US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Dix, NJ)

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The 34Th Division Malor General Russel P I-IarTle commanding, arrived Trom Camp Claiborne La I January I942 ATTer compIeTion OT sTaging procedures The division deparTed Tor overseas in Three 3 incremenTs The T1rsT arrived in NorThern Ireland I February I942, ThereaTTer oTher uniTs sTreamed Through ForT Dix in rapid suc- cession The lsT Armored Division Malor General Orlando Ward, commanding arrived Trom I:orT Knox Ky closely Tollowed by The 2d Armored Division Malor General W D CriTTenberger while The Many miscellaneous groups passed Through ForT Dix in l942- 22nd OuarTermasTer RegimenT 55IsT Signal Air Warning BaTTalion, 382d 384Th and 389Th OuarTermasTer BaTTalions I77Th and 827Th Engineer BaTTaI1ons 379Th and 398Th PorT BaTTaIions 9OTh OuarTer- The 4Th Mechanized Division Malor General R O BarTon, arrived aT ForT Dix in April I943 and leTT in SepTember I943 Tor Train- ing in Florida beTore overseas sh1pmenT During :Ts sTay The division In The spring oT I943 The 80Th Division Maior General Frank A. KeaTing arrived During 1Ts sTay a serious TransiT sTrilce occurred in Philadelphia and a regimenT oT This uniT parTicipaTed in handling sTriIce In SepTember I943 The 74IsT Tanlc BaTTalion was sTaged aT PorT Dix as well as The 245Th uarTermasTer BaTTalion 44Th and l06Th EvacuaTion I-IospiTals 8l8Th Tanlc DesTroyer BaTTaI1on 7I9Th M P. In November I943 The 2d Ranger BaTTal1on 2I ITh Field ArTillery BaTTalion The 537Th AAA AWI BaTTalion The 85Th Division com- manded by Malor General John B CoulTer and in December I943, Early in I944 The 628Th Tank DesTroyer BaTTalion I5Th General I-lospiTal 46OTh AAA BaTTalion 3468Th Ordnance Company 628Th Engineers and The I68Th OuarTermasTer Trucking Company passed of cannon balls. This developmenf is IocaTed on The JobsTown- WrighTsTown Road. In Two IZI years, over I,600 builoings were consTrucTed including 53I barraclcs, I73 dayrooms, I78 dining halls, I72 buildings Tor com- pany adminisTraTion and sTorage, 35 recreaTion buildings, 4I ad- minisTraTion buildings, I3 chapels, I4 inTirmaries, 23 hospiTal bar- raclcs, I8 hospiTal quarTers, 26 moTor repair shops, 28 warehouses, I0 Tire sTaTions, I2 gasoline sTaTions, 6 TheaTres and 2 morgues. AT The airTield lnow McGuire Air Force Basel, 3300.000 was expended in applying a biTuminous concreTe surTace To Three l3l runways. This Tield Thus became one oT The Tew Tields ThaT could be used as a base Tor B-29's and many such planes leTT This base Tor I service overseas. Toward The end oT The war many wounded were reTurned by air Trom Europe Tor hospiTalizaTion in This counTry. TilTon General I-IospiTal named in honor OT James TilTon, Surgeon General oT The U. S. Army, I8l3-I8l5, was one oT The TirsT canTonmenT Type hospiTals builT during World War ll. The TirsT paTienT was admiTTed July I94I. The New Yorlc and New Jersey NaTionaI Guard, was TirsT To occupy l:orT Dix and assembled on The posT prior To compIeTion oT barraclcs and oTher TaciliTies. The I I9Th ObservaTion Squadron, 44Th Division, occupied The airTield. Maior General CliTTord H. Powell, Commanding General, 44Th Division, became PosT Commander. The I229Th Service Command UniT laTer The I262d RecepTion CenTer was acT1vaTed and admlnlsTered The processing OT seIecTive I . Bwnssmavm-fm fs T

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I939 GENERAL STAFF PICTURE Froni' row: Mai David R. WolverTon. LT Col Lawrence C. Frizzell, Col ArThur A. Poillon, PosT Com- mander, Mai Wallace E. HaclreTT, Mai Henry W. Fay, Capf E. C. Miller, Jr. Second row: Mai Jerome PickeTT, Mai William Kraus, Capi' Thomas E. Terry, Mai John Tighe. Pre World War ll AcTiviTies C.C.C. acTiviTy aT Camp Dix increased To such exTenT by I937 ThaT during ThaT year The C.C.C. Discharge and ReplacemenT CenTer was esTablished. This cenTer handled approximaTely l0,000 enrollees and dischargees every quarTer. AT The beginning oT each period 5,000 men were received Trom camps on The wesT coasT, processed Tor discharge and reTurned home. lmmediaTely ThereaTTer, approxi- maTely The same number were received, enrolled, processed and shipped To camps on The wesT coasT as replacemenTs. ln SepTember l940, The C.C.C. Discharge and ReplacemenT CenTer was moved Temporarily To SeagirT, N. J., where iT remained unTil early in I94l when iT was reTurned To l:orT Dix and deacTivaTed. ln I939, by General Order No. l issued by lvlaior General Hugh A. Drum, Commanding General, Second Corps Area, Camp Dix was redesignaTed ForT Dix. Summer Training oT The C.lv1.T.C. and Organized Reserve Corps personnel was conTinued. The posT was garrisoned by The I6Th ln- TanTry. ln The summer oT l939, 2l,000 young men were inducTed inTo The C.M.T.C. RegimenT on The parade grounds where Tormerly sTood The barracks oT The 78Th Division. Training was conducTed by oTTicers oT The 309Th InTanTry Reserve RegimenT. ln The summer oT I940, 36,000,000 was appropriaTed Tor The developmenT oT The posT. The George A. Fuller Company was awarded The conTracT To consTrucT 850 new buildings. ConTracT Tor The building oT a new hospiTal was awarded To LaFounTain, ChrisTen- son and Arace oT Hackensack. This included also The erecTion oT Two l2l TheaTres, signal company buildings, roads, drains, waTer lines, sewers and an elecTrical disTribuTion sysTem. lmprovemenTs cosTing over halT a million dollars were made To The waTer and sewerage TaciliTies. The waTer planT capaciTy was increased To 4,000,000 gallons daily, The TilTraTion planT enlarged, anoTher waTer Tower and pumps added aT The New Lisbon Pumping STaTion and a larger sewage planT was builT. WiTh The announcemenT ThaT over 20,000 men would be Trained aT ForT Dix, The housing shorTage in neighboring Towns became evidenT as during World War l. The Federal Works Agency builT Hanover Homes, a Yp350,000 housing proiecT named Tor hisToric Hanover Furnace used during colonial Times Tor The manuTacTure ,, ,, , Q20

