Mr. DURHAM. Are there any questions?

Mr. PRICE. Is there any other decoration now that might come under this category that should be given effective change the same time?

Colonel CARNES. No, sir. If you notice on this card, I believe there is one copy that the committee has, we have in process right now a change in the Distinguished Service Medal and also have already changed the Commendation Medal. Both of those, however, were done by administrative action and did not require legislation. Mr. DURHAM. There is no cost involved in this, is there?

Colonel CARNES. The only cost, sir, would be the development of the distinctive medal for the Air Force and the stocking of those medals.

Mr. PRICE. The point I wanted to be certain of while we are doing the job, be certain that you are doing a complete job at one time. Colonel CARNES. We feel that we are, sir.

Mr. LANKFORD. Would this give the Air Force a complete distinctive set of awards? Will this finish it up?

Colonel CARNES. Yes, sir; it would. Relatively speaking, it would give the Air Force a similar set of distinctive awards to that of the Army and the Navy.

Mr. BURNS. Mr. Chairman, I have got one question that probably is explainable here. Looking at the bill, section 2, page 3, "shall be treated as if he had not been awarded an Air Force Cross or Airman's Medal, as the case may be."

You are not changing those who have been awarded. You are making sure that they remain where they were?

Colonel CARNES. That is correct, sir.

Mr. COHELAN. Mr. Chairman, I just have a question: What medals are common to all the services at the present time?

Colonel CARNES. Common to all the services are the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star Medal, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart.

Mr. DURHAM. Any further questions?

Without objection, the bill is reported favorably to the full committee. Thank you very much.

(Whereupon, the committee proceeded to further business.)

H.R. 3290

Mr. KELLEHER. The next bill, Mr. Chairman, is H.R. 3290, it relates to reports made by the Navy chaplains. The bill follows:

A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to eliminate the requirement that each chaplain make an annual report to the Secretary of the Navy

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That subsection (d) of section 6031 of title 10, United States Code is hereby repealed.

Admiral Rosso is here, sir.

Mr. DURHAM. Admiral come around.

Admiral Rosso. It is nice to be here, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. DURHAM. All right, you may proceed.

Admiral Rosso. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, the bill we are considering is intended to repeal a provision of existing

law which requires each chaplain in the Navy to make an annual report to the Secretary of the Navy concerning the official services performed by him. That provision of law was enacted in 1860.

At that time, and until 1941, there were approximately 24 chaplains in the Navy and since those chaplains were widely distributed, the annual reporting system was the most effective way for the Secretary of the Navy to keep advised as to their activities.

At the present time, however, there are approximately 800 chaplains in the Chaplain Corps of the Navy. These chaplains are now administered by, and are responsible to, the Chief of Chaplains who, in addition to routine reporting requirements, obtains quarterly from each fleet, force, or district chaplain a statistical summary of the activities of individual chaplains assigned to respective commands.

Mr. DURHAM. What does that mean? You have to sit down and report every time he goes around to the sick bay to see a serviceman? Admiral Rosso. He makes a quarterly report, Mr. Chairman, of his entire religious program, the number of divine services that he may hold in the course of a week and month, the number of counseling sessions that he has with the various enlisted men or officers, the visits he has made to the sick bay, the lectures that he has given.

This information is subsequently forwarded to the Chief of Naval Personnel and is thus available to the Secretary of the Navy. However, because of the existing statutory requirement, individual chapains are also required to submit an annual report of their activities to the Secretary of the Navy, thus resulting in a duplication of time and effort which serves actually no useful purpose.

Inasmuch as the Chief of Chaplains is primarily concerned with the appointment, professional qualifications, distribution, activities, and performance of individual chaplains, he performs for practical purposes, the functions formerly directly performed by the Secretary of the Navy in respect to the administration of Navy chaplains. It therefore appears evident that the existing statutory reporting requirement for Navy chapains has been rendered obsolete, and for this reason it is recommended that section 6031 (d) of title 10, United States Code, be repealed.

Mr. DURHAM. The Secretary of the Navy agrees with this?

