Preface
This study is one of a series dealing with the administrative historyof the U.S. Army Medical Department in World War II. As an account of theprograms developed in the Zone of Interior to train Medical Departmentpersonnel to operate fixed medical installations and field units, it focuseson the organization and administration of training, changes in scope andemphasis, the development of doctrine and technique, and responses to personneland supply problems. Other volumes in the clinical and administrative seriesnecessarily impinge to an extent upon the subject matter of this study,just as this volume deals with problems of organization and administration,personnel, and supply falling within the scope of training. In this book,training is considered in the context of the Army and the Medical Departmentover the period from 1938 to 1945, providing a unified picture of MedicalDepartment training efforts.
The training volume itself has a long and complex history. Work on theproject began during World War II, when the Office of The Surgeon Generalwas directed to prepare a manuscript history of its training activitiesto serve as source material for a projected history of training under theArmy Service Forces. Under the supervision of Lt. Samuel M. Goodman, MAC,AUS, several young officers at the Office of The Surgeon General were assignedto the project, and by the end of the war, these officers completed a 10-volumemanuscript encompassing all phases of Medical Department training conductedunder the jurisdiction of the Army Service Forces. Although these studieswere of uneven value, they served as the foundation for all subsequentversions of the training volume.
In 1946, shortly after work began on the administrative history of theMedical Department in World War II, the project was assigned to Mr. GravesH. Wilson, a civilian historian employed by The Historical Unit. AlthoughMr. Wilson was unable to complete more than fragments of the study beforeleaving the unit in 1952, he compiled an extensive file of verbatim notesto supplement manuscripts written during the war.
Following the departure of Mr. Wilson, the training volume lay fallowuntil 1956, when it was reactivated under the aegis of an Advisory EditorialBoard, whose members are listed on a preceding page of this volume. Keyfigures on this board included Maj. Gen. Paul R. Hawley, USA (Ret.), whoacted as chairman until his death in 1965, when he was succeeded by Maj.Gen. Thomas J. Hartford, USA (Ret.). Determined to produce an exemplaryvolume, the board decided to tap the skills of officers with extensiveexperience in training and apply a technique of group authorship that hadbeen used with great success in Medical Department clinical histories.After the board amended and adopted an outline prepared by the MedicalField Service School, Col. Charles A. Pendlyshok, MSC, USA (Ret.), andLt. Col. John A. Ey, Jr., MSC, AUS (Ret.), were chosen as project officers.In cooperation with the Advisory Editorial Board, these officers selecteda number of individuals who had held important training positions duringWorld War II to participate in the creation of a manuscript. Together,the project officers and the individuals cited in the list of contributorsovercame many problems. After Colonel Pendlyshok left The Historical Unitfor another assignment, Colonel Ey supervised the completion of a draftmanuscript. By 1964, however, it had become apparent that the techniqueof group authorship could not be adapted to the requirements of the administrativeseries, and Colonel Ey's retirement made it impossible for him to undertakethe necessary revisions.
Because staff replacements were not immediately available, the trainingvolume was put aside until 1966, when the project was assigned to Mr. WilliamD. Shaver, formerly of the Historians Branch. Working from a revised outlineprepared by Dr. Charles M. Wiltse, formerly Chief Historian, Mr. Shaverbegan the process of screening documents but unfortunately left The HistoricalUnit before this phase of the revision could be completed.
Shortly after Mr. Shaver's departure, the project was assigned to Capt.Robert J. Parks, MSC, AUS, a Reserve officer who had been called to activeduty at The Historical Unit. Captain Parks is a graduate of Western MichiganUniversity, Kalamazoo, Mich., and completed the requirements for the M.A.and the Ph. D. degrees at Michigan State University. Working under thedirection of the undersigned, and using as guidelines valuable suggestionsmade by the Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of theArmy, he completed a stylistic, organizational, and substantive revisionof the training volume, making maximum use of all previous versions ofthe manuscript.
If any one individual were to be singled out as author, it would haveto be Captain Parks, but so many others have made important contributionsthat it would be unfair to give preeminent credit to any one of them. Theentire list of contributors and reviewers appears under Acknowledgments.Very special thanks are due, however, to General Hawley and to GeneralHartford. Others who labored long and diligently to make the book a successare Mrs. Claire M. Sorrell of the General Reference and Research Branchand Mrs. Marjorie G. Shears of the Editorial Branch who did the editingand compiled the index. Thanks are also due to Dr. Stetson Conn, formerlyChief Historian, Office of the Chief of Military History; to Brig. Gen.John Boyd Coates, Jr., USA (Ret.), former Director of The Historical Unit,who set the project in motion; and to Col. Arnold L. Ahnfeldt, MC, USA(Ret.), and Col. Robert S. Anderson, MC, USA (Ret.), former Directors ofThe Historical Unit; and to the present Director, Col. William S. Mullins,MSC, USA, who sustained the project.
ROSE C. ENGELMAN.
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