Ground Force Replacement System

Ground Force Replacement System, US Army organization formed in the European Theatre of Operations (ETOUSA) in January 1944 to replace casualties during the fighting in north-west Europe. The average combat replacement, or anyone returning to combat duty after being wounded, made four stops on his way to the front line: at the reception depot in the UK or France where he normally only stayed overnight; the intermediate depot where his processing began and where, during a 48-hour stay, he was given a rifle and any necessary equipment; the forward depot; and finally the forward battalion which assigned him to a particular sub-unit. There was one forward depot for each army formation with one forward battalion to support each front-line corps. The system controlled a pool of 70,000 men, 54,800 of them infantrymen. However, by September 1944 there was such an acute shortage of infantrymen that the system had to retrain as many as 14,400 men in the infantry role. In December 1944, when it was realized that the term ‘replacement’ was having a deleterious affect on morale, the system was renamed Ground Force Reinforcement Command.