Demobilization of United States armed forces after World War II

The Demobilization of United States armed forces after the Second World War began with the defeat of Germany in May 1945 and continued through 1946. The United States had more than 12 million men and women in the armed forces at the end of World War II of whom 7.6 million were stationed abroad. The American public demanded a rapid demobilization and soldiers protested the slowness of the process. Military personnel were returned to the United States in Operation Magic Carpet. By June 30, 1947, the number of active duty soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen in the armed forces had been reduced to 1,566,000.

In 1945 as the defeat of Germany and Japan neared, U.S. military personnel numbered 12,209,238 divided among the services as follows:

This total represented wartime expansion of the U.S. military from the 334,000 it had numbered in 1939. One hundred thousand men were being drafted per month to replace soldiers in the army who were killed, wounded, and injured or who were discharged for medical problems. (For convenience sake, uniformed military personnel will often be referred to collectively as "soldiers" in this article, unless the context requires more specification.)

As early as mid-1943, the United States Army had recognized that, once victory was won, bringing the troops home would be a priority. US soldiers were scattered across 55 theaters of war worldwide. Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall established committees to address the logistical problem. Eventually organization of the operation was given to the War Shipping Administration (WSA). It established and coordinated Operation Magic Carpet.

On May 10, 1945, two days after the unconditional surrender of Germany to the allies on V-E Day, the War Department announced a point system for the demobilization and discharge of Army and Army Air Force enlisted personnel. The point system, called the Advanced Service Rating Score, had the objective of achieving equity in the demobilization. Soldiers were given one point for each month of military service and one additional point was given for each month of overseas service. Each battle star or decoration earned a soldier 5 points. Soldiers were awarded 12 points per dependent child up to a maximum of three children. A total of 85 points was needed for eligibility. Soldiers who had earned that number of points were to be demobilized as soon as transport back to the United States was available. Women in the Women's Army Corps (WACs) were eligible for demobilization with 44 points.

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