Quartmaster Corps, Chapter Fifteen
The strength of the QM company in the infantry division was 186 personnel and consisted of three truck platoons and a service platoon. Each truck platoon had 29 personnel who operated 16 2 ½-ton trucks, which drew Class 1 and Class 3 supplies daily from the army truck heads and distributed them to the vehicles of the combat units at divisional distribution points. The service platoon (49 men), manned the distribution point and transferred the supplies. Whenever possible, men of the service platoon also went with the trucks to the army truck heads to help load supplies as this saved valuable time, and it was time, not tonnage, that was the main limiting factor in all QM truck operations. Using trucks going back to collect rations for such extra purposes as evacuating POWs and salvage, was necessary, but placed an extra strain on drivers. Relief drivers could seldom be found, the service platoon was also responsible for collecting salvage, sorting laundry, operating showers, assisting grave registration units as well as a hundred other essential jobs. During combat operations, when supply lines lengthened and thousands of addition combat troops were attached to the division, the organic QM company couldn’t cope, so the corps would, whenever possible, loan extra troops from its service company to help the hard-pressed divisional companies. Each armored division went into combat with two QM truck companies, one used to haul regular supplies and one hauling POL products. The airborne division had a QM company with a strength of 87 men and 15 jeeps and trailers until 1944. During ground combat, after link up, a standard QM truck company would be attached to support the division. In late 1944, the airborne QM company was increased to a strength of 208 men, this was simply the permanent combination of the old airborne QM company and the attached truck company.
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The reason that the American Army does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the American Army practices chaos on a daily basis.
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