516
T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
bers. This department was under the direction of ofBcers sent from the Fort Sill School of Fire. To determine the practicability of building up a given concentration of gas with artillery fire, to test the persistency of a concentration, or to learn its actual effect upon animals, a large number of shell were thrown on a given area in a very short period of time. The preliminary adjustment was usually accurately made by the percussion-precision method on some point near the zone to be attacked. Fire was then shifted t o the zone and the desired number of rounds fired. As the observation point was well forward of the flank of the zone attacked, very accurate conduct of fire was possible. With the cessation of hostilities on November I T , 1918,the work of the Division was abruptly terminated. By the end of that month all experimental work had been concluded and by January I, 1919,three-fourths of the commissioned and enlisted personnel had been released from the service. PROVING DIVISION CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE, U.S. A. LAXEHURST, N. J.
THE PERSONNEL SECTION, CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE, U. S. A.1 By FREDERICK E. BREITRUT,Major, Chemical Warfare Service, U. 9. A. Received March 24, 1919
Previous issues of This JOURNAL have contained accounts of the work of the various divisions of the Chemical Warfare Service. The remarkable output of research, the development of promising ideas, and the production of gas offense and gas defense materials on a hitherto unheard-of scale were naturally paralleled with a corresponding growth in personnel, and it is of this phase of the activities of the Chemical Warfare Service that this_article_treats.
FIG. 1-SHOWING
NUMBER O F COMMISSIONED PERSONNEL EXCLUSIVE OF EUROPEAN DIVISION
On the day the armistice was signed, the Personnel Section of the Administration Division of the Chemical Warfare Ser-
vice had seven branches. The names and functions of these branches appear on the organization chart. An examination of this chart shows that the Personnel Section of the Chemical Warfare Service performed all of the functions of the Personnel Sections of the other staff corps of the Army and was also charged with two additional responsibilities: (I)the control of the chemists entering the Army, and (2) a census of chemists, both military and civilian, of the whole country. Chemists are naturally most interested in these latter phases of the work. 1 Publication approved by the Director of the Chemical Warfare Service, U. S. A.
Vol.
11,
No. 6
The assignment of chemists entering the Army was part of the work of the Enlisted Branch. All chemists who were drafted into the Army were reported to this branch upon reaching their cantonments. These men were held a t the cantonments pending the investigation by the Chemical Warfare Service of their qualifications as chemists. Those who had adequate training were then transferred to chemical work, military or civilian, by the Adjutant General’s Office, upon the recommendation of the Chemical Warfare Service. The following table shows what was accomplished along these lines up to November I, 1918: Total number of men reported by camps to Chemical Warfare Service as chemists.. DISPOSITION Proved (on investigation) not to be chemists.. Ordered t o remain with organizations for chemical d u t y . . Unavailable for transfer from organizations for military reasons, etc... Furloughed t o essential industries.. Furloughed to universities as teachers. Transfer requested t o Chemical Warfare Service. Transfer requested to Ordnance Department, Transfer requested to Medical Department.. Transfer requested to Quartermaster Corps Transfer requested to Air Service.. Held for investigations of qualifications.
.......................................
3,814
...................
64 1
........ 318 .................................................... 430 ............................ 107 53 .......................... ............... 1,726 333 .................... 24 .................... 6 ...................... 12 ............................. 164 ........................ TOTAL .................................................. 3,814
The fear had frequently been expressed that the United States would repeat the error of both England and France of sending her chemists to the line instead of utilizing their technical training in chemical work. The facts show that this fear was unjustified. Chemists not needed for chemical work in the American Expeditionary Force were kept on this side of the Atlantic and were placed either on chemical work or some work in close relation thereto. At the worst there were errors in the assign-
FIG. 2-fhIOWING
NUMBER OR ENLISTED PERSONNEL
EXCLUSIVE]OR
EUROPEAN DIVISION
ment of men to particular chemical tasks. This was due in the main to the discrepancy between the demand of the Army for chemists and the supply procurable from the draft. This discrepancy forced a hurried distribution of men to fill the most urgent need a t the time when reported by the camps. At times there was dissatisfaction among some of the men affected and considerable anxiety was felt by those who had the best interest of American chemistry and America’s success in the war a t heart, Happily the danger of wasted man power in this direction was foreseen, and it may be stated that within the limitations just given the chemical man power of the country was conserved. Measures had just been taken when the armistice was signed to utilize this man power a t its maximum of
T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
June, 1919
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I
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3
26
517
T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y efficiency. The Adjustment Branch of the Personnel Section, in charge of Lt. Charles F. Roth, had begun an investigation of the duties of the Army’s chemists with a view to giving each one a task commensurate with his qualifications. It was expected that, barring a small percentage of men whose transfer could not be accomplished for military reasons, errors incident to the necessarily hurried assignment of chemists during the period of almost unbelievably rapid expansion of our Army would be corrected to the manifest advantage of the Government and the chemists. I n this phase of the work the advice and help of the Relations Section, in charge of Colonel Marston T.Bogert, were cheerfully given and availed of. The Census Branch of the Personnel Section took a census of American chemists. This census was designed as an aid to the Government in its problem of the allocation of chemists in military and industrial work during the war, and especially in industrial work upon the demobilization of the Army. It is a pleasure to be able to state that 16,000American chemists responded to the call and returned the 4-page questionnaire giving full details of their training, past experience, and equipment. The information thus given was transcribed on cards which were classified and cross-indexed so that the most available man might be located in the shortest possible time. The classification was made in’ two ways. The chemists were first listed under the following classification headings: 22-Laboratory assistant 23-Leather 24-Metallurgist-fetrous metals and alloys 25-Metollurgist, non-ferrous metals and alloys 26-Organic chemist (not otherwise listed) 27-Paint and varnish 28-Pharmaceutical and photographic chemicals 29-War gases 30-Professor or instructor 3 1-Pyrotechnics 32-Rubber 33-Sanitary 34-Sugar, starch, and gum 35-Textiles 36-Miscellaneous 37-Executive 38-General analyst 39-Physiologist 40-Pharmacist
