Evening star., 1945-02-25
Draft Calls Due
.For30.33Group;
Rules frightened
Only Men Necessary
TO Essential Industry
Will Be Deferred
BY MIRIAM GUTENBERG.


opened the doors to wholesale
drafting of men in the 30
through-33 age group by direct
ing draft boards to defer only
necessary" men in this age
bracket.
The new draft regulations provide
that men in the 1898 age bracket
must be necessary to and regularly
engaged in" an activity in war pro-
duction or in support of the ma
tional health, safety or interest to
be eligible for deferment.
Since last May, men over 30 merely
had to be regularly engaged in"
war production or war-supporting
activities to get IA or 2-B defer
ment and draft boards we're liberal
in their deferments of men over %
particularly in the face of continued
insistence from the armed forces
that they wanted younger men as
combat requirements.
100000 in Bracket Deferred.
Selective Service announced that
physically fit men in the 30-37 age
group-especially those under ths
age of 34-"are confronted with the
prospect of induction to the extent
necessary to fill the calls" Draft
calls have been sharply increased
in the last two months and still are
mounting.
Approximately 100000 men. 30
through 33, are deferred, according
to Selective Service estimates. Of
flcials refused to estimate how
many of these men will lose their
deferments as a result of the new
order, but called attention to tes-
timony by Selective Service Director
Hershey that men over 30 would
make up 80 per cent of the entire
draft call by the end of this year.
] The memorandum to draft boards
stressed that requirements of the
armed forces for combat replace
ments have increased sharply, that
the supply of physically fit men
in the 1926 age group is practically
exhausted and that the supply OF
men in the 26-29 age group is "ex-
tremely limited"
| Draft boards were instructed to
continue calling nonfathers ahead
| of fathers.
Nonfathers to Go First.
| II all other factors are equal"
the memorandum stated, "a father
should be given greater considera-
ton for occupational deferment
than a nonfather in this age group
| t30-33l."
Men between "a and 81 will be
permitted continued deferment if
they are regularly engaged in war
production or war supporting &C
tivity, Selective Service said.
| AS for the men left in the 1929
age group, the, draft board memo
randum said the prospect is that
they will be inducted unless the
information submitted to local
boards by employers indicates that
they are necessary to and regularly
engaged in and that they are in
dispensable and irreplaceable in"
war production or transporting
activities.
Federal Government employees,
according to draft board instruc-
tions, will be treated the same az
men in private industry except that
every deferment request must bear
the authorized Government re-
quest" stamp.
The new draft memorandum also
announced details of the plan ap-
proved by the Office of War Mo-
bilization and Reconversion, made
public last week, to permit defer
ment of limited number" of men
under 80 who hold key jobs in war
industries.
New Procedure Outlined.
The new procedure calls for filing
a new form for registrants under
80 and for certifcation by one of
Is Government agencies concerned
with war production and procure
ment and essential services.
i First of the agencies to announce
j how it will handle its new certi-
1 flying power was the Office of De-
fense Transportation, which will
recommend deferments for men on
railroads, automotive maintenance.
highway and local transport, air.
lines. tank car leasing, inland water
ways and cold and dry storage
warehouses.
+ Col j. Monroe Johnson. ODT di-
rector, warned that comparatively
few men in the transportation in
dustry can be deferred" He pre-
Edicted that the number of men to
be inducted during the coming
months will greatly add to the
& manpower shortage which is now
seriously handicapping all branches
OF transportation"
/ Col johnson explained that no
man under 30 will be recommended
by the agency for deferment if he
is not doing work classified as in
dispensable, If he can be replaced
by someone doing less essential
: work, if another recruit or transferee
can be trained to do this work in
three months or If he is doing any