headquarters and headquarters batteries of the field artillery brigades became the headquarters and headquarters batteries of the division artillery. Other units within the division were reduced, redesignated, reassigned, or disbanded to fit the triangular configuration. The six Organized Reserve cavalry divisions were dropped from the tentative troop program and disbanded.[1]
Induction of the infantry divisions began on 25 March 1942, and by 31 December, twenty-six of the twenty-seven divisions were on active duty (Table 13). The 97th Infantry Division was not inducted into active military service until February 1943 because personnel were not available for its reorganization. Since none of these divisions had reserve cadre or equipment, the Army Ground Forces had to rebuild them totally. That process started when the War Department assigned a commander and selected a parent unit to provide a cadre. Approximately thirty-seven days before reorganization of the division, the commander and his staff reported to the unit's station. Officers and enlisted cadre, about 1,400 men from the parent unit, followed some seven days later, and shortly thereafter the remaining 500 officers arrived. Within five days after the arrival of all officers and cadre, a stream of about 13,500 recruits began to report. The division was considered reorganized and active fifteen days after the first fillers reached the division. Fifty-two weeks of training followed, which included seventeen weeks of basic and individual training. The divisions, after their initial fill, were to rely on replacement centers for personnel.[2]
Along with the reorganization of the Organized Reserve units, the War Department expanded the number of divisions in the Army of the United States. Reversing a post-World War I policy, the staff planned to activate some all-black divisions to accommodate the large number of black draftees. On 15 May 1942 Army Ground Forces organized the 93d Infantry Division at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Although it had the same number as the provisional Negro unit of World War I, it had no relationship or lineal tie with the old 93d. Following its activation, the Army Staff chartered at least three more all-black infantry divisions—the 92d, 105th, and 107th. The 92d Division, the all-black unit of World War I, was to be reconstituted, but the other two were to be new units. Under the plan, the 93d Infantry Division was to furnish the cadre for the 92d, the 92d for the 105th, and the 105th for the 107th. Army Ground Forces organized the 92d on 15 October 1942, but a shortage of personnel for worldwide service units prevented the formation of the others. Eventually the 105th and 107th Divisions were dropped from the activation list.[3]
To meet the number of divisions in the troop basis, the Armored Force activated nine more armored divisions in 1942, the 6th through the 14th. In organizing them, it followed the same cadre system as the Army Ground Forces used for infantry divisions.[4]
With the increased number of armored divisions, Brig. Gen. Harold R. Bull, the G–3 on the General Staff, discerned a way to eliminate unwanted cavalry divisions. He suggested to Army Ground Forces that it consider converting the two
- ↑ Ltr, TAG to CG, All Corps Areas and Department 30 Jan 42, sub: Reorganization of Organized Reserve (less Army Air Force units), AG–320.2 OR (1–22–42) MR-M-C; GO 15, First Corps Area, 12 Feb 42; Lit, Second Corps Area to Executive Offices, First, Second, and Third Military Areas, 20 Feb 42; sub: Reorganization of the Organized Reserves (less Army Air Force units); GO 17, Third Corps Area, 12 Feb 42; Ltr, Fourth Corps Area to Commanding Officers all Posts and Stations, 13 Feb 42, sub: Reorganization of Units of the Army Reserves (less Army AirForce units), Fourth Corps Area; Ltr, Fifth Corps Area to TAG, 23 Feb 42, sub: Reorganization of the Organized Reserves (less Army Air Force Units); Ltr, Sixth Corps Area to TAG, Reorganization of the Organized Reserves, 31 Mar 42, sub: Reorganization of the Organized Reserves; Ltr, Seventh Corps Area to TAG, 22 Feb 42, sub: Reorganization of the Organized Reserves (less Army Air Force Units); GO 2, First Military District, 1942, GO 27, Second Military District, 1942, GO 11, Third Military District, 1942, Eighth Corps Area; 1st Ind, Ninth Corps Area to TAG to Ltr, TAG to CG, All Corps Areas and Department, 30 Jan 42, sub: Reorganization of Organized Reserve (less Army Air Force units), all Reference Paper files, Army Reserve, DAMH-HSO.
- ↑ Historical Data Cards, Reserve Divisions, DAMH-HSO; Robert R. Palmer, Bell I. Wiley, and William R. Keast, The Procurement and Training of Ground Combat Troops, United States Army in World War II (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1948), pp. 434–41.
- ↑ Lee, The Employment of Negro Troops, pp. 128, 407, 424; MacGregor, Integration of the Armed Forces, pp. 32–33. Also see unit files of the 92d and 93d Infantry Divisions in DAMH-HSO.
- ↑ See unit files for the 6th through 14th Armored Divisions in DAMH-HSO.
