Enlisted soldiers' assignment process during WWII

Question

Dear NARA, 
 I am a PhD Candidate in economic history and I am interested in the trained recruits&rsquo; assignment to military units during WWII. Precisely, I have interested (if not wrong) that enlisted individuals were trained by the Army Ground Forces (AGF). However, it is not clear to me how they were assigned to military divisions once trained. Do you know where I could find this information? 
 I could read that the final action on the allotment and assignment of overhead personnel and capacities, and on the allocation and shipment of trainees and students, was effected by the War Department through The Adjutant General on the basis of recommendations made by the offices of the chiefs of arms. Hence, is it possible to track the assignment decisions for each individual solider enlisted during the war? 
 I wonder if this list of information is available in the 407.5 RECORDS RELATING TO PERSONNEL 1905-73 or 165.3 Records of the Personnel Division (G-1). 
 I am interested in knowing if individual were assigned on an individual or collective basis. Precisely, I would like to know if there was geographical consideration in the assignment process, namely if all soldiers originated from the same county were typically assigned to the same division. 
 Many thanks, Maxence Castiello

Textual Reference Branch, Archives II · Answer

Maxence Castiello 
 Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! 
 The answer to your question will vary depending on a number of circumstances, such as when a soldier joined the Army and what the Army&rsquo;s specific personnel needs were at a given time. Early in the war, for example, groups of men generally trained as units that would eventually serve together, but in 1944, the Army began training soldiers as individual replacements to be sent to existing units that were already serving in combat areas. Generally speaking, soldiers who had completed basic training either went on to receive specialty training or&ndash;in many cases&ndash;were sent to replacement depots in the theaters of operation. From the replacement depots, soldiers would then be assigned to various units as needed. Many replacement depots provided direct or intermediate support for specific Armies, so a soldier might have known which theater of operation, replacement depot, and/or Army he would be serving in before leaving the U.S., but he might not have known which specific unit he would be assigned to until he actually reached the replacement depot. 
 Plus, a soldier first had to be assigned to a specific component of the Army (e.g. Infantry vs. Air Corps vs. Signal Corps) before being assigned to a particular unit. Early in the war, men who enlisted were generally allowed to choose which component of the Army they were interested in, but as the war progressed, men were assigned to components or branches based on the needs of the Army. Branch assignments and military occupational specialties (MOS) were also based on physical examinations and aptitude, as well as the results of a soldier&rsquo;s Army General Classification Test (AGCT). 
 To learn more about the service of individual soldiers, we suggest that you request copies of their Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) , which should be in the custody of NARA's National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. In many cases where personnel records were destroyed in the 1973 fire , proof of service can be provided from other records such as morning reports, payrolls, and military orders, and a certificate of military service will be issued. Please complete a separate GSA Standard Form 180 for each soldier you are interested in and mail them to NARA's National Personnel Records Center, (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138-1002. If there is any information requested by the form that you do not know, you may omit it or provide estimates (such as for dates), but the more information you provide, the easier it will be to locate the correct file if it survived the fire. 
 Military personnel records are opened to the public 62 years after the veteran leaves the military. If less than 62 years have passed since the veteran&rsquo;s discharge date (to include any reserve time), certain information in the records is not available to the general public without the written consent of the veteran or the next of kin the deceased veteran. If you are the next of kin of a deceased veteran, you must provide proof of death of the veteran such as a copy of death certificate, letter from funeral home, or published obituary. For more information see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Non-Archival Holdings and Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Holdings . 
 For a complete copy of a personnel file, in Section II, on the line for "Other" (Specify), write "Complete copy of every page of personnel file - not an extract." 
 Archival OMPFs may also be requested by visiting the Archival Research Room at the National Archives at St. Louis . If you wish to review a large number of OMPFs, this may be the best option for your research. Please see the linked web pages for more information. Please email stlarr.archives@nara.gov for further assistance prior to making an appointment. 
