Evening star., 1945-05-06

Pacific to prepare the way for tn
full application of our ground an,
air strength.
i More than half of the men to q
to the Pacific will go by way of tn
United States. The proportion Wi
!. be substantially lower than thi
among service units attached to al
and ground operations, and highe
among combat units. The grea
bulk of the combat units will b,
staged through the United States
Still others of the troops now ii
Europe will have to remain there TO
occupation duty to make certain
that the menace of Nazi aggres
sion is permanently eradicated ant
! that the seeds of q new war do no
take root even before this one L
ended. The number of assigned tt
this duty and the length of tim,
they will be needed will depend or
the situation in Europe and the ma
ture of our international commit.
ments. For a considerable .perioc
of time the actual number of oul
soldiers in Europe will exceed the
requirements due to limitations ir
shipping.
Shares Desire for Home.
We are mindful of the desire ir
the heart of every soldier and every
citizen to have as many of oul
soldiers as can be spared without
diminishing the force of our blows
against Japan, return to civilian
life as soon as possible. The Wa1
Department fully shares this desire
The department strongly urged the
Congress to provide in the War Mo-
pilization and Reconversion Act OF
1914, that no one should be re-
tanned in the armed forces after he
was no longer needed for the prose-
cution of the war. This requirement
is now the law of the land, and the
War Department will live up to it
in every respect.
The reduction in the size of the
Army from 100000 to 6,96S, ,0OO
represents a drop of a little over
l 100000 in total strength. This
will not be sufficient to permit the
early discharge of all the men we
consider should be returned to civil
life as result of their extended
overseas and combat service.
Consequently, it is planned to hold
selective service calls after We
day at level above that necessary
to replace men lost through battle
and normal attrition and thus make
it possible to release more men with
a record of long and arduous serv-
ice. This procedure of releasing the
maximum number of veterans and
| their return to civil life will permit
the call into service of those men
who have heretofore been deferred
for one reason or another.
Will Release 100000.
We will at the same time con-
tlnue to release men because of sick
ness. wounds, age and such other
factors which prevent their effective
use in the service. During the last
II months, discharges from all these
causes totaled about 100000 1t is
expected that discharges of this
kind, in addition to those made of
men with long overseas and COM
bat service. will result in the re-
lease from the Army during the
next year of about 100000 men
With the exception of the men
to be released for specific disabili-
ties. those who will leave the Army
in the next year will be selected
from all parts of the world. the
Pacific as we'll as in Europe, on the
basis of impartial standards rec
commended by the enlisted men
themselves.
The whole aim of the system that
has been developed is to insure that
those men who have been overseas
longest and have fought hardest
and those who have children, get
first consideration in demobiliza-
ton. That is the way our soldiers
believe it should be and that is the
way it will be, subject only to the
continuing necessity of keeping in
service until adequate requirements
can be found those men needed to
defeat Japan.
Will Release Some Fathers.
A preliminary survey made by the
War Department on the basis of a
one-sixth demobilization of the
Army indicates that all but 2 per
cent of the men to be released will
be men who have served overseas
and that these 2 per cent will be
fathers who have been in the Army
long time.
About half Of the 100000 men
who will be eligible for release from
the Army due to extended and ar
duous service are now in Europe
and about one third are in the Pa
cific. Most of the others are now
in this country, having been re-
turned under rotation after serving
full tours of duty overseas.
How soon the men to be demobi-
lized can be brought home will de-
pend on the availability of shipping
and air transport after the require
ments of the war against Japan are
met. The transportation Of those
eligible for discharge must be con-
sidered in connection with the
whole transportation problem.
In the last war it took a year to
bring back the 100000 men in the
AEF, with no problem to meet in
the Pacific save for a small force
in Siberia. Today we have the prob
lem of moving out of Europe almost
double that force, a large number
of whom must be transported over
$4,000 miles of ocean to the far
reaches Of the Pacific.
We must transport to the Pacific
vast stores of equipment and sup
SPOT CASH!