The Army and economic mobilization (United States Army in World War II: The War Department)

776 Pages·1959·22.64 MB·English

by  R. Elberton Smith

UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II
The War Department
THE ARMY AND ECONOMIC
MOBILIZATION
by
R. Elberton Smith
CENTER OF MlUTARY HISTORY
UNITED STATES ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C., 1991

Foreword
In World War II the War Department, whose primary and traditional mis-
sion was to mobilize, train, and equip military forces and direct them in combat,
found itself drawn into the center of the gigantic effort to mobilize America's
industries for war. It became one of the principal agencies of the Government
in administering as well as planning the nation's economic mobilization. This
book, by an economist, tells how the War Department operated in performing
these tasks.
The experience had a lasting effect on the mission, organization, and outlook
of both the Army and the Air Force. Their present functions and structure
cannot be understood without reference to it. This volume is therefore of vital
interest to every officer.
Furnishing, as Dr. Smith's approach to his subject does, a comprehensive
view of the impact of war on the national economy, his book should prove inval-
uable to staff planners in all agencies of the Government, to industrial leaders, to
the civilian scholar, and to the thoughtful citizen.
The Army and Economic Mobilization is a complement, in the area of domes-
tic economy, to the two-volume work, Global Logistics and Strategy, in the area
of international economy. It is the capstone to others in the U.S. ARMY IN
WORLD WAR II that deal with the procurement and distribution of supplies
in their organizational and operative aspects. The relations with labor into
which the War Department was drawn are set forth in a forthcoming volume,
The Army and Industrial Manpower. A separate volume, Buying Air Power,
is being devoted to the special problems of procurement by and for the Army
Air Forces.
Washington, D. C. R. W. STEPHENS
10 October 1957 Maj. Gen. U. S. A.
Chief of Military History
ix