Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Army Specialized Training Reserve Program Poster, November 13, 1944. |
Object Name |
Poster |
Scope & Content |
Army Specialized Training Reserve Program Poster, November 13, 1944. Poster in a white and blue background of three soldiers in uniform carrying books before climbing the stairs to a brown building with an arched doorway and an yellow and blue insignia of a mix between a candlestick and a lamp below. Above the brown building with the arched doorway, painted in red and big lettering, the text reads "Boy! What a break!" Below the soldiers in uniform, painted in blue, bold and in huge lettering in a white background, the text reads "ASTRP". The text "ASTRP" is faded in the white background with more text, painted in black and regular font, on top of the text "ASTRP" that reads "The Army Specialized Training Reserve Program offers high school / graduates who are 17 but not yet 17 years and 9 months of / age free college training. For information apply at any U.S. / Army Recruiting Station or consult your high school principal." Below the text above, painted in black and in bold, the text reads "ARMY SPECIALIZED TRAINING RESERVE PROGRAM". Below the text above in the bottom right hand corner, an insignia shaped like a shield with some small bold printed text that reads "NOVA EMANENTS". Below the text above, in the middle of the shield insignia, with small printed bold text that reads "RECRUITING PUBLICITY BUREAU / UNITED STATES ARMY". Next to both of the text above, printed in black, bold, and small lettering, the text reads "P-149--RPB--11-3-44--60M". Dimensions: 25 x 17 |
Date |
November 13, 1944 |
Creator |
Unknown |
Catalog Number |
1982.180.002 |
Collection |
Archival Collection |
Notes |
"The Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) was a military training program instituted by the United States Army during World War II to meet wartime demands both for junior officers and soldiers with technical skills. Conducted at a number of American universities, it offered training in such fields as engineering, foreign languages, and medicine. ASTP differed from the V-12 Navy College Training Program in producing technically trained personnel rather than officers as its primary goal, though recruits were expected to become officers upon completion. The program was approved in September 1942 and implemented in December that year. ASTP graduates were used as replacement soldiers. About 35 U.S. divisions received an average of 1,500 men each, though some got considerably more, such as the 3000 received by the 395th Infantry Regiment in March 1944. Fresh out of college, the new replacements were often given harsh receptions by both fellow officers and veteran NCOs. One company commander asked, "What kind of soldiers deal out bridge hands during their ten-minute training breaks?" ASTP personnel were often skeptical of the capabilities of their new superior officers and NCOs. However, once in combat, they rapidly proved their worth and any distinctions between the regular Army and the college soldiers were erased. In the spring of 1944 ASTP levels were further reduced at the direction of the Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall. The Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps' continued to experience serious shortfalls in producing casualty replacements, necessitating the use of divisional service troops and Army Service Forces troops as infantry replacements. When the defeat of Germany was in sight, and the testing of the new atomic bomb successful, the apparent need for potential junior officer replacements disappeared and the final ASTP groups were largely disbanded, although there were ASTP units for medicine and engineering still existing in August 1945." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Specialized_Training_Program-12/6/2016] |
Category |
Posters |
Search Terms |
Army Colleges Military Poster Posters School World War II World War Two |
Subjects |
Colleges Posters Schools Soldiers World War II |
Credit line |
SMCHA Collection |