During the period up through April 19, we will receive testimony from representatives of the Secretary of Defense, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and the Coast Guard. Following the Easter recess, representatives of the Army and other witnesses will be heard. Our witness this morning is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, the Honorable Carlisle P. Runge.

Now, Secretary Runge, you have a prepared statement.
Secretary RUNGE. Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. HÉBERT. Members of the committee have received copies of it.
Mr. SLATINSHEK. Yes, sir.

Mr. HÉBERT. Members of the committee, may I suggest that we allow the Secretary to complete his statement before we ask any questions. Mr. Secretary, you may proceed.

Secretary RUNGE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman Hébert and members of the subcommittee, I am here to present the views of the Department of Defense concerning the Reserve programs of the armed services. This is the first opportunity for this administration to appear before this committee with full information concerning this vital aspect of our national defense.

We welcome the opportunity to present to you our views and to discuss with you the Reserve component program of the Department of Defense. My formal presentation is arranged in sections and I will be prepared to take questions either at the end of each section or preferably, as the Chairman suggested, at the conclusion of my testimony, as it may please the committee.

First, I will cover our experience in the recent recall of Reserve component units and individuals

Mr. HÉBERT. May I interrupt there, Mr. Secretary?
Secretary RUNGE. Yes, sir.

Mr. HÉBERT. And for the benefit of the members of the committee. If the members desire, I think it would be better at the end of each section to stop for questions. What is the pleasure of the committee? Or to wait until the entire statement is read?

Do you prefer to be questioned at the end of each section, Mr. Secretary?

Secretary RUNGE. It makes no difference, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. HÉBERT. You are the man presenting your case and I want to give you every opportunity to present it as you see fit.

Secretary RUNGE. If I may, I think it would be best to go through, because sometimes the following section may comment or answer a question which otherwise would occur if you interrupted.

Mr. HÉBERT. Then, you may proceed to go through your entire

statement.

Secretary RUNGE. As I said, I will cover first our experience in the recent recall of Reserve component units and individuals, the deficiencies we found and the steps we have taken or propose to take to correct these deficiencies.

Second, I will discuss the requirements for a Reserve component program and the ability of Reserve units to contribute to the defense of our Nation.

Third, I will discuss briefly the Reserve component programs for fiscal year 1963 and future years. The details of these programs will be presented by witnesses from the military departments.

Fourth, I will discuss the application of the statutory Reserve obligation to individuals with prior service, the impact which any revision. of this program might have, and possible alternatives.

As each of you are aware, we have previously provided a rather large amount of information to the committee in the form of answers to questions. In addition, members of my staff have been working with members of the staff of the committee and I hope these contacts have been helpful.

I will not repeat the information included in data previously provided except in discussion of some other point. Neither will I discuss in detail the future plans of the military departments since these plans will be covered by witnesses from those departments.

My entire statement is unclassified. It is possible that questions may be raised which will involve classified material. If this should occur, I suggest that we hold the answers to such questions and provide all classified answers in one closed session following my state

ment.

We do not believe that the answers to all questions concerning the Reserve components have been found. However, the recall of Reserve component units under the provisions of Public Law 87-117 has provided us with a unique opportunity to put into practice many of our policies and procedures short of a general mobilization. For this reason, I will discuss at some length the history of that action.

RECALL UNDER PUBLIC LAW 87-117-HISTORY

Public Law 87-117, enacted on August 1, 1961, authorized the President until July 1, 1962, to order to active duty up to 250,000 ready reservists involuntarily for not more than 12 months. This joint resolution was implemented by Executive Order 10959 of August 10,

1961.

During testimony before the Congress on Public Law 87-117 it became evident that the will of Congress was to insure priorities in the buildup of the military forces which would place the burden on those personnel who volunteered for recall or who had no previous service. As a result, the Secretary of Defense testified that, in the expansion of the Armed Forces, the following priorities would be used:

First-Voluntary reinlistments or voluntary extensions of enlistments would be encouraged.

Second-By recruiting.

Third-By the draft.

Fourth-By involuntary extension of enlistments, or by calling the Ready Reserve.

The fourth priority alone refers to the recall of reservists. In a colloquy between the Secretary of Defense and Senator Russell in hearings on Public Law 87-117 and with specific reference to the recall of reservists, the Secretary of Defense agreed with Senator Russell that

insofar as practicable, priority and recall of reservists should be applied to those in a drill pay status, and to 6-month trainees rather than former enlistees and inductees.

To carry out the intent of Congress with respect to the priorities prior to recalling reservists the Department of Defense encouraged

voluntary reenlistments and voluntary extension of enlistments. I am happy to report that our enlistment and reenlistment rates rose substantially. We cannot take full credit for this rise since I believe a portion was in response to the danger confronting the Nation, as outlined by the President and as presented to the Congress by members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

As you will recall, the draft calls were increased substantially and through the cooperation of the Director of the Selective Service System, we were able to increase those calls previously placed. In fact, the Selective Service System reacted so well to the emergency that 4,000 more inductees were delivered in July than were originally requested. The draft calls and deliveries will be discussed in detail later in connection with another issue, and I will withhold details of these calls until then.

Also, as you know, all military departments exercised the authority granted to involuntarily extend enlistments, and as a corollary, certain oversea tours were extended.

Finally, it was deemed necessary to recall elements of the Reserve components of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Since details of the actual numbers recalled have previously been provided, I will cover here only a brief history of the recall actions.

