The U.S. Army, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and Leadership for World War II, 1933—1942

Abstract

Prior to World War II, the U.S. Army numbered 187,000 soldiers. Its growth to more than 8 million was a significant accomplishment. Little known to most, the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration’s youth program, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), provided the pretrained manpower to fill the U.S. Army’s ranks upon mobilization with men who readily assumed the role of Non—Commissioned Officers (NCOs). It also gave Organized Reserve Corps officers the opportunity to occupy leadership positions, an experience that would have been unavailable otherwise. By the same token, it allowed the Regular Army to assess the leadership potential of both Regular and Reserve Officers in leading future citizen soldiers. Last, it provided the Army with an opportunity to exercise its mobilization plans.