Evening star., 1945-01-23
Size Of Calls
Chief Factor in
Draft Rulings
Nearby Boards Vary
In Decisions on
Toking Older Men

uking Older Men
Draft board actions on men over
80 In the Washington area now vary
from wholesale reclassification into
LA to a hands-off policy, with the
size Of draft calls apparently the
determining factor, a survey of Dis
trict and nearby Maryland and Vir-
ginia boards indicated today.
The majority of the boards
checked were determined to con-
tinue liberal deferments OF men over
80 and not to put them In la unless
their employers fail to ask defer
nlents. but Fabian L. Augustine,
chairman of the Prince Georges
County board at Upper Marlboro,
told a different story.
He said his board had cancelled a
number OF deferments of men over
80, including men working in the
District. Among them were District
policemen. Seventy per cent of the
men sent by his board for induction
Yesterday, Mr.. Augustine reported.
were men over 30 who had pre-
viously held occupational defer
ments. One will be 38 Thursday.
Can't Follow List.
Asked If he was following the new
list OF critical activities-issued last
week as a guide to draft breads
Mr.. Augustine said his board didn't
have enough men to follow the list,
nor enough men under 30 to fill
calls.
The board, he reported, has
enough farmers In the 1925 age
group to fill calls for two or three
months, but is waiting for further
instructions before reclassifying
them. They are being given pre-
induction physical examinations
while they continue In the deferred
class.
A sampling of District boards.
covering various sections of the city,
indicated the boards are following
advices from District Draft Director
William E. Leahy to concentrate on
the men under 30 and defer the
older men while they remain In
essential work.
Boards Eye Navy Yard.
Several of the boards indicated
they were eyeing the Navy Yard as
a possible source of supply Of young
men. AS for police, firemen, bus
drivers and other men in the 26-29
age group previously listed as essen
tial, the board chairmen were in
clined to base their decisions on
length of service and the number OF
people dependent on these men for
support.
Despite the fact that family status
is no longer considered grounds for
deferment, the board chairmen in
dicated a continuing reluctance to
break up any more homes than
necessary. One board chairman
explained his board was basing its
actions on the number OF men avail
able. keeping men under occupa-
tional deferments until they were
actually needed to fill calls.
Deferments Are Reviewed.
In Maryland, Montgomery County
Board No. at Bethesda said it had
not started reclassifying men over
80 out of deferred classes and would
not do SO until after it completes a
review of the men in the 1923 age
bracket. A spokesman said the board
had been somewhat liberal since last
May in deferring men in the 26-29
age group-most of them Govern
ment workers. The board now plans
to base its deferments on the Job
man is doing rather than where he's
doing it.
Montgomery County Board No. /
in Rockville said it was not reclassi-
flying men over 80 now, but doesn't
know how long this hands-off policy
can continue. The board has sent
its 240 young farmers for pre-induc-
ton physical examinations this
month but none has been drafted
yet.
Three nearby Virginia boards
covered in the survey all reported
they were taking few men over 80
and that most of these were men
whose employers had failed to ask
deferments or to apply for a re-
newal of IA or 2-B classification
A Fairfax board reported it had
been drafting young farmers for
more than year and had only a
few left, while an Arlington board
said it had only two young farmers
and had just put both of them in
LA.