Quartermaster Corps

The Quartermaster Corps appears in the account through a specific change in Army administration: responsibility for camp construction was taken from it and assigned to the Corps of Engineers after the Truman Committee investigated Army camp building. The episode links scrutiny of wartime construction to a reallocation of responsibility, while offering little further description of the Corps itself.

Responsibility for Camp Construction

The account identifies the Quartermaster Corps as the organization responsible for camp construction before the transfer. It does not detail how the Corps organized or carried out that work; its role is established through the responsibility later removed from it.

Investigation and Transfer

The Truman Committee’s investigations of Army camp building alone saved the government $250 million, the account says. As the committee had strongly recommended, responsibility for camp construction was then taken away from the Quartermaster Corps and given to the Corps of Engineers.

Administrative Significance

The transfer is presented as the outcome of congressional scrutiny and as a correction: the account says camp construction belonged with the Corps of Engineers in the first place. It distinguishes the committee’s reported savings from the reassignment itself: the investigations saved money, while the change placed construction responsibility in a different Army organization.