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Manuevers: Hunter Liggett
But this was not the end of maneuvers. Leaving Camp Polk in late January, the Rolling W was trained to Camp Roberts, California where they bivouacked for a two-week rest before moving out to the Hunter Liggett Military Reservation. At the same time, the 71st Light Division arrived from Camp Carson to participate against the 89th in two-sided maneuvers. The 71st T/O was identical with the 89th except for a quartermaster pack company in place of a truck company. The purpose of bringing the two outfits together was to give the light division a through and rigorous test, to experiment with their equipment, and to determine the most satisfactory means of transport. It was to match men-with-mules against men-with-jeeps.
The area was selected because the terrain was practically virgin. Roads were few. Firebreaks lead over wild mountainous country, thickly covered by almost impenetrable manzanita brush. Observers compared the coastal range both to the mountains of northern Italy and the islands of the southwest Pacific. In driving rain February 20, the 89th rolled out of Camp Roberts forty-seven miles northwest into the hills of the reservation proper. The concentration area lay across the Naciemento River, but only the 353rd got over before floodwaters washed out the only bridge. With the Bailey bridge put up by the engineers, the remainder of the Division crossed to the maneuver area. Supplies were ferried by raft to elements stranded on the other side. This was only the beginning of maneuvers in extremely difficult and miserable conditions.
Something new in maneuver problems arose during the first phase. Early in March the Division was notified it would receive 1,500 men from the Army Specialized Training Program; with the exception of medicals schools, ASTP was being broken up to provide additional strength for Army Ground Forces units. The Division set up an ASTP camp at the rear of the maneuver area to train and condition the new men to life in a light division. Many of these unhappy ex-students, however, were sent directly from the trains to overnight at Camp Roberts with priority transportation to the Reservation and immediate assignment to units. The plight and contributions of ex-ASTPers is discussed in more detail elsewhere on this sight.
On March 23rd, the Division moved out to open the second maneuver phase to test additional equipment and the outfit's ability to make a hasty withdrawal. At its completion, another complication arose. The Division received orders to process several thousand privates and privates first class for movement overseas as replacements. This was a difficult job to complete with men coming and going while the maneuver was in progress. During the break, the first contingent of newly trained ASTP men arrived from the training camp and joined their units.
The third phase problem was one of delaying action. The 89th withdrew April 6, gradually moving back fifteen to twenty until the entire division reached the rocky Pacific shore. Most of the movement over narrow, steep trails down to the coast-was by night in blackout. After a short rest in this scenic setting, it was announced that the maneuvers were finished and that the fourth problem has been canceled.
The final report found advantages and disadvantages in the use of light divisions, with the latter outweighing the former. Recommendations, which were accepted, included "That unless a definite need for these types of divisions can be foreseen, the present light division (motor and pack) be returned to a standard division status in strength, organization and equipment: that organic pack units be transferred intact and retained in GHQ reserve, substituting for them trained motor units, thus expedite making the division available for overseas service"
The third problem ended April 15 and the next day the 89th moved back into its concentration area for a month's training, and to prepare infantrymen as replacements for overseas shipment. After some infantry training, the Division sent 2,714 men to the East Coast ports of embarkation. These men had proven themselves in both Louisiana and Hunter Liggett maneuvers and were well trained, physically fit and experienced in the field. They were largely replaced and augmented by the ex-ASTPers and Air Cadets whose programs had been abolished.
Shortly before the men left, Headquarters announced that the 89th was to be reorganized as a standard division at Camp Butner, North Carolina. The first troop trains left on May 22.
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