US Army
Quartermaster Foundation
Fort Lee, Virginia
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US Army
Quartermaster Foundation |
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AN
ARMY marches on
its wheels these days, and without fuels and lubricants those wheels bog down
in a morass of despair and ultimate defeat. Even in the First World War it was
said that the Allies floated to victory on a sea of oil. But that sea was merely
a trickle as compared to the deluge of today.
As a graphic illustration of the change in the tempo of warfare let us
consider a few "oil" facts that vitally affect the life and well-being
of Johnny Doughboy. Gasoline
needs in this war are eighty times greater than in the last war. Three
pounds of gasoline are needed to deliver one pound of bombs on an enemy
objective; every Flying Fortress sets out on a bombing mission with at least two
tons of gasoline. Every
American doughboy overseas requires an average of more than fifty gallons of
petroleum products per week. An
average of more than fifty million gallons of petroleum products daily are
shipped overseas to the fighting forces. About
two-thirds of all overseas shipping tonnage consists of petroleum products;
one-third of our total United States production goes to the military. A
single mechanized division requires 18,000 gallons of gasoline every hour it is
on the move. Early
in the war the Army Command recognized the vital importance of the uninterrupted
supply of the correct grades, specifications, and amounts of petroleum products
to the fighting man. Hence the Army
found itself in a new business oil. The Quartermaster General was assigned the
responsibility of insuring a sufficient supply of petroleum products and their
containers. Specifically, this responsibility covers all phases of Army fuels
and lubricants requirements: purchasing, inspection, storage, issue, and distribution
to the Army Ground Forces, to the Army Air Forces (except aircraft), and to the
Army Service Forces, with certain exceptions noted below. To
handle this assignment efficiently the Fuels and Lubricants Division was
established in the Office of The Quartermaster General and staffed with skilled
Army and civilian personnel, experienced in branches of the petroleum industry.
From all parts of civilian life and all ranks and grades of Army life men with
petroleum experience were recruited, until eventually a closely coordinated,
well organized, full-fledged unit was in operation under the supervision of
Brig. Gen. H. L. Peckham, Director of the Division. Let
us consider a few of the problems that arise when one is dealing with such
astronomical supply figures as hundreds of millions of gallons of product and
millions of product containers. It
is the Quartermasters' responsibility to keep in motion, on all fronts and under
all conditions, the Army’s countless thousands of trucks, self-propelled
artillery pieces, and mobile land and water equipment-from sixty-ton tanks to
half-ton jeeps; from Army transports and landing barges to laundries and sewing
machines. The continuous flow of oil and gas to these thirsty machines of modern
warfare must be uninterrupted. Nothing must stop or delay the constant flow of
oil from gushing well to sub-dodging tanker; from port of debarkation storage
tank to the final transporting receptacle -- one of the twenty-million-odd
five-gallon cans. Throughout
the entire chain of supply it is the Quartermasters' responsibility to
coordinate plans and operations with all Army, Navy, and civilian agencies.
Careful planning and gearing of available supply and distribution facilities to
actual consumption must be constantly maintained if the entire machinery of
civilian and military life is to function at the highest level of efficiency. The
Fuels and Lubricants Division has two broad spheres of operation: the zone of
the interior, which consists of the continental United States, and all other
areas, generally referred to as "off shore."
Most Quartermaster requirements can be estimated to a reasonable degree
of accuracy. For example, it is possible to forecast fairly accurately how many
shoes, coats or gloves Johnny Doughboy is going to need in a specific theatre of
operation over a given period of time. Petroleum products present a knottier
problem since every change in tide of battle, terrain, and weather creates
changes in demand which require prompt analysis and accurate decisions. The
enemy's strength must be gauged, and plans formulated for the destruction of
enemy oil production, storage, and distribution facilities.
Accurate estimates of enemy consumption and civilian needs in enemy
occupied territory are required if strategically sound attack plans are to be
developed. As territory is captured and occupied there arise the problems of
reclamation of products and reconstruction of production and distribution
facilities. When necessary,
arrangements must be completed for the supply and shipment of production and
refinery equipment to replace that destroyed beyond repair or to develop new
fields or plants. These are but a few of the many and varied problems which
confront the staff of the Fuels and Lubricants Division. Where
and how does the Division fit into the world-wide petroleum picture! Army and
Navy petroleum supply is coordinated with the United States Petroleum
Administration for War by the Army-Navy Petroleum Board in Washington, an agency
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Fuels and Lubricants Division acts as a
staff agency for General Somervell, performing all staff duties with regard to
petroleum. Let
us consider the functions and responsibilities of the various military and
civilian agencies concerned directly or indirectly with petroleum products. The
Army-Navy-Petroleum Board effects close cooperation between the War and Navy
Departments on all matters pertaining to petroleum, while maintaining close
liaison with the Petroleum Administration for War. It coordinates procurement,
overseas shipments, and storage and issue of products for the Army and the
matters with all other United Nations as directed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
It determines the requirement of petroleum products for the Army and Navy and,
in collaboration with the Petroleum Administration for War, evaluates the
capacity of the petroleum industry to provide the established requirements. It
can be readily understood that, in view of the above functions, the Fuels and
Lubricants Division must keep in close contact with the Board.
This is especially true of all matters concerning requirements,
forecasting, procuring, shipping, and storing-particularly in the establishment
of petroleum supply pools accessible to ports of embarkation. The coordination
of all procurement activities is absolutely essential if overlapping and
competitive bidding between the various procurement agencies is to be avoided. A
general view of the Division's relation to the Army Service Forces is essential
to a complete understanding of its place in the Army's petroleum organization.
