United States Zone Constabulary: An Analysis of Manning Issues and Their Impact on Operations
On VE Day, 8 May 1945, the United States had over three million military personnel in Europe. Through redeployment of forces to the Pacific Theater and demobilization this number dropped to just over 622,000 by 1 January 1946. Staff planners initially estimated a thirty-three-division force to control the US Zone of Occupation in Germany, but War Department directives caused that force to shrink to 133,000 by 1 July 1946. In order to provide security in the US Zone, planners determined a small force composed of high-caliber Soldiers could provide security in the zone using police type tactics. This force was named the United States Zone Constabulary. Although the United States Zone Constabulary was planned as an elite organization composed of 38,000 high-caliber combat-veteran Soldiers, redeployment soon made this goal unachievable. This thesis shows that instead the constabulary was an understrength organization composed of whatever Soldiers were available in theater, or as nonveteran replacements. To achieve the high standards required for their mission, the constabulary relied on constant training, inspections, and evaluation to ensure that those assigned could complete their mission. The constabulary also used high-operations-tempo to cover its lack of personnel through constant and unpredictable visibility.
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