166. Question. May members of the Women's Reserve of the Navy marry men in their own service?

Answer. Yes at any time after they have been assigned to active duty. They may not marry anyone during their indoctrination and training period.

167. Question. Do women employed on active duty as members of the Women's Reserve of the Navy enjoy the same benefits as Navy men?

Answer. Yes. There has been enacted amendatory legislation which has the effect of providing pension and other benefits.

168. Question. What is the procedure for candidates for Women's Reserve of the Navy to obtain application blanks?

Answer. Candidates may write or call at the naval recruiting station nearest their home, or at the office of naval officer procurement in their naval district. A list of offices of naval officer procurement and Navy recruiting stations may be obtained at your nearest post office. 169. Question. Is the Women's Reserve in the Navy strictly a volunteer organization?

Answer. Yes.

170. Question. Are the rules governing the wearing of regulation headgear the same for members of the WAVES as for other members of the Navy?

Answer. No. WAVES are permitted to wear their hats or headgear in conformity to civilian custom, rather than military custom, which requires Navy officers to uncover in church, theaters, and at

mess.

WOMEN'S RESERVE OF THE UNITED STATES COAST GUARD

171. Question. What is the Women's Reserve of the United States Coast Guard?

Answer. The Women's Reserve, which constitutes a branch of the United States Coast Guard Reserves, was authorized by Public Law No. 773 on November 23, 1942. The new branch was created to relieve the Coast Guard men, serving ashore, for service afloat.

172. Question. What is the unofficial name given the Women's Reserve of the United States Coast Guard?

Answer. Almost from the first, members of the Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard were known as SPARS, the name deriving from the first letters of the Coast Guard's motto, "Semper Paratus""Always Ready." The organization is popularly known throughout the country as Coast Guard SPARS.

173. Question. What are the requirements for enlistment in the Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard?

Answer. Requirements for enlistment in the Coast Guard SPARS are identical with those for enlistment in the Women's Reserve of the United States Naval Reserve, both for enlisted and officer personnel.

174. Question. Are married women eligible to join the Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard?

Answer. Married women are eligible to join the Coast Guard SPARS unless they have children under 18 years of age or are otherwise disqualified.

175. Question. May SPARS marry Coast Guard men? Answer. SPARS may marry Coast Guard men or members of any of the other armed services of the country.

176. Question. What are the requirements for officer candidates in the Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard?

Answer. Requirements for officer candidates in the Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard are a degree from an accredited university or college, or 2 years' work toward that degree plus a minimum of 2 years' acceptable professional or business experience. They must be citizens of the United States between 20 and 50 years of age, and have no children younger than 18.

177. Question. What are the official titles and rates of pay for. officer personnel in the Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard?

Answer. Titles and rates of pay for officer personnel of the Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard are the same as for male commissioned officers with the exception that women officers may not hold a rank above that of lieutenant commander according to the law authorizing the Women's Reserve.

178. Question. What are the ratings and pay for enlisted personnel in the Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard?

Answer. Enlisted personnel in the Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard receive the same ratings and pay as Coast Guard men. Women may not serve afloat.

179. Question. What is the term of enlistment in the Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard?

Answer. All personnel enlists in the Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard for the duration of the war and 6 months thereafter.

180. Question. What benefits do women reservists of the United States Coast Guard receive?

Answer. In addition to base pay, subsistence and clothing allowances, and possible quarters allowance, women reservists of the Coast Guard, like other women in the armed forces, receive free dental and medical care. They have the privilege of free mail, reduced rates on transportation and special rates on movie and theater tickets where they are granted. They are eligible to buy national service life insurance at the Government's low rates.

181. Question. What are some of the jobs women reservists of the Coast Guard will fill?

Answer. Fifty percent of the Coast Guard SPARS are working as yeomen, approximately 30 percent as storekeepers, about 10 percent as radio operators, and the rest in special billets. These special billets include laboratory technicians, dental hygienists, chauffeurs, dietitians, cartographers, pharmacist's mates, legal assistants, and classification and testing specialists.

182. Question. Are former members of the SPARS entitled to hospitalization or domiciliary care in a Veterans' Administration facility? Answer. Yes, insofar as hospital treatment, domiciliary care, and burial benefits are concerned, active service in the Coast Guard SPARS shall be considered as active service in the military or naval service.

WOMEN'S RESERVE OF THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS 183. Question. What is the Women's Reserve of the Marine Corps? Answer. The Marine Corps Women's Reserve is a branch of the Marine Corps Reserve established pursuant to the provisions of the Naval Reserve Act of 1938 (52 Stat. 1175, as amended, and as further amended by the act of July 30, 1942, Public Law 689, 77th Cong.). This branch was established to release officers and men of the United States Marine Corps for active duty.

184. Question. Is there a popular name by which the Women's Reserve of the United States Marine Corps is generally known? Answer. No. Marines applies to the Women's Reserve just as it does to the men.

185. Question. What are the requirements for enlistment in the Women's Reserve of the United States Marine Corps?

Answer. The same requirements as those for enlistment in the Women's Reserve, United States Naval Reserve, both for officer candidates and enlisted personnel.

186. Question. Are married women eligible to join the Women's Reserve, United States Marine Corps?

Answer. Yes; but they may not be married to an officer or enlisted man in the Marine Corps at the time of enlistment. Children under 18 years of age are disqualifying also.

187. Question. May a member of the Women's Reserve of the United States Marine Corps marry a marine officer or enlisted man? Answer. Yes. She may marry a member of any of the armed services after her period of indoctrination or training.

188. Question. What are the requirements for officer candidates? Answer. The same as for the Women's Reserve-United States Naval Reserve.