Admiral Rosso. I am quite sure. Actually the reports never go to the Secretary of the Navy. They come in to the Chief of Chaplains'

office.

Mr. NORBLAD. This is one bill that will save a few nickels, isn't it? Admiral Rosso. We estimate it will save at least $5,000 a year.

Mr. HESS. Mr. Chairman, I am glad to see that the Navy has come in here and asked us to repeal some laws. I hope the other services do likewise and that the Navy will go over all their old antiquated laws and ask us to repeal them.

Mr. DURHAM. That is a good suggestion.

Without objection it will be sent to the full committee with a favorable recommendation.

(Whereupon, the subcommittee proceeded to further business.)

[No. 7]

AR 5

SUBCOMMITTEE NO. 3 CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3368, A BILL TO EXTEND THE SPECIAL ENLISTMENT PROGRAMS PROVIDED BY SECTION 262 OF THE ARMED FORCES RESERVE ACT OF 1952, AS AMENDED

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES,

SUBCOMMITTEE No. 3,
Washington, D.C., February 18, 1959.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, in room 304, House Office Building, at 10:10 a.m., Hon. L. Mendel Rivers (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Mr. RIVERS. Let the committee come to order.

The bill under consideration this morning is H.R. 3368. The purpose of this bill, which is sponsored by the Department of Defense and approved by the Bureau of the Budget, is to extend until August 1, 1963, the special reserve component enlistment programs provided by section 262 of the Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952, as amended by section 2(1), Reserve Forces Act of 1955.

Without objection, H.R. 3368 will appear in the record at this point.

(H.R. 3368 follows:)

A BILL To extend the special enlistment programs provided by section 262 of the Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952, as amended

Be it enacted by the Seante and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 262 of the Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1013), is further amended by deleting the date "August 1, 1959" in the first sentence of section 262 (a) and inserting in lieu thereof the date "August 1, 1963".

Mr. RIVERS. It is this authority upon which the Department of Defense has established its 6-month training program. Under present law, the authority for this program, among other things, will expire on August 1, 1959.

The Department of Defense has indicated that extension of such authority is considered essential to the maintenance of the strengths and mobilization readiness of the Reserve components.

As you will recall, the Congress, during the past few days, has voted an extension of the induction provisions of the Universal Military Training and Service Act until July 1, 1963.

The provisions of this proposal would similarly extend those provisions of the Armed Forces Reserve Act which permit the deferment and exemption from draft liability of individuals who agree to perform 6 months of active duty for training with the Armed Forces and continue to perform satisfactorily in the Reserve Forces.

Our first witness on this bill will be Mr. Stephen Jackson, who is appearing on behalf of the Department.

Mr. Jackson, will you please come forward?

Mr. JACKSON. Thank you, sir. We appreciate your courtesy in calling us up first.

Mr. RIVERS. Do you want to read your statement?

Mr. JACKSON. Yes, sir. It is very brief.

I am, as the chairman indicated, Stephen S. Jackson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Personnel, and Reserve. The Assistant Secretary, Mr. Finucane, is out of the country and has asked me to express to you his regrets on not being able to be here this morning.

The Department of the Army has been designated as the action agency for the Department of Defense for this legislative proposal. Mr. Hugh M. Milton II, Under Secretary of the Army, will give you a more detailed account of what has been accomplished under this program so that my remarks will be in general terms in advocating the extension of section 262 of the Reserve Forces Act of 1955.

When Congress enacted the Reserve Forces Act of 1955 it initiated a new era in the history of the Reserve components of this country. Secretary Milton will outline to you how precarious the status of the Reserve was prior to then in terms of its readiness in the event of war. The quality of the Reserve forces has so improved since the enactment of this act that we can now make the reassuring statement that 91 percent of those in the Ready Reserve today are now at least basically trained.

Of equal importance is the quality of our Reserve forces. The complexities of modern weaponry place increased demands on skills and ability for all of the members of our Armed Forces, both active and those who must quickly swing into action in the event of an

emergency.

