Evening star., 1945-04-29

The alarming situation at that date
will be appreciated from the generals
recital of specific shortages of needed
skills. Actually" he said, "out of
every 100000 men inducted, we needed
1859 with training as radio operators.
We were getting 1875. We were short
1854.
Out of every 100000 men indicted
the Army needed 4,501 with training as
medical technicians. We were getting
1866, shortage of 1885. We needed A.
372 telephone and telegraph linemen.
We were getting 343, shortage of A.
029. We needed 1,562 master mechanics
We were getting IA, a shortage of 1,548.
In the entire field of automotive me-
chanics, which includes many allied sub
jects, out of every 300 900 men inducted,
we were short 10.437. That means
shortage of "a 100 out of every 1,00O,-
600 men. In an army of 100000 men,
that's a shortage of ,l6o automotive
mechanics.
Taking only those specialties in
which the Army has found major short
ages, we find total of 62,853 lacking in
every 100000 men indicted. That adds
up to 038,040 in an army of 100000
men.
Yes, these shortages of trained man.
power-of men trained in the funda-
mentals of jobs that must be done in
modern army-are serious, much too
serious. The specialist field is being
combed and recombed. The supply of
trained men is dwindling by the day."
100000 Trained.
The shortages of trained men and
women were as great in war industry as
they were in the armed forces. The
story of the emergency training of spe-
cialized personnel in both industry and
the Army is an inspiring story of Amer
ican ingenuity and determination. The
American schools on day and night
shifts have trained more than 10O00,-
600 workers in skills needed by the war
industries. Schools and colleges are CO.
operating with the Army and Navy in a
variety of specialized training programs
that dotted with uniforms campuses
from coast to coast.
The story turned out to be an inspir-
ing one, however, only because there
were Allies to hold off our enemies until
the training job was done. There is no
doubt about the prewar weakness of
our national defense in terms of ships
and bases and well-trained military
forces. The educational inadequacy of
millions of citizens to fulfill the wartime
duties of citizenship was an even more
serious weakness in our national de-
fense.
The lnadequacy was recognized in
pre-Pearl Harbor days. In an impor-
tant engineering camp an examination
was given to recruits from the prewar
draft in 1941 which disclosed that rs
per cent of the Negro troops and II per
cent of the white troops were practically
llhterate-an insuperable handicap in
service where blueprints and printed di-
rections were basic aides for installa-
ton and use of some of the most COM
plicated machinery of war.
5,7O4,00O Rejected.
AS result of this disclosure and sim
liar ones in other centers, the military
authorities asked the Selective Service
System to reject all men who had not
completed the fourth grade in school,
standard arbitrarily adopted as that of
functional literacy. BY midsummer of
1912, a total of 100000 men had been
turned down for this reason alone.
Alarmed at the loss of a number of
men equivalent to nearly Is divisions,
and stung by sharp charges of "discrim-
nation" military authorities decided to
accept per cent of those selectees who
1eu below the standard of fourth-grade
achievement, and operate schools in the
Army camps to eliminate illiteracy,
Later the percentage was raised, and in
many camps today, officers and enlisted
men who should be teaching men how to
shoot guns out of tanks and drop bombs
on their targets, instead, in some quiet
barracks, are toiling with men who are
learning the ABCs.
A total of 1,7o4,0O0 man registrants in
the selective service up to February l
nao 1alIed TO meet the minimum mental
and educational standards for induction
into the armed forces-350. 900 of them
signing their names with mark! Near
ly 100000 men had been rejected up
to the same date because of physical rm-
fitness. The rejectees for educational
and physical inadequacy could man the
whole western front-and many to spare.
In short, we have lost more men in
World War No. 2 because of educational
and physical deficiency than we had
under arms in World War No. l.
Much of this educational and physical
unfitness could have been prevented If
the schools of this country had between
1920 and 1910 offered all youth an ade-
quate educational program, which in
cluded health and physical education.
Educators are appraising the Nations