Existing comment:
Quartermasters: The Army's Builders:
Enlisted Barracks:
Beginning with the American Revolution, Quartermasters supplied tents for the Army in the field. More permanent shelter, particularly in the winter, were built by the soldiers themselves with materials supplied by the Quartermaster. By the early 1800s, the Quartermaster Department became responsible for "temporary" quarters that included Army posts on the frontier while the Corps of Engineers was responsible for the permanent installations, mainly seacoast fortifications. By the 1870s, standardized plans were developed for barracks construction. By 1884, the Quartermaster Department assumed responsibility for all permanent Army construction and by the 1890s, barracks and Post construction achieved a high degree of standardization.
Beginning in 1775, Quartermasters were responsible for providing both temporary and permanent shelter for the Army. Quartermasters designed and supervised the construction of most of the major Posts in the West, many of which are still in use today. Quartermasters provided housing for the large numbers of soldiers mobilized for World War I and prepared the plans necessary to house the Army just prior to World War II. In 1941, the construction mission was formally and permanently passed to the Corps of Engineers.
World War I:
During World War I, over 818 million dollars, or more than twice the cost of the Panama Canal, was spent on construction. Over 540 building projects were supervised by Construction Quartermasters including the cantonments built to house and train the rapidly expanding Army. Each cantonment contained over 40,000 inhabitants and cost 10 million dollars each to build. Over 200,000 construction workers were hired for the jobs and over 600 million board feet of lumber were used in the construction.
The rapid mobilization during World War I required that barracks be constructed quickly. Standardized plans developed by the Quartermaster Corps Construction Division enabled engineers and carpenters anywhere in the United States to quickly assemble quarters for soldiers. The same method of standardizing plans and using common materials would be later used during World War II.
World War II:
Throughout the 1930s, the Quartermaster Corps Construction Division continued to have responsibility for building the Army's facilities. By 1939, the Army had expanded from 174,000 to 375,000 soldiers and in September 1940, jumped to 1,400,000. A rapid construction effort was required. The Quartermaster Construction Division had prepared a set of plans based generally on World War I designs but with improved heating, lighting, and plumbing. The "Series 700" buildings, used to build camps and cantonments for World War II, were prepared by Quartermaster Construction Engineers. Although intended to be temporary, many survive to this day. In December 1941, the mission of construction was formally passed to the Corps of Engineers. Quartermasters were no longer the Army's builders. |