Evening star., 1948-06-28
Draft
Continued From First Page.)

Draft
Continued From First PageD
draft boards so the registration oi
7,500,00 men 18 through Is can start
probably in mid-August.
Most, If not all, of the Nationa
Guard units are up to authorized
strength because of the recent rush
of men to join before the draft bill
was signed by President Truman
last Thursday, Secretary Royal
said. Much the same situation exists
In organized reserve units, which
require periodic drills and summer
training.
Indicating that men already ir
the National Guard and some or
ganized components are not subject
to the draft now, Secretary Royal
said there has been no oficial de.
termination yet concerning the
status Of various unorganized re-
serve units or enlisted reserve
groups that exist principally on
paper.
Draft calls during the fiscal year
beginning July l will be relatively
small" and their size will be deter
mined chiefly by the number OF
voluntary enlistments' obtained by
the Army during those IL months.
Secretary Royal estimated that the
Army will get between 1000 and
100000 volunteers to replace men
whose enlistments expire and who do
not join up again.
10000 Inductees q Month.
"On this basis, we estimate that
between 225,000 and 250,000 men
might have to be drafted into the
Army during the 1949 fiscal year, "
he continued. "It Is expected that
the first inductions will be made
very soon after September o. On
this basis, the Army expects to re-
ceive an average of 10000 inductees
a month during the last nine month
of the coming fiscal year. That is
only an estimate, but we plan to
maintain a fairly uniform rate of
inductions each month"
The Army Secretary added that
at least 10000 additional officers,
mostly captains and lieutenants,
will be needed to help train the
inductees. The Army hopes to get
them largely from National Guard
and Reserve officers who volunteer
for extended active duty" Secretary
Royal said.
Although the new draft law
authorizes a total Army strength OF
$4,000, budget limitations will keep
the figure down to 10000 during
the 1949 fiscal year. The Army
now has about $4,000.
Six Divisions Overseas.
Secretary Royal elaborated on his
earlier announcement that the Army
plans, through the draft and an
intensified voluntary enlistment
program, to build up II regular
Army divisions and six National
Guard divisions to full combat
strength by the end of the next
fiscal year He said of the II
regular divisions would be stationed
overseas. The u regular divisions
will give us small but really
effective mobile striking force"
Secretary Royal declared.
These Army troops" he con-
tinued, would be prepared in event
of emergency to protect outlying
and continental bases and also to
seize and hold various overseas
bases from which attacks conceiv-
ably could be made on our cities"
The inductees, as well as 161 900
18-year-old youths who will be ac-
cepted for one-year voluntary en-
listment. will be trained at eight
camps, four of which will be newly
opened.
Camp Pickett to Be Reopened.
Camp Pickett, Va, will be one of
the new training camps, as train
ing center for about $1,000 men in
the 18th Airborne Division 1t is
near Blackstone, in Nottoway
County, Southwest Virginia.
The other will be Camp Brecken-
ridge. KY, for the 10lss Airborne
Division, Camp Chaffee. Ark, for
the Fifth Armored Division. and
Fort Riley, Kans., for the 10th In
fantry Division.
The training plans already in OPP
Grafton are for the 4th Infantry Di-
vision at Fort Ord, Calf; 5th In
fantry Division, at Fort Jackson,
S. c., and 9th Infantry Division at
Fort Dix, N. j., and the Sd Armored
Division at Fort Knox, KY.
Fort Mead, Md, is one of six ex-
listing camps at which service and
supporting troops of less than di-
vision size will be trained. The 9TH
ers are Fort Bliss, Tex: Camp Car
son, Colo; Camp Cooke, Calf; Fort
Devens, Mass. and Fort Worden,
Wash.
Fort Belvoir, Va, is due to be
expanded after September l from
about 5000 to more than II 900 men.
Eight Weeks of Basic Training.
Secretary Royal explained that
inductees would 60 first to induc-
ton centers near their homes. These
places have not yet been desig-
mated, but in any event, the men
would stay there only a few days
before being sent to one Of the
eight training centers.
Most of the inductees would COM
plete at least eight weeks of basic
training at those centers, although
men with previous service, such as
veterans who served less than 90
days during the last war, would be
assigned directly to regular units.
After their basic individual train
ing" Secretary Royal said, the
soldiers would be kept either in the
United States for further training
or 60 overseas. No 1s-year-olds viii
be sent overseas"
The Army, according to Secretary
Royal, will make every effort to pro-
vide specialized training for men
showing special aptitudes and also