"Each battle in this global war proves that the speed of moving troops is geared to the speed and efficiency of supply trains. The quartermaster, then, becomes the key man in the solution of today's strategic problems.
"Basic principles of war have not changed much since Ghenghis Khan. He was the father of blitz. Surprise attack, lightning thrust, the wedge-shaped formation used by Von Brauchitsch to bring Poland to its knees, were all used by the Khan 800 years ago -- and later successfully employed by his followers right there in the same Poland! Only difference was that the Germans used tanks and armored cars; the Khan used tireless ponies and deadly arrows.
"Today's higher speed in moving troops simply means we have to deliver food and other supplies that much faster. Now it isn't enough to keep up with marching armies; QM has to keep us with troops hurtling forward at the rate of 100 to 200 miles a day.
"That's why, today, QM troops must be armed to fight, because so often they find themselves right in the thick of battle, as on Bataan. That's why, here at the QM school, cadets go in for chemical warfare, work on pistol and rifle ranges, learn use of tommy guns, map reading, jungle and desert warfare, infantry maneuvers, as well as strictly QM problems. We make 'em soldiers first, then quartermasters."
Quoted in The National Geographic Magazine
(November 1942)
A captured enemy document, written by a division commander, perhaps pays as great a tribute to all the forces responsible for supply of the front-line troops as could be found. He wrote:
"I cannot understand these Americans. Each night we know that we have cut them to pieces, inflicted heavy casualties, mowed down their transport. We know, in some cases, we have almost decimated entire battalions. But -- in the morning, we are suddenly faced with fresh battalions, with complete replacements of men, machines, food, tools, and weapons. This happens day after day. If I did not see it with my own eyes, I would say it is impossible to give this kind of support to front-line troops so far from their bases."
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
"The steady flow of supplies across thousands of miles of water, or by air, during the Pacific War is in itself the most eloquent testimony conceivable as to the efficiency of the Quartermaster Corps. Both the magnitude of assignment and the Corps' performance in carrying it out are without parallel in the history of warfare. "In varied actions on widely separated islands, vital shipments, essential to the very existence of soldiers, came through, despite conditions never before encountered. The Quartermasters met the challenge completely and effectively."
General Douglas MacArthur