Evening star., 1940-12-13
Army Asks 5e|ectees
Fiji for 10 Years in
Reserve Forces
High Requirements Are
Not Merely for Training
Period, Conference Told
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES.


Period, Conference Told
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES.
The Army wants the selective
service system to provide recruits
who not only are physically and
mentally flt for years training,
but are also good risk to remain on
cau for the 10 years in reserve as
the law provides, 1t. Col. Charles S.
Spruit Of the Regular Army Medical
Corps told the State directors of
selective service at q conference
here today.
Commenting on the considerable
number OF men rejected at induction
centers after passing local physical
tests, he predicted that this number
would diminish as the civilian ply
sictans who examine selectees be-
come more familiar with the Army's
requirements.
Col. Spruit said border-line PSYCHE
Atrlc cases-men whose morale Is
likely to break down when they are
moved out of their customary civil
Ian environment-are particularly
troublesome in the military service.
Unsuitable Men Costly.
"These cases are the biggest
nuisance in the Army" he added.
They disturb discipline. They
spend most of their time in hos
pital beds while in the Army and
after they leave the service. The
Government has to take care of
them and they cost the public huge
sums of money"
If it becomes apparent that a
material number. of men from a
particular area are being rejected at
the induction centers, Col Spruit
added, the State director should
take prompt action to correct the
situation.
Col. Spruit urged that local board
physicians make full use of the
specialists Of the medical advisory
boards and the laboratory facilities
which are available in every State
whenever there is doubt regarding
the physical and mental qualifica-
tions of prospective trainees.
Capt. Ernest NJ Culligan, public
relations officer at National Selec-
tive Service headquarters, urged 'an
open door policy" in distributing in.
formation from all the States,
pointing out that virtually every
family in the country is interested
in selective service and should know
what is going on.
The new selective service, designed
to place 100000 in training by next
summer and to provide 5,OO0,O
trained soldiers in five years, has its
special perplexitieS, some peculiar to
certain localities, it was brought
out at the conference yester-
day. For example, the problem
Of vocational deferments varies
as different industries may dom
mate different regions. In ag-
ricultural areas, officials want to fill
quotas without leaving any farms
untitled or unharvested or their
products without enough men to
market and process them.
Cooperation on Equipment.
Necessity of maintaining the
closest liaison between the two main
divisions Of the defense program.
man power and equipment, was
stressed at the afternoon session by
Maj. Joseph F. Battley, industrial
adviser at national headquarters.
The appointment of State occupa-
tional advisers is intended to further
this cooperation. he pointed out.
Yet he warned the State execu-
tives that under the law "occupa-
Honal deferments must be consid-
cred as individual cases"
The problem, he said, is to select
men fit for military training without
disrupting the procurement of mill
tary equipment, housing, food and
clothing or the economic and social
life of the communities from which
they are drawn.
In discussing dependency defer
ments, Maj. Gordon Snow of the
Headquarters Man Power Division
said: "The head and the heart must
work together"
Question of Dependents.
Determining whether registered
men have dependents within the
meaning of the law is one of the
most vital functions of local boards,
Maj. Snow explained, adding: They
alone can and must solve it. No
Interpretation OF the law or regu-
lations from national headquarters
can relieve them of that response
bility and no universal rule will serve
them
He saw as two horns of the
dilemma that plaques the boards"
what to do with married men when
economic dependency is not clearly
established and what to do with
men recently married"
Maj. Snow said: There is the
question of dependency of a wife
or children on husband or father for
more than his pocketbook" Moral
leadership and protection of the
family are involved, he asserted.
Appeals from rulings by local
boards are beginning to trickle into
the regional appeal boards as more
and more registered men are classi-
fed.
There was q board in Illinois
which refused to class as dependents
the aged parents Of a registrant,
who said they needed his support
This case has been appealed. A
number of employers in various Sec
tions are in disagreement with
boards over whether certain en-
ployes are necessary" men in an
industry or business and thus en-
titled to occupational deferment.
The appeal boards will decide. Mar
ried men have been drafted, the
board holding in each instance that
the wife did not need the husbands
support. 4 conflict Of opinion in
some of these cases will bring ap-
pellate rulings, which, in some in
stances, may 20 to the President,