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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1961.

SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM

WITNESSES

COL. DANIEL O. OMER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, SELECTIVE SERVICE
SYSTEM

COL. WILLIAM S. ILIFF, JR., ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR
COL. BERNARD T. FRANCK III, CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE AND
LIAISON OFFICER

INCREASE IN INDUCTION RATE

Mr. THOMAS. We have with us this morning the selective service program. It is nice to have Mr. Omer, the Deputy Director of Selective Service; Colonel Iliff, the assistant to the Director and Mr. Franck, the chief administrative and liaison officer.

I notice you are asking for quite a bit of money, $3,830,000 over your regular 1962 appropriation, and, as well as I can remember, in 1962 your appropriation was $500,000 over and above your 1961. If you have a statement we will be glad to listen to it. Your estimate is contained in House Document No. 231.

Colonel OMER. We have only the statement which appears in the letter to the chairman. Would you care to have us read that, sir?

Mr. THOMAS. You might go over it here. You want $2,144,000 for inductee travel and $30,000 a year for State headquarters and $1,109,000 for local boards and there are odds and ends, other objects, you don't go into. You might explain that for us.

JUSTIFICATION OF THE SUPPLEMENTAL ESTIMATE

Mr. Reporter, let's put in the record your justifications. (The matter follows:)

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS, SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM, Washington, D.C., September 1, 1961.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This request for supplemental funds for the Selective Service System for the fiscal year 1962 in the amount of $3,830,000 is being submitted to cover necessary expenses due to an increased workload resulting from the strength increase of the Armed Forces for which funds were provided in the Department of Defense Appropriation Act of 1962.

The President's budget request for the Selective Service System for fiscal year 1962 was in the amount of $34,475,000. Congress appropriated $33,670,000. The President's budget was based on 90,000 inductions during the fiscal year 1962. The current estimate is for 196,000 inductions, or an increase of 118 percent.

Calls for the first 3 months already received amount to 47,000 which is more than one-half of the annual figure used for the appropriation. To meet these calls and maintain an adequate pool of examined and acceptable men will require selectee travel in the amount of $2,144,000 which is the principal item (56 percent) of the request. Personnel compensation and personnel benefits in local boards in the amount of $1,109,000 is the next largest item (29 percent). Increases in printing, penalty mail, and administrative travel ($30,000 in State headquarters and $3,000 in national headquarters) are included.

Request is also made for personnel compensation and personnel benefits in national headquarters of $30,000 and State headquarters of $221,000 in order to handle the increased workload in these headquarters due to stepped up rate of inductions.

If the Congress desires any further information, we shall be glad to furnish it. LEWIS B. HERSHEY, Director.

Sincerely yours,

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INCREASES REQUESTED

Mr. THOMAS. Your 1962 justification called for funds to support inductees of 90,000, and you think your revised plans now call for about a 117 percent increase, making it 196,000; is that correct? Colonel OMER. Yes, sir.

Mr. THOMAS. I will repeat these figures again. Your 1962 funds were $34,475,000, an increase of about $500,000 over 1961. You are looking for an increase of $3,830,000. That is broken down to $2,134,000 for inductee travel, $30,000 for State travel and $109,000 for your local draft boards.

How about the other $200,000 or $300,000, gentlemen? We would like to have a breakdown. It is not in your justification, sir.

Colonel ILIFF. The total additional we have for national headquarters is $37,000 and that is made up of $30,000 for personal serv ices, $3,000 for administrative travel, $3,000 for penalty mail and $1,000 for printing and reproduction. Those are the only objects on which we are asking for more money.

Mr. THOMAS. You have $221,000 for national headquarters.
Colonel ILIFF. That is State headquarters.

Mr. THOMAS. National headquarters, $30,000. Personal services. $221,000.

PERSONNEL REQUESTED

How many jobs are involved in the $3.8 million?

You have $2,144,000 for your inductee travel. That is your biggest item.

