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

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The SeparaTion CenTer sTrengTh aT peak periods reached 30,000 Yearly SeparaTions ICI44 ..,....,.,......,.,, 38,554 lTrom I5 Aprill l945 ....,. .... 5 08,306 I946 ...... .,.. 5 56,697 1947 ....44,.,..,..... .. 78,56I no is Mayl ToTaI SeparaTions I,l82,I I8 Tofal DisbursemenTs April I, l945 To March 3I, I946 ,.,,.............,... ,.,..... S 354,52l,I5I.39 April I, I946 To March 3I, I947 ..i.,,. ..,., 2 OI,894,299.53 ToTaI ................................,.....,.....................,. ilS556,4I5,45O.92 As The separaTion load declined, ITalian and German prisoners ol: war were reTurned overseas. The Signal Training CenTer, Brigadier General Charles lvl. Milliken, commanding, arrived Trom Camp Polk, La. and occupied a parT oT The posT, increasing iTs area as Training became The maior mission oT The posT. On I5 lvlay, I947, The SeparaTion CenTer moved inTacT To Camp Kilmer, N. J. On I5 July I947, The 9Th InTanTry Division was reacTivaTed under The command oT lvlaior General W. W. Eagles, and all acTivi- Ties on The posT were merged Therein. UniTs oT The 9Th Division earned undying Tame in World War I aT Aisne-Marne, ST. lvlihiel, Meuse-Argonne and Alsace-Lorraine. In World War II The division ToughT in Tunisia, Algeria, lvlorocco, Sicily, Normandy, Falaise, The BaTTle oT The Bulge, Rhineland and The Ruhr. IT spearheaded The break-Through aT ST. I.o and earned The TiTle oT I'liTler's Nemesis. IT is noT possible To recounT in deTail The valorous deeds OT The men and women commissioned, enlisTed and civilian who have par- TicipaTed in The liTe oT l:orT Dix. This brieT accounT will bring To mind innumerable examples oT heroism, ouTsTanding pericormance oT duTy, ToresighTed planning and execuTion oT diTTicuIT missions and on The parT oT many Thousand moTivaTed parTicipanTs, mosTIy unknown and unsung, The saTisTacTion oT having conTribuTed a parT To The glorious record oT ForT Dix. There can be no doubT Thar This record will serve as a guide Tor Those whose privilege iT is To carry on The TradiTions oT I5orT Dix and The 9Th lnTanTry Division.

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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.

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HEADQU RTERS SERVICE TROUPS 1262 ASU CAPT MORDECAI M. H. DAINA CAPT ELTON O. FEENEY LT coL CHARLES F- ARNY CAPT CHARLES W. RODGERS C CKSON APT HA CAM EARL B. JA RRY H. MITTENTHAL