Citation:
United States. Army. Ordnance Department. (n.d.). Every Bomb-Load Counts - .. Make 'em Right! Hennepin County Library Digital Collections. Retrieved April 7, 2023, from https://digitalcollections.hclib.org/digital/collection/p17208coll3/id/1352/rec/4
During World War Two individuals realized there was a problem with UXB's, which are the handling of unexploded bombs. Before World War Two bombs were not a huge problem and if found there were engineer squads that would handle the issue but that became more complicated as technology advanced and it became harder to turn off the bomb or dispose of it. Not having a sufficient plan to dispose of unexploded bombs was a huge issue because citizens were being killed and wounded due to unexploded bombs just laying around and some would eventually just explode. The Origins of U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal was one out of many things that was put together during World War Two. Until the creation of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal the United States military had no way to dispose of bombs properly and safely. At first anyone that worked with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal could be a trained civilian but soon that changed when the Chief of Ordnance proposed the idea that civilians couldn't be properly trained or disciplined, even if they went to the training schools, and he believed it was a job for highly skilled and trained professionals. The United States realized with the continuance of this group that civilians were not allowed to be the ones to diffuse the bombs and do the removals and only individuals that were professionals could do so. The training that these "professionals" received was the ability to recognize a bomb, the usage of bomb disposal equipment, bomb revealing (digging up the bomb properly), and rigging. Even with this specific and careful training it still was a difficult job considering there was no instructional material available on how to this and there were not that many people who was experienced in teaching others on how to do this job, but with all this the program was still successful and still continues today.
Citations:
Clifford, CSM James H. “The Origins of U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal.” The Campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army. Accessed April 13, 2023. https://armyhistory.org/the-origins-of-u-s-army-explosive-ordnance-disposal/.
Rubis, Karl L. “Historical Articles.” Historical Articles, U.S. Army Ordnance Corps. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://goordnance.army.mil/history/OrdnanceCorpshistory.html
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On December 29, 1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the speech "Arsenal of Democracy" and decided that even if the United States was not yet involved in the war there was still something he could do in terms of helping the Allies. He would do this by increasing military funds and increasing the production of military products. With the United States just coming out of the Great Depression in 1939 President Roosevelt knew that this would be hard to do and that he wouldn’t just need help from Congress financially he would need the cooperation from his citizens and their businesses. President Roosevelt decided he would recruit business owners who owned large production sites and could produce what the military needed quickly and efficiently. Within finding these buildings that could provide the services the military needed he had to find the individuals to work. Majority of the men were at war, so it fell on the women to fill the jobs and quickly make the weapons that was needed toward the war effort. By 1945 the United States had achieve what Franklin D. Roosevelt needed and produced 96,000 bombers, 86,000 tanks, 2.4 million trucks, 6.5 million rifles, and many other supplies that helped the war effort. The United States distributed and sold weapons amongst others and stayed out of the war until the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Citations:
Eidenmuller, Michael E. “The Great Arsenal of Democracy.” American rhetoric: Franklin Delano Roosevelt - "The arsenal of democracy". Accessed April 13, 2023.https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrarsenalofdemocracy.html.
Marshall V. “Becoming the Arsenal of Democracy: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans.” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. The National World War II Museum, July 11, 2018. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/becoming-arsenal-democracy.
The Ordnance Department had a long history focusing on military needs and producing weapons for war. The Ordnance Branch was founded on May 14, 1812, but used in the United States for quite some time before it was officially given its name. The American Revolution set the tone as to what the Ordnance Branch should look like and over time it just improved. This branch's sole purpose was to manufacture or create something for the betterment of the United States military.
Citation:
Karl Rubis, Ordnance Branch Historian. “The History of Ordnance in America by Karl Rubis, Ordnance Branch Historian.” The History of Ordnance in America, U.S. Army Ordnance Corps. Accessed April 13, 2023.https://goordnance.army.mil/history/OrdnanceCorpshistory.html