Colonel ILIFF. We have the equivalent of 285 full-time positions.
Mr. THOMAS. Where are they allocated?

Colonel ILIFF. Perhaps I can pull these off in a hurry.

Mr. THOMAS. You could have done this before you came over here and it would have helped us all, wouldn't it?

Colonel ILIFF. We have 5 in national headquarters; 17 in State headquarters and the balance would be in local boards.

Mr. THOMAS. What is the total

Colonel ILIFF. An equivalent of 285 full-time positions.

Mr. THOMAS. How many local boards do you have, 4,009 ?
Colonel ILIFF. 4,000-plus; yes, sir.

Mr. THOMAS. I think the exact figure set out in your 1962 justifications was 4,008.

At this point, Mr. Reporter, insert this paragraph from 1962 justifications again in the record. It might be well to insert pages 1 and 2 in the record. This is your regular 1962 justification, and not in this supplemental. Put in pages 1, 2, and 3 and I will read this paragraph.

(The pages referred to follow :)

SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM, FISCAL YEAR 1962

GENERAL STATEMENT

There is presented herewith justification for the request of $34,475,000 with which to operate the Selective Service System, the National Advisory Committee on the Selection of Physicians, Dentists, and Allied Specialists and the National Selective Service Appeal Board during the fiscal year 1962.

The Selective Service System is organized to carry out the primary functions of registration, classification, selection, and presentation for induction in the Armed Forces of the men necessary for maintenance of those forces at the determined strength and by means of deferment, urges men into those occupations and activities necessary to the maintenance of the national health, safety, or interest. It also determines the availability of men for a selective callup from the Standby Reserve. The collateral functions of administration, planning, training, and records management are also performed by this agency.

The use by the Selective Service System of the services of over 42,000 uncompensated officials is unique in Government. These patriotic citizens give the strength to the Selective Service System.

It is inevitable that these uncompensated citizens will become less enthusiastic in their giving of service unless adequate clerical personnel is provided. The request for fiscal year 1962 includes the provision for such services in project 30. The Selective Service System, which is decentralized, is organized on a pyramidal, structure, the broad base of which is the local and appeal board structure where the contact is maintained with over 23 million registrants by the uncompensated members of the System and the local and appeal board clerks who staff the 4,008 local boards and the 93 appeal boards. The next largest group is composed of the 56 State headquarters; the relatively small group which comprises the National headquarters is the apex.

The strength of the Selective Service System lies in the fact that classification is the responibility of those uncompensated civilians living in the communities with the registrants. They have no pecuniary interest in their position but perform their tasks as a patriotic service.

The size of the calls or the number of inductions in any given period directly affects only one cost factor-namely selectee travel. This estimate is based on the induction of 90,000 registrants.

Executive Orders Nos. 10166 and 10185 created the National Advisory Committee on the Selection of Physicians, Dentists, and Allied Specialists. Pursuant to these orders, the Selective Service System is required to furnish funds for its operation and provision is included herein.

Executive Order No. 9988 created the National Selective Service Appeal Board. The Selective Service System is required to pay the members of the Board and to furnish suitable office space and other necessary facilities and services. This requires more personnel in national headquarters to the extent necessary to meet this requirement. This budget includes a request for funds to accomplish this purpose.

The principal factors in this request for an increase in funds for 1962 over 1961 is to eliminate the necessity, if the workload is to be handled, of receiving from local board clerks work, payment for which there are no funds available. In 1961 this amounted to 442 man-years. In 1962 with the estimated drop in workload equivalent to 278 man-years, there will be a net of 164 additional manyears to be financed.

The drop in workload at local boards is based upon the estimate of a lower number of new registrations in 1962 than in 1961, and in 1962 a reduction from 1961 of 10 percent in the estimated number to be inducted. This is more fully discussed in project 30.

The following 10-year table shows the experience and projection of the number of new registrations in future years:

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