An officer ordered to foreign
service is sent via the embarkation port nearest to his station. The main
ports of embarkation for Army transports are New York and San
Francisco; for Alaska the port of embarkation is Seattle. The New York
Point of Embarkation is the Army Supply Base, 1st Avenue and 58th
St., Brooklyn, New York. The San Francisco Port of Embarkation is at Fort
Mason.
The
Quartermaster General furnishes officers who are under orders to foreign
stations with very complete instructions and information relative to
shipment of baggage, automobiles, transportation for dependents, and
transport regulations. They must be completely and scrupulously complied
with, for otherwise the officer may subject himself or his family to
avoidable hardships. The Army transports operate at near to capacity, the
stay in port is short, and all arrangements incident to loading and
sailing must be conducted according to the prescribed plan.
Passengers on Army transports must comply with AR 40-215, which requires
vaccination against smallpox, typhoid and para-typhoid fever prior
to embarkation. All vaccinations should be completed before an officer
leaves his old station. Official records must be presented prior to
embarkation which show completion of this immunization.
Mail
of all kinds for outgoing passengers should be forwarded to them in care
of "The General Superintendent, Army Transport Service, (San Francisco,
California; or Pier 2, New York General Depot, Brooklyn, New York), on
transport (Give name), sailing (Give date)." Such mail will be held until
called for, or until instructions for its disposition are received from
the addressee. Unclaimed mail will be put aboard the transport provided
passengers have claimed their transportation.
A
medical officer of the Army accompanies each transport.
There
is a stewardess on each transport on which ladies and children are
assigned as passengers.
Steamer chairs are provided by the transport service for the use of
passengers. Chairs for personal use which cannot be folded may not be
brought aboard.
Passengers should take light clothing for use during part of the voyage.
Rain clothing is not essential aboard transports.
Animals are not allowed on Army transports.
Laundry facilities are unavailable on most transports.
The
lengths of trips on Army transports are approximately as listed below:
New
York to Panama……………………... 6 days
Panama to San Francisco………………….10 days
San Francisco to Honolulu…………..……...6 days
Honolulu to Manila…………………... 3 days
