Fort Meade, Maryland, and Fort Ord, California. Because infantry soldiers suffered disproportionately high casualties in combat, McNair argued for, but only partially succeeded in procuring recruits and draftees deemed high quality (typically those with the most education and highest aptitude test scores) for the AGF. In addition, he undertook several initiatives to improve the morale and esprit de corps of infantry soldiers, and enhance the goodwill of the civilian population towards the infantry, including creation of the Expert Infantryman Badge, and implementation of the "Soldier for a Day Initiative", which gave civilian government and business leaders the opportunity to interact with mobilized soldiers before they left the United States for combat assignments. These initiatives were not always successful; by late 1944 and early 1945, the number of units fighting continuously or nearly continuously caused the replacement system to break down. As a result, rear echelon soldiers were often pulled from their duties to fill vacancies in front line combat units, and training for some replacement soldiers and units was cut short so they could be rushed into combat. Some units were worn down to the point of combat ineffectiveness. In others, low morale, fatigue, and sickness became more prevalent. Recruitment efforts Because of the difficulty in attracting to the AGF those trainees deemed to be "high-quality", McNair attempted to recruit through improved public relations. One part of this effort was the creation of an office attached to the AGF staff, the Special Information Section (SIS). Approximately 12 officers and enlisted soldiers with experience as writers and editors worked in the SIS to promote improved public appreciation for AGF soldiers, especially the infantry. In addition, the SIS worked with civilian writers and editors, musicians, cartoonists, film makers, and artists who worked in other mediums to enhance the prominence of infantrymen in their work. As part of this initiative, McNair wrote personally to several leading magazine and newspaper publishers to ask for their aid. In another effort to inform the public of the Army's personnel needs and improve the way the AGF was perceived, on Armistice Day in November 1942, McNair delivered a radio address over the Blue Network. In his remarks, titled "The Struggle is for Survival", McNair described the fighting capability and ruthless attitude of soldiers in the Japanese and German armies, and stated that only similar qualities in American ground troops – by implication, meaning not "the more genteel