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Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

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-325- A Historical Analysis of <strong>Cadre</strong><br />

6. CADRE IN WORLD WAR II<br />

Like the army in World War I, the army that fought in World War II looked very<br />

different from the peacetime force that preceded it. Before mobilizing for the War, the <strong>Army</strong><br />

had a total of 187,893 officers and men and the National Guard had 199,491 officers and<br />

men. 192 At the peak of the war, the U.S. <strong>Army</strong> had more than eight million officers and men<br />

in uniform. 193 The World War II mobilization had two phases: pre-war mobilization,<br />

occurring before Pearl Harbor, and wartime mobilization, after Pearl Harbor. In both of<br />

these periods, the <strong>Army</strong> mobilized by creating cadre units rather than strengthening the<br />

National Guard.<br />

6.1—PRE-WAR MOBILIZATION<br />

In the process of mobilizing for World War II, the <strong>Army</strong> created cadre units. The<br />

mobilization plans developed in the 1930s had assumed that there would be a single<br />

Mobilization day (M-day) after which the army would need to grow as quickly as possible. 194<br />

However, the mobilization for World War II occurred gradually. Mobilization began on<br />

September 8, 1939 when President Roosevelt proclaimed “a limited national emergency” and<br />

authorized a small increase in the size of the army (17,000 regulars; 35,000 national<br />

guardsmen). 195 Over the next year, Congress funded larger increases in the size of the<br />

____________<br />

192 Kreidberg and Henry (1955), p. 549. The relative size of the Regular <strong>Army</strong> in 1939 was 144 troops per<br />

100,000 residents and the relative size of the National Guard was 153 troops per 100,000 residents. [U.S.<br />

Census Bureau (1975), p. 1140-1143 and U.S. Census Bureau (2002), p. A-1]<br />

193 U.S. Census Bureau (1975), p. 1140-1143<br />

194 Kreidberg and Henry (1955), p. 541<br />

195 Millis (1956), p. 274. In 1939, the Regular <strong>Army</strong> had 189,839 troops in uniform (145 troops per 100,000<br />

residents), and the National Guard had an authorized strength of 200,000 (153 troops per 100,000 residents).<br />

President Roosevelt’s plan increased the size of the Regular <strong>Army</strong> by nine percent (to 158 troops per 100,000

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