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In February I944 The 90Th InTanTry Division, Brigadier General J. W. MacKelvie, Commanding, arrived and pre-sTaged here. AT This Time, The 90Th Division ArTillery was commanded by our own Maior General John M. Devine. During February I944, I-IeadguarTers Special Troops oT The XIII Corps, 504Th A.A.A. BaTTaIion, 297Th General I-IospiTaI, 807Th Tanlc DesTroyer BaTTalion, and The I79Th Engineer BaTTaIion sTaged aT ForT Dix. LaTe in I944, as sTaging acTiviTies declined, The TirsT SeparaTion School was acTivaTed To Train oTiicers and enIisTed men Tor duTy wiTh The numerous separaTion cenTers planned counTry wide. During The course oT The war, over I4,000 German prisoners were conTined aT ForT Dix. I The PosT NaTuraIizaTion OTTice esTabIished in I942 as an adiuncT oT The PosT Judge AdvocaTe's OTTice, played an imporTanT parT during World War II. ApproximaTely 5,000 inducTees became ciTizens and during I942 and I943, an average oT 400 persons per monTh were naTuraIized, incIuding'naTives oT European counTries who ToughT wiTh American ouTTiTs overseas and reTurned wiTh Them. En'I'erTainmenT and Service FaciIiTies During The enTire period oT The war, greaT names Trom The TheaTricaI, musical and sporTs worlds once again enTerTained The Troops. Among The arTisTs were Mischa Elman, Yehudi Menuhin, AlberT Spalding, Alexander Brailowslcy, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Lhevinne, Leopold SToI4owsIci, Ossy Renardy, DoroThy KirsTen, Nelson Eddy, RoberT Woods, Igor Gorin, Lucy Monroe, Lucille Manners, Conrad ThibauIT. Kay Kyser and Vaughn Monroe and Their orchesTras and many oTher name bands appeared TreguenTly here. There were exhibiTions by Joe Louis, worId's boxing champion, and also by Miss Helen Jacobs, Women's NaTional Singles Champion. Four l4l Service Clubs, Tour l4l caTeTerias,fTour l4l libraries in addiTion To moving picTure TheaTres and Two l2l ouTdoor TheaTres, a nine l9l hole goIT course were in use, also numerous Tennis courTs and baseball diamonds. CompleTe swimming TaciliTies were made available aT Soldiers Island in nearby Browns Mills and Hanover Lalce in ForT Dix Park while The wives and children had a swimming pool on The posT Tor Their own use. DemobiIizaTion SeparaTion CenTer No. 26 commenced operaTions in April I944 and during ThaT monTh, 323 men were separaTed. ITs acTiviTies in- creased sTeadiIy-in December 1944, I3,I65 oTTicers, men and Wacs were separaTed. The ToTaI Tor The year I944 was 38554. R-Day, I2 May I945, was noTable. Over 2,000 Troops in process Tor shipmenT Trom RecepTion STaTion No. 2 To Europe and The PaciTic were screened Tor eligibiliry Tor separaTion and placed in The separa- Tion sTream. In order ThaT as many eligible men as possible could be separaTed ThaT day, all miliTary and all civilian personnel ThaT could be spared were puT To work in The SeparaTion CenTer and 744 men who arrived in The CenTer during The nighT oT I0 May T945 were separaTed on I2 May I945. The ceremonies oT R-Day were given world wide coverage by news and moTion picTure services wiTh Two l2l naTionaI radio hoolc-ups. The inTIow increased in Tremendous volume. On I5 SepTember I945, The SeparaTion CenTer was placed on a TwenTy-Tour I24l hour schedule, sixTeen llol hours oT acTuaI processing and eighT ISI hours preparaTion oT maTeriaI and adminisTraTive worlc. During The Fall OT I945, separaTion exceeded 4,000 daily. The ToTaI separaTed Tor I945 was 508306. During The summer and Tall oT I945, Tive I5I TenT areas housing I I,0O0 were used. By The end oT The year, The housing Tor permanenT personnel and separaTees, and operaTionaI buildings included 223 barracks, 23 Temporary and II9 oTher buildings and 330 huTmenTs.