189. Question. Do members of the Women's Reserve of the United States Marine Corps receive training?

Answer. There are certain duties for which training is necessary, and some enlisted personnel receive their training in the special schools established for the WAVES. Others attend Marine Corps schools, and some are sent to duty after the period of indoctrination in Marine Corps procedure. Officers attend an officer candidate school.

190. Question. What are the official titles and rates of pay? Answer. The same as for male personnel, without dependents, of the United States Marine Corps, of equal rank or rate.

191. Question. What is the term of enlistment in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve?

Answer. For the duration of the war and 6 months thereafter. 192. Question. What benefits do women reservists of the United States Marine Corps receive?

Answer. The same as the women reservists of the United States Naval Reserve.

193. Question. What kind of work will enlisted women in the Marine Corps Reserve do?

Answer. Clerical, secretarial, work on pay rolls and accounts, mechanical jobs in the aviation field, motor transportation, cooking, and many other duties necessary to the efficient operation of the United States Marine Corps activities where women reservists are stationed.

BENEFITS AVAILABLE TO PERSONS WHO HAVE SERVED AND THEIR DEPENDENTS

CLASSIFICATION OF VETERANS' BENEFITS AND LOCATION OF VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION OFFICES ADMINISTERING THEM

194. Question. What is the meaning of the word "veteran" and how is it distinguished from the term "serviceman"?

Answer. The word "veteran" is derived from a word meaning "one who is old in experience or has had long experience in some special field of human activity," and in reference to the members of the armed forces the word was originally used to refer to a person who was broadly experienced in the arts of war, but the term is now commonly used in this country to denote a former member of the armed forces of the United States who served either in war or peacetime. Persons who are currently members of the armed forces are not generally regarded as veterans unless they have had long service or have previously been members of the armed forces and separated therefrom, but persons who served during a particular war are referred to as veterans of that war. Some of the members of the present armed forces are veterans of World War I. The term "serviceman" refers to a member of the armed forces in active service regardless. of the length of such service.

195. Question. Who are classed as "veterans" of World War II? Answer. Any person who served in the active military or naval service of the United States on or after December 7, 1941, and before termination of hostilities of World War II as determined by a proclamation of the President or by concurrent resolution of Congress.

196. Question. Has the Government prepared plans to care for persons disabled as a result of service in World War II?

Answer. Yes. The Government has a definite program for caring for the disabled of the present war. The plan includes greatly increasing the number of hospital and domiciliary facilities for the treatment and care of the persons who serve, and providing insurance, pensions, etc., for the protection of such persons and their dependents. 197. Question. Are any provisions made by the Government for rehabilitating disabled veterans for the special purpose of overcoming their vocational handicaps?

Answer. Yes. See questions and answers under section III, Rehabilitation and Employment of Veterans.

198. Question. What is the principal basis for entitlement to benefits provided for veterans by the Government?

Answer. There are two bases for entitlement to these benefits: (1). Service-connected disabilities and (2) non-service-connected conditions. A service-connected disability is one which results from a disease or injury contracted in the service and not the result of the veteran's misconduct. Nonservice conditions include those due to age and. disabilities not contracted in service. To be entitled to benefits on either basis the veteran must have rendered the necessary service in the armed forces. With certain exceptions respecting service-connected disabilities he must have been discharged under honorable conditions and must meet the specific requirements of law applicable to the service upon which his claim is based.

199. Question. What are the four kinds of veterans' benefits? Answer. (1) Monetary benefits, including disability compensation, pension, World War emergency officers' retirement pay, adjusted compensation, and Government insurance. (2) Hospitalization, or domiciliary care, and out-patient treatment. (3) Burial and funeral expenses. (4) Vocational rehabilitation for veterans of World War II. 200. Question. Are the laws providing veterans' benefits changed frequently?

Answer. Yes. Both the nature and the extent of the benefits are frequently changed by legislation. Many of the changes are minor but, in general, the benefits granted are extended and seldom curtailed.

201. Question. Is political influence a factor in securing veteran benefits?

Answer. No. Pensions and other benefits are granted in accordance with laws and regulations and not through favoritism, political pull, or other means.

202. Question. What agency administers Federal laws governing veterans' benefits?

Answer. The Veterans' Administration.

203. Question. When was the Veterans' Administration established? Answer. The Veterans' Administration was established July 21, 1930, as the result of an act of Congress passed July 3, 1930, authorizing the consolidation into one Federal establishment, of the Bureau of Pensions, the National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, and the United States Veterans' Bureau, the latter of which was formed by a previous consolidation of the Bureau of War Risk Insurance and other agencies.

204. Question. What are the functions of the Veterans' Administration?

Answer. These functions comprise all the activities for which authority is vested by various laws in the Veterans' Administration or the antecedent agencies now combined in it respecting the administration of benefits provided by such laws, and listed in question 199 above, for members and former members of the Military and Naval Establishments, and the dependents of such members.

205. Question. Where is the Veterans' Administration located? Answer. The Veterans' Administration main office is located in the Veterans' Administration Building, Washington 25, D. C. Over 100 field stations are located in the various States and insular possessions.

206. Question. What office has responsibility for final consideration and disposition of appeals to the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs? Answer. The final consideration, adjudication, and disposition of all veteran appeals involving pensions, compensation, vocational rehabil itation, emergency officers' retirement benefits, Government insurance, adjusted compensation, death benefits of all kinds, incompetency, mixed appeals, forfeiture of rights, recoveries and relationships rest with the central office of the Veterans' Administration, Washington, D. C. As to insurance, under certain conditions suit may be brought in the Federal courts following a denial of claim by the Veterans' Administration.