Corps officers,23 Army nurses, 32 enlisted men from Lawson General Hospital, and about160 enlisted women. Most of the enlisted women were graduates of the MedicalDepartment Enlisted Technicians School who had achieved grades of excellentor superior. Since many of the staff had never been involved in teaching,Colonel Dunn required the entire staff to attend an intensive instructorguidance course. The staff for the medical clerks' course was created bysending a WAC officer and several enlisted women to Camp Barkeley, Tex.,for conferences with instructors in the medical clerks' course at the basictraining center. Women graduating from this course at Fort Oglethorpe wereplaced on 4 weeks' probation at their duty station, instead of receiving4 weeks' on-the-job training. By the end of the war, a total of 120 WAChospital companies had been trained and attached to hospitals in the Zoneof Interior (table 17).⁵⁶

EDUCATIONAL TECHNIQUES AND PROBLEMS

Instructors for Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools weresecured from a variety of sources, and each school was responsible fordeveloping its own teaching staff. When the first Medical Department EnlistedTechnicians Schools were established in 1941, the commanding officers ofthe hospitals to which the schools were attached became the commandantsof the new schools. The assistant commandant, and, in some instances, otherkey officials, were selected by The Surgeon General from among RegularArmy and Reserve Corps officers. In most instances, a large proportionof the school's initial staff was formed by transferring personnel fromthe hospital to which the school was attached. Instructors for schoolsestablished after 1941 were usually selected from among newly commissionedofficers. Occasionally, new schools were able to secure instructors fromschools already in operation, but such sources were the exception.⁵⁷Instructors

⁵⁶See footnotes 19(2), p. 219; and 55(1), p.239.
⁵⁷Annual Report, Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School,O'Reilly General Hospital, Springfield, Mo., fiscal year 1943.

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TABLE 17.-Enlisted womentrained in Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools, 1 July 1944to 30 June 1945

Installation or source	X-ray technician (SSN 264)	Medical technician (SSN 409)	Dental technician (SSN 855)	Laboratory technician (SSN 858)	Surgical technician (SSN 861)	Hospital orderlies	Occupational therapy assistants	Special combined medical and surgical technicians course	Physical therapy technicians	Total
Fitzsimons General Hospital	83	108	20	92	77	-----	-----	-----	-----	380
William Beaumont General Hospital	42	503	50	46	387	-----	-----	-----	-----	1,028
Brook Hospital Center	-----	209	-----	-----	80	-----	-----	-----	-----	289
Wakeman Hospital Center	189	866	257	330	636	-----	-----	-----	-----	2,278
Army and Navy General Hospital	-----	84	17	39	76	-----	-----	-----	-----	216
Fort Huachuca	2	18	3	2	14	-----	-----	-----	-----	39
Mayo General Hospital	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	74	-----	-----	-----	74
Nichols General Hospital	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	66	-----	-----	-----	66
Halloran General Hospital	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	181	-----	-----	181
Northington General Hospital	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	55	-----	55
Foster General Hospital	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	50	-----	50
Physical therapy technicians	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	245	245
Total	316	1,788	347	509	1,270	140	181	105	245	4,901

Source: Annual Report of the Training Division, OperationsService, Office of the Surgeon General, fiscal year 1945.

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were sometimes ordered to another school for a brief period of indoctrinationand training before assuming duties at a new installation.

Although enlisted instructors were secured from a variety of sources,the initial cadre was usually selected from the adjacent hospital or anotherschool. At all schools, replacements for instructors were selected fromamong groups of unassigned graduates. This method of replacing instructorsproved highly satisfactory, for it allowed careful evaluation of the studentbefore assignment and assured his complete familiarity with the schooland the course. Inexperienced staff members were usually oriented by theschool section to which they were assigned, and the amount of orientationand training they received varied from school to school. New instructorswere usually required to become familiar with Army field manuals on instructionas well as to observe experienced teachers in the classroom. As a generalrule, inexperienced teachers were also required to study instructors guidesand lesson plans on file at the schools, to prepare practice lesson plansof their own, and to deliver brief lectures before faculty committees.

