G-3 is concerned with operations. From G-3 come the orders to attack or withdraw. During training G-3 coordinates training ideas into a program designed to make a combat soldier out of a rookie in the speediest possible procedure. During combat, G-3 sees that the division hits the enemy where he is weakest or at the spot where it will do him the most damage. Col M. J. Dugas was G-3 for the ONAWAY Division. Through G-3's Air Ground Liaison Officer, Maj William C. Foreman, ONAWAY was furnished air force fighter or bomber support whenever needed during its operations. Another function of G-3 was carried on under supervision of the Information and Education Officer, Maj Paul M. Nugent.

G-4 is concerned with supply and must insure that food, water, gasoline, ammunition and transportation are available. Rapid evacuation of casualties, care of equipment, and quick solution of traffic problems are all jobs of G-4. Lt Col R. L. Carmichael, Jr. and Maj F. T. Murphy were G-4's of the 76th.

Bringing the food and supplies to the division was the twenty-four-hour-a-day job of the 76th Quartermaster Company. The company's "life line" fleet of forty-eight two and one-half ton trucks traveled more than 368,337 miles over Europe from the division's Sauer River crossing until it established its last bridgehead over the Mulde. During combat QM issued 1,741,672 ration units, 167,405 PX units, 480,990 gallons of gasoline and 13,669 gallons of lubricants. Along with this came 315,714 articles of clothing and equipment and the reissue of 6,732 items of salvage. QM trucks also transported thousands of PW's, DP's and liberated Allied PW's. At one time near the end of the war the division was feeding 35,000 German prisoners. Capt R. S. Conlisk commanded the 76th QM Company.

Personnel of the 776th Ordnance (Light Maintenance) Company were intended to handle third echelon maintenance on the division's arms and vehicles, in addition to the continuous Ordnance supply problems. All fourth echelon maintenance, however, also was done insofar as the men had equipment and parts. Expected to carry a load of from thirty to sixty percent of all maintenance in combat, the company, with only a medium maintenance unit in support, carried almost ninety percent of the load. The company was commanded by Capt John Stinson.

G-5 is Military Government. Responsibilities of G-5 include the restoration of order among the Germans, repatriation of displaced persons, and reorganization of the economy of the country. Serving as G-5 for ONAWAY was Lt Col Henry R. Nelson. One of the tremendous jobs of G-5 was in supervision of the housing, feeding and transportation of thousands upon thousands of DP's who were seeking to return to their homes after having been brought forcibly into the Reich to slave for Hitler's war machine. Military Government did not attempt to set up a new form of government in conquered Germany; instead it supervised the present German system, permitting German officials to run their respective sections subject to adherence to regulations of the Allied governments.

The Commanding General's Special Staff is comprised of officers who serve in an advisory capacity as the division operates in combat. The Air Officer advises on all aviation matters. The Artillery Officer brings to the attention of the Commanding General the use of field artillery. Smoke or any other chemical weapon is used through the Chemical Officer, who advises on chemical warfare both by our side and the enemy. The Engineer Officer plans for the use of engineers in construction of bridges and roads, mine detection and demolition. Security for Division Headquarters is the responsibility of the Headquarters Commandant, who also hag charge of the movement of Headquarters and supervision of its personnel. Advising the Commanding General and his staff on all ordnance matters is the Ordnance Officer. The Provost Marshal directs the Military Police. In charge of all communications is the Signal Officer, who supervises the use of all codes and ciphers within the division and advises on all signal matters. The Surgeon watches over the health of the division and cares for the wounded. Secretary to the division is the Adjutant General, who is custodian of most of the important paper work, handling all official correspondence. Spiritual welfare of the troops is the responsibility of the Chaplain, who provides an opportunity for all men to take part in religious services. Paymaster of the division is the Finance Officer. The Inspector General keeps the Commanding General informed on all matters within the division, paring laxness to a minimum by constant inspections and working for a more smoothly operating command. The lawyer of the division is the Judge Advocate, who supervises the administration of military justice. The Quartermaster is responsible for the feeding and clothing of the troops and in many instances furnishes transportation for them.

ONAWAY Special Staff officers were: Artillery, Brig Gen Henry C. Evans; Air, Maj William C. Foreman; Chemical, Lt Col D. C. Hester; Engineer, Lt Col R. B. Mercer; Finance, Lt Col K. C. Barnes; Inspector General, Maj Thomas F. Hayes, Jr., later Capt H. G. Palmer, Jr.; Chaplain, Lt Col Wayne Daubenspeck, later Maj W. E. Garabedian; Headquarters Commandant, Lt Col Will H. Gordon, later Lt Col H. J. Kunstling; Ordnance, Lt Col E. I. Donley; Provost Marshal, Maj H. G. Stover; Signal, Lt Col E. L. Camp; Surgeon, Lt Col H. M. Greenleaf; Adjutant General, Lt Col George E. Norton, Jr., later Lt Col L. H. Walker; Judge Advocate, Lt Col R. B. Laughlin; Quartermaster, Lt Col D. H. Clark; Special Service, Maj Marvin C. Kress.

