161,000 S. Vietnamese Volunteer For Service

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31786, 17 September 1968, Page 13

161,000 S. Vietnamese Volunteer For Service

(N.Z P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) SAIGON, Sept. 16. The results of South Vietnam’s general mobilisation call has far exceeded the Government’s expectations. It has drawn more than 240,000 men into the armed forces, which is about 30 per cent above what was expected. The total includes 63,000 young conscripts and, sdri pisingly enough, 161,000 volunteers.

This has boosted the regular armed forces to more than 755,000 men, with an expectation of 800,000 by the end of the year. In addition, 400,000 men serve in loosely-organised, sparsely-armed local defence units, most of them in the cities and suburbs. Officials say the large number of volunteers probably resulted from the desire of young men to have some choice of assignment. The number of conscripts, although less than half the total of volunteers, is considerably higher than the call-up figure for last year. Officials say that 20 to 30 per cent of the men called up are rejected because they are physically unfit. The general mobilisation law enacted last June makes men from 17 to 43 years subject to call-up. Until the end of July, men between 18 and 33, including veterans and reserves with less than five years service, were called. Each month the call-up affects an older class of man, but officials say they will not know until the end of the year whether youths of 17 and men between 39 and 43 will be needed. The law includes a programme of deferments, but these are hard to obtain and the requirements are strictly enforced by a board which decides each case. There are the usual deferments for an

only surviving son, students, Buddhist monks and Roman Catholic priests, and for physical defects. The strictness with which the general mobilisation law is being enforced can be seen from the fact that it now costs the equivalent of about SNZ3S7I to obtain illegally a deferment even for several months. Informants say only a limited number of these deferments are being peddled because of the price and the risk.

Officials say such illegal payments are being eliminated rapidly. It is common to see police-

men stop young men in Saigon to check their call-up status; an estimated 28,000 “dogers” have been caught this way in the last seven months. But the success of the mobilisation programme has generated problems. The increased number of recruits has strained training facilities, and the usual complaints are heard about poor food and uniforms which do not fit. And there are many complaints of businesses and Government agencies being disrupted because trained personnel have been called up.