Can someone explain the point system please? I know if you accrued enough points, you got to go home. Points were awarded for medals, right? How many for each medal please? Any info would be appreciated. In Band of Brothers, they said the magic number was 85 points. Is this correct? Thanks for responses.
well it was also based on time served and battles fought in i believe. I believe that the bronze star was worth 5 points
No guarantee, but here is one set of point awards I came across. 1 point for each month overseas. 5 points if you received the bronze. 5 points for any additional medal 5 points for the purple heart. 12 points for each child under 18. This was a Wiki answer, so I can't vouch for it.
1. Each Month in Service……………………………………………. 1 Point 2. Each Month in Service Overseas …………………………………1 Point 3. Each Combat Award (including each Medal and each Bronze Service Star, or battle participation star) ……………………………………..5 Points 4. Each dependent Child under 18 (maximum 3 Children) …….…… 12 Points According to POINTS - MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY well my grandpa had: 14 (i think they rounded it to 15) months in the states 21 almost 22 months over seas Bronze Star Medal American Service Medal Good Conduct Medal European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal 2 Kids And his ASR score was 81, so it seems right, but on wiki they didnt include service time in the states
I make it... (14+21=) 35 months in service.................... 35 pts 21 months overseas.................................. 21 pts 4 Medals x 5 pts ea =20 ............................ 20 pts 2 kids x 12 pts/kid .................................... 24 pts ------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL ASR POINTS ................................100 PTS By my accounting, he should have been in one of the first planes outta there! I'm not saying your '81' figure is in error..... I'm obviously doing something wrong here.... ..... but, based on the published point system, I'll bet there were a lot of disappointed 'Joes' when they got their 'official' accounting! -whatever -Lou
(14+21=) 35 months in service.................... 35 pts 21 months overseas.................................. 21 pts you counted the 21 months 2x theres the error
In other words, the time overseas counts the same as the time in the States (equal to 1 point per month). Then why break out the time overseass? I assumed they gave extra points for time away from the US.... ..... but there I go again...... assuming ANYTHING in 1940's Army administration makes anything even CLOSE to sense! FUBAR -whatever -Lou
The points were cumulative. If you were in 1942 to 1945 and was overseas 1944 & 45, you would get one point for each month 1942 & 43 and two points for each month 1944 & 45, for a total of 72 points, instead of 48.
the point system became very important to alot of people after VE day in May 1945. Many troops having survived the battles in Europe now faced the prospect of simply behing shipped to the Pacific since the war there was still going on. Needless to say not too may people were happy about this and the point system was started in the interest of fairness to the 9 to 10 million US GI's in 1945. (Alot of units were on the verge of mutiny over the prospect of being shipped to the Pacific since they felt they had done enough!) Moreover the US fighter and bomber crews also had their own rotation system based on number of combat missions (for the B-17's usually it was 25 missions an you were home free if you survived. The odds of surviving 25 missions against German flak, and fighters, mechanical failures and crashes, and all the other dangers faced by the bomber crews however, were not high, so it was actually a much tougher feat than it may seem like).
In researching this, I read one account that indicated that a lot of 'low-point' soldiers that were definitely going to be re-assigned to the PTO were shipped back to the States for some additional training and re-equipment, and were, in fact on US soil when the Japanese surrendered, and wound up getting mustered out BEFORE the high-point guys sitting in the Cigarette Camps waiting for their number to come up! FUBAR -whatever -Lou
Could it be that the good conduct and service medals didn't count as "medals" as far as points go? I think I saw something on this recently. Will see if I can find it again.
Based on conversations I've had with my Dad (who went through the whole process)..... ..... (including months getting shifted from one Cigarette Camp to another)...... ..... I'm gonna stick with FUBAR. (.... and Dad will back me up!...) -whatever -Lou
In early 1944, it was expected that about 5% of the 8th AF heavy bomber crews would make 25 missions, given the loss rate at that time. There was no magic number in the Pacific. The 15th AF had as number, 35. Both the 8th and 15th AF raised their number late in the war. I don't remember what they were reaised to, though.
Just something I have read in more than one personal account of time spent overseas (ETO) with the US Army was that even if one had more than enough points to be sent home, but was in a critical MOS (I don't know exactly what MOS's were considered critical), one's unit could delay releasing an individual until a replacement was available. And it was only the Army that maintained a point system; the Navy maintained that service was for the "duration" of the war. I heard my father say that toward the end of the war, when they heard about the European veterans being mustered out, he became very resentful because he had many more "points" than those Army vets then being released from service. The whole issue caused a lot of unrest and bitterness because of what was perceived as the unfairness of the system.
I saw that "duration" part of DA's post, and wonder about something else. Wasn't the point system set up for "draftee" status and those who enlisted did so (Army or Navy) for the duration plus six months? Since Truman didn't officially declare the war over until Dec. 31st, 1945, wouldn't enlisted personell be eligible to be "mustered" out in June of '46, right? That is when my Dad was discharged at anyrate, and he had enlisted in the AAC (F) in Dec. of '41. Just curious is all.