Transportation was the number one problem in seeing that all the men received their mail from home. At one time close to V-E Day, when the 76th had plunged farthest into Germany, seven Army Post Office trucks maintained a continuous two-way convoy requiring three days for the 600-mile round trip to Mainz, then the collecting point for division mail. A trained staff of eighteen EM and one officer handled incoming and outgoing mail. Letter writing picked up 500 percent, with approximately 25,000 letters being written per day, after the division reached the ETO. The number of packages mailed home was about equal to the number received. The finance section of APO 76 handled money orders and sold an average of 15,000 dollars worth of stamps a month.

Pointing the way as the division smashed across Germany was the Military Police platoon. Operating in police and traffic sections, the MP's, reinforced by members of the division band, untangled and kept moving the endless convoys of men and material, served as individual information bureaus, and received, searched, transported, guarded and processed tens of thousands of prisoners. In addition the MP's maintained a straggler control line extending back from and roughly parallel to the front, searching for stragglers, DP's, suspicious individuals, men lost from their outfits, anybody who could not satisfactorily explain his presence in the rear of ONAWAY's advance.

With only the Geneva Red Cross on helmets and sleeves, members of the 301st Medical Battalion were side by side with ONAWAY troops wherever they fought. Company aid men and litter bearers faced enemy fire armed with only aid packets and litters, to assure 76th infantrymen of the best medical. treatment possible in event of injury or illness. Three collecting companies and a clearing company, plus a headquarters detachment, were coordinated in bringing back the wounded, operating if necessary, and sending them on to hospital care.

Combat operations of the 301st Engineer Combat Battalion closely paralleled those of the ONAWAY doughboys. Prior to the Sauer crossing, their biggest single operation, the engineers cleared roads of mines, carried on intensive reconnaissance and removed mine fields. They ferried 417th Infantry troops across the Sauer to hit the Siegfried Line, and built the first bridge across the flood-swollen, raging stream. Sometimes with a combat team and sometimes independently, the engineers thereafter managed assault boat crossings of rivers and built bridges across the Prüm, Nims, Kyll and other streams. Also they destroyed road blocks, marked and removed mine fields, and cleared roads. Their reconnaissance of the Rhine helped make possible its crossing by neighboring divisions. The battalion assisted in two more river crossings and built and strengthened a number of bridges between the Rhine and the Mulde Rivers.

Reconnoitering for river crossing sites and enemy dispositions, and providing both Liaison with adjacent outfits and flank security for ONAWAY, was the 76th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop, mechanized. The Recon cavalrymen under Capt Thomas Stone maintained virtually all communication via radio from in front or on either flank of the advancing division.

Effecting and maintaining all communications within the division and between it and neighboring and higher commands was the 76th Signal Company. During combat, motor messengers traveled about 100,000 miles, the cryptographic section enciphered more than 200,000 groups, teletype machines handled over 5000 messages, and switchboard operators completed more than a million calls. Over 4000 miles of wire was laid, the radio section operated division command net number one for 1848 hours without closing, and the motor section vehicles traveled 222,620 miles with only three accidents. Capt J. V. Peterson commanded Signal Company.

Chemical Warfare Service and Liaison sections operated as a unit for ONAWAY. The CWS men handled chemical supplies for the division and took over control of enemy chemical warfare equipment overrun by the 76th advance. The Liaison section operated a daily message service between sections of the forward echelon of Division Headquarters.

Division Headquarters was divided during combat between forward and rear echelons. As tactical headquarters of the Commanding General, forward echelon was comprised of the General Staff and those sections concerned with the conduct of operations. The rear echelon contained the administrative center of the division together with the non-tactical services.

Forward echelon moved closely behind ONAWAY's fighting units, and from it went the orders directing all phases of the division's advance. The division's Security Platoon defended this headquarters. Office of the Adjutant General was in the rear echelon. Here the division files were maintained, records prepared, general and special orders published and division correspondence handled. With the rear echelon were personnel officers and company clerks of all units, and the offices of the Division Chaplain, Judge Advocate and Army Postal Officer. Clerks and drivers provided the guard for rear echelon.

Magnificent support for ONAWAY's sweep across Germany came from the Division Artillery, which hurled 110,998 rounds in support of the smash from the Sauer to the Mulde.