The Army and Economic Mobilization - Paperback

by R. Elberton Smith (Author)

In World War II the War Department, whose primary and traditional mission was to mobilize, train, and equip military forces and direct them in combat, found itself drawn into the center of the gigantic effort to mobilize America's industries for war. It became one of the principal agencies of the Government in administering as well as planning the nation's economic mobilization. This book, by an economist, tells how the War Department operated in performing these tasks. The experience had a lasting effect on the mission, organization, and outlook of both the Army and the Air Force. Their present functions and structure cannot be understood without reference to it. This volume is therefore of vital interest to every officer. Furnishing, as Dr. Smith's approach to his subject does, a comprehensive view of the impact of war on the national economy, his book should prove invaluable to staff planners in all agencies of the Government, to industrial leaders, to the civilian scholar, and to the thoughtful citizen. The Army and Economic Mobilization is a complement, in the area of domestic economy, to the two-volume work, Global Logistics and Strategy, in the area of international economy. It is the capstone to others in the U.S. ARMY IN WORLD WAR II that deal with the procurement and distribution of supplies in their organizational and operative aspects. The relations with labor into which the War Department was drawn are set forth in a forthcoming volume, The Army and Industrial Manpower. A separate volume, Buying Air Power, is being devoted to the special problems of procurement by and for the Army Air Forces.

Author Biography

R. Elberton Smith is a graduate of the College of Wooster and received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics at the University of Chicago. He has taught economics at the University of Denver, Northwestern University, the University of Maryland, and Indiana University. At present, he is an economist for the International Cooperation Administration at the United States Operations Mission in Tokyo, Japan. After a number of years in teaching and business, Mr. Smith entered government service early in World War II as an economist for the War Production Board in Washington, D.C. In September 1942 he was commissioned in the United States Naval Reserve and assigned for a year in the Office of Procurement and Material in the Navy Department. Subsequently he served for two years as industrial relations officer in the Navy Yard at Long Beach, California. In 1950 he joined the staff of the Office, Chief of Military History, U.S. Army. In addition to writing the present volume, Mr. Smith is also author of the book Customs Valuation in the United States-A Study in Tariff Administration, as well as articles and reviews for professional journals.