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Detached Enlisted Man


Bsquirrely
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Bsquirrely

What exactly is the Detached Enlisted Man status/list definition for WW2?

When did somebody get into this status and what was the who what where when and how of it?

 

Thanks! ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...
What exactly is the Detached Enlisted Man status/list definition for WW2?

When did somebody get into this status and what was the who what where when and how of it?

 

Thanks! ;)

The detached enlisted men's list was comprised of persons in duties which did not fit well into the description of any branch. I do not have particulars on how someone was assigned this, but I can tell you some of the people who were routinely in this status: enlisted men assigned to the US Military Academy. Also, enlisted aides to general officers. Most obscure of all, the last of the Indian Scouts (about a dozen individuals who were at Ft. Huachuca, AZ throughout WWII) were carried on the DEML.

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The term was used pre-WWII -- pre-draft -- for various enlisted career fields/assignments that would later be called "branch immaterial" or "unassigned branch".

 

As previously stated this included EM asst instructors at West Point, enlisted orderlies for general officers. It also included counter-intelligence and intelligence specialists, such as translators/interpreters. With the influx of draftees and great expansion of the Army in 1940-1942 the DEML expanded -- as a catchall for new types of enlisted specialists (often assigned duties in line with their previous civilian jobs) that had no extant MOS codes within the usual branches. (Akin to the Navy X ratings.)

 

OSS enlisted men often were DEML, until they acquired military skills/MOSs, or got commissioned. I knew an OSS vet who had been a radio announcer (at age 18) and was picked up by OSS because he spoke German and Norwegian; they put him in PsyWar as a T-5. When he went to radio school he became a T-4, Signal Corps -- then went to OCS and para school at Benning and came out a 2LT, Inf. Later, Military Government EMs wore the green cap piping and double US collar discs.

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What exactly is the Detached Enlisted Man status/list definition for WW2?

When did somebody get into this status and what was the who what where when and how of it?

 

Thanks! ;)

 

 

Another odd one for the DEML was Railroad engineers and other Railway Specialist. They were not carried on the standard Trans Corps but were on the unassigned list for Officers and Enlisted. Found this out looking at one of there European Tour books. Nope don't have...could not begin to afford it either.

 

T

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Two more that come to mind:

 

1. In early WWII, draftees with any experience in the funeral home business were steered into Memorial Affairs Specialist....I guess before an ENLISTED course/MOS within the QMC was created. Men with certification as morticians apparently got direct commissions, but enlisted assistants had notb existed before the war.

 

2. Physical Training Specialists -- much the same, for draftees with past experience as athletes and/or coaches, or even bodybuilders. Much later, an MOS was created, under AGC.

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Bsquirrely

1. In early WWII, draftees with any experience in the funeral home business were steered into Memorial Affairs Specialist....I guess before an ENLISTED course/MOS within the QMC was created. Men with certification as morticians apparently got direct commissions, but enlisted assistants had notb existed before the war.

 

Ick just Ick :blink:

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  • 5 years later...

I know this is an old post, but since I just picked this up recently, I thought I would add it, a Detached Enlisted overseas/garrison hat with the dark green piping for that branch. These are fairly hard to find no doubt.

post-130463-0-17412100-1407436627.jpg

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Local guy was 517th all the way through WW2.

He was a mortar man.

For some reason, he spent a lot of time at the end on liaison detail.

 

He talks about flying into Denmark for a surrender and seein fields of Me 262s

 

He has a lot to say about relations with Russians, n ot much good.

 

He is a good talker and being an Airborne vet, I am someone he likes to talk to.

He grew up with my father who was 506th.

 

I will ask about his assignment. Probably they needed security and it was the usual, "You, you, and you!" drill.

I suspect mortarmen were not in demand at the time.

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  • 10 months later...
Philipp Baughman

The term was used pre-WWII -- pre-draft -- for various enlisted career fields/assignments that would later be called "branch immaterial" or "unassigned branch".

 

As previously stated this included EM asst instructors at West Point, enlisted orderlies for general officers. It also included counter-intelligence and intelligence specialists, such as translators/interpreters. With the influx of draftees and great expansion of the Army in 1940-1942 the DEML expanded -- as a catchall for new types of enlisted specialists (often assigned duties in line with their previous civilian jobs) that had no extant MOS codes within the usual branches. (Akin to the Navy X ratings.)

 

OSS enlisted men often were DEML, until they acquired military skills/MOSs, or got commissioned. I knew an OSS vet who had been a radio announcer (at age 18) and was picked up by OSS because he spoke German and Norwegian; they put him in PsyWar as a T-5. When he went to radio school he became a T-4, Signal Corps -- then went to OCS and para school at Benning and came out a 2LT, Inf. Later, Military Government EMs wore the green cap piping and double US collar discs.

Hi guys,

I know this is rather an old thread but I'm looking for some information on DEML in intelligence services. Did they wear the DEML collar disc? Was it possible to stay without MOS?

 

In the post quoted above it is stated that the US collar discs were worn on both sides. Can anyone give a time period for this? Was it generally late war or before?

 

Thanks

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  • 2 years later...
dan_the_hun84

I know of a couple guys who had this as thier branch of service listed upon discharge. They had been Sig C and Artillery guys, but low points men. They made it back to the states, and wound up pulling various generic duty for a couple months until discharged at the closest post to thier homes. In other words they were still in uniform, but working outside of thier wartime MOS.

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