War department merges specialist corps and army officer procurement system

As already announced in the news press, the Army Specialist Corps will be discontinued December 31, 1942, by direction of Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. As previously reported in Electrical Engineering (EE, Aug. '42, pp. 440–2; Sept. '42, p. 490) the Specialist Corps was brought into being during the spring months of 1942 for the purpose of obtaining from civil life especially qualified technical and professional men for duties with the Army where military training and experience are not essential. The procurement functions and basic policies of the Corps are being absorbed by a new War Department agency which has been designated as the Officer Procurement Service; this new agency also is taking over from the office of the Adjutant General essentially all officer-procurement functions. Thus, the OPS will provide a single consolidated channel for officer-procurement for all branches of the Army.