During the last 2 years of the war, the demand for experienced personnelin the theaters made heavy inroads into school staffs, and instructor replacementbecame an acute problem. On occasion, schools reported having to replacemore than 50 percent of their instructors in a single month. To combatthe loss of experienced teachers, several schools established formal trainingprograms for new instructors. The Medical Department Enlisted TechniciansSchool at Billings General Hospital, for example, conducted a weeklongcourse of lectures and demonstrations on training techniques, and the schoolat Lawson General Hospital conducted a course that varied in length from13 to 39 hours.⁵⁸

SELECTION, QUALITY, AND DISPOSITION OF TRAINEES

Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools received trainees fromthree major sources: Medical Replacement Training Centers, fixed hospitalsand numbered units under the control of Army Service Forces, and hospitalsand units under the control of the Air and Ground Forces. With two exceptions,trainees were required to have completed high school or an equivalent technicalprogram. Those who had completed 4 weeks of basic military training andachieved an AGCT score of more than 100 were qualified, even though theydid not meet the educational requirements for training as sanitary techniciansor veterinary technicians.⁵⁹ In theory, students were selectedaccording to their adaptability, intelligence, and previous educationalattainments. In practice, many students were poorly or carelessly selected.

During the year preceding the establishment of enlisted techniciansschools students enrolled in technical courses at the Army Medical Centerexperienced few

⁵⁸See footnote 33, p. 225.
⁵⁹(1) Letter, The Adjutant General, War Department, to The SurgeonGeneral, 7 Jan. 1942, subject: Selection of Soldiers for Specialists Schools.(2) Letter, The Surgeon General to The Adjutant General [War Department],16 Jan. 1942, subject: Selection of Soldiers for Specialists Schools.

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difficulties. Of the 188 students enrolled in the technical program,only 11 failed to graduate. Schools established in 1941, however, frequentlycomplained about the presence of large numbers of unqualified traineesin their classes. In July 1941, only 3 months after an enlisted techniciansschool was established at the Army and Navy General Hospital, the commandantcomplained to the Director of Training, Office of The Surgeon General,that:⁶⁰

One of the worst troubles of the selectee school is thepoor mental equipment of many of the men sent in for instruction * * *. The schools would undoubtedly be much more efficient ifthe officers making the selection of candidates could be induced to sendonly well educated men of proper type and character. Some few men we receiveare obviously drunks, derelicts, or undependable, and many others of insufficientmental education to be capable of absorbing advanced training.

The assistant commandant of the school was equally disturbed and expressedconcern over the time lost in attempting to bring poorly qualified menup to a minimum grade. Of the students enrolled in the school at the Armyand Navy General Hospital through July 1941, 27 percent had less than aneighth grade education, and officials reported that the situation did notimprove during the next 10 months.⁶¹ Reports from the Army MedicalCenter were equally critical; approximately one-third of the trainees assignedthere were not educationally qualified, and many complained that they hadnever been asked if they desired to become technicians. In his annual report,the commandant observed that: "A certain proportion of these men assignedto the laboratory are incapable of getting beyond scrubbing the floors."⁶²

Beginning in May 1942, both schools reported an improvement in the qualityof students being sent for training. During the next 12 months, schoolswere generally satisfied with the quality of trainees. The only studentsidentified as being consistently below standard were those sent by theArmy Air Forces between December 1942 and June 1943. The Army Medical Centercomplained that:⁶³

As a whole these men have been the poorest sent here,relatively ill-prepared, and in many instances did not desire to take thistype of instruction. The trainees in some instances were mechanics withlittle or no interest in the medical specialties. They were therefore unsatisfactorystudents and required considerable additional special instruction whichinterfered to some extent with the instruction of the better qualifiedpersonnel.

