THE DRAFT: Draftees Into Officers

At last week’s end, some 20,000 draftees had gone to induction stations, been sworn into the Army of the United States, shipped to reception centres (Draftese for Army camp). Nearly 99% of the 20,000 were draftables who had volunteered for one year’s training without formal drafting. At 29 reception centres rookies were shucked out of mufti, inoculated, vaccinated, shod and asked such questions as: “How many nickel cigars can you buy for 20¢?” “How many dozen will 42 oranges make?”, asked to say whether a pistol was a gun, a knife, a sword or a pencil.*

Such questions were part of Army’s new General Classification Test, streamlined lineal descendant of the World War I “Alpha” test, intended to help weed out hopeless misfits, keep pastry cooks from being assigned to blacksmithing duties or vice versa, bring to light bright boys who might make good officers.

This week, as in 1917, high on Army’s headache list is a shortage of good corporals, sergeants and second lieutenants, without which Army’s whopping training program may well founder. To get noncoms and shavetails in quantity, Army bosses may well have to junk some tenets of promotion by seniority. Stock Army retort to suggestions of promotion for merit has long been that such a system would encourage political toadying; but low-bracket officers must be found, even if dull-witted veterans are passed over to commission brainy tenderfeet. To ferret out officer material, all rookies are being interviewed in Big-Businesslike detail as to their education, past occupations, talent for furnishing public entertainment, favorite sports. Queries are couched in folksy phrases. Occupational aptitude quiz: “Just what did you do?”

Ability to label a pistol as a gun proved helpful for buck privates who wanted to gain chevrons, but was only a first step. Draftees now go directly from reception centres to tactical units which are below war strength. But after next March, they will spend 14 weeks at replacement centres now building, to learn something of soldiering before joining seasoned troops. Those who look good on the basis of their G. C. test and show leadership qualities will get a crack at commanding, may attain the status of “cadet” or “temporary sergeant,” wear not chevrons but an identifying arm band. Says the War Department: “The arm band will slip off and on with remarkable ease.” Those on whom the arm band stays longest may after nine months be admitted to Officers’ Training School, may one day substitute securely pinned shoulder bars for slippery bands.

*Army apparently expected smarter rookies to identify a pistol as a gun. According to Webster, a gun is “any portable firearm except a pistol or revolver.”