U. S. Army
Selective Service
THE AGE LIMITS for liability for Selective Service for the Army remain 20-44 inclusive. It is possible to volunteer for induction prior to call.
Some recent developments in the operation of Selective Service are as follows: (1) In-creased pay. Initial pay is now $50 per month.
(2) Allotments for family support. Men with dependent families now receive support for their wives in the sum of $50.00 per month; of this the soldier contributes from his pay $22.00 and the government contributes $28.00. There is also an allotment of $1O.OO for each minor child, contributed by the Government.
(3) Initial Furlough: Every selectee who is definitely accepted for the Army now automatically receives an initial furlough of two weeks before reporting for active duty, travelling to and from his home at Government expense.
(4) Induction of Men Fit for Limited Military Service (1-B): Some men classified as fit for only limited military service (1-B) have been called to service, and it is contemplated that more will be called. Statistics as to how many of this category have been called have not been released. A letter to the writer from the National Headquarters, Selective Service System, states: "We have inducted some 1-B men at the request of the War Department. It is expected that calls for 1-B men will be increased but such calls depend entirely upon the War Department and are not levied unless that department issues a specific request for limited service men."
(5) Changing Status of Married Men: The new law providing allowances for the dependents of registrants permits a rearrangement of draft categories on the basis of the number of dependents. It also permits the President to set up regulations permitting local boards to defer men with wives or children, or both, on the basis of bona fide family relationship. No regulations have as yet been issued, but the following is the best unofficial information available as to the new plans in prospect.
The new categories contemplated are: (1) single men with no dependents (2) single men claiming dependents (including divorced men) (3) married men without children (4) married men with children. Men needed for the Army will be drawn primarily from the categories of single men without and with dependents. Those categories will be exhausted before moving into the first category of married men, and it will be exhausted before men with children are taken.
The new regulations will instruct local boards to defer for the time being all married men who "maintain a bona fide family relationship" and who were married before December 8, 1941, or at-a time when their induction was not imminent. Because of the Army's current need for men, the deferment may be denied to married men in class I-A who have received induction notices. When it becomes necessary to induct married men, men with wives only will be called ahead of men with wives and children, and within those groups, men without war related jobs and men whose earnings are least necessary to the support of their dependents will be drafted first.
It is estimated that there are enough single men, including men with dependents, to fill the Army's needs for the rest of 1942. In 1943 a decision will have to be made whether to increase the men available for Army service by making men of 18-19 subject to call or to begin to call married men.
The new classification system apparently will eliminate two present classifications: Class II (single men deferred because of occupational status) and Class IV (men deferred for physical or educational reasons). Instead of being classes by themselves these two groups may become sub-classes with the four main categories: for example, a physically fit single man with a war related job would go into a new class, say 1-B instead of Class II as at present. If rejected on physical or educational grounds, he might go into a new class 1-C.
Line Officers
IN ORDER TO BECOME a line officer, i.e., an officer of the combatant forces, normal procedure is first to enlist in the U. S. Army or to be inducted under Selective Service, and then, after three months basic training, to apply for entrance into an officer candidate school. Such schools are operated by fourteen arms of the service: Air Force Administrative, Adjutant General, Armored Force, Cavalry, Chemical Warfare, Coast Artillery, Engineers, Field Artillery, Finance, Infantry, Medical Administrative, Ordnance, Quartermaster and Signal Corps. Unsuccessful candidates continue their service as enlisted men. Successful candidates are commissioned as Second Lieutenants in their special branch.
Men •with dependents (Class 3-A) may, byexception, request induction specifically to become officer candidates, and if they are unsuccessful, they will be returned to their originalclassification in the Selective Service system.
REQUIREMENTS FOR SELECTION: U. S. Citizen; Age 18-45; Examinations: Physical, as for Array officers except height which will be same as for selectees; Mental, score of at least no on Array General Classification Test; Ed-ucation: No rigid prescriptions, but education is a factor in selection, particularly in branches requiring technical competencies.
Some of the technical branches announcing special needs for men of specific skills for officer candidate training are as follows: SignalCorps, communications, electrical engineering; Engineers and Ordnance, all engineering fields; Quartermaster: accounting, business administration, food chemistry, transportation, public utility management, textile engineering; Finance: accounting, business administration, banking, commerce, economics, law, finance, statistics; Medical Administrative: Hospital management, maintenance of hospital records.
It is possible to obtain a reserve commission and assignment to active duty on the basis of previous military experience, i.e. service in the U. S. Army as commissioned officer in the first World War or otherwise, commissioned service in the National Guard, graduation from the advanced R.O.T.C. course. Men in these categories may apply to the office of the Adjutant General, Washington, for a questionnaire-application blank. In practice, few World War I veterans have been commissioned, only about 1000 out of 30,000 applicants so far, and very few of those were over 50 years of age.
ARMY SPECIALIST CORPS: A corps of uniformed civilians to supply—in accordance with requests by any branch of the Army—professional, scientific, technical and administrative personnel to meet specific needs. The general idea is to give to the Army competent specialists in many lines, without giving them full military rank, in cases where it would be inadvisable to do so because of lack of military training, age limitations or physical defects. For older men not subject to selective service, and for younger men with physical disabilities, who have special technical and/or business experience of value to the Army, this recently established Corps presents a good possibility for service.
Basic Requirements: (1) Ineligibility for combat service under Selective Service; (2) possession of a specialty of value to some phase of military activity. Men classified as 4-F (physically unfit for even limited military service) may qualify here if able to perform their specific duties. (3) U. S. citizenship.
No statement has as yet been issued as to specific skills needed, nor have any appointments as yet been made since the Army Spe- cialist Corps is still in the organization stage. Obviously, however, such specialists as the following are the type of men who will be chosen: chemists, physicists, engineers, men with executive business experience, accountants, contractors, doctors, dentists, statisticians, psychologists, etc.
There are two classes of personnel, officers and specialists without military rank. Pay is in general comparable to similar grades in the Army, except that it is distinctly better for men in the junior grades. The Corps will be under semi-military discipline and will wear a uniform similar to, but distinguishable from, the regular army uniform. Appointments will be made for the duration of the war and for six months thereafter. Members are eligible for promotion.
It is definitely announced that the Corps is not a "pool of eligibles" proposition but that men will only be appointed as various branches of the Army announce an active need for them and with the contemplation of an immediate call to duty.
Applications are being currently received.Those interested should write to ExecutiveOfficer, Army Specialists Corps, Washington,D. C. (Lt. Col. M. L. Frederick '15 is assignedto duty with Brig. Gen. C. S. Cheston, directorof Bureau of Busi?iess Personnel, SpecialistsCorps, Washington.)
Army Air Corps FlyingService, Men Under 27
THE FACT THAT THE ARMY needs active aviation personnel is well known, and needs no elaboration other than to say that men under 27 desiring training as pilots, navigators, bombardiers, meteorologists or photographers can obtain full details as to physical and educational requirements from their nearest Army recruiting station. At the present time, the Army Air Forces are receiving no applications for commissions from men in civil life other than those qualified as four motor pilots, weather men, amateur radio "hams" with a considerable amount of experience, radar specialists, engine maintenance men and turret engineers.