The popularity of our 6-month program is such that we have been able to be selective with the result of a greatly improved force because of their training as well as the quality of the young men who are trained.

Section 262 of the Reserve Forces Act of 1955 is one of very cornerstones of this new Reserve era. It has been of immeasurable benefit in strengthening our military posture.

At the same time it has been strongly endorsed by educators and others as a desirable program for young men to comply with their military obligation without undue interference in their educational plans.

On behalf of the Secretary of Defense we recommend to you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, that you approve the continuance of section 262 of the Reserve Forces Act of 1955. That, sir, is my prepared statement.

Mr. RIVERS. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

I think, for the benefit of the new members of the committee, I might say that I asked Mr. Slatinshek to tell the Secretary that we would pleased to have a viewgraph presentation of this whole subject

matter.

But at this point, Mr. Slatinshek, I wish you would read for the benefit of the committee just exactly what section of the law this bill seeks to extend so we will have the whole picture in our minds.

And I observe, Mr. Secretary, that the proposed bill is a little more acceptable to the rank-and-file of the good folks-down in my part of the country, anyhow.

This runs concurrently with the Draft Act.

Mr. JACKSON. Yes, sir.

Mr. RIVERS. So they run side by side in their duration.

Mr.JACKSON. That is correct, yes, sir.

Mr. RIVERS. Now, go ahead, Mr. Slatinshek.

Mr. SLATINSHEK. By virtue of this bill, section 262 of the Armed Forces Reserve Act would be continued until August 1, 1963. This is the existing provision of section 262:

(a) Until August 1, 1959, whenever the President determines that the enlisted strength of the Ready Reserve of the Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, or Coast Guard Reserve cannot be maintained at the level which he determines to be necessary in the interest of national defense, he may authorize the acceptance of enlistments in units of such Ready Reserve pursuant to the provisions of this section under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.

Enlistments under this section may be accepted only within quotas (which quotas shall not exceed a total of 250,000 persons annually) prescribed by the appropriate Secretary with the approval of the Secretary of Defense. No enlistment shall be accepted under this section in the Ready Reserve of any Reserve component if such enlistment would cause the strength of such Ready Reserve to exceed the authorized strength of such Ready Reserve.

(b) Enlistments under this section may be accepted from persons who

(1) are physically and mentally qualified for service in the Armed Forces; (2) have not been ordered to report for induction into the Armed Forces under the Universal Military Training and Service Act; and

(3) have not attained the age of eighteen years and six months.

In addition, the President, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, may authorize the enlistment under this section, without regard to the provisions of paragraphs (2) and (3), of persons who fulfill the requirements of paragraph (1) and who have critical skills and who are engaged in civilian occupations in any critical defense-supporting industry or in any research activity affecting national defense.

(c) Each enlistment under this section shall be for a period of eight years. Each person so enlisted shall be required during such enlistment

(1) to perform an initial service of active duty for training of not less than three months or more than six months, and

(2) thereafter to perform satisfactorily all training duties prescribed by section 208(f) of this section except that—

(A) performance of such initial period of active duty for training by any person enlisted under this section while satisfactorily pursuing a course of instruction in a high school shall be deferred until such person ceases to pursue such course satisfactorily, graduates from such course, or attains the age of 20 years, whichever first occurs, and

(B) persons specially enlisted because of their possession of critical skills may be relieved of any obligation to perform the training duty prescribed by section 208 (f).

Each such person shall be deferred from training and service under the Universal Training and Service Act, as amended, so long as he continues to serve satisfactorily, as determined under regulations prescribed by the appropriate Secretary, and upon completion of eight years of such satisfactory service pursuant to such enlistment shall be exempt from further liability for induction for training and service under such Act, except after declaration of war or declaration of national emergency made by the Congress after the enactment of this subsection.

Subsection (d) was subsequently deleted by Public Law 490. It was in the 84th Congress.

Mr. JACKSON. April 23, 1956.

Mr. SLATINSHEK. Subsection (d) related to the pay and allowances provided these people and that was taken care of by a new subsection,