The CHAIRMAN. Members of the committee, this is Mr. Finucane, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower. Mr. Finucane, it is a pleasure to have you here this morning. You can give the committee the Department's official views in reference to H.R. 2260. I see you have a prepared statement. I respectfully request the members of the committee to permit you to make the statement without interruption and then we will ask you those questions that address themselves to each member of the committee. You may proceed, Mr. Secretary. Secretary FINUCANE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, before I start my statement may I first say that Secretary McElroy very much wanted to make the opening Department of Defense statement in support of H.R. 2260 As you know, Mr. McElroy is before the House Appropriations Committee this morning, Mr. Chairman, but he plans to make his statement personally to you and your committee sometime during the course of the hearings, sir. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, after the magnificent statement that I have just heard from your chairman, much of which I am about to say has been said more eloquently than I can possibly say it. But I am going to carry on my statement, as you suggested, Mr. Chairman. I am Charles C. Finucane, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Personnel, and Reserve. I welcome the opportunity to appear before you in support of H.R. 2260. This bill, if enacted into law, will extend until July 1, 1963, the authority to induct persons under the Universal Military Training and Service Act. It will also extend the suspension of the limitations on Armed Forces strengths to July 1, 1963, and it will extend the provisions of the Dependents Assistant Act for the same period. EXTENSION OF INDUCTION AUTHORITY I firmly believe that continuation of the authority to induct men into the Armed Forces is absolutely essential to the maintenance of our active and reserve military strength goals. The Secretaries of each of the Military Departments and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are of the same conviction. The present general induction authority was originally provided by the Selective Service Act of 1948, after it was demonstrated that authorized strengths could not be attained by voluntary methods alone. This authority which has been continuously in existence since that time, will, except for certain persons previously deferred, expire on July 1, 1959. We strongly urge its further extension until July 1, 1963, as provided in section 1 of H.R. 2260. It has been the firm objective of all services to obtain all military manpower through voluntary means and thus obviate the need for the draft. During the past several years strenuous efforts have been made to increase the attractiveness of military service, and thereby improve our voluntary enlistment and reenlistment rates. The Congress has been extremely cooperative in these efforts by providing legislation covering items such as increased pay and various allowances, improved survivor benefits, and improved dependents' medical care benefits. Also, various administrative measures have been taken to make military service more appealing, such as increased stabilization of assignments and increased training and educational opportuni ties. The results are gratifying. An increasing percent of new enlisted personnel intake consists of regular enlistees. Also, first term reenlistment rates are up in all services. For the Department of Defense as a whole, these rates have increased from 25 percent in fiscal year 1957 to 28 percent in fiscal year 1958. Despite the encouraging gains toward our ultimate objective, inductions are still needed to meet total authorized strengths. During fiscal year 1958, it was necessary to induct a total of 126,000 men into the Army. This amounted to about half of the Army intake and 24 percent of the total intake of enlisted personnel into the active forces from civil life. During the current fiscal year, we estimate that the Army will induct 115,000 men. It is expected that we shall have to induct an average of about 90,000 men annually for the period fiscal year 1960 through fiscal year 1963. The Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, although not presently inducting men, benefit to a considerable extent from the stimulus of the draft in their voluntary procurement programs. Many of the young men who enlist voluntarily in these services do so in lieu of being inducted. In that way, they are able to select the service of their choice and serve at a time and in a manner most convenient to them. These enlistments are an important source of quality manpower. They have a further benefit of being in most instances for 3, 4, or more years, rather than 2 years. These longer-term enlistments have substantiaĺ advantages in reduced turnover, reduced training loads, and increased effective use of manpower. In addition to stimulating enlistment programs, the Universal Military Training and Service Act assists in the procurement of officer personnel. For example, persons who participate in the ROTC, the Navy Reserve officer candidate program and the Marine Corps platoon leaders course, are deferred from induction. Upon graduation from college and subsequent commissioning as officers, they are required to serve on active duty or active duty for training. Without the stimulus of induction, there is no doubt that many men would be less inclined to enter these programs. The resulting reduction in numbers of candidates would most certainly provide less opportunity for selecting better qualified ones. Thus, loss of the induction authority not only would reduce our ability to meet our overall requirements for new officers, but could have adverse implications for the quality of the junior officer corps. Continuation of the induction authority is also essential to the maintenance of adequate Reserve forces. Attractive programs are available by which men may enlist directly into the Ready Reserve, including the National Guard. For example, enlistees in certain programs, which require an initial period of 6 months of active duty for training, are deferred so long as they continue to participate satisfactorily in the Reserve. The alternative of induction for 2 years not only stimulates men to enlist into these programs, but also serves to assure their continued participation after initial active-duty training. One additional point whch I am sure is of interest to this committee. At the present time, inductees completing active duty constitute a prime source of well-trained Reserve manpower for the Ready Reserve of the Army, including the National Guard. Continuing authority to make special calls for physicians and dentists is necessary to meet our requirements for such personnel. Draftinspired volunteers have been our principal source of medical and dental officers during the past several years, as the chairman pointed out. By June 30, 1959, about 50 percent of all physicians serving on active duty, and about 60 percent of the dentists will be noncareer officers. They will have accepted Reserve commissions with the obligation of 2 years' active duty in lieu of being inducted under special Selective Service calls. Dr. Berry, the Assistant Secretary of Defense (H. & M.), will speak in more detail on this matter. All in all, we in the Department of Defense consider the Universal Military Training and Service Act as an integral and necessary part of our total manpower procurement system in all of the four services. Extension of the Universal Military Training and Service Act not only assures that our military manpower requirements will be met now, but also that adequate manpower would be