Texas Almanac, 1943-1944 Page: 207

                                
MILITARY ACTIVITIES.                   207

nance of buildings, guarding and policing
of camps, procurement, storing and issu-
ing of food, clothing, gasoline, oil, ammu-
nition, equipment and other supplies,.
Varied Activities.
At the outset of 1943, the Eighth Serv-
ice Command had under its jurisdiction
a larger number of posts, camps, air
bases, depots and other installations than
stations and similar activities of the en-
tire continental United States and insular
possessions of prewar days.
Personnel in the Eighth Service Com-
mand equivalent to six full infantry divi-
sions served close to three quarters of a
million ground and air force personnel
in the command area during the spring
of 1943. It was the duty of the command
to supply soldiers with everything from
original GI equipment to burial, if neces-
saryI ndustrial Plants---Procurement.
Thousands of industrial war plants
over the Southwest area mean additional
duties for the Eighth Service Command.
Some are government owned; some gov-
ernment owned and operated by civilians
and some owned and operated by civil-
ians. Service commanders are charged
with the inspection to determine the ade-
quacy of protective measures taken to
prevent sabotage or other subversive
activity. Too, the Service Command is
responsible for fire prevention, explosions
and accidents to personnel. It must be
determined that war plant workers are
dependable and loyal.
Subversive activities must be ferreted
out if outside a camp and the Service
Command is obligated to gather, evaluate
and disseminate information concerning
such activities as would threaten the
property, and assist the Federal Bureau
of Investigation in the apprehension and
prosecution of spies and saboteurs.
Procurement of military personnel also
falls under the Eighth Service Command
functions. It involves the operation of
the Army side of the Selective Service
system and voluntary recruiting service,
when in use. The entire process of the
induction of a soldier under selective
service is a responsibility of the Service
Command-from the moment he arrives
at an induction center for physical and
mental tests until he is shipped to train-
ing centers.
Hospitals.
The Eighth Service Command also su-
pervises one of the largest hospital busi-
nesses in the nation. Tactical units are
supplied with medical officers and trained
enlisted men from the medical depart-
ment, enough to care for 31,000 men who
could be handled with facilities at hand.
If injuries or illness incurred by field
forces are beyond the abilities of the field
forces personnel, Service Command hos-
pitalization service comes into action and
the cases are evacuated to general and
station hospitals.
It also is in the law business, judge
advocates advising commanding officers
on all legal matters. They prepare opin-
ions and memoranda on military admin-
istration. Functions of the Eighth Service

Command are many and play a vital role
in  the  maintenance    of  multimillion
armed forces.
Installations.
For obvious reasons, many of the
Eighth Service Command installations
cannot be listed due to military restric-
tions. Permanent installations in the
Texas area of the five-state command
include:
Camp Barkeley, Abilene, Taylor County.
(Infantry.)
Fort Bliss, El Paso, El Paso County.
(Cavalry.)
Camp Bowie, Brownwood, Brown County.
(Infantry and Artillery.)
Fort Brown, Brownsville, Cameron County.
Camp Bullis, San Antonio, Bexar County.
(Infantry.)
Fort Clark, Brackettvllle, Kinney County.
(Cavalry.)
Fort Crockett, Galveston, Galveston County.
(Artillery.)
Camp Fannin, Tyler, Smith County.
Camp Hood, Killeen, Bell County. (Tank
Destroyer.)
Fort Sam   Houston, San Antonio, Bexar
County. (Infantry.)
Camp Howze, Gainesville, Cooke County.
(Infantry.)
Camp Hulen, Camp Hulen, Matagorda Coun-
ty. (Artillery.)
Camp Maxey, Paris, Lamar County. (Infan-
try.)
Fort McIntosh, Laredo, Webb County. (Ca,-
alry and Infantry )
Fort Ringgold, Rio Grande City. Starr
County.
Fort D. A. Russell, Marfa, Presidio County
(Cavalry.)
Camp Swift, Bastrop, Bastrop County. (In-
fantry )
Camp Wallace, Galveston, Galveston Coun-
ty. (Antiaircraft.)
Camp Wolters, Mineral Wells, Palo Pinto
County. (Reception)
Fort San Jacinto, Galveston, Galveston
County.
Fort Travis, Galveston, Galveston County
Camp Stanley, San Antonio, Bexar County.
(Infantry.)
General Hospitals.
William  Beaumont General Hospital, El
Paso, El Paso County
Brooke General Hospital, Fort Sam Hous-
ton, Bexar County
Harmon General Hospital, Longview, Gregg
County.
McCloskey General Hospital, Temple, Bell
County.
Reception Centers.
Fort Bliss, El Paso. El Paso County
Fort Sam  Houston, San Antonio, Bexar
County.
Camp Wolters, Mineral Wells, Palo Pinto
County.
Army Air Force in Texas.
Texas became the nation's flying train-
ing center in World War II because of
its year-round weather, sites for air-
ports and strategic location.
Thousands of planes took to the air
daily from El Paso on the west to Tex-
arkana on the east and from Amarillo
on the north to the lower reaches of the
state. Not a phase of flying was missed
in the great network of fields.
Center of activity was the United
States Army Air Force Flying Training
Command    in  Fort Worth. From      its
offices in a downtown building go the
directives that regulate training in every