It was established as part of the Army Ground Forces in March 1942, after it was noted that divisions, though initially well-balanced, soon became unbalanced in combat as the infantry took casualties faster than other arms.

The Field Artillery Replacement Center was located at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and was commanded by Ralph McT.

"[6] The Replacement and School Command Shoulder Sleeve Insignia consisted of three vertical stripes of equal width of blue (on the left), yellow and scarlet (visually very similar to the flags of Chad and of Romania).

"[7] The shoulder sleeve insignia is currently worn by the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command.

In Frederick Buechner's 1958 novel The Return of Ansel Gibbs, a character jokes that the red was for "the blood you never shed... Blue for the ocean you never crossed.