Evening star., 1941-07-13
Gen. Marshall Held
Seeking Equal Duty
For All Army.Men
Plan for A. (. F. Denied:
Commander Cited
Conflicts in Lows
BY NELSON M. SHEPARD.


What was back of Gen. George G
Marshalls recommendation to ex.
tend the period of service for the
one-year-men constituting the bulk
of the Army and to remove geo.
graphical restrictions on the use o.
the armed forces?
To the CONSERVATION of genera
staff officers. the immediate reaction
of sharp-spoken critics in Congress
was an outcry against an alleged In
tention of the chief of staff to seek
authorization for another A. E. F..
1t brought an official disclaimer
from recognized Army spokesman
who sought to correct this wide
spread Interpretation.
Mai. Gen Robert C. Richardson,
tr.. chief of the Bureau of Public Re-
lations, emphasized that the Army
chief of staff had based his recon-
mendation on essentials in training
a unified army and not on the belief
that this country should at once
operate an eXpeditionary force.
Nowhere in his report did he
mention an A. E. F." the spokesman
emphasized.
Laws Iii Conflict.
In referring to the request for the
removal of legal restrictions" on
the use of the Army, imposed by
Congress to keep selective service
men, Reserve officers and National
Guardsmen within the confines of
the Western Hemisphere, Gen. Rich
ardson stated the case as follows:
Gen. Marshall's concern was the
clarification of conflicting laws
which forbid the use of one man
for a certain task and authorize it
for another. We are trying 10 ere.
ate a unified army.
The chief of staff emphasized in
his report that only the Commander
in-Chief of the Army tthe Presi-
dent and Congress have the au-
thority to say where or how the
Army will be used"
Gen. Marshall has been given the
responsibility of welding together
and training for possible combat a
new army. now estimated at ,448.-
500 men, in the face of the possi-
bilitiy of blitzkrieg striking across
the Atlantic or the Pacific.
Events Of the past few days"
said Gen. Marshall on July 3. are
even more forcible indications Of
the suddenneSs with which armed
conflict can spread to areas hitherto
considered free from attack"
Hands Tied by Laws.
The new American Army has ex-
banded to a force of 508,700 regu-
lars. $4,000 reserve officers, 278,000
guardsmen and $4,000 selectees.
With respect to the training period
and the use that can be made of
thirds of this sizeable force,
Gen. Marshall's hands are tied by
legal knots. Yet he is expected,
officials point out, to be able to
meet overnight any perilous threat
to the Nations security.
In his own controversial report.
the chief of staff directed pointed
attention to this situation. The
question of when and where these
forces are to serve, he said, should
not be confused with the problem
of their readiness for service"
Since the report has been made,
American naval and marine forces
have established base in Iceland.
What the next step will be no one
can predict with any assurance.
Army spokesmen urge particular
attention of Congress to those pages
of the Marshall report which illus
trate the extreme difficulties con-
fronting the Army, scattered over
our own vast territory to outposts
In the Atlantic and Pacific.
Task Forces Organized.
Immediately concerned are the
newly formed task forces" that are
being trained for special missions
against the possibility OF the ne
cessity arising for their emergency
Use.
What is the status of these
troops7" the chief Of staf1 ASKS.
The Regular Army divisions con-
tain from IS per cent to 90 per cent
Reserve officers whose term OF serv-
ice is legally limited to IL months.
Tn other words, some 900 officers
In a division under the law would
soon be entitled to drop their pres
ent duties and return to their homes.
The II months service period OF
many. if not most, of the oncers
In the first priority divisions. Is now
nearly completed.
Must we replace most OF the
trained officer personnel OF dlVl-
sion-the leaders-at the moment OF
departure for strategic localities,
he again asked. ''In two of the reg
,llsr divisions we have restricted the
enlisted personnel to three-year
men, but in the others, OF necessity
the number of selectees varies from
o5 per cent to so per cent.
The problem here is the same as
for the Reserve officer personnel.
National Guard Limitations.
1.-THE National Guard units IN
volve three distinct limitations as
to personnel-that for the National
Guard unit. that for the 10 per
cent Reserve officers in their regl-
ments and now being increased, and
that pertaining to selectees VINO
comprise more than so per cent
of the men in the ranks.
Furthermore, a task force IN
wolves all components. While we
NAV select Regular units as the dl-
visional components for task forces,
we must utilize National Guard or
eanizations for the special support
ing units-anti-a aircraft, heavy artil-
lery, engineers, etc. SO we have be-
come involved in a complete con-
fusion of restrictive details regard
Ing personnel ,
This confusion must be contrasted
with the state of things in totah-
tartan army to understand the
handicaps under which the Amerl-
can chief of staff is functionlng.
Celebrating on these complica-
lions, Gen. Marshall laid stress on
smother factor which is peculiar
only to an established democracy
In a revolutionary era of warfare,
Wants Restrictions Limited.