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31 Army Hist. 1 (1994)

handle is hein.milandgov/aryhsy0031 and id is 1 raw text is: ARMY HI SOR TUE PROFFSSIONAL BULLETIN (Th A RMY hIiSTORY PB-20-94-4 (No. 31) Washington, D.C. Summer 1994 Morale Problems in Combat American Soldiers in Europe in World War II Francis C. Stkeket This artie is ~aed on a paper Doctor Stecl presented w The Center of Alizary Itsory' mei r k4, enc ' Arm Ilirn rI WahI ng1o, DC. lane 199 Conventiona' w idm saes tha ii i hard to argue with sucess. hut the U S. Ary Ground 7IeS in W orld War i were an excepin this princple. American ground troops (espeiall although not clumiely, the iantry) have been criticied Mr delI tieni combat skis and a lack of aggressveness and in(iatie, despite their role i defeatng WTe Axis ied fores In Men gainsi Fire, S L A. Marshall tes the low percentage of American soldiers who anitied to tiing their weapons a the enemy asevidence of a lack of aggressive spirit in the grournd forces ( I Although Lhe research and quaniicarlon methods of Marshall \ ratob a rgument he el c~n ed -)nhlr indwcaoonsofi he lack of initative in American ground troops include deficiencies in aggressive patrolling and scouring overdependence on artillery and air s - i' and a krr'averson i rht fhtin and hd to handcombat thantheirGerman and Brtush counter- pails had (3) Several factors coniuted to such mn<uonal proIeim inc bat. Lew is B ersh y, commandrof the Selective Service Sy tm, behf ed the auesve Army r'gm mat n red Lsoldiersw w uldi aci ont Shir n and w a needd 1th direct ord nd close supervision. More recently. Mariin van CIefeld in his work, Fghing /wer, argues that in contrast to te i .Il i ssioa-oflnedG mcnu ' mmnds- tern, the more rigid A merican command system failed to train soldiers to think and act for themselves, (4) Oilier considerations include the disruption ol unit Cobit n by breaung up an)s during training and the training itself. which-at least early in the war- lacked realism and railed to prepare men for w hat thes could expect on the battlcleid. ( 5) Also, manpower policies divented hundreds of thousands ol high-quab ny personnel to tThe Ay Air Forces, Army Service Iorces. and Speci rd Training Program, thus de pnivig the Army Gtound Forces t and again especialy the iantry) its l shae: of men who show ed the most proise ltr indi dual imtiuaite and achievement. ri) Although an article of this scope canntl deal with al these issues i detail, it i ll focus on explaliting how two particular result of the Armi ny manpower poW- ctrs co'nued to morale problems associated wth the lack ot initiative among American giound troops In Lurope The two factors are the replacement systm and the Lick of rotation roni fnne duty 'The imdividual replacement. feeling Isolated at ben sent to join a group of straiigeni and lacking a si'tse at unit pride and cohesion, had a far more df licu tune adjusting to f ro mne conditi ons than did soldiers who entered combat with the samte men they hd know n throuh weks mju b dor ew'nyears e trtnming and other prucombat seriCe. Replacements, often poorly received unil the y proved themselves to the veterans of their new unit, felt alone during their bapIsm o lire and typicaly suLered higher casualty rates i their Iirsm engagements than did units com- posed entrely of untried soldiers, Concerns about the replacement sestcm mounted as more and more men wmithou Ihi Lurpn uricte ern emnt yp tern, w hich had a capacity of I PQO0 men and handled a tot rEol I mit ion soldiers, tr hoIt L the persot nel w ho serixed in the theater. (7) Replacements reponing to a unit behind the front line' hwd it tt time i t . djut 1bfore entering combat, hut newly armiving men still had otlen missed key aspects of uni training. In the Itt Infantry Divsion, selected commissioned and noncommissionedoffieris u'e brief resr peniods in the Norh Ai icampan 1v ondu't 'celeramed courses for nc mng rep acc

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