Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
The Education Program of the United States Army Guidelines Poster, c. 1942-1945 |
Object Name |
Poster |
Scope & Content |
The Education Program of the United States Army Guidelines Poster, c. 1942-1945. Poster displays a set of guidelines for the army of what to do before and after the service. Dimensions: 18 x 24 |
Date |
c. 1942-1945 |
Catalog Number |
1982.180.003 |
Collection |
Archival Collection |
Notes |
"The federal government faced the daunting challenge of mobilizing millions of men and women for service in the armed forces during the war. In fact, well before the U.S. entry into the war and despite strong isolationist sentiments across the country, Congress passed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 authorizing a draft. By October 1940 all men between the ages of 21 and 35 were required to register with their local draft board. During the first few years of the draft, information about the induction process, life in the military, and countless related topics was not dispensed to potential inductees in a unified and comprehensive way. Many times inductees learned important information by word of mouth or discovered things they should have done after it was too late. The resulting apprehension, confusion, and family hardships led the U.S. Office of Civilian Defense and other federal agencies to promote pre-induction information programs across the country…. By 1943 federal officials apparently had seen enough apprehension and fielded enough complaints about spotty information for inductees and their families. The U.S. Office of Civilian Defense and other federal agencies developed a program that offered answers to many of the common questions brought by inductees. In turn, the federal government sought to enlist the help of state defense councils to implement the program around the country. Government officials reasoned that "if a prospective inductee knows what the Army expects of him, what tests and training he may expect to go through, what kind of life he will live, and what kind of war we are fighting, he will enter the service with greater confidence and assurance. He will adjust more readily to the new situation and probably develop more quickly into a good soldier." In Oregon, the State Defense Council got the program running in early 1944.The council settled on orientation meetings, which were to be given in numerous cities and towns across the state. Before implementing the system, however, several test or rehearsal meetings were held with groups of inductees to experiment with various methods of presentation. Eventually, a basic plan evolved that typically included the participation of a range of experts from the armed forces, Red Cross, selective service, state bar association, and social agencies. The meetings generally would include a film describing life in the military followed by short talks and question and answer sessions with the experts. Federal authorities, learning from experiences in other states, recommended that meetings start with band music or group singing to set the right tone. Their sternest advice concerned long-winded presenters: "The most common criticism of the meetings is directed at the number and length of the speeches. If the films are used, and if the leaflets are distributed during or at the close of the meeting, very little speech-making should be necessary." More remote communities, especially in eastern Oregon, would be served by radio program transcriptions. To accomplish this, the State Defense Council "engaged a group of radio players on the staff of radio station KGW, Portland, to produce three 15 minute programs patterned after meetings with members of the panel.... The program is built around the March of Time style with fanfare music in the opening and is an excellent piece of work." To further "this ingenious radio meeting plan," the council enlisted local newspapers to carry a front page box to promote each broadcast. This worked well except for in Malheur County where "it was discovered that their best radio reception comes from radio stations located in Nampa and Boise, Idaho." A flurry of letters to the Idaho State Defense Council and Idaho radio stations eventually secured the broadcast of the programs on a Nampa station. The pre-induction information program in Oregon moved forward quickly during the spring of 1944. Multnomah County was drawing in an average of 300 inductees and family members to weekly meetings. Marion County typically saw a crowd of from 30 to 50 people at its meetings, which were held twice a month. Most participating counties held monthly meetings or "on draft calls." These meetings usually brought from 15 to 75 people depending on the size of the county and the draft call. Even though some counties were still in the process of organizing meetings, by July 1944 one State Defense Council official was confident of full statewide coverage either in open forum meetings or by radio broadcasts, saying that "as recently as last week, ...on a trip through the state, [a State Defense Council employee] lined up three counties hitherto only lukewarm on the idea."… Soldiers next landed for 17 weeks of basic training where, according to pre-induction education literature, they gave up their minds and bodies to a ritual of calisthenics, close-order drills, military indoctrination, and Army discipline. Soldiers learned methods of self-protection, camouflage, care and use of weapons, and how to be part of a combat team. Sailors learned a variation on the Army theme with training in elements of seamanship, gunnery, signals, and Navy language. Meanwhile, for those in the Marine Corps, "'Boot Camp' will probably be an ordeal for you. It is not easy. The day begins at 4:45 and when it ends at 8 P.M. you will greet sleep with pleasure." Officials noted that 90 percent of marines then on duty were combat troops who would likely see battle and while they were "taught to consider your rifle the best friend you ever had," it was fighting battles together that would build lifelong comrades in the Marine Corps. After basic training, many soldiers, sailors, and marines were sent to their assigned duty. Others, depending on their specialty, required further training that could last up to a year. Most served for the duration of the war plus six months, unless the military chose to discharge them earlier." [http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/pages/exhibits/ww2/services/induct.htm-2/21/2017] |
Category |
Posters |
Search Terms |
Army Military Poster Posters War World War II World War Two |
Subjects |
Recruiting & enlistment Soldiers War World War II |
Credit line |
SMCHA Collection |