Strenuous combat training went on daily . . .

In Washington, however, the persistent cloud which, in a sense, held the division in its shadow was gathering again. While, during the first four months after activation, the division had sent more than 1000 soldiers to seventeen Officer Candidate Schools; and even though it had been called upon to transfer hundreds more to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, as cadre for the 100th Infantry Division, as well as furnish an officer cadre for the 101st Airborne Division, a further depletion was about to occur. In October the 76th was given a special mission by the War Department. The impending invasion of North Africa made it necessary to supply well-trained replacements for immediate overseas duty. Though greatly honored at this official recognition of its ripeness, this assignment was a severe blow to all who hoped the division would be committed in the near future as a combat unit.

From October, 1942 until the end of March 1943 the division processed replacements for the North African Theater. Thousands of 76th-trained enlisted men went over after Rommel and his Korps, while as many thousands constantly took their places to learn the ropes. Those were months of perpetual equipping, processing, training and shipping, -- sending the other Joe to put into practice what he had been taught. "Well, so long, Butch. Don't forget to keep your butt down, and get one of those bastards for me." We watched them come and go, and when they'd gone, leaving us standing there waving after them, then we wouldn't give you two cents for the best state in the Union. That replacement depot deal was no fun . . .

Those were months of perpetual training . . .  keep your butt down . . .

Maj Gen William R. Schmidt, former Assistant Commander of the 81st Infantry Division, assumed command of the 76th Division 13 December 1942. During the previous month Brig Gen Henry C. Evans had become Division Artillery Commander. That same month, November, Gen Smith, Assistant Division Commander, had been transferred and succeeded by Brig Gen John E. Dahlquist. In March, Gen Dahlquist was succeeded by Brig Gen Francis A. Woolfley. It was during this latter month that service as a replacement unit was completed and the 76th at last returned to its former status as a combat division. Its ranks were quickly refilled, chiefly by Replacement Training Center personnel from southern camps. An intensive training program began 12 April 1943.

Maj Gen William R. Schmidt
assumed command on 13 December 2025 . . .

By July the division was ready for more advanced training and moved to A. P. Hill Military Reservation near Fredericksburg, Virginia. There, living under field conditions, the men experienced three months of rugged outdoor unit training. Combat problems were splendidly conducted over more than 80,000 acres of rocky, sandy, sweltering Virginia countryside.

What was A. P. Hill like? Well, it was like an oven, and any place you went it was out of the frying pan and into the fire. During training hours you cooked in sweat, and when you ate, everything tasted salty from your own perspiration. At night the tents were still hot from the sun. You rolled up the flaps but the wind was even too weak to penetrate the mosquito netting. If you rolled the netting you still didn't sleep; those who don't believe in monstrous dragons, able both to fly and bite, have never been to any place like A. P. Hill. Yes, there were passes, and it was possible to get to Washington. Generally that was tried only once. By the time you and a million other GI's could board, first, a bus and then one of those coal-burning jobs with insufficient coaches, packed aisles, and enough coal dust to heat the whole of Germany, you were such a wilted, filthy mess in what were once sun-tans, that Mauldin would have seemed a fashion plate by comparison. But A. P. Hill was a splendid training ground for every member of the division, and we were a pretty cocky fighting outfit by the time those three months were up . . . . .

Again more advanced training . . . and almost everybody
got a chance to fire the bazooka with service ammunition . . .

Just about the time all members had become conditioned to prolonged endeavor in extreme heat, orders were received early in September directing that the division move to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, for specialized winter training. This transition from a now milder Virginia to the frosty Wisconsin hills was completed during the first week of October. Again more advanced training was undertaken as winter warfare was stressed. Special winter equipment, representing hundreds of thousands of dollars, including skis, snowshoes, toboggans, snow tractors, snow goggles, winter camouflage suits, Eskimo parkas, scarf's, pile-lined jackets, wool socks, rucksacks, mountain tents, individual stoves and cooking equipment, special foods, face masks, fur caps, arctic sleeping bags, battle pants, sweaters, and even lip-sticks for chapped lips, was issued to the division.