Requirements For Enlistment In U.S. Training Programs Relaxed

Radical changes in the enlistment requirements and the training programs for all the armed forces have been announced by A. James Casner, professor of Law, from information which he has compiled as head of the emergency Student Defense Service Committee.

In General the Army and Navy Air Corps have relaxed many of their old requirements in order to build up rapidly as large a body of men in the flying service as possible.

The Navy and Marine Corps have encouraged enlistment by many new provisions, and in particular have sought to stimulate applications from college men by ruling that they may apply for officers' training before graduation and then delay active duty until they have received their degrees.

Finally the Army, Coast Guard, and Naval Supply Corps have opened new drives to enlist increased numbers of men for officers' training or for immediate service in the ranks.

Air Corps Drops College Requirement

Lowering the minimum age for enlistment to 18, the Army Air Corps has in addition set aside the old requirement of two years of college training for all applicants. Instead it has ruled that candidates must without exception pass a revised Aptitude Test before admission into the Air Force.

A question typical of this Aptitude Test, which of courses is only a sample and not to be found in the test, was recently released from Washington by the United Press:

"If a hangar which is known to be 30 feet high casts a 20-foot shadow, what is the height of a signal tower which casts a 70-foot shadow at the same time of day?"

Furthermore the Army Air Corps has announced that it will no longer be possible for men seeking admission to request service in any particular capacity, such as pilot or bombardier, but that they must expect to be assigned officially to the job for which they seem to be best suited.

Married Men Eligible

Under the new rulings the Army Air Corps will accept the applications of married men, and will induct them into the service under the same conditions affecting single men, provided they can show that their wives or others are not absolutely dependent upon them.

In addition, the Navy Air Corps, as previously announced, has lowered its minimum age to 19, and has stated that it will accept the applications of college Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors without calling them to active duty until completion of their current academic year.

The Navy has continued recruiting for its V-7 officers' training program, but has just issued notice that men enlisting in the course may not choose whether they will seek commissions as Deck or Engineering Officers, but must allow the Navy to make this decision after appraising the abilities of each individual. Furthermore, college men enrolled in V-7 and delaying active duty until graduation, who wish to adopt the accelerated college program, are advised to do so next summer rather than taking an advance V-7 course, and they will be inducted into the regular course as soon as they can receive their degree.

Math Prerequisite

Those seeking enlistment in V-7 must have had a year of college mathematics before graduation, and are advised in addition to take a course in navigation such as Astronomy 2.

The Naval Supply Corps, whose school is located as an adjunct of the Harvard Business School, is now seeking to fill a quota of 350 men from throughout the United States. University men wishing to enlist, who must be Seniors between 19 and 26 years of age and have 15-20 vision, should not apply at a recruiting station but instead should make a preliminary application at Harvard. These applications will be graded here and then referred to the Supply Corps headquarters, where final selections will be made.

As yet the Navy has not sent to the University any of these application blanks, but it will be announced when they are received, and when details for service in the Supply Corps have been ascertained.

Marine Corps Open to Sophomores

The Marine Corps is prepared to enlist even Sophomores, if they are over 18 years in age, Juniors over 19, and Seniors over 20, and probably will place them in the Marine Corps Reserve until their graduation. However, "the exigencies of the service may necessitate their being called to active duty before graduation." When inducted into the regular Marine Corps candidates will receive commissions as 2nd Lieutenants.

With openings for a large number of men to service airplanes or to enlist in either the Parachute Corps or the Ski Regiment, Army officials have issued a reminder that it is still possible for one to enlist voluntarily up to the date that he receives his orders for induction according to the Selective Service Act. Those who enlist may still choose among many branches of this service for the one which they prefer.

To complete the picture it has been announced by the Coast Guard that a college graduate who is a citizen and unmarried, between 20 and 30, may now become a commissioned officer in the United States Coast Guard Reserve after a four month's training course at the Academy in New London, Connecticut.