Evening star., 1942-09-06
Mass Army In
Prospect
By Onen L. Scott.

5000 900 men is being built in a hurry
by the United States. At the same time
the Navy is driving ahead with its plans
for force of at least 100000 men.
| The result of this situation is the start
| Of drain on American manpower great
er than ever before. Today's Army soon
will be larger than the Army OF World
| War days. Today's Navy. In terms OF
men, is larger now than at any time in
the last war.
| Army demands for men have sky
rocketed in recent months They rose
! 50 rapidly that they caught the Nations
selective service system OH guard. That
system has not yet completed the classi-
! fication Of the Nations manpower. When
| Army calls for men reached unexpected
| proportions, the draft machinery was
forced to grind out the men called for
at time when 1t was not prepared to
do that grinding on q uniform basis
| throughout the Nation.
Out OF that situation is growing much
confusion. In one area, married men
with children are on the verge of being
areas single men without dependents
still are not classified, let alone being
called. There are reports that within
another year all physically At men be-
tween the ages of Is and As. will be in
the Army, regardless OF family RESPONSE
bility or job. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey.
selective service director, already has
warned men with secondary dependents
-grandmothers, parents, etc.--that they
soon will be drafted Married men with
working wives aren't far behind, and
married men without children In their
families are in sight Of draft.
The underlying fact is, however. that
there are approximately $4,000 900 Amer
ican men between the ages OF 1s and Is.
II physical fitness alone were the decid-
ing factor Of who is to serve in the
Army, this country could build a force
OF about 10000 900. Plans do not vet
call for an Army and Navy of that size.
Consequently, there Is selective service
system designed to determine which
physically ut men are to serve and which
are to stay at home. This determine
ton Is supposed to follow standards laid
down by Congress
On the basis of these standards. and
In the light OF prospective demand for
men, the draft outlook is about like this:
First Of all there is to be a call of men
with secondary dependents. 1t Is ex-
pected that there are about 600 900
physically fit men in this group. Not all
OF these will be called, however because
Congress has laid down a rule that draft
boards must consider whether undue
hardship would fall upon dependents II
support Is withdrawn from them. The
Government and the drafted man will
provide monthly allotments OF SAT a
month to dependent parents. however,
and that Is expected to take care Of most
claims
Next, men with minor physical defects.
In this group may be found about 3oo.-
600 men who can pass the physical ex-
animation as it now is altered
In the third place, selectiye service is
getting set to tighten up its determine
ton OF who are necessary men in indus
try. The estimate is that nearly 750, 900
single men without dependents now are
exempt from the draft on the ground
that they are necessary" to an essen
tial" activity. Reports are heard that
there is considerable abuse of this priyi-
lege. Probably 100000 men as a mini
mum can be drawn from this source by
more rigid set of standards.
Here, then, are sources for about L.
900 men, if selective service exploits
these sources before taking married men
and before drafting l8 and 10 year olds.
Congress now Is considering the draft
OF 1s and 10 year olds. The Army in
sists upon this. Out of total Of about
2,50o,o0o in these two age groups, there
should be at least 100000 who are
| physically fit and who have not yet vol
unteered Tor service in the Army and
Navy.
Then there comes the class OF married
men without children. In this class will
be found at least 1,3ooo0o men who are
physically At. In these two groups are
2,3Oo, 900 men.
Adding these groups to the 1900 900
who still may be available from neces-
sary men in industry and from men
with secondary dependents and with
minor physical defects and the total is
35O0,OO0 men, not yet called, who may
be called before it is necessary to draft
married men with children.
There now are in the Army and Navy
about $500, 900 men with another 500 900
single men without dependents remain
ing to be drafted. That makes 5000, 900
and when 3,5o0,o00 are added from
groups still to be tapped it is found
that this country can have an army
and navy of s,5o0,ooo men, as a mini
mum before men with children are
drawn into service.
To get an armed force of that size.
however. would require clean sweep
OF other classes OF eligible men, but
Congress has laid down the policy that
this course should be followed. Army
and Navy restrictions on enlistment of
some groups in the population, however,
tend to narrow somewhat the applica-
ton OF policy laid down by Congress.
When, and If, married men are called
in large numbers, there will be found
to be more than 100000 physically fit.
The fact Is that II Army calls for
men continue at the present scale, the
ranks OF all men except married men
with children will be pretty we'll de-
pleted OF physically fit civilians by
mid-1s43. 1t appears that a definite
decision is reached to go ahead with
| h.Yi1 Hiy,r