Evening star., 1943-08-10
BY MARION WADE DOYLE,
Star Staff CORRESPONDENT.

of ODB, thought up that motto. He
also is the man who created the
notices Keep En- Flying and
wings Over America" He turned
to his knack for phrases in an effort
to impress his employees with the
seriousness of their responsibility.
They are charged with sending ap-
proximately $4,000 900 900 a year in
4,500,000 checks a month to 5000 900
dependents of American soldiers
on time.
This is eating money" Gen. Gill
bert told newspaperwomen visiting
here. Sending these checks on
time and to the right people is
bound UP tight with the morale of
America. Trouble with these checks
and the boy on the front hears about
it at once"
Checks in Three Categories.
The Office sends three types of
checks The allowance check is the
amount prescribed by law for de-
pendents of privates, corporals and
sergeants through the fourth tech
nician grade. Officers and master,
staff and technical sergeants above
the fourth grade are not eligible for
Government contribution to support
dependents.
Under the allowance system, the
soldier pays about A cents and the
Government contributes about 56
cents of every 81 paid. Set amounts
have been prescribed. such as S62
month for wife and one child,
An allotment" check, on the
other hand, comes entirely from the
soldiers pay. 1t is sent by MIN VOL
UNFAIRLY in addition to the allow
ance" which the Government insists
he send home This voluntary al
lotment" is the only type of check
sent home by officers and sergeants
who are ineligible for family allow
ance contributions from the Gov
ernment.
The third type of check is sent
by ODB to the families of men miss
ing in action or reported prisoners
of war. If the family has not al
ready been receiving money, an ac-
count may be set up. If there Is
already money going to the family,
ODB may decide to increase this.
This is called the emergency" di-
vision of ODB.
Number of Checks Scars
Numbers of both allowances and |
sllotmentS sent by ODB have in
creased tremendously since the first |
checks we're sent out last August |
The 5000, ,0OOth family allowance was |
being set up during the newspaper |
tour. The voluntary allotment &C
counts have reached total of 1.500,- |
900. More are being set up every !
day.
There is difference between the /
methods of arranging for the al
lowance and the voluntary allot- |
ment. The allotment can be set up
only by the soldier and can be dis
continued by him at any time. The |
allowance, on the other hand, may |
be arranged for by the soldier or
may be claimed by the wife.
In the interest Of speed and accu- |
racy. ODB prefers that the soldier
apply for the allowance. Wives and |
families can do it if they wish, how
ever. Once their legal claim is
proved, the dependents receive their
allowance whether the soldier con- |
sents or not.
To set up a voluntary allotment,
the soldier writes, wires or radios |
to ODB and tells them to pay his !
mother. for example, s24 a month
from his salary. The check arrives |
the first of the month after he noti- |
f1es ODB. 1t continues to arrive |
until the son stops it. He may |
increase or decrease it any time he I
wishes. The mother has nothing to !
do with the entire procedure except |
to accept the check and to notify |
her local post office when she moves !
or takes vacation.
Detailed Data Needed.
Documentary evidence and a de- /
tailed application form are required .
for setting up the family allowance, !
on the other hand Gen. Gilbert |
has therefore issued the following |
instructions to cut red tape as much .
as possible: The soldier himself /
should apply for the allowance for |
his family the same day he is in /
Quoted.
To permit the new soldier to come
to his induction station fully pre-
pared to apply for his family allow /
ance, the Army issues allowance in /
formation and affidavits of depen- /
dency to all prospective selecteeS. /
They are told to bring certificates |
of marriage and birth, and complete /
affidavits of dependency with them |
the day they take the oath. Even t
before they reach camp or get
uniform.
Marriage and birth certificates .
are enough to prove the claim of
wife and children. To prove the de-
pendency of minor brothers and sis /
ters and Of parents, however, a /
signed and notarized affidavit of /
dependency is required. A simpli-
fed form specifically for this pur-
pose is issued by the Army 1t must
be signed by two "disinterested"
person willing to swear that all the
information contained therein is
true. 1t must also be notarized.
The soldier fills out the applica-
tion, clips to it the certificates and
afiwavit and sends them to ODB. |
His family's allowance starts the
first of the month after he applied.
If for some reason the family ap-
plies for the allowance instead of
the soldier. the procedure for them
is exactly the same. They get the
application form and affidavit of
dependency from the Red Cross,
Army recruiting station at Eleventh
street and New York avenue NV,
or write for them to the ODB. They
must fill in the application form,
giving the soldiers correct serial
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