During World War II, the United States Army did its best to assign those men who were drafted some kind of job that was relevant to what they had done in civilian life, depending upon the situation and needs of the Army. After a man registered, received his draft notice, and was inducted into the Army, he completed all of his medical, physical, and qualification testing at a reception center. As a part of this process, he filled out the WD AGO Form 20, or Soldier's Qualification Card. This form listed on it, among other things;
The man's date of birth, his hometown, and the names of his parents
His educational history, including leadership positions
A description, if applicable, of each job the man had worked in his life
The Army, as a basis for dividing the assignments of occupational specialties among received men, took into account the results of their previous classification testing (Army General Classification Test, or AGCT), education, and employment history, as well as a guideline of strength reports from active units. The guideline converted the Specification Serial Numbers (SSNs) of the jobs of men in units into a rate per 1,000 enlisted men. For example, in an infantry regiment, 21.3 men were cooks, (SSN 060) 77 were truck drivers, (SSN 345, 931, 934, etc.) 177.5 were riflemen, (SSN 745) and 50.7 were automatic riflemen (SSN 746) Needs were also calculated for arms of services as a whole. Many men holding lower Army General Classification Test scores or lacking a civilian job which could readily be translated into a Military Occupational Specialty, or any civilian job at all, were more often than not classified as "any arm of service". This more often than not meant a combat arm, especially later in the war.
Specification Serial Numbers below 500 denoted jobs which had some kind of equivalent in civilian life, such as cook (SSN 060) or automotive mechanic (SSN 014) SSNs above 500 had no real equivalent in civilian life, such as rifleman (SSN 745) or mine detector operator (SSN 968)
At the reception center after filling out the WD AGO Form 20, men completed interviews with classification specialists. During an interview, the specialist initiated discussion, listened to concerns, and used manual AR 615-26 (Index and Specifications for Civilian and Military Occupational Specialists) to assign the man's civilian job(s) a military equivalent, if possible. The man in the sample form above (a "Brown, James A., ASN 31900004") worked as a sales clerk at a department store (classified as SSN 373 "Sales Clerk") and also as a truck driver (classified as SSN 345 "Driver, Truck, Light") for the same store. He was recommended for assignment as a supply clerk (SSN 835) or a light truck driver. Men, if their AGCT scores and mental and physical testing results were sufficient and there was room, could also choose to volunteer for any occupation the Army deemed them qualified to perform (such as ASTP, which required an AGCT score of 115, Officer Candidate School, which required an AGCT score of 110, parachute infantry, or various Army Air Corps flight training programs)
The following Specification Serial Numbers had something to do with cooking or food preparation:
| SSN | Title |
|---|---|
| 017 | Baker |
| 037 | Meat Cutter |
| 060 | Cook |
| 120 | Meat or Dairy Inspector |
| 371 | Purchasing Agent |
| 521 | Basic (a basic soldier could be assigned to any task a commander needed, including being a cook's helper) |
| 590 | Duty Soldier III (soldiers that perform basic non-exertive and non-technical tasks under supervision, including being a cook's helper) |
| 819 | Commissary Steward |
| 820 | Subsistence Noncommissioned Officer |
| 824 | Mess Sergeant |
Sources:
TM 12-427 Military Occupational Classification of Enlisted Personnel (dated July 12, 1944) PDF
Procurement and Training of Ground Combat Troops, by Robert R. Palmer, Bell I. Wiley, and William R. Keast (United States Army In World War II; The Army Ground Forces) PDF