As an American soldier in WWII, what were the chances of you fighting in Europe or the pacific?

by JonMlee

I’ve always wanted to know the answer to this but couldn’t find any data. Was it by random? Last name alphabetically? Certain branches go to certain countries?

the_howling_cow

I previously detailed how men were assigned to the services and where they served in posts here and here, but more answers can be found on my profile here.

The majority of the Army's effort was directed at the combined European and Mediterranean Theaters, and essentially the entirety of the Marine Corps and most of the Navy spent the entire war or portions of the war in the Pacific.

30 April 1945 Reported Actual Strengths in Principal Theaters (U.S. Army)

30 April 1945 ETO MTO SWPA POA CBI Combined Total Army
Divisions 819,342 102,485 183,798 80,834 1,186,459
Non-divisional Combat Troops 595,418 37,797 113,318 102,076 15,766 864,375
Total Ground Combat Troops 1,414,660 140,282 297,118 182,910 15,766 2,050,835
Non-divisional Service Troops 828,726 128,307 214,835 142,579 69,898 1,384,345
Air Service 439,425 153,005 173,343 75,438 90,949 932,160
Replacements 171,933 34,551 34,203 20,371 4,355 265,423
Patients in SOS Hospitals 128,305 15,679 41,135 6,423 1,439 192,981
Unclassified 27,598 4,972 29,500 19,851 10,447 131,636
Total 3,065,505 493,876 802,504 450,952 198,830 5,011,657 8,290,993