Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-02
Wheels Of Government I.
By Froncis P. DouaIos

The "a District of Columbia
men who win report for induc-
ton into the Army in August
will be completing . chain Of
events that started in June with
a tabulation by a Naval officer
assigned to selective service
headquarters.
Comdr. Donald c. Hayward.
q. S. N. R.. Is the man who
takes the figures from the De-
tense Departments call for
manpower. Against this num-
Der he puts the reports on
available men and then he
determines quotas for each State.
There should be Sc stars in the
selective service flag, for that is
the number Of States" they
count. There is State direc-
tor for each of the 48 States.
There Is another for New York
City, which is handled separately
from New York State.
There are also State directors
for the District of Columbia,
Alaska. Hawaii, the Canal Zone,
Puerto Rico. the Virgin Islands
and Guam.
Inductees Report.
AS the wheels of selective serv-
ice turn. men report to induc-
ton centers from far-fiung out.
posts OF the Nation. While o
New York City man has only
to take the subway to report
to an induction center. a man
in Alaska may have to fly 1000
miles across to report at Juneau.
Those from the Virgin Islands
fly across the sea to report at
Puerto Rico.
The Defense Departments call
for $4,000 men to report in Au-
gust was issued early In June,
Comdr. Hayward, who Is quotas
and calls officer at selective
service headquarters here. then
went to work with the May 81
reports from the State directors.
Each State director had sent In
report of availability and
summary Of classification"
The Sc reports are broken
down and tabulated on large
sheets. Girls with adding ma
chimes go to work. Comdr. Hay
ward gives the sheets q careful
scrutiny, because it Is from them
that quotas are assigned.
The first step is to take the
number Of men in each State
classified la, who have been
examined and found acceptable.
To this number is added the la
men not yet examined, modified
by the States rejection rate.
Varied Rejection Rate.
The rejection rate varies from
about 20 per cent to about so per
cent: the national average Is
34.8 per cent. The Districts re-
lection rate is 36.6 per cent;
Maryland's is 1919 per cent and
Virginia's 46.2 per cent.
The rejection rate, Of course.
Is based on the number who fail
to pass from the number called
for pre-induction examination.
This is on the basis q physical
and mental tests. The latter is
the AFQT-Armed Forces Quail
f1cation Test.
The AFQT weeds out those with
insufficient learning ability to
absorb military training. A
minimum level of reading and
writing is necessary to pass this
pencil and paper test, but the
test is not considered to be q
test of literacy. There is nc
legal literacy requirement for
admission to the Armed forces
About half Of those rejected are
rejected on mental grounds
These reflections are highest In
the South and least in the Upper
Mississippi Valley and the Far
West.
Determination is made fol
each Of the Sc Jurisdictions Of the
ratio Of the number Of mer
available in each to the national
total. That ratio is then applied
to the draft levy by the Defense
Department and each State.
quota is assigned. Then thu
draft calls 60 out.
Totals Competed.
From the May 81 reports, Il
was determined that there was
o national total of 223.222 mer
classified la who had beer
examined and found acceptable
There were also 1,067.8 41 mer
In the la class who had not
yet been examined. Reduce thil
last figure by 34.8 per cent, the
national rejection rate, and yor
have 696.233. The two la
groups would thus be in exces.
Of 100000.
The pool Of la men includes
LAO men. conscientious objec-
tors whose objections do not ex-
tend to non-combat duty.
The total number registered by
Selective Service since Septem-
Der. 1913, is 14.941,217. Against
this the number of availables
seems quite small. But the total
figure is reduced by q number Of
considerations.
In the first place. there are
5,615,553 over the age Of liability
for service. which is Is. These
are primarily World War II vet
Grams.
Another group of 1,533,324
men have completed their serv.
ice and have been discharged OF
transferred to the Reserves. An.
other class, -1-C, numbering g.
243.781, have either been induct'
ed already or have enlisted o.
been commissioned. Then there
is the IV-F class. 1892. 953, whit
have been rejected for service.
How Students Stand.