Quartermaster Supply Operations - US Army Combined Arms Center ...

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"The teaching& of the US Army that the impetus
of supply shall be from the rear are sound. The connecting
link betweea the Cammunicatlons Zone and the Army or the Army
Group should be an improved regulating ste,tion. The mission
of the improved regulating station should be carefully rede-
fined and broadened. It should be the contact agenoy with
the b.rdes and the Army Groups. They need Pew troops. A
small staff having a knowledge cf all depots - knowing on
which depot to place requisitions and being intimately associated
with all phases of military transport, can, in my
opinion, best accomplish the mission. The improved rep-
lating station referred to by me herein must know at all
times the status of requiaitibns placed - the status of supplies
shipped, tht is, their location enroute, thsir time
Of delivery to the Armias and other troops forward, etc.
l'hs vqq&iting ststfon as outlined by me should serve direct-
ly under, and receive its command orders frob the Commanding
neneral, Communications ?one. Its technical fnformatlon
should come from the Deputy Chiefs of Service located at
the Headquarters, Communications 7Z~ne.9'
30. m.
a. There was no form presaribad for the daily telegram
by the War Department. Eaoh army devissd its own form
for the use of its suborahate units (Appendix 3 ). This
procedure wm generally satisfactory from the standpoint of
both the armies end the subordinete units, with the exccp-
ticn that the forme were changed from time to timt and varied
mong the ardes, thus causing oonfusion emong the units.
Some forms were clonr and simple, while others gave break-
downs by types of retions and listed reserve and maintenance
stocks. Others, Lcter in the campaign, listed by oatcgory
the personnel for whom rhtlons were roquired.
b. In calling for supplies from the Comunlcations
Zone, the Army Qmxtermaster utilized no standard form. The
Sevbnth IJR Arq vuortermastbr submitted his requests by
letter (Appendlaas I+ & 5). Since the Army quartermastor,
unlike the nuartsrmaster or supply of'ficer of his subordinace
units, is concerned with stocking a number of instnllatiohs
rather than a single unit aupply dunp, and alnce he muat
maintain a oertain level of' supplies in order to furnish
day to day requirements for immediate consumption, his daily
call for supplioa can not h6 reduced to R standard, simpli-
fied form suitable under all conditions.
31. Fditin The question of the authority or advisability
ofe&un$ications "one to edit the daily telegram
submitted by the field forces arose when the Communi-
cations Zonc requested thnt Class I1 and Tv SUpplieB be
separated on the dally telegram. The guartermaster, Third
Us Army, stated "It.would be difficult to explain the tao-
tical reason for which much of this equipment is required,
,, and the Commandiq General, 12th Army Group,
in a le ter to the Commanding General, Communications Zone,
stated: s
"Thls headquarters recognizes the fact that
you, 8s the supply agency for this theater,
must odopt measures which will insure an equi-
table distribution of the aveilable supplies
to all wmmands of the theater. This is accomplished,
insofar 8s the elements of this com-
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