TEN MILLIONS

Grey River Argus, 24 November 1942, Page 3

TEN MILLIONS

AMERICAN ARMY How It Is Raised The United States is mobilising an army of men—lo,ooo,ooo, if need.be —irrevocably dedicated to crushing the Axis aggressors. Many of these 10 000,000 are already overseas, at 31)od’d widely separated battle stations in this global war. Many have seen action on war fronts from the Arctic to the Equator and from Western Europe to the islands of the Pacific. •Many morel are undergoing their last rigorous training in the United States before embarking to join their comrades in expeditionary forces. And still other Americans now are awaiting their first call to uniform. A large part of the United States Army shouldered arms following voluntary enlistment, both before and after the United States entered the war. But an even greater number entered the army through a.system which is singularly American in its democratic method of sharing the responsibilities of citizenship. This is .the Selective Service system, more commonly called the draft. In the last war, America raised a large' percentage of its army of 4,000,000 men by this draft procedure. More than twice that number is the ultimate aim of Selective Service officials in this war.

NATIONAL REGISTRATION. Briefly, the Selective Service Act, passed bv the United States Congress in September, 1940, called for the registration of every male in America between the ages of 21 ana 36 The age range was amended after the United States entered the war, to include men from 18 to 64. By April, 1942, more than 40,000,000 men had been registered on four different occasions, the first in October, 1940. 1 . The technique of cataloguing this tremendous American manpower was not unlike that of the nation-wide registration of citizens eligible to vote in the American system of universal suffrage. In contrast to the conscription put into practice during the U.S. Civil War, when men called to the service could hire substitutes, the present draft is regarded as eminently fair; The exact structure of the Selective Service procedure is much like the one used in the United States during the first world war. By Presidential order, a director of Selective Service was appointed, who in turn set up what are called local boards in every community of the nation. These local boards are staffed by citizens of their immediate neighbourhoods, all volunteers, all working without pay. At specified dates a]] the men from 18 to 64 registered with these local boards, listing their names, ages and addresses. After each had been .assigned a number, drawings were held in Washington to determine the order of call of the prospective soldiers. This was done in the form of a huge lottery with numbered capsules withdrawn at random from a large container. The order of withdrawal determined the order by which men, holding corresponding numbers in local board areas all over the country, were summoned for their first interview to determine their fitness as soldiers

Following the first lottery drawings, every registrant was given a questionnaire,’ in which he was .asked to report his age, his marital status, the number of minor and adult dependents, the sort of work he was doing and whether or not it was contributing to the national war effort. On the basis of these questionnaires —and thorough physical examinations —the entire registration of manpower was classified.

YQUNGER MEN FIRST.

Before the 'United States entered the war the first registrants called into service were those between the ages of 21 and 28. unmarried arid without dependents. Later this age limit was extended to men in their 30’s; and to-day any man between 20 and 44 is subject to call. Classification of each registrant is determined by his marital status, his occupation I as.it relates to the war effort, and his dependents. In general, single men without defendents and engaged in '/‘non-essential” occupations are the first called by their local boards. The purpose of this classification is ro prevent the “army behind the army” steel workers, munition makers, aeroplane and tank builders, and other skilled civilians engaged in war production work —being drafted awav from their present important jobs. But even with these deferments the United States Army is being increased rapidlv by a steady flow of vounger men into the ranks, through the Selective Service system.