During a conference in January 1943 on the problems of training AAFpersonnel, the Director of Training, ASF, informed representatives of theMedical Department that enlisted technicians schools were required to continuetraining men sent by the Army Air Forces, even if they were regarded asuntrainable. In

⁶⁰Letter, Col. Ralph H. Goldthwaite, MC, CommandingOfficer, Army and Navy General Hospital, Hot Springs, Ark., to Maj. FrankB. Wakeman, MC, Plans and Training Section, Office of The Surgeon General,8 July 1941.
⁶¹(1) Letter, Lt. Col. Charles K. Holmes, MC, Assistant Commandantand Director of Training, Army and Navy General Hospital, Hot Springs,Ark., to Commanding Officer, Army and Navy General Hospital, 7 July 1941,subject: Qualifications of July Class. (2) Annual Report, Army and NavyGeneral Hospital, Medical Technicians School, fiscal year 1942.
⁶²Annual Report of Technical Activities, Medical DepartmentProfessional Service Schools, Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., fiscalyear 1942. Section V: Annual Report of Technical Activities of the Schoolfor Medical Department Technicians.
⁶³See footnotes 47, p. 234; and 61(2).

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setting quotas, the Medical Department was allowed to include a 10-percentattrition factor so that the least qualified 10th of the trainees receivedfrom the Air Forces could be eliminated. The remaining 90 percent had tobe either graduated or permitted to finish the course without graduating.Schools were directed to retain AAF trainees despite scholastic failureand to require periods of supervised study. Those who could not qualifyas technicians were required to gain maximum benefit from attending. Academicstandards were protected by allowing schools to refuse to certify thosewho could not qualify for graduation.⁶⁴

The Medical Department had little choice but to accept the mass assignmentof low-caliber AAF trainees. As The Surgeon General's Deputy Director ofTraining lamented to one center official:⁶⁵

This office is not unappreciative of the tremendous problemand burden placed upon * * * training facilitiesin attempting to qualify personnel who were not basically fitted for theabsorption of technical instruction. However, the rate of procurement ofAir Force personnel and the high ratio of technicians required necessitatesa rather small ratio of selection. For my own amusement I determined thenumber of Air Force personnel being assigned monthly to medical servicewith the Air Force. The problem involved is astounding when it is consideredthat approximately one out of every four men assigned to medical servicewith the Air Force must be a technician of some kind. (You are probablyfamiliar with Air Force T/O's). * * * The Air Corpsdoes not have adequate numbers from which to select technical personnel.This is why the Director of Training, S.O.S., makes the unqualified statementthat [the] job will be done despite handicaps and imposition on schools,the presumption being that a man who had completed eight weeks of trainingin a special service school is a better man than when he entered the schooleven though he was not successful in graduating.

When the Army Air Forces withdrew from the program in June 1943, itsdecision was accepted without comment.

Variations in quality continued after June 1943, but without any apparentpattern. After its conversion into a training center for enlisted women,the school at the Army and Navy General Hospital reported that women beingsent for training were generally highly qualified.⁶⁶ The schoolat Lawson General Hospital found itself neither pleased nor vexed by thetrainees it received, and reported that quality tended to vary betweenclasses. The Army Medical Center experienced increasing difficulty withstudents sent from Medical Replacement Training Centers, enrolling oneclass in which five members had jail or guardhouse records.⁶⁷Despite minor variations, however, students enrolled during the last 2years of the war appear to have been better qualified than those who attendedbetween 1941 and 1943. By mid-1944, trainee quality had improved to thepoint that the rate of attrition for all candidates between July 1941 and30 June 1944 had been reduced to 8.5 percent.

⁶⁴Memorandum, Maj. Gen. John C. Magee, TheSurgeon General, for the Commandant, Medical Department Enlisted TechniciansSchool, Army and Navy General Hospital, Hot Springs, Ark., 14 Jan. 1943,subject: Training of Enlisted Technicians, Army Air Forces.
⁶⁵Letter, Lt. Col. D. J. Sheehan, MC, Deputy Director, TrainingDivision, Office of The Surgeon General, to Col. Robert E. Peyton, MC,Director of Training, Services of Supply, Headquarters, Medical ReplacementTraining Center, Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Ark., 17 Feb. 1943.
⁶⁶See footnote 53, p. 236.
⁶⁷See footnote 33, p. 225.

