Draft Calls May Go Down in 1955

Predictions that draft calls would drop in the coming months were confirmed yesterday with the announcement that Secretary of the Defense Charles E. Wilson has overridden military protests and ordered manpower cuts of ten per cent in 1955.

Although the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps had argued violently against the decreases. Wilson pushed through the program, which will save approximately $1,000,000,000 in military pay for the fiscal year 1955.

The decision means that the Army will drop about 140,000 men, the Marines about 23,000, and the Navy about 77,000. The Air Force will not be affected by the cuts.

Against the wishes of many of his top advisers, Wilson decided that such manpower slashes would not endanger the national security and reduce effective combat strength.