PHILIPPINE SCOUTS
at Fort McKinley firing a 37-mm. antitank gun in training. |
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When General MacArthur assumed command of U.S. Army
Forces in the Far East, the Philippine Department consisted of 22,- 532
men, 11,972 of whom were Philippine Scouts. Of the 1,340 officers, 775
were reservists on active duty. The largest group of men-7,293-was
assigned to the infantry, and the Coast Artillery Corps was next with
4,967. Almost the entire strength of the command was stationed on Luzon.
The largest single U.S. Army unit in the Philippines
was the Philippine Division, commanded by Maj; Gen. Jonathan M.
Wainwright, which on paper had a total strength on 31 July of 10,473
men. Theoretically, it was a square division, but was not equipped as
such, and lacked a brigade organization and some of its organic
elements. All of the enlisted men in the division, except those in the
31st Infantry and a few military police and headquarters troops, were
Philippine Scouts; the 31st was the only American infantry unit in the
Islands composed entirely of Americans. In addition to this regiment,
the Philippine Division contained the 45th and 57th Infantry (PS).17
Authorized strength for these Scout regiments was 2,435 officers and
men, and for the 31st, 1,729. In July 1941 the former were slightly
below strength and the latter was 402 overstrength in officers and
enlisted men.18
The Philippine Division rarely functioned as a
division, for its elements were scattered. Headquarters and the bulk of
the division were at Fort William McKinley, just south of the city. The
31st Infantry was stationed at the Post of Manila, in the city itself,
and a battalion of the 12th Quartermaster Regiment was located in the
Manila port area. The 1st Battalion, less one company, of the 45th
Infantry was stationed at the Post of Limay on the southeast coast of
the Bataan peninsula. The rest of the division, including the artillery
components, the 12th Ordnance Company, and a platoon of the
quartermaster regiment, was at Fort Stotsenburg, about fifty miles north
of Manila, close to Clark Field.