McFreedom

Continuing our series, here is our twelvth Willie and Joe cartoon:

"So I told Company K they'd just have to work out their replacement problem for themselves."

The American replacements system in World War II was notorious for its problems. It is questionable whether, if you set out to design as bad a system as possible, you could come up with something worse. The effectiveness of a fighting force depends on morale, and the cornerstone of morale is the bond between the troops. The original soldiers trained together for years before entering the fray, so on the battlefield, they knew the men beside them were trustworthy. They had shared experiences, shared jokes, they knew each other as well as men can.

The modern system of replacing battlefield casualties is to keep units together. As a unit on the battlefield gets depleted from casualties (or merely exhausted), it will be rotated back from the front for a little rest. A completely new unit - all of whom have trained together - will replace it in the line. Men stay with men they know. If the resting company needs significant replacements, those replacements will be added to the ranks away from the front, and the unit can then spend some time training together and assimilating the green troops.

Unfortunately, in World War II, the American practice was essentially the opposite of this. Units were kept in the field indefinitely. New troops, fresh out of basic training, were deployed to the front in ones and twos as they were needed. From the point of view of the new troops, it is hellish - you're thrown into combat with a bunch of men you've never met, before. Worse, they all know that, as a replacement, you're very likely to end up a casualty almost immediately, so no on invests any emotional time in you. Make it through the first weeks alive, and the seasoned vetrans will eventually open up, as you become one of them.

They had a saying in World War II - "There's three ways of doing anything: The right way, the wrong way, and the Army way." Clearly the system above was the wrong way. The Army way was to not actually have those replacements when you needed them...

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