1-Acids and alkalies 2-Bacteriological 3-Biochemist 4-Cement, classed as chemist or tester 5-Chemical engineer 6-Chemical worker, skilled 7-Coal-tar products (not otherwise listed) 8-Dairy 9-Dyes 1 0-Electrochemist 1 1-Explosives, high 12--Explosives, black powder 13-Fatty oils, waxes, soaps 14-Fertilizers 15-Foods 16-Fuels 17--Gases, other than war gases 18-Glass 19-Glass blower 20-Iron and steel analyst 2 1-Junior chemist
I
Secondly, the chemists were classified according to the function which they usually performed, that is to say, a man with experience in operations work in a rubber factory, for example, would be of greater utility as an operations man in another kind of factory rather than as an analytical rubber chemist. COMPARISON
NUMBEROF COMMISSIONED PERSONNEL Increase Per cent DIVISION August 1 October.31 115 69 Administration. ........... 32 405 318 63 Training. 173 89 243 Research. ......................... 300 6 24 Medical. .......................... 422 9 A7 Development. ..................... 79 19 34 Proving, .......................... 54 265 Gas Defense Production.. ........... 172 119 329 Gas Offense Production.. . . . . . . . . . . . 150 OF
................
-
TOTAL........................
540
COMPARISON OF NUMBEROF
146
ENLISTED PERSONNEL
August 1 DIVISION 52 Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Training. ...................... 3 Research ....................... 794 Medical ....................... 35 104 Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proving ........................ 284 Gas Defense Production.. ........ 1 ,270 Gas Offense Production.. . . . . . . . . 4,339
TOTAL. ....................
-
1,329
6,88 1
October 31 109 214 1,068 93 819 627 2,067 6,884
11,881
Increase Per cent 109 7 ,033 34 165 687 121 63 58
72
Vol.
11,
No. 6
A new set of specifications for chemists, in harmony with the census classification, was furnished the Committee on the Classification of Personnel in the Army, and the set of specifications thus worked out was published as an appendix to the Trade Specifications and Index of the Occupations of the United States Army. On November I, 1918,the Personnel Section rendered a report to Major General Wm. L. Sibert, Director of the Chemical Warfare Service, reviewing its past work and presenting a program for the future. The preceding tables taken from that report show the enormous increase in all divisions of the Chemical Warfare Service (exclusive of the European division) during the last 3 months of mobilization. A glance a t the tables reveals the fact that among the officers the increase in this 3-month period fell below IOO per cent in only two of the divisions, while in two of them it rail over 400 per cent. Among the enlisted men three divisions have an increase of less than IOO per cent, but these divisions already had a large personnel and even in these cases the increase is considerable, running well over 50 per cent in all but one division, namely, the Research Division. The Research Division was largely a complete organization when it was brought under the jurisdiction of the War Department. It is also interesting to note that the largest increases were in the Training and Development Divisions, the two divisions which most needed to be pushed in order to enable every soldier who sailed from America to go fully equipped, offensively and defensively, for gas warfare. The joyful news of November 1 1 necessitated a complete reversal of the administrative machinery, and the work of demobilization was carried on with a vigor almost equal to that of mobilization. In this connection the wise vision of Major General Sibert was reflected in the following order sent to all his division chiefs: It is desired that the enlisted and commissioned personnel of the Chemical Warfare Service be discharged as rapidly as is consistent with the efficient maintenance of the integrity of the organization. In case a man is needed by a civilian company every effort should be made to secure his return to his normal civilian activity with the least possible delay. So long as the war was in progress it was necessary to subordinate the individual’s wishes to the country’s good. The war being ended, it is advantageous both from personal and economic standpoints that officers and enlisted men be given opportunity to return promptly to remunerative positions in civil life. The rate of mobilization and demobilization is graphically shown in Figs. I and 2 . The lag from the middle of September to the middle of October was due to the influenza epidemic which prevented the removal of men from the camps. The continued growth for a short period after the signing of the armistice was due to the execution of orders already in transit before the issuance of new orders adjusting the Army program to the new status quo. In addition to the numbers given in these charts there should be added the personnel of the Eurbpean Division. On November 30, 1918,the numbers were 572 commissioned officers and 5,257 enlisted men. The maximum number of commissioned personnel for the whole Chemical Warfare Service was reached on November 30, 1918-1,860 officers. By February I, 1919, this number had been reduced to 894, that is to say, 52 per cent of the commissioned personnel had been discharged. Similarly, the maximum number of enlisted men for the whole Chemical Warfare Service was reached on November 26, 1918-18,013 men. By February I, 19x9,this number had been reduced to 8,266, that is to say, 54 per cent of the enlisted personnel had been discharged. In conclusion, the author wishes to express his sincere appreciation of the service of those with whom he was associated in this work. ADMINISTRATION DIVISION, c. w. WASHINGTON, D. C .
s., u. s. A.
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