Chapter VI

Assistant Commandant (Logistics)

 

To assist the Commandant of the Naval District in the coordination of logistics services, the Secretary of the Navy on 2 November 1943 established in each Naval District the office of Assistant Commandant (Logistics). The functions of this office were stated in a directive issued by the Chief of Naval Operations later the same month (29 November).

  1. To coordinate the logistics service agencies of the Naval District and to issue such directives as may be required for the implementation of approved logistics plans and projects.
  2. To keep the Chief of Naval Operations informed of the adequacy and state of readiness of available logistics services of the Naval District.
  3. To submit recommendations to the Chief of Naval Operations for increased efficiency and for the reduction of overhead and duplication, and of unessential effort.
  4. To initiate recommendations to the Chief of Naval Operations, via the cognizant bureau, for the control and allocation to appropriate tidewater or inland storage depots of materials and equipment ordered into the District by agencies not under the Commandant's control.

The duties were purposely stated in a general way in order to allow each Commandant to adapt the office to the particular needs of his district.

Captain A. D. Ayrault, USN, who reported for duty on 26 November 1943, and Captain B. D. Walbridge, USN (Ret), who relieved him on 9 August 1944, performed valuable services for the Commandant in

--109--


this office. It was recognized that the Assistant Commandant (logistics) was not a supervisor or an administrator. It was his duty to plan and coordinate; to screen, investigate, and recommend for the Commandant and for the Chief of Naval Operations; to assist and advise Headquarters Division Heads and Commanding Officers of district activities in solving their logistic problems. Consequently, the functions of the office were as broad as the district itself.

The primary function of Assistant Commandant (Logistics), and one which the Chief of Naval Operations recognized had not been satisfactorily performed under the previous district organization, was the screening of construction projects in the Eighth Naval District at district level. This function involved the determination of necessity, the formulation of alternative plans, the approval of essential projects, and the rejection of projects non-essential in whole or in part. During the first fourteen months the office was in existence, it rejected proposals for projects totaling $4,134,475 in cost. in addition to such concrete results, there of course were the intangible results attained through the awareness in the district that every proposal for construction submitted to the Commandant would be carefully scrutinized as to essentiality, planning, and feasible alternatives. Having one officer of the Civil Engineering Corps on its staff enabled the office of the Assistant Commandant (Logistics) not only to make a more efficient study of the plans submitted, but also to maintain a closer liaison with the District Public Works Officer, who checked the engineering soundness of all

--110--


proposed construction for the Commandant.

The attempt to coordinate all the logistic facilities of the district in the most efficient manner caused the office of the Assistant Commandant (Logistics) to maintain current data about a wide variety of activities. Thus it kept in close touch with the Industrial Manager, the assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel, the District Supply Officer, the District Public Works Officer, the District Operations Officer, the District Medical Officer, the District Transportation Officer, and various other division heads. A "Daily Diary" was kept of the work being done, and copies were sent to the Commandant and the Chief of Staff and to any of the division heads who would be interested in the particular subjects treated.

Sampling of the "Daily Diary" shows perhaps more quickly and convincingly than anything else the scope of the work done by the Assistant Commandant (Logistics). Study of the requested construction of a $200,000 dock revealed that by the use of present facilities further expenditure could be avoided. Contacts were made with twenty Naval offices operating in the Eighth Naval District but not under the Commandant; functions of those activities were studied and their work was coordinated with similar departments in the Eighth Naval District. After studying the operations of the Pre-Commissioning Details, a plan was submitted to the Chief of Naval Operations for the establishment of Commissioning Details, USN, Gulf Area; the plan was adopted, and the operation of this detail was subsequently commended by the Chief of Naval Operations. Arrangements were made with the Army to house five hundred Naval personnel at Fort Crockett, Galveston.

--111--


A program was formulated to handle outgoing and Incoming drafts of men from overseas and to provide for their housing and further transportation. Assistance was rendered to the Commanding Officer, Fort Pierce, Florida, Seventh Naval District, in the dismantling and shipment to him of 106 hutments located at Pascagoula, Mississippi.

One of the most valuable studies made by the Assistant Commandant (Logistics) was the study, dated 25 August 1944, of the capacity and utilization of Gulf ports within the Eighth Naval District: facilities for handling export-import general cargo. The elaborate statistics compiled in this report, showing the difference between the actual use of facilities and the possible maximum use, revealed that the Gulf ports could handle far more general cargo than they had been handling. The Chief of Naval Operations, who commented on the "excellence" of the report, accordingly made changes in logistics planning that increased the shipping of the Eighth Naval District.

The use of war prisoners for labor in the Eighth Naval District was largely due to the endeavors of the Assistant Commandant (Logistics). His office made a study to discover which activities could use war—prisoner labor and thus free civilians for other work. Next came the necessity of convincing certain activities that war-prisoner labor was desirable. Then there was the problem of getting the prisoners from the Army and housing them. By 26 July 1945 over 1700 war prisoners were in use as labor at Naval activities in the Eighth Naval District. They were at all the activities where war prisoners could be employed, but there were not so many as were desired. The

--112--


air commands at Corpus Christi and Pensacola together had over 1000, but each had requested 1500.

Considerably before the fall of Germany the Assistant Commandant (Logistics) had begun planning for the coming redistribution and disposal of material, reduction of certain facilities, and disestablishment of unnecessary activities. At the request of the Bureau of Ordnance, a study was prepared in collaboration with the Industrial Manager and the District Ordnance Officer looking to the removal of armament from merchant vessels in the Eighth Naval District. Assistance was rendered to the Civil Readjustment Officer in making a survey of facilities available in the district for demobilization. In collaboration with the District Supply Office, a pamphlet was prepared to assist in the decommissioning of district activities.

At an early stage the Assistant Commandant (Logistics) turned his attention to the post-war program for the berthing of vessels classified as (1) vessels under 1,000 gross tons acquired from civilian or other sources and surplus to Naval needs; (2) vessels manned or operated by the Navy during the war that would be in excess of requirements and would not be retained; and (3) vessels to be retained in inactive status in the Reserve Fleet. An exhaustive study was made of all prospective areas within the Eighth Naval District and detailed reports on seventy-four different sites were prepared and forwarded to the Navy Department. Representatives of the Assistant Commandant (Logistics) accompanied various inspection parties from the Bureau of Ships and the Commander in Chief, Atlantic

--113--


Fleet, engaged in the selection of berthing sites for vessels of different classes. The development of the program in the district was coordinated in all respects by the Assistant Commandant (Logistics).

The accomplishments of the office of the Assistant Commandant (Logistics) depended to an unusual extent on the ingenuity and tact of the officers assigned to it. Officers less persistent in discovering important services to be rendered would not have attained the very desirable record that exists. Lack of tact could have marred the close cooperation that was essential to the achievement of many undertakings.

--114--


Table of Contents
Previous Chapter (V) * Next Chapter (VII)


Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Rick Pitz for the HyperWar Foundation