The direct line of command extends from the Commanding General of the Army
Service Forces to the Technical Service. ASF Directors of Operations and
Materials direct the Fuels and Lubricants Division in a staff capacity in
certain matters. The responsibility for screening requirements has been
delegated by the Director of Operations to the Division. After screening,
approval must be obtained from ASF Headquarters before any procurement plans for
overseas requisitions may be formulated. In turn the Requirements Division of
ASF reviews, approves, and incorporates into the Army Supply Program the fuels
and lubricants requirements developed and reported to it by The Quartermaster
General. The authenticity, dependability, and accuracy of the latter estimates
are obviously all-important. In a nutshell, the Fuels and Lubricants Division is
responsible for handling most of the basic work detail concerning Army fuels and
lubricants requirements, but, for obvious reasons, is not given a free hand in
these matters by any manner of means. Last
in the military fuels and lubricants picture come the Service Commands.
The Division looks to the Service Commander for informative data on
requirements, inventory, and consumption in the of the interior. The regional
depots also perform the big job of procurement for overseas shipment. The
necessitates the maintenance of close liaison between the Fuels and Lubricants
Division and ports of embarkation on distribution, storage, and supply planning,
and on matters jointly concerning the regional depots and ports. The
most important civilian agency, insofar as petroleum is concerned, is the
Petroleum Administration for War. Its
basic function is to establish policies, formulate plans and programs, and issue
covering operations orders which will assure the most effect prosecution of the
war and, at the same time, conserve products and utilize production facilities
to the greatest possible degree. It acts as liaison and channel communication
between the petroleum industry and the agencies of the Federal Government. The
Fuels and Lubricants Division furnishes the agency with estimates covering Army
petroleum needs. Sound Army logistical planning requires first hand knowledge of
current production, refinery volumes, shipping and plant capacities, and product
types, all of which data is collected and supplied PAW. The Division must be
kept informed on product availability in order that the most economical
procurement policies may be established. Since PAW controls the pipeline systems
of the oil industry it must be kept informed, as far in advance as possible, of
military supply movements. Contact must be maintained with PAW's foreign
division in order that complete information covering American industry’s
foreign petroleum facilities may be available for use in any tactical and
logistical planning. Frequent
direct and indirect contact with the War Production Board is also maintained.
Some of the matters which mutually concern WPB and the Division are data
on specifications and requirements products and containers; recommendations on
conversion matters; and shipments of material used in the petroleum industry in
the United States and foreign countries. The
one remaining civilian agency with which the Division must maintain close
liaison is the Office of Price Administration. Many matters arise which concern
both the Army and OPA. For example, it was recently decided that military
personnel returned to this country from theatres of operation because of illness
should be given additional gas allotment in order to be able to use their cars
on emergency convalescence activities. The plan of procedure had to be formulated and developed by
Division personnel and then coordinated and published by OPA. Within
the Fuels and Lubricants Division itself there are seven branches under the
office of the Director. The
Requirements Branch is charged with the responsibility of forecasting
requirements of petroleum products for the Army of the United States throughout
the entire world, excluding products used in aircraft, and recoil and certain
special oils. This estimating responsibility also covers Allied troops (except
British) and civilian needs in territories occupied by Allied armies but not
rehabilitated by Allied civilian agencies. Responsibilities
of purchase, storage, and distribution assigned to the Operations Branch.
The planning Branch handles problems of supply, conservation and
consumption, and conversion to other fuels. The
work of preparing, testing, reviewing, and developing specifications and
standards is assigned to the Technical Branch. As new operating conditions are
encountered by our fighting forces, changes in product specification are
necessary. For example, the extreme cold of Alaska made it necessary to develop
new types of fuels and lubricants tailored for use in that theatre. The
Solid Fuels Branch is a self-contained unit which directs the procurement of
coal and assists in all plans concerning coal reserves in foreign territory
which the United Nations are interested. The
Administrative and Control Branches complete the Division organization. The
former renders office and personnel service to all branches, while the latter
assists in problems relating to overall organization, procedure, and management.
Field petroleum offices, concerned with negotiating purchase orders, storage,
and distribution, are located at Jersey City, Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles, and
Edmonton, Canada. Too great emphasis cannot be placed on the vital importance of
"oil" in this global struggle. It
is Johnny Doughboy's most potent weapon from the day of mobilization to the
last-not too distant, we hope--moment of demobilization. Gasoline and lube oils
help convey him during training and maneuvers, and under actual battle
conditions. Petroleum waxes are used to seal cartons and boxes which
contain his food other war materiel requiring protection against the elements.
In the North African campaign cartons and boxes so treated were tossed over the
ships' sides floated ashore with contents fresh and uncontaminated, thanks to
the protective and air-tight coat of petroleum wax. At the time, mountainous
seas and shores eliminated all other forms of ship-to-shore transfers. Smoke screens which have petroleum fog oil as a base are used to hide Johnny's movements as he storms enemy held positions. Petroleum paraffins and petrolatums used in Army salves and ointments speed the healing of wounds, and gasoline drives the generators that lights the medical operating-room lamp. Back behind the front lines it is gasoline or fuel oil that motivates the various machines which mend his shoes, repair his clothes, wash his socks, and sterilize his equipment. Transporting, feeding, protecting, cleaning, healing – always the magic of petroleum is ministering to the U.S. Army fighting man. Return to: Quartermaster Corps in World War II or Petroleum and Water History
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