Evening star., 1942-04-05
Americans to Leorn
What War Means
BIZ ODen L. Scott.


present war. This shift is away from
the idea that the United States will
supply the arms while its Allies do most
of the actual shooting. 1t is toward the
idea that Americans will participate in
large-scale fighting on land.
The change now under way is appar-
ent in the character of appropriations.
| They center on equipment for large
| American Army. Change, too, Is ap-
| parent in the registration that is oc-
curing to provide the base for mobilizing
all of the Nations man power. This
| change is fundamental, rejecting the
! decision that Americans cannot confine
| their war activity to operating a Navy
and air force.
Emphasis upon preparation for land
war is going to give the war itself very
personal meaning for large proportion
| of American families The reason why is
that demand for men is to grow rapidly.
The Army expects to draw 200 900 men
a month during 1942. Forces that now
number about 100000 will approach
| 4,0O0, 900 by the end of the year. In 1943
the rate of growth in the Army and air
| force will be even more rapid. Official
! talk already is of an army of 100000.
Those figures represent large army
and approximately full mobilization Of
| this country's man power.
Not only that. In the figures there is
10 be found an approaching change in
the basis of the draft of men for service.
hou hrr hat
| they were free from military service If
| they were married, or had other de-
pendents, or were SO years OF age, or were
| in occupations that had some remote
| connection with the war. Now, under
| plans taking shape, all OF that Is to
change.
The situation, by age groups. is to look
about like this:
Age group l8 and 10: This group is
registered and Is to be classified for fu-
ture service. However, the young men
| in this group cannot be drafted under
existing law until they reach the age Of
90. When they do reach that age they
can be called up.
Age group 20 through IS: The men in
this group will be drawn upon most
heavily for military service, The 20 and
81 year olds have just registered and are
being classified The 81 to IS group that
registered under the first draft now is
more than a year older. For time the
Army concentrated its demand in the
81 to % age groups 1t now is reaching
all the way up.
The bulk OF physically fit men between
81 and 36 who have been deferred from
service in the past were deferred on the
! basis of dependency. Demand for men
is so large that Congress is to be asked
to provide for supplemental payments to
dependents so that married men can be
drawn into the Army. Likewise, many
men who were considered physically
unfit in the past are being reclaSSif1ed
and called to limited service.
+ Age group SO through A: This group
has just registered and is to be classified.
/ The Army will draw upon these men for
the fighting services. Until the regula-
tons governing dependency are changed,
however, the proportion who are eligible
will be small. 1t is probable that large
proportion of this group will perform
nom fighting duties to release younger
men for combat.
Age group A through "a: Men in this
group are to register later this month.
Under the law they are not eligible for
military duty. Neither can they or men
| of any other group be drafted for work
in industry Registration is merely for
the purpose Of cataloguing the skllls
and determining the abilities OF men in
this age group.
Altogether nearly 100000 men are
| registered and about 100000 will be
| by the end of the present month. AT the
same time about l25o,ooo young men
each year will enter the ranks OF men
eligible for military service.
1t is improbable that more than TO-
| 600 900 men will be taken into the Army
and air force during the next two or
three years, If the war lasts that long.
Even so that Is a large total OF men.
| It Is about as many as Germany has
drawn from her population Of 10000 900.
| Our Army, on the other hand, will be
drawn from 10000 900 so that pro-
portionately the strain on man power
| Is not likely to be as great.
The important point, however. is that
this country no longer Is thinking In
| terms of waging a war with 100000
men, serving for one year and looking
on the service as a peacetime training
venture. Men now in service are
there for the duration and their number
is becoming impressive. The announced
intention is to build an air force alone
of 1000 900 men, which equals the num-
Der in both the Army and Air Force
| today.
There is a question concerning where
the United States can find use for large
| Army.
The answer to that question depends
| upon war developments. Right now
there is no single front on which large
! American Army might be engaged. How
ever, the future may hold different
| story. If the Russian Army should be
DESTROYED. the German armies then
would pour down into Africa and might
do enough filtering into South America
to cause trouble for rather large Amer
| ican forces. There likewise is the pros
pect that some day there must be an
offensive launched against Europe, either
from England or from bases IN Africa,
| If the Germans ever are to be defeated.
At the same time this countrys military
| men think in terms of actual invasion
of japan as probably the only means OF