A total of approximately 78,000 personnel from the Ready Reserve components were ordered to report to active duty on October 1, 1961. The approximate breakdown of this phase of the military buildup is as follows:

Then, on September 5, 1961, the Secretary of Defense authorized the Army to intensify the training and improve the readiness of four Reserve component divisions and supporting units comprising approximately 148,000 personnel of which approximately 52,000 were fillers from the Ready Reserve reinforcement pool. This package represented three infantry divisions, one armored division and supporting units.

I might say that those four divisions were the 26th Division from Massachusetts; the 28th Division from Pennsylvania; the 32d Division from Wisconsin, and the 49th Armored Division from Texas.

On September 12, 1961, the Secretary of Defense authorized the Navy to increase the personnel strength of the 18 antisubmarine warfare Ready Reserve air units called to active duty on October 1, 1961, to fleet strength by recalling an additional 1,957 ready reservists to active duty to report not later than November 1, 1961. This increased the Navy total authorized recall of ready reservists to approximately 8,357.

On September 19, 1961, the Secretary of Defense announced the recall to active duty effective October 15, 1961, of an additional 73,103 Army ready reservists including two National Guard divisions (one infantry and one armored) plus Army Reserve and National Guard supporting units. Approximately 25,000 individuals were required from the Ready Reserve reinforcement pool to fill units to authorized strength. An overall total of approximately 119,622 ready reservists were authorized to be recalled to active duty involuntarily from the Army.

On October 9, 1961, the Secretary of Defense announced the recall of three fighter interceptor squadrons of the Air National Guard with an authorized strength of approximately 2,751 to report to active duty on November 1, 1961. An overall total of approximately 27,821 ready reservists were authorized to be involuntarily called to active duty from the Air Force.

As of December 1, 1961, the Department of Defense had authorized the recall of the following ready reservists; this is the grand total.

The Marine Corps did not recall reservists, but it had enhanced the readiness of its three division/wings through a previously authorized increase of 15,000 men for their active establishment without the involuntary callup of Marine ready reservists.

Mr. Chairman, before proceeding with the plans which were required to effect the buildup I should like to comment on the magnificent performance of the Reserve component units, the assistance provided by the active establishment and the relative efficiency of this recall.

Never before have we recalled Reserve component units with as little difficulty as in 1961. Never before have we recalled Reserve component units which were as capable as were those in the recent recall. Much of the credit for this can be traced to the planning which has gone into our present Reserve structure the legislation which has permitted the Reserve components to become the ready forces they are today-and to the dedication of the reservists themselves who reported for duty.

Perhaps the outstanding accomplishment is that of the Air National Guard in its deployment of aircraft to Europe. Executing the largest oversea deployment of aircraft since World War II, three F-86 squadrons and four F-84 squadrons were flown to Europe and the last plane arrived on station in Europe on November 7, only 38 days after the recall of these squadrons. This movement involved 216 Air National Guard pilots flying the Atlantic in single-seat aircraft. For most, it was their first single-seat Atlantic crossing and was com

pleted without an accident. This is an accomplishment of which any organization may be proud.

As if not to be outdone, the F-104 squadrons recalled on November 1 were standing runway alert on their European bases on November 24. These aircraft, because of their limited range, were partially disassembled and flown overseas in C-124 cargo aircraft, assembled and were flying, all within 24 days after recall.

These accomplishments required the cooperation of the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Active Air Force and the Air Force Reserve. It was a team effort which speaks well for the cooperation of the military services and their Reserve components.

The accomplishments of the Navy reservists, though the number is smaller, are as significant. Forty antisubmarine warfare ships and 18 antisubmarine warfare air squadrons were recalled. Within a period of weeks, the ships were joining the fleet and you have probably read of these personnel being ashore in the ports of Europe and the far Pacific. For every day they may have spent ashore they have spent many days at sea, providing a much improved antisubmarine capability.

The 49th Armored Division, a Texas National Guard division, was alerted on September 19, 1961, and was recalled on October 15, 1961. Its mobilization station was designated as Fort Polk, La., a post not then active. The 4009 U.S. Army Garrison, an Army Reserve unit from Baton Rouge, La., had been recalled to open Fort Polk. This post was opened and by October 24 the 49th Armored Division had closed in the post. Tracked vehicles were moved from 47 locations in Texas. Altogether, 420 tracked vehicles, 1,400 wheeled vehicles, and 9,600 personnel in 141 chartered buses were moved from 74 different locations in Texas to Fort Polk within 9 days after activation. The 100th Training Division, an Army Reserve unit from Kentucky, was recalled on September 25. It opened a training center at Fort Chaffee, Ark., and within 1 month, Fort Chaffee was converted from an inactive post to a bustling training center through the efforts of this unit and the 4002 U.S. Army Garrison, another Reserve unit.

I might add that the other major Army unit recalled to active duty was the 32d Infantry Division from Wisconsin.

Mr. Chairman, as you know, this is my home State, and I served for some years as a commander in the 32d Infantry Division. I know it well. This unit moved from Wisconsin, principally by a complete rail movement, because of the distance, to Fort Lewis, Wash., where they are now in training, at the same level and status of training as the 49th Armored Division of Texas, now at Fort Polk.

May I say, Mr. Chairman, that this Nation owes a debt of gratitude to these reservists and National Guardsmen who were available when needed. It is true that there have been a number who were available when needed. It is true that there have been a number of complaints from personnel who were recalled. Unfortunately, it is these complaints which receive the publicity since there seems to be little news value in the vast majority of our personnel who have gone about their tasks quietly, with professional pride, and a sense of responsibility and patriotism.