Evening star., 1943-12-14
Liquidation Of ASTp
Denied YET Future Of
Corps Is Uncertain

I0rpS IS uncertain
Except for an official assurance
that the Army specialized training
program is mot now in process of
liquidation," the future of 100000
attending college classes throughout
the country was left uncertain to-
day and dependent upon the "ex-
igencies" of the emergency.
Secretary of War Stimson added
to, an official announcement last
night this explanation:
The number of soldiers assigned
for training under the ASTP will
be changed from time to time so
as to accord with the needs of the
Army and the available manpower.
1T is now being reduced-but
later may be either increased or
still further reduced as the eXig-
encies of the military situation or
military training make advisable"
College Heads Not Notified.
So far as could be learned, the
administrative heads of 222 CO.
operating colleges and universities
have not yet been advised officially
of any present or contemplated
drastic change in their War De-
partment contracts, which usually
extend from a September-to-Se
tember basis. Yet there has never
been any time when the War De-
partment could not rescind con-
tract or modify it.
The War Department announce
ment last night was made in answer
to inquiries following published re-
ports that the ASTP was to be
abolished as a result of contro-
versies with in the Army and de-
partment over the program which,
at best, has had a rocky road to
travel in the past. Assurances that
the ASTP is mot now in process
of liquidation" it was pointed out
in some quarters, do not mean that
1t may not be liquidated some
months hence.
Secretary Stimson and Undersec-
retary Robert P. Patterson have
never been regarded in War Depart
ment circles as kindly disposed
toward the ASTP and have been
said to doubt its continued need in
view of the present surplus of Off
GERS. On the other hand, the War
Department has reiterated that the
ASTP trainees are not candidates
for officers and only small mi
nority of the better qualified men
may ever have an opportunity to
enter officer candidate schools.
New Term Begins.
The new 13-Week term of the
ASTP began yesterday in a large
percentage of the participating
schools, and so far as could be
learned there has been no pro-
nounced reduction in the soldier
enrolment At Georgetown Uni
versity inquiry developed that ap-
proXimately the same number of
pre-engineering trainees now are
enrolled for the new term and 120
additional men arrived for foreign
area and language courses.
If and when general reduction
IS authorized and put into effect, it
was felt in some circles that the pre-
engineering enrolment would be hit
the hardest. An impression was.
gained in War Department circles
that no drastic change would take
place during the present term, at
least.
The Army's need for additional
men and an opportunity to restore
many of the 100000 ASTP trainees
TO active duty before drawing too
heavily upon the prePearl Harbor
fathers was another indication that
the program would be curtailed
For the present, it was believed, no
attempt will be made to bring the
ASTP to its full allotted quota of
100000
Need for Other Groups.
AS for the foreign area and Ian
guage trainees and the Army and
Navy men attending medical and
dental schools, the impression was
gained in official circles that these
enrollments would not be disturbed
The need for the former in occupied
areas during and after the war will
be almost as great, it was pointed
out, as the need for service doctors
and dentists.
For the time being, at least, the
Nations colleges may be expected
to assume a policy of "watchful
waiting as to the future of the
program. With the steady dwin-
ding of civilian student enrolment,
they have vital stake in the ASTP.