The unit was created on 22 July 1940 by the War Department as part of the Army Service Forces.
Special Services were one of the few U.S. Army units to be racially integrated during World War II.
Special Services opened their first Recreational Officer school at Fort Meade Maryland on 1 April 1942.
It was formed on 1 March 1943, to provide morale maintaining recreational and informational services to Marine Corps personnel.
Some personalities who served in the Special Services include actors Burt Lancaster, Leonard Nimoy, Mickey Rooney, and Sammy Davis Jr.; film director Anatole Litvak, bandleader Glenn Miller, tenor Mario Lanza, folk singer Peter Seeger, and baseball slugger Hank Greenberg.