Final answer:
Resources should be reassigned or demobilized when a country experiences shifts from wartime to peacetime economies, reflecting reduced operational needs. The U.S. experienced this after World War II when it rapidly reduced its military personnel from 12 million to 1 million, and political pressure influenced these decisions.
Step-by-step explanation:
When Should Resources Be Reassigned or Demobilized?
Resources should be either reassigned or demobilized when a significant change occurs in the strategic or operational requirements of a nation, such as following a major conflict like World War II.
This period is often marked by a pivot from wartime economy to peacetime activities and the reduction of military personnel and materiel.
The United States experienced such a transition after World War II with the rapid demobilization of its armed forces and the reintegration of veterans into civilian life.
From a wartime high of 12 million men and women in uniform, numbers dwindled to 1 million by the end of 1947 due to the demobilization efforts. This significant reduction in military personnel, as well as the cancelling of orders for manufactured goods due to the end of the war, underscored a shift in national priorities.
In addition to these economic shifts, political pressures also played a pivotal role. The urgency to demobilize was partly due to the demand from servicemen and the public.
Many servicemen, pejoratively called the 'Ohio boys', pushed for a return to civilian life, threatening political repercussions otherwise.
However, not everyone agreed with the rapid pace of downsizing: high-ranking officials like Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal and Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson cautioned President Truman about the strategic risks of overly rapid demobilization. Despite such concerns, the political momentum and popular pressure led to the military being scaled down to 1.5 million by mid-1947, a substantially larger peacetime force than in previous times.
Women in the labor force, who filled roles vacated by men who had gone to war, also faced demobilization from their wartime jobs. Despite a strong desire to remain employed, many women were pressured to vacate their positions to make room for returning veterans. Nevertheless, women continued to constitute about one-third of the labor force through the late 1940s and 1950s.