The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-08
EIGHT DIVISIONS WILL REACH HOME WITHIN 4 MONTHS, MARCH ANNOUNCES Many of Men Now Ap- preaching Rhine Will Be
 on American Soil by
 Midsummer
42D DIVISION IS IN FRONT LINE OF THE
 ARMY OF OCCUPATION
Total of 5325 Officers and 125.515 Men Have Been Specifically As
 signed for Early Return ny
 General Pershing, Says Chief of Staff
By Associated Press

Washington, December z. Eight of the 13 divisions, com prising the American Third army, now approaching the Rhine, either are national guard or national army troops, and there is every reason to believe they will be on Ameri- can soil again by midsummer.
 General March, chief of staff, announced today he anticipated no difficulty in get ting these units home within four months after peace has been established formal ly. President Wilson, in his recent ad-
 dress to Congress, said the sessions of the conference probably would be con cluded by spring, and based on this es-
 innate of the time, General March
 statement was accepted to mean that
 these forces would return during the summer.
 IN FRONT LINE
 Two national guard divisions. the 32d
 and 42d, and two of the national army
 the S9th and 9Oth, now are in the front
 line of the army of occupation. which
 was within 20 miles of the Rhine last night, according to General Pershlng
 report. The 18th and 33d national guard
 and the 79th national army are in the
 second line, constituting the reserve which is occupying Luxemburg and va rious rail centers in France, including Montmedy, Longuyon, Etain and St. Mi
 hiel. The 1st, 3d. 4th and 5th regulars comprise the remainder of the advanc- ing army while the 2d and 7th divisions are with the reserve.
 The estimate as to the possibility that all except regular divisions will have < been withdrawn from France by mid summer is based on General March reply to a question as to steps neces- sary to obtain an extension of the en- listment period for men in the army oi occupation.
 MAY ASK MODIFICATION The law about the men who were { raised in the national army is that they ! must De discharged four months after N the declaration of peace," he said. That l I think, also was extended to incluoe | men who made voluntary enlistments m f the regular army I won't nave any N difficulty in bringing back from France IA the so-called national army divisions III \ four months after the declaration ol |s peace. It is entirely possible that we f VIII nave 10 aSk Soil6lSSSi ioi ooiitS fios.-7 | fications of the law to provide longer | period for the units which will remain | in Europe.
 A total of 5325 officers and 125.5l5 men, General March said, have been specifi- cally assigned for early return by Gen. \ eral Pershing. Included in the addition al units reported today are 1426 offlcers and 29,3Sl men, the largest organlza- tions mentioned being the field artillery gs.vi eades of the Sth (regular) and sgd national army, negro) divisions and the s45th and 346th infantry regiments from the S7th national arrny) division. The remainder of the list consists largely of motor repair units and auxiliary divi- sional troops.
 NO GET NO PREFERENCE Discussing the demobilization of the forces at home General March said col ! lere men other than those in officers schools which were being abandoned i would receive no preference as to the i lime of their discharge. The order oi
 Rehabilitation providing that combat di-
 yisions be disbanocd last, he said, has
 not been altered.
 .srl1e system is working at very great
 snAed,' General March said, referring tc
 den,obilization, ''and have initlatec
 < system by which I get daily record
 as fo officers and weekly record as 10
 enlisted men, The actual number or oI-
 ficers discharged at the time of the ias'
 announcement was 113; the number dls-
 rharged last week up to yesterday, was
 fs5s. The number of men discharged III
 the United States last week was oVei
 sOO,ooo.'