available in an emergency. An existing law on the books, together with an effective organization in being, including about 4,000 local boards, constitutes a highly valuable resource if it should become necessary for this country to mobilize quickly. Under the present law, the Selective Service System is in a position to deliver large numbers of registrants for induction within a relatively short period of time. Finally, we consider continuation of the induction authority a very important factor in assuring the rest of the free world, as well as any potential enemies, that we intend to maintain the necessary military strength in support of our commitments. SUSPENSION OF STRENGTH LIMITATIONS I would now like to speak in support of section 2 of H.R. 2260 which provides for the continued suspension of statutory active force strength ceilings. Our current and programed Armed Forces strengths exceed basic legislative limitations, and have done so since 1951. Recognizing that it would be impossible for the Armed Forces to meet their commitments if they were compelled to adhere to the statutory strength limitations, the Congress has in the past provided for the suspension of those ceilings. We strongly urge continuance of the suspension of the strength limitations until July 1, 1963. Unless the suspension is continued, a reduction in total strength of approximately half a million or about 20 percent would be required. This would result in the demobilization of large segments of our active combat and supporting elements, and would clearly be highly dangerous to national and free world security in these troublesome times. DEPENDENTS ASSISTANCE ACT Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, my final remarks are addressed in support of the extension of the Dependents Assistance Act as provided by section 3 of H.R. 2260. The act provides additional allow ances to enlisted members of the armed services with dependents, and provides a means of making funds available to such dependents for their living expenses on a regular basis. The allowances under this act have been given since 1950. Termination of this legislation would impose undue financial hardship. The 4-year extension of the act, which is strongly recommended, coincides with the proposed extension of the induction authority. CONCLUSION I have attempted in my brief statement to show that I consider this legislation vital to our national security. It will give us the ability to maintain our Armed Forces at strength levels necessary to meet our military commitments and deter aggression. Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, that is the end of my formal statement. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Now, members of the committee, instead of going around the board, we will open it. Has any member any questions? If you ask for recognition, I will be glad to recognize you, irrespective of where you may sit at the table. Any questions from committee members? Secretary FINUCANE. Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Secretary. Secretary FINUCANE. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, we realize that many of our citizens in the country are not fully informed about the facts of the manpower pool as they relate to our military require ments. We have made a very careful statistical study of this subject. The chairman covered much of it in his opening brief. We have collaborated in the compilation of these statistics with other Federal agencies. We believe the findings will be of great interest to the committee and to the public at large. We could cover the factual highlights of the study in about 15 or 20 minutes, Mr. Chairman. If it is your desire and the desire of your committee, I would like very much to show you these statistics. The CHAIRMAN. I think it will be of great interest to the committee. I knew you were going to demonstrate these statistics and these figures. So I suggest you have the screen put up there so you can do so. Secretary FINUCANE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We will make it as brief as possible. And Mr. Harold Wool of my office will present the statistics. The CHAIRMAN. All right. Just bring it around and put it in front so the committee can see it. Mr. WOOL. May I proceed? Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, as Secretary Finucane has indicated, there has been a certain amount of public misunderstanding about the arithmetic of our military manpower situation. Typical misconceptions are: First, that only a very small proportion of the current number of young men in the population, perhaps 1 out of 10 are required for military service; Second, that the backlog of available men in the selective service. pool is much too large and growing very rapidly; Third, that the present draft age is too high and is causing hardship to many young men; and Finally, that many qualified young men are passing through their period of military service liability under the law without entering military service. In order to bring the facts about the military manpower situation into clearer perspective, we shall attempt to answer the following specific questions: What is the actual military service status of men of draft age in this country? What has been the trend of growth of the manpower pool? We shall deal not only with estimates of the current situation but shall project these data through fiscal year 1963, the period for which extension of the induction authority is being requested. The findings included in this presentation are based on an intensive evalution of all pertinent statistical materials on our military manpower needs and resources. These findings have been reviewed and found accurate by various interested Federal agencies, including the Selective Service System, the Department of Labor and the Office of Civilian and Defense Mobilization. At the outset, it is necessary to define what we mean by the military manpower pool: The manpower pool is defined here as including civilian men, mainly in ages 1812 to 25, if they are available for military service under Selective Service regulations and are found qualified under existing mental, physical and moral standards. Also included are men between ages 26 and 35, if they have been previously deferred, since the liability of this group under the law is extended until age 35. This pool is, of course, not static. It is continually changing in composition as young men enter it on reaching age 1812 or when they leave school, while others move out of the pool, either into military service or into a deferred category. The present law and regulations also prescribe a certain order of induction among men in this pool. At the head of the list are placed those who volunteer for induction as well as the small number of registrants who have been delinquent in their responsibility under the law. Following these smaller categories, the four main priority groups, as shown on the lower portion of the chart, include: First, nonfathers, pages 19-25 (oldest going first); Secondly, fathers 19-25 years; Third, registrants in the ages 26-35 whose liability has been extended; and Finally, young men between 1812 years and their 19th birthday. The latter category can only be inducted under the law if no older men are available for induction in their draft boards. As a practical matter, as we shall see, the first of these groups, the nonfathers constitute the effective military manpower pool under current conditions. The manpower pool thus defined is much smaller than the total number of registrants apparently available, as shown in Selective Service classifications. In this chart we see on the left that the gross Selective Service pool, including those in class I-A and those |