History
4th
Service Command and the Army Service Forces
At
the outbreak of WWII the United States Army organized the Army Service Forces.
Within that Army Service Forces there were nine Service Commands.
The 4th Service’s Command Headquarters was in
Atlanta,
Georgia
which encompassed the 4th Corp area also known as the 4th
Service Command.
North Carolina,
South Carolina,
Georgia,
Florida,
Alabama,
Tennessee,
Mississippi, and
Louisiana
were under this command. The
Commanding Officer of the 4th Service Command was Major General
Henning.
The Service Commands under the direction of the Army Service Forces was
commanded by Lt. General Brehon B. Somervell and consisted of 1,569,000 men and
played a vital part in the successful prosecution of the war.
They were responsible for supply, equipping and movement of troops both
at home and overseas; for food, clothing, equipment, ammunitions, and medical
services; for the road, rail and sea transportation; for personnel record and
mail service. In addition they ran
the military bases, coordination of the military ammunitions productions in the
continental US, and the actual issue of weapons.
They were also responsible for the steady stream of supplies to all
theaters of war; in addition they provided educational programs, films and
newspapers to the troops. Their
supply lines extended over 56,000 miles and they had the authority over seven
technical services, eight administrative services and nine service commands, six
ports of embarkations, and nine general depots.
The responsibilities of the 4th Service Command at
Camp
Blanding
included the daily operations the base facilities, providing the instructors to
run the various trainings, to see to every aspect of the soldiers need so that
he could become an effective member of the American Fighting Force.
The
design of the 4th Service Command shoulder insignia was arbitrarily selected to
represent the 4th Corps Area Service Command. White, being a mixture of
all colors, was selected for the reason that Corps Area Service Commands may be
composed of all arms and services. The geometric design represents the Command's
numeric designation.
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