Evening star., 1952-03-09
Rebuff

OlN NGDQ -
Raw Deal for Veterans
Prolonged by Congress
By George Fielding Eliot
The shelving Of the universal mill
tary training bill by the House of
Representatives has abolished hope,
for the present, of q practical test OF
the UNIT proposal. It has not abol-
iShed the problem which UNIT was
designed to solve.
That problem is how to create q
trained reserve force in the United
States to meet any future emergency.
and by so doing to permit the gradual
reduction Of regular forces and the
leveling-of of the military budget.
What is needed. in the hard d-hitting
phrase Of 1t. Gen. Raymond s. Nc
Lain. is ito stockpile time" It is Just
as necessary to have pool of trained
manpower as to have Stockpiles Of
raw materials and weapons. It takes
time to train men, it takes time to
get certain raw materials from dis.
tant sources. 1t takes time to manu-.
facture weapons. The conditions we
now face do not give us reason to
comfort ourselves with the hope that
we will have time for such prepara-
tions after an emergency has arisen.
Therefore we are compelled to stock
pile time.
Need Still Exists
Since the UNIT approach to the
problem has been set aside for this
session of Congress Tin all likelihood).
the solution must be sought by other
rneans--through selectiye service and
through the reorganization of the
reserve components of the armed
forces, now under consideration. The
Soviet threat will not go away and
let us alone. We must have a trained
reserve, and in one fashion or an
other that need will have to be met.
1t is being practically met now by
the fact that draftees under selec-
tive service must, when they finish
their two years of active duty, pass
into the reserve for a further period
Of reserve service. This is not wholly
fair way Of meeting the need. It
places the burden of being the first
to be called in a future emergency on
the shoulders Of young men who have
already served two full years-some
OF them In actual combat in Korea.
UNIT was designed to provide q flow
Of basically trained manpower di-
rectly into the reserve components.
Selective service was to come after
ward If necessity arose. Thus every
one would have been on the same
footing and there would have been
less reason for complaint.
In the Korean war we were forced to
call up reservists who had served in
World War II. These men sfelt they
had discharged their military obliga-
tion. They had started their business
careers and taken on family obliga-
tions The injustice of such q military
system which does not give everybody
fair deal was apparent. Now that
system must be continued because we
are denied the opportunity of improv-
ing it.
Most European countries have
had an UNIT program for q long
time. Great Britain now is entering
Its 18th year. During the last two
! years more than half O million
young men have received compulsory
military training. Today. the ma
jority Of young men in their late
20S in Britain are fully trained
for war, and many of them form
part of the powerful force-nearly
five divisions which Britain has
placed at the disposal of Gen. Eisen-
hower's NATO forces.
Degree Of responsibility
It would be unfair to say that the
members of the House who voted to
send the UNIT bill back to committee
"for further study" were acting al
together irresponsibly, were just play
ing politics with the national safety.
No doubt politics had something to
do with the votes of many members.
Whether in the end they will find
the accumulated resentments Of con-
Stituents who are members, Of various
reserve components greater danger
to their political prospects than the
organized opponents Of UNIT remains
to be disclosed.
Be that as it may, Congressman
could comfort themselves with the
reflection that at the moment the
Korean rotation system is providing
q steady flow Of battle trained per-
Sonnel into the regular units in the
United States and eventually into
the reserve componentS. The actual
strength Of the regular forces is
much greater than ever before in
peacetime.
The Navy and the Air Force have
so far been able to get the men they
needed from voluntary enlistment.
Only the Army and the Marines have
needed draftees. Indeed draft calls
are falling of, due to the leSsening
demand for requirements in Korea.
So there Is some chance Of getting by
with the voters by saying: There
was no hurry. Let's study this thing"
But there is only one way to study
the UNIT proposal and that is In
actual practice. Such test would
iron out the bugs. Then it could be
determined If UNIT meets the need
for a steady flow of trained replace
mentS into the reserve components.
and what adjustments are required
in the interests of the young men
themselves. These facts cannot be
determined either by military officers