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“The Desert Training Center (DTC), also known as California-Arizona Maneuver Area (CAMA), was a World War II training facility established in the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert, largely in Southern California and Western Arizona in 1942.
Its mission was to train United States Army and Army Air Corps units and personnel to live and fight in the desert, to test and develop suitable equipment, and to develop tactical doctrines, techniques and training methods.
It was a key training facility for units engaged in combat during the 1942–1943 North African campaign. It stretched from the outskirts of Pomona, California eastward to within 50 miles of Phoenix, Arizona, southward to the suburbs of Yuma, Arizona and northward into the southern tip of Nevada.”
The majority of the following information below came from this book by Matt Bischoff. Here is a link to to where you can purchase it on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-Combat ... 921&sr=8-1
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DTC Formation 1942:
The DTC was the largest training facility or its kind in the history of the military and covered more than 18,000 square miles. The logistics, strategies, and doctrines developed and refined at the facilities were applied overseas and help win World War 2. The more than 1 million men trained at the center represented more than 10 percent of those serving in World War 2.pg. 1
By the end of January 1942 the Germans seemed almost unstoppable. General McNair, as Army’s Chief of Staff developed a plan to combat the Germans in North Africa. McNair realized the US Army had never fought a large-scale war on the type of terrain found in North Africa. pg. 21
General Patton, was selected to choose a location and although largely ignorant of the California Desert, Patton had experience in the deserts of Mexico in World War 1. pg. 22
General Patton in a speech at a staff meeting stated: “we cannot train troops to fight in the desert of North Africa by training in the swamps of Georgia.” pg. 21
After surveying the DTC by plane, Patton stated “The training area is the best I have ever seen. It is desolate and remote…large enough for any kind of training exercise” pg. 24
According to McNair the initial purpose of the DTC was: "to learn the technique of living and moving in the desert and the tactics of desert fighting, particularly when opposed by armored formations, and in the face of inevitable air attack" and mimic the war in North Africa. pg 35
Patton's stated true desire for DTC was: "Formation and material are of very secondary importance compared to discipline, the ability to shoot rapidly and accurately with the proper weapon at the proper target and the irresistible desire to close with the enemy with the purpose of killing and destroying him”. pg. 35
At it's height the DTC had 14 camps 10 in California and 4 in Arizona. Camps were setup for a full division consisting of 15,000 soldiers or more. The camps were 3 miles in length and 1 mile wide.
Patton and the other DTC leaders wanted the training and exercises to be as realistic as possible; At the start of the DTC under Patton, each man was limited to 1 canteen full per day. It was thought at the time that this toughen up the soldiers. It was also thought at the time, that the human body could get use to the deprivation of water. This thinking cause many health problems and the approximate death of 1000 soldiers due to dehydration. Patton believe that one gallon per man (for drinking, bathing, shaving, washing, and brushing teeth) was sufficient even when the temperatures were over 130 degrees. pg. 97
Patton also wanted a similar experience to front line troops and he wrote “I shall just issue canned rations and water, and let nature take it’s course, taking careful notes as to the different methods used by individuals. In this way we may get some American ingenuity connected with desert cookery. pg. 39
Patton even outlined vehicle desert movement with the following vehicle orders:
1). Except when in park, no vehicle must ever be permitted to approach within 75 yards of any other vehicle.
2). Only cargo vehicles have tops up; all other tops are down.
3). Stress the maintenance of distance, not to exceed 75 yards, particularly in road marches, but also in group movements.
4). Jamming of vehicles must be prevented. The senior officer locally present is responsible that jams do not occur. He must dismount from his vehicle to insure this by active command.
5). Demonstrate to individual drivers on sand table or on the ground, using blocks, the formations and methods of movement. Make the formation of march groups, either from bivouac or from parks, a precision drill.
6). Any desert with a yellowish tinge is apt to be sandy and should be carefully reconnoitered before attempting to cross. This type of desert frequently occurs on the west slope of north and south ridges.
7). For desert operations, tires on wheeled vehicles can safely be deflated to 70 percent of specified inflation. When stalled they may be defeated to 50 percent , but should be rei-nflated to 70 percent after the stall is over. For movement of more that 10 miles on roads, normal inflation must be resumed.
8). In sand, avoid abrupt turns, either with full track or half track vehicles.
9). When stalled, see that the front wheels are straight ahead before attempting to get out . Dig sand in front of wheels in direction of movement. Some brush placed crossways under wheels helps. Don't burn up your engine.
10). In all movements across country, vehicles should be in dispersed formation. Constant practice is the only way of learning. After men have become accustomed to moving across country in task forces, roads may be used to some extent to avoid waste of rubber.
What was life like at the DTC
Almost all of the soldiers trained at the DTC had already gone through basic training, and generally some other level of more advanced or specialized training. pg. 15
Soldiers were taught hand-to-hand combat, live-fire exercises, and night exercises. Each unit was required to conduct a 24-hour exercise with no sleep, and little food and water once during the unit’s training. Pg. 88
To get an idea of what it was like for the soldiers, on arrival at Camp Ibis one soldier wrote, “California - a hell hole if there ever was one” Camp Ibes (sick) was about 15 miles away from the bustling town of Needles, which consisted of two beer joints and a Santa Fe Railroad switchyard. Pg. 89
Sargent Joe Delgado describe a battle action:
“First came the airplanes and strafed hell out of it. Then the artillery shells began to cover the ground, next came tanks rumbling into the pass blasting away and finally streams of troops. There was so much dust and smoke up there you wouldn’t think anything could be alive for miles. But when we stopped, and the smoke began to clear, someone shouted, ‘Hey look up there, what’s that moving?’ And just like nothing at all had been going on, this old dusty prospector and his burro, looking like something from last century, came walking through all that smoke and dust and debris paying no attention at all to all of us or all the live ammunition we’d blasted that pass with.”
During one training exercise, a platoon became separated from their food and water supplies while in the Arizona desert near Pilot Knob. The CO, with a private, set off to obtain supplies for the unit. During their absence, one of the the men died from exposure. Seeing the dire straights the unit was in, two more men left in search of supplies. These men got lost in their attempt. The lieutenant (CO) and private returned and brought the unit back to camp. A search for the other two men by the entire company ensued that succeeded in locating the men, but the had already died. pg. 60
So how did the DTC effect the outcome of the WW II.
In total 23 of the 85 Army Divisions that served in WW II were trained at the DTC. Divisional Camps included railroad sidings, airfields, hospitals, depots, training sites, maneuver areas, ranges, and others. pg. 5
The DTC provided unparalleled experiences for top commanders. Commanding large numbers of troops over a wide area was a difficult task, and only a facility as large as the the DTC could provide this kind of training. Almost all of the commanding officers went on to lead either armies or corps in the European Theater. Many of these generals maintained that the experience at the DTC was the best they received. Soldiers were taught how to survive the elements, which ofter were their worst enemies in combat. pg. 69
Army Air Force
Along with training troops at the DTC, the Army Air Force also went through an incredible expansion. At the beginning of the war the Army Air Corps was a “second-tier air service,” By the end of the war it have become the “premier air power of the world”. pg.71
There were several airfields at the DTC: Rice Army Air Field, Shaver Summit AAF, Desert Center AAF, Thermal AAF and Blyth Army Air Base.
Patton and his Corps were ordered to depart in late summer 1942, only a few months after their arrival and were sent to North Africa.
(I hope to make it to at least half the places this bike has been)
