After 168 Years

"The citizens of America . . . from 18 to 50 years of age should be borne on the Militia Rolls, provided with uniform arms, and . . . accustomed to the use of them." So urged George Washington in 1783. Last week, 168 years later, the U.S. Congress took the first big step towards Universal Military Training for all men when they reach 18. Delightedly, Assistant Secretary of Defense Anna Rosenberg got Texas' Senator Lyndon Johnson on the phone. "George Washington started it," she said, "and you finished it."

Actually, U.M.T. is far from a finished project. Congress approved it, but insisted on the right to look it over again before the plan starts. The bill sets up this labyrinthine process: 1) the President will appoint a National Security Training Commission of five members--three prominent civilians and two military officers; 2) within four months the commission will recommend to the Armed Services Committees of Congress a detailed U.M.T. plan approved by the Secretary of Defense; 3) no more than 45 days later the committees will pass on the bills; 4) after Congress adopts a specific plan and when youths under 19 are no longer being drafted for regular military service, Congress or the President may order the program started.

Despite these limitations, the bill was a personal victory for hard-working Senator Johnson, a World War II Navy lieutenant commander. U.M.T. could be ready to operate within a year. When (and if) it gets going, every 18-year-old will get six months' training, then go on reserve status for 7 1/2 years.

U.M.T. was tacked on to a bill which extends the draft until July 1, 1955 and makes these changes in it:

P:Minimum draft age will be lowered from 19 to 18 1/2 with registration at 18. Service is extended from 21 to 24 months, plus six years in reserve. High-school students may be deferred until they are 20, college students until the end of the school year.

P: Land-force recruits must have four months' training before they go overseas. Navy recruits may be trained on the sea.

P:Physical standards will be lowered, making eligible 150,000 now considered 4-Fs.

P: There will be a ceiling of 5,000,000 on the armed forces. In the service now: nearly 3,500,000.

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