The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-04-23
army TACKLES
HUGE PROBLEM
OF PLACEMENT
d. sANpoR 5. KLEIN

(United Press Stan Correspondent
washington, April q = (Up)-
That trick Of fitting square pegs
into round holes Is q cinch COM
pared to the Job faced BY the
Ar1ny's 5000 officers and enlisted
men assigned to the task Of deter
mining how best TO apply the civil
ian experience or knowledge Of
selectees to the military service.
The arny's fast expansion Is
creating increasingly more complex
problems for Its classification of1i-
GERS. Because Of their knowledge
Of modern principles Of industrial
psychology, these men try TO de-
eide whether Jim Smith, who was
q boohkeeper in civil life, should
be assigned as company clerk or
whether, because Of his fine leader
ship qualities, he would be more use
full as an infantry corporal.
Too Many Lawyers, Clerks
In the army, as in civilian life,
1t Is not always possible to give
the man the job he prefers. For
example, there may be thousands
Of enlisted men with a knowledge
Of Spanish, yet there are only a
few tasks In the army requiring It.
| Furthermore, the army has no Jobs
| for diamond or tea-taSters.
And there are lot more lawyers
or skilled clerks available than the
army needs in those capacities.
But all Of these men could make
good soldiers.
Classification officers had made
q number Of interesting discoveries
which will make for greater effi-
cheney in the army. For example,
they have found that certified pub
lie accountants can be converted
into excellent mess sergeants. Musi-
clans have been found to do better
job at army radio work than some
Of the more experienced radio
hams"
Rather Fight Than Fry
At one school for army cooks, q
large percentage Of failures was
noted. A checkup disclosed that all
Of these students had been en-
ployed as cooks before their induc-
ton. But, is was further discov-
cred, these men had been working
as cooks only because they hadn't
succeeded in getting other jobs and
now that they were in the army
they wanted to fight and not to fry
Occasionally some mis- assign
ments occur and when these are
brought to light, re-classifications
are made. The questionable which
man fills out OF the time Of reg
istration is not always an infallible
guide. For illustration, man may
describe himself as a carpenter but
neglect to state that he had beer
employed for longer period as q
plaster with an excavation crew
For that reason, aptitude tests are
given when the selectee arrives al
the replacement training center.
Ability Soon Recognized
The Adjutant Generals office
which has Jurisdiction over tn,
classification work, says that M
soldier need be discouraged be-
cause his civilian training is no
being used for a specialized job
Many q man who thought hi
civilian background was being ig
nored has been pleasantly surprise
when the need for his particula
type Of ability developed, and tn
little punch -holes in his classified
ton card marked him for the joE
The classification test, It was ex
planned, is not designed to test tn
soldiers education background bu
his intelligence and his ability t
learn. A bright soldier who has hat
no more than a grammar schoo
education may achieve q higl
score, while another who may hav
bluffed his way through colleg
shows up as q mental laggard.