Evening star., 1942-05-03
BY MIRIAM OTTENBERG.

BY MIRIAM GUTENBERG.
Local draft boards throughout
the Nation will include some OF
the men who registered Febru-
ary 16 in June calls for Army
service at the request of the War
Department.
An official communication from
Maj. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey yester-
day advised the boards that part OF
those who registered in February
should be among the men inducted
in June, regardless of whether the
available supply of IA men from
earlier registrations is exhausted.
1t was assumed earlier in some
quarters that previously registered
Ia men would be inducted before
those of the later registration. 1t has
been indicated previously. however,
that some February 16 men would
go in June because of the scarcity
of la men in some communities.
Youths to Feel Order Most.
The order will be felt most by
the 20-year- and those who be-
came 81 after the July, l941. reg
istration, since only about five per
cent of the 81 to A age group are
believed physically fit and other
wise eligible for duty.
BY next month, selective service
officials said the local boards are
expected to have completed sub
stantially the task of classifying the
registrants of February Is. On the
basis of this classification, they will
learn how many men are potential
la material.
The June calls win be based on a
ratio of the IA men still remaining
among the two early registrations
to the estimated number of la men
of the February 16 registration.
IF the first age group (men
registered in October, 1910, and in
July, 194D has been exhausted, the
call should be made only upon the
second age group February 16
registrants) Gen. Hershey in
Structed.
IF the first age group is not
exhausted, the local board will call
upon each group in proportion to
the number of class IA registrants
remaining in each"
Few Ia Men Left on Rolls.
Since most local boards have few
Ia men remaining from the earlier
registrations, 1t is expected that
the ratio will be heavily on the side
of the February 16 registrants. The
ratio, however, will shift somewhat
from month to month.
Most dramatic shift in the ratio
is expected to come with the release
of number of 3A men as a result
Of passage of the compulsory allot-
ment and allowance legislation now
pending in Congress. Although the
older February l6 registrants also
have dependents, the balance will
weigh heavily on the younger, pre-
viously registered men who other
wise are physically and otherwise
fit for military service.
OF the 100000 men who regis
tered February Is, approximately
l,650,O00 are 20 or 81 years old.
Meanwhile the Army is expert
menting with a small number of
l-B men inducted into service in
an effort to release soldiers from
typewriters to the trenches.
Only Few I-B Men Used.
The experiment, it was said, has
been confined to a few States and
to only a few selectees from them.
The War Department refused to
say how the experiment was pro-
crossing or when widespread in
ductlon of 1-B men would begin.
1t was explained that the War
Department asked selective service
to provide some 1-B men to see
whether 1t was practical to use
them in non-combatant Jobs in
stead of men fit for general mill
tary service now doing those Jobs.
These test calls have been of
men with non-remediable defects
who generally have beer. able to fol-
low useful vocations in civilian life.
Some of the defects which have
resulted in classifying these men
for limited service are blindness
in one eye, loss of one or both ex-
ternal ears, partial deafness in both
ears or complete deafness in one
ear, chronic but non-contagious
skin diseases, loss of a thumb or
big toe, loss of three fingers but
not the thumb, and webbed fingers
or toes. Head and spinal irregu-
larities are also included.
Reduction of eye and tooth stand
ards has already cut down the l-B
group which now includes about
100000 men.