S86: Officers' Miscellaneous Study

To find out officers’ attitudes toward the Army Orientation program and to collect attitude data on the following areas:

Branch preference and attitudes toward every other branch
Attitude toward the Army utilization of experience, training and skills
Army adjustment
Desire for combat
Longevity of the war
Internationalism-Isolationism attitudes
Opinion of Enlisted Men’s attitudes
Demobilization choices
Interest in post-war education.
Interest in post-war Army career

Questionnaire

Date

Dec '43

Original Size

1,059

Location

Sample Description

a. A sample of 1,059 white company grade line and staff officers from regular units in 5 ASF and AGF and 3 AAF installations in Continental United States. Includes UTC and ERC officers from one camps (Crowder)

b. A subsample which is a cross section of 3 divisions (the 66th, 75th, and 77th infantry divisions) was derived from the overall sample. This sample can be separated from the total by sorting out the “X’s” in Col. 80.

Sample Method

See Planning Survey II for standard operating procedure.

Scales and Scores

a. Cross-section gang punched "x" in Col. 80 of Cards I and II combined and Card III

b. Post-war Army (Qs 81-83) on bottom half of Col. 7 of Card III

c. Types of Responses to Post-war Foreign Policy Items (1st scoring) on Col. 71 of Card III

d. Post-war Foreign Policy Items (2nd scoring) on Col. 30 of Card III

Location Details

Alamogordo Bombing Range, NM

Biggs Field, TX

Camp Crowder, MO

Camp Pickett, VA

Camp Sutton, NC

Davis-Monthan Army Air Base, AZ

Ft. Leonard Wood, MO

Ft. Monmouth, NJ

Richmond Army Air Base, VA

Field Personnel

Donald Griffin

Ralph Lewis

William M. Zurflieh

George Hausknecht

Arthur Strang

Eugene J. Zander

Raymond J. Howe

Gould Beech

M. Brewster Smith

George E. Cole

Donald Horton

F. Douglas Williams

Study Analysts

Lyonel C. Florant

George Hausknecht

Shirley Star

Abram Jaffe

Edward Suchman

Reports

B-91 Opinions and information about the Army Orientation Course (Preliminary Report)

B-95 Opinions and Information about the Army Orientation Course

B-100 Opinions of Enlisted Men in the United States and in Two Overseas Theaters, and Opinions of Line Officers of Company Grade in the United States on Post-war Compulsory Military Training

Nara Catalog

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7062767

94.1

If you were made responsible for a program to inform enlisted men in your outfit about current events and the progress of the war, what subjects would you consider most important?

94A

Something else. Tell what:

Fighting methods

The relations of the branches and the actions of my particular branch

Advantages army training and experience are given them

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If you have any further remarks to make on any subject, please write them below as fully as you like.

Colored troops should never be used in combat. - Entirely to much paper work is required to be able to conduct a training program as it should be. - All meetings, court Martials, lectures should be conducted during duty hours and not at night when all men and officers are anxious to get it over with and leave. - Much more training should be given to colored troops and extra officer personnel should be provided to train them properly. Pressure should not be put on outfits to get all men insured and most of men buying bonds. Cases have been noted where passes were not given until outfits had their quota. This is undemocratic but is being done.

1. Raise the intelligence standard for induction into the Army.

2. Eliminated limited service men 3. Lower the minimum requirements for Medical discharge 4. Do no induct syphletics 5. Do not use colored men as engineer soldiers.

I believe a more serious attitude toword conduct of the war and necessity for winning it should be brought out more forcibly to all military personnel. Too many men, officers included, have an air of complacency that serves no good. Sooner everyone realizes that this is gonna big [be] a tremendous job, the better off all will be. I don't think all concerned consider it very serious at present.

I do think more attention should be given to men who are better qualified for other jobs than the ones they now hold. I know it is quite difficult to place every one where he thinks he is best fitted but the Army is loosing some very good men because they are unproperly placed. More consideration should be given this deserving subject.

Enlisted men are not being placed according to their skills at all times and causing the Army to have dissatisfied men and also loosing quit a bit of effeciency

As to which branch I like best and which is most important they are all important. We couldn't do without any of them unless we combined them with another branch. I still have to make up my mind about going to school or taking a job if I can't stay in the army.

1 The army has too much supervision, too many regulation, spends too much time doing things that we know damn well will not help the war effort.

2 The Air Corp gets all the glory, has easy life, gets all the good clothing & equipment & all the build - up. It conditions them to the point that they are "Gods - chosen children."

I've heard continually of "organization" and "planning" for anything. If properly done, these things are important, but they are always overemphasized. More time is wasted on preliminaries than is consumed on the job.

What the army, like the government, needs is less bureaucracy in order to produce more efficiency.

I think a discussion of the several campaigns and the fighting on all the fronts would help a soldier to understand his job better and would show him what to do and what not to do.

Men should have more combat training with real bullets & guns, bombs, planes and equipment.

On all subjects if you say this "Only that which is measurable is real." - "That which cannot function ceases to exist" "Designed function should be through the methodology of the determination of the most probable."

Officers assigned to EORP [European Theater of Operations] be attached to units to gain experience with troops and not given duties that EM [Enlisted Men] could do. Also to make their duties full time duties, and not let them have too much time to get dissatisfied.

Believe that more consideration should be given to discharge of men not physically qualified or else placing them in Station Complement.

Also a closer check of a mans SSN.

Officers taking part in this survey should be informed of results as soon as possible.

More responsibility to be placed on NCO's in new organizations. Have more schools for NCO's during duty hours.

There should be more questionaires such as these. I believe these are very much nearly like the average opinions.

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3 Questions

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