George Field Civilian Employees

In 1941, the location of George Field (Army Air Force Field) was a sparsely settled stretch of Illinois Prairie in Lawrence County where the village of Centerville had previously been located. With the need for training facility for the Army Air Force, George Field was built.

In 1945, approximately 1/3 of the personnel of George Field were civilian employees.  The large number of civilian employees was indicative of the policy of replacing military personnel fit for overseas service with unqualified civilian employees one for one.

 When the term government worker is mentioned the tendency is all too prevalent to think of a bewildered clerk and enmeshed in red tape in the Pentagon but a visit to George Field would have instantly proved how inappropriately this generalization was.

On George Field with nearly 1000 civilian employees, these jobs ran the gamut from digging a ditch to managing an airplane shop, and from soda jerk to airplane mechanic.  

There were multiple PX activities in the NCO club and Officers’ club which employed approximately 1/5 of the civilian personnel of George Field. All of these jobs had to compete with local employment agencies for help. These personnel were not on civil service status.  

These employees were perhaps in closest contact with military personnel of George Field. They were the ‘unsung chaplains of the field’.  They heard about the new baby; they saw pictures of their girlfriend; they chose a gift for Mother's Day; they knew who was up for promotion and why he didn't get it; they discussed the latest rumor-- pro and con.  In addition to all this, they did a good civilian job under military conditions.

The civil service personnel office at George Field had more than 800 civilians employed.  They worked in employment placement and classification sections, employee relations department training and statistical section, payroll and mail, and record section. Their jobs were scattered throughout a dozen different buildings on George Field.

Almost every one of them had a husband, a son, two sons, a daughter or sweetheart in the service. A lot of the service stars these civilians wore were gold, meaning that a family member had died.

 They worked entirely at jobs that at times must have seemed somewhat remote from the actual war scene, but the efforts of each one counted toward the war effort.  Do you know a story about someone who worked at George Field? Share it with us at lawencelore@gmail.com