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Other studies conducted by the Medical Department indicate that scholasticdeficiencies were the immediate cause for relieving approximately 70 percentof the trainees who failed to graduate from enlisted technicians schools.Predictably, there was a strong correlation between the length of formalcivilian education and success in technical training. Trainees with educationbeyond high school were almost certain to graduate, while those with lessthan a grammar school education seemed destined to fail. Each year of formaleducation beyond grammar school significantly increased the trainee's chancesof success. Not all scholastic failures, however, were attributable tocivilian educational achievement; disinterest also contributed to academicfailure. Lack of interest was most frequently noticed in trainees who hadbeen transferred from other arms or services. The Army Air Forces, in particular,seemed to have a penchant for assigning men who had no interest in becomingmedical technicians. On occasion, authorities also noticed a resistanceto training. Such resistance was noted during 1941 among draftees who wereunder the impression that they would be retained in the service if theyexcelled. The same tendency was reported late in 1944 for substantiallythe same reasons. Disciplinary dismissals, transfers, and recall for overseasmovements accounted for those students who failed to complete the coursesfor nonacademic reasons.

Trainees were sent to Medical Department Enlisted Technicians Schoolsfrom a variety of units and installations under the control of the ArmyAir, Army Ground, and Army Service Forces, but a few remained permanentlyunder the control of the Medical Department. Trainees sent to enlistedtechnicians schools by units and installations were returned to their parentorganization whether they failed or completed the course.⁶⁸

Unassigned trainees sent to schools from replacement training centerswere assigned to medical units and installations upon completion of theirtraining. Until April 1944, The Surgeon General had the authority to makerecommendations on the allocation of unassigned graduate technicians fromall commands except the Army Air Forces. Schools were required to submitreports on the availability of unassigned technicians through the Officeof The Surgeon General, which forwarded them to The Adjutant General withrecommendations for allocation. The Surgeon General could recommend assignmentto any medical activity in the Army, including those controlled by theArmy Air Forces. Only unassigned personnel sent to school by the Army AirForces were exempt. Technicians were assigned according to The SurgeonGeneral's recommendations, unless they were required as loss replacements.⁶⁹Unassigned trainees from AAF training centers who successfully completedtheir technical training were returned to the Air Surgeon for allocationto AAF medical organization.

⁶⁸(1) Circular Letter No. 49, Office of TheSurgeon General, 3 July 1940, subject: Selection of Enlisted Men, MedicalDepartment, for Attendance at Special Service Schools. (2) Letter, TheAdjutant General, War Department, to Commanding Generals, All Armies, CorpsAreas, and Medical Replacement Training Centers, Chiefs of Armored Forceand Army Air Force, 15 Jan. 1942, subject: Trainees Selected to AttendMedical Department Enlisted Technicians Schools.
⁶⁹(1) Letter, The Adjutant General, U.S. Army, to CommandingGenerals, Army Ground Forces and Services of Supply, 27 May 1942, subject:Enlisted Men From Replacement Training Centers to Attend Special ServiceSchools, and Their Assignment Upon Completion of Such Courses. (2) Letter,The Adjutant General, U.S. Army, to Arms and Services (except Air Corps),31 Dec. 1941, subject: Trainees Selected to Attend Special Service Schools.

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When the system of preactivation training was established on 15 April1944, The Surgeon General was relieved of his responsibility for makingdirect recommendations on the allocation of unassigned trainees.⁷⁰Under the preactivation program, technicians who had been sent to schoolfrom replacement training centers were returned to those centers for 3weeks of basic team training. After completing team training, they weredesignated as fillers or replacements and assigned to appropriate units.

⁷⁰(1) War Department Memorandum No. W615-70-42,17 Dec. 1942. (2) Army Service Forces Circular No. 104, 15 Apr. 1944.

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