 You may wish to search within the World War II Army Enlistment Records database, which is available online via the National Archives (NARA) Access to Archival Databases (AAD) website. While the Enlistment Records database is not comprehensive (e.g., it does not include officers or individuals who were drafted rather than enlisted in service), it does provide information about a large number of soldiers. 
 In addition, numerous series of Draft Registration Cards from the Records of the Selective Service System, 1926&ndash;1975 (Record Group 147) have been digitized. Some are available online using the National Archives Catalog , and others are available online from NARA&rsquo;s digitization partners: US, WWII Draft Registration Cards, 1940 - Fold3 ; United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 &bull; FamilySearch ; U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 - Ancestry ; and U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 - Ancestry . 
 If you locate an individual&rsquo;s Draft Registration Card, you may also request his Classification History (SSS Form 102). The Classification History may contain: name; date of birth; classification and date of mailing notice; date of appeal to the board; date and results of armed forces physical examination; entry into active duty or civilian work in lieu of induction (may include date, branch of service entered and mode of entry, such as enlisted or ordered); date of separation from active duty or civilian work; and general remarks. Please complete a Form NA-13172 to request a search of these records and email it to the National Archives at St. Louis (RRPO) at stl.archives@nara.gov . We recommend that you attach a copy of the draft registration card, as it includes information which will make it easier to locate his classification history. For more information, see Selective Service Records . 
 If you are trying to determine when an individual soldier joined a specific unit, it may be helpful to review the Muster Rolls and Rosters, 11/1/1912 - 12/31/1943 and Morning Reports, ca. 1912 - 1946 for the specific unit you are interested in. For more information about these records, please contact the National Archives at St. Louis at stl.archives@nara.gov . Please note that rosters for units serving in World War II from 1944-1946 were destroyed in accordance with Army disposition authorities. For more information, please see Access to Morning Reports and Unit Rosters | National Archives . 
 We suggest that you contact the state or county veterans agency and the State Archives and Historical Societies for specific states that you are interested in. It may also be useful to review previous History Hub discussions related to topics like Army assignments , replacement depots , or Army training as well. 
 To learn more about how soldiers were assigned to specific units during World War II, we suggest that you contact the U.S. Army Center of Military History and the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center for additional assistance. You may wish to search their websites for potentially relevant resources, too, such as: U.S. Army Center Of Military History - - WWII - General ; The Personnel Replacement System in the United States Army ; THE PROCUREMENT AND TRAINING OF GROUND COMBAT TROOPS ; A Brief History of the U.S. Army in World War II ; THE POOL AND OVERSTRENGTH PROBLEM ; Provision of Enlisted Replacements ; and Army Heritage Trail: World War II Core Area . Other online resources include Training the American GI | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans , The U.S. World War II Troop Replacement Policy | Defense Media Network , and Virginia Tech&rsquo;s Assignment & Promotion | American Soldier in WWII sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). 
 Finally, the citations you provided in your inquiry (407.5 RECORDS RELATING TO PERSONNEL 1905-73 or 165.3 Records of the Personnel Division (G-1)) appear to be from the Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States . Please be aware that the Guide to Federal Records does not relate to specific series of records in NARA&rsquo;s custody; rather, it provides a general overview of each record group. The Guide is also no longer regularly updated. 
 We suggest that you use the National Archives Catalog to search for potentially relevant records. Please see Using the National Archives Catalog and National Archives Catalog Search Tips for guidance. Some records may be digitized and available online using the Catalog, but many records have not been digitized. Please contact the NARA reference unit listed in each Catalog description for assistance with those particular records. 
 We invite you to continue the conversation with community members on History Hub, but should you have follow up questions for the staff at Archives II, please email us at archives2reference@nara.gov so that we can assist you further. 
 We hope this is helpful for your research! 
 Sincerely, 
 Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR) 
 [RR2RR 23-66863-RS]