Evening star., 1951-06-11
Remove Fiji 1roops
From Chair Corps,
Senate probers Urge
BY William ]. WheotIey

Release Of physically-fit uni
formed manpower from what It'll
calls the "chair corps" of the
armed services is recommended in
a Senate committee report, re-
sulting from an investigation of
16 Army, Navy, Marine Corps and
Air Force installations.
The preparedness subcommittee
of the Senate Armed Services
Committee told the Senate in al
report that personnel equivalent
in numbers to five divisions was
found in this "chair corps" Ac-1
t,Ially the committee said there
was a total of 95.784, most of
whom are. presumably, physically
and mentally At for full military
duty" OF the total, the committee
reported that 10,520 were officers
and 85,264 were enlisted per-
sonnel.
Lower Standards Urged.
The committee recommended
that this number of physically fit
soldiers in non combat jobs be re-
duced by the lowering Of physical
standards for draftees, the use Of
more women in the armed services
and increased use of civilians.
It recommended also that the
Department of the Army eliminate
unnecessary staff and command
organizations at the training CEN
terS.
It urged that the "chair corps"
be manned by limited service mill
tary, female military. and civilian
personnel to the fullest possible
extent.
Another recommendation was
that IAN exhaustive survey and
analysis of training center over
head be undertaken Immediately
by experts in the field of economic
utilization of manpower, and that
the Department of Defense make
periodic reports to the Committee
on Armed Services in connection
with steps taken toward the more
efficient utilization of manpower."
Overhead Cost Cited.
I'VE cannot meet the challenge
before us" the report said, with
q heavy percentage of our strength
seated in chairs. At 16 bases
out of many hundreds of military
installations of our services-our
investigators. have found nearly
three divisions of men fit for COM
bat but unlikely, under present
organiZational policies, to partici-
pate in combat. This is wasteful.
It is an overhead cost this Nation
connot afford to carry
OF the total found in the 16
areas investigated, the committee
said that about 10000 of the jobs
now filled by physically fit uni
formed personnel "for the most
part, could certainly be filled ef-
f1ciently by limited service per-
sonnel. women and civilians"
The Army and Air Force were
found by the committee to be ex-
ceeding the average for overhead
personnel for the number of
trainees. It said that the Navy
and Marine Corps were getting by
on fewer than the average num-
Der OF overhead personnel per
trainee.
Percentage Basis Quoted.
On a percentage basis it found
that the Air Force was using less
civilian personnel than the other
services, and that the Marine
Corps was the highest user. Like
wise, the Air Force used less fe-
male military personnel and the
Marine Corps the most.
The committee emphasized.
however, that these figures are not
altogether comparable, as the op-
erations and activities at the vari-
Gus installations differ, and. at
many installations basic training
is only one of many activities. But
1t added that the committee be-
lieved it significant that the Navy
was operating with a relatively
small number of overhead per-
sonnel, while the Army and the
Air Force were using many more
persons in administrative and in
structor posts per trainee.
The committee found that there
were nearly enough men to fill
United States commitments to
Europe sitting at desks, working in
kitchens, carrying messages, driv-
ing automobiles, operating mo-
tion-picture machines, running
post exchanges and similar jobs.