Arsenal of World War II: The Political Economy of World War II, 1940-1945 by Paul A. C. Koistinen

Author:Paul A. C. Koistinen [Koistinen, Paul A. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Published: 2018-04-20T06:00:00+00:00

FIELD OFFICES

As the WPB began shifting emphasis late in 1943 from expanding production to managing and modifying it according to changing war conditions, the board’s field offices assumed greater importance. When organized in January 1942, WPB inherited a host of differing and uncoordinated local structures that had been building up since the NDAC. Seeking to bring some order to these decentralized services, WPB set up a Bureau of Field Operations in February 1942 and established thirteen (later twelve) regional offices in April 1942. Although various executives favored decentralizing as much of the board’s operations as possible, such efforts ran into strong opposition from industry divisions and other units. Repeated attempts to improve localized operations throughout 1942 and well into 1943 became sidetracked for one reason or another.

From late 1943 on, however, more effective field services became essential for dealing with production expediting and scheduling, materials allocation, crisis management, manpower problems, contract cancellation, expansion of civilian production, and, ultimately, reconversion. Under such pressures, the board gradually began to reform and restructure its field service system. The effort culminated in July 1944 with the creation of a vice chair for field operations.22

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