Army Halts 6-Month Plan Temporarily Until July 1

WASHINGTON, May 14--An unforeseen rush of men to enlist in the Army Reserves for six months active duty, has forced the Army today to suspend any further enlistments in this program until July 1.

Asst. Secretary of the Army Hugh Milton said that the halt in recruiting of men with no prior military service was only temporary and that it was done to "unclog the pipeline" overloaded by the large number of men who have joined up in the last few months.

Milton, the Army's top manpower official, said the suspension would not apply to the National Guard, which is also enlisting recruits for six months of active military training.

Today's action follows Milton's testimony yesterday before the Armed Forces subcommittee of the House. He said then that "enlistments had been increasing so fast that the money problem would be serious in the coming fiscal year." "If the six-month program were allowed to "grow unrestrained," he continued, an additional $352 million would have to be sought in the fiscal year 1958.

He said that the recent success of the reserve training program has "surpassed the Army's most optimistic expectations." Under the present set-up, a young man between the age of 17 and 18 1/2 may serve six months on active duty and three years on ready reserve, and a man from 18 1/2 to 26 may serve six months on active duty and 5 1/2 years on ready reserve. The latter alternative has been very popular with college seniors and graduate students who preferred six months active service to two years, the normal term of a draftee.