Brehon Burke Somervell was a general in the United States Army and Commanding General of the Army Service Forces in World War II. As such he was responsible for the U.S. Army's logistics. Following his death, The Washington Post lauded him as "one of the ablest officers the United States Army has produced".
Brehon B. Somervell
Lieutenant Colonel Brehon B. Somervell being decorated with the DSC by Major General Frank L. Winn at Nattenheim, Germany, December 1918.
Northwest exposure of the Pentagon's construction underway, 1 July 1942
Weekly Staff Conference at United States Army Services of Supply (USASOS) headquarters in June 1942. Major General Brehon B. Somervell is sat at the head of the table.
The Army Service Forces was one of the three autonomous components of the United States Army during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces, created on 9 March 1942. By dividing the Army into three large commands, the Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, drastically reduced the number of officers and agencies reporting directly to him. The Army Service Forces brought together elements of five different components of the Army: elements of the War Department General Staff (WDGS), especially its G-4 division ; the Office of the Under Secretary of War; the eight administrative bureaus; the nine corps areas, which became service commands; and the six supply arms and services, which became known as the technical services. The Army Service Forces was initially known as the United States Army Services of Supply but the name was changed on 12 March 1943, as it was felt that the term "supply" did not accurately describe the broad range of its activities. The Army Service Forces was abolished on 11 June 1946 and most of its functions were taken over by the War Department General Staff.
Weekly staff conference at Services of Supply headquarters in June 1942
Lieutenant General Levin H. Campbell Jr., Chief of Ordnance
Major General Harry C. Ingles, Chief Signal Officer
Major General Norman T. Kirk, Surgeon General