PART I

CHAPTER 3

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES PROVIDING VETERANS' ASSISTANCE

103.1 Selective Service System.-(a) The Selective Service System is charged, under the Selective Training and Service Act. of 1940, as amended, with the induction of men into the armed forces of the United States, in accordance with the requirements of the War and Navy Departments.

(b) It is also charged with providing "adequate facilities to render aid in the replacement in their former positions of, or in securing positions for" veterans, and a veterans' assistance program has been organized by the Selective Service System for that

purpose.

(c) The Selective Service System is composed of a national headquarters, a State headquarters in each State of the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaiian Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands of the United States, with 6,443 local boards carrying on the functions which they are authorized by law to perform.

103.2 Department of Justice.-(a) The chief purposes of the Department of Justice are to provide means for the enforcement of the Federal Laws, to furnish legal counsel in Federal cases, and to construe the laws under which other departments act. The Attorney General supervises and directs the activities of the United States District Attorneys and Marshals of the 89 judicial districts in the United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Canal Zone. There is at least on judicial district in each State or territory.

(b) Under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, as amended, the United States Attorney is required, if reasonably satisfied that a veteran is entitled to reemployment benefits, to appear and act as his attorney.

103.3 Retraining and Reemployment Administration.-(a) The Retraining Reemployment Administration originally was established under Executive Order 9427, issued February 24, 1944. Later, Congress incorporated it into the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion under the act of October 3, 1944. Upon the appointment of the Administrator of the Retraining and Reemployment Administration, under authority of the War MobilizaEion and Reconversion Act, Order No. 1-A, was issued, approving,

confirming, and continuing in force all the acts, orders, etc., of the Administrator appointed under Executive Order 9427.

(b) Under the act of October 3, 1944, the functions of the RRA were stated, in part, as follows:

(1) To have general supervision and direction of the activ ities of all existing executive agencies (except the Veterans' Administration and the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs) authorized by law relating to retraining, reemployment, vocational education, and vocational rehabilitation for the purposes of coordinating such activities and eliminating overlapping functions of such agencies.

(2) To confer with existing State and local agencies and officials in charge of existing programs relating to retraining, reemployment, vocational education, and vocational rehabilitation for the purpose of coordinating the activities of existing Federal agencies with the activities of such State and local agencies.

(c) An advisory council, of which the Director of Selective Service is a member, has been established within the Retraining and Reemployment Administration. Other agencies represented on this advisory council are: Department of Labor, Federal Security Agency, War Manpower Commission, Veterans' Adminis tration, Civil Service Commission, War Department, Navy Department, War Production Board, Department of Agriculture. Federal Works Agency, and War Shipping Administration. Rep resentatives of other departments and agencies of the Government may be included as members of the Council from time to time as the Administrator may determine necessary or advisable.

(d) The Retraining and Reemployment Administration, as originally established under Executive Order 9427, issued Order No. 1 on May 17, 1944. This order directs the establishment in each State of a State veterans' service committee, composed of representatives of the Selective Service System, the War Manpower Commission, and the Veterans' Administration. This committee represents the Federal Government in the State in the coordination of activities having to do with veterans. Each committee selects its own chairman and adds to its membership, or represents the Federal Government on State committees of the same nature, as the situation requires. The State veterans' serv ice committee has the following responsibilities:

(1) Each member of the committee shall designate a representative of his agency as a member of the veterans' service committee in each community of the State in which the agency maintains facilities.

(2) It shall render such assistance as may be required by the veterans' service committee in establishing veterans' information centers in the communities where the need for such centers has been determined.

(3) It shall act as a central point for and mobilize the efforts of volunteer or other groups in the State in relation to veterans' information activities.

(4) It shall act as the contact point in the State for the Administrator of the Retraining and Reemployment Administration in connection with this program.

(e) Local veterans' service committees also were established by Order No. 1. The committee in each community is composed of a representative of Selective Service, the United States Employment Service, and the Veterans' Administration, insofar as these agencies have representatives available in the various local communities. Each committee selects its own chairman and may enlarge its membership to include representation from local organizations, or they may represent the Federal Government on community committees of the same nature. The local veterans' service committee will have the following responsibilities:

(1) To determine the need for a single information center in addition to the information facilities existing in the individual agencies in the community.

(2) To act as a central point in the local community and mobilize the efforts of volunteer and other groups to aid veterans by furnishing information.

(3) To act as the contact point in the local community for State veterans' service committee in connection with the program to provide adequate information for veterans.

(f) Veterans' information centers will be established by the local veterans' service committee whenever such committee determines that a single information center, in addition to those already existing in the community, is necessary and that there is an appropriate location and necessary facilities in the community for its establishment. The function of a veterans' information center will be primarily one of furnishing advice and referral to veterans. Local cooperation is important, since local organizations may render service outside the programs of the Federal and State Governments and may effectively provide volunteer services and facilities for the center. No single pattern for the creation and operation of a center will satisfy communities of all types and sizes. The organization should be adapted to the volume and nature of applications anticipated and to the facilities of the community. Changes in organization of the center should be effected by the committee as experience indicates.

103.4 Veterans' Employment Service (USES).-(a) The Veterans' Employment Service was established by Public Law No. 30, Seventy-third Congress, commonly known as the WagnerPeyser Act, and by this act originally was set up as a part of the United States Employment Service, which was a Bureau in the Department of Labor. In 1939, under Reorganization Plan No. 1, the President transferred the United States Employment Service, including the Veterans' Employment Service, to the Social Secu

rity Board. In 1942, under the First War Powers Act (which authorized the President to utilize, coordinate, or consolidate any executive agencies and to transfer any duties or powers thereunder from one agency to another), both the United States Employment Service and the Veterans' Employment Service were transferred to the War Manpower Commission.

(b) The G. I. Bill of Rights (Public Law 346, 78th Cong.) established a Veterans' Placement Service Board, consisting of the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, as Chairman; the Director of the National Selective Service System; and the Administrator of the Federal Security Agency, or whoever may have the responsibility of administering the functions of the United States Employment Service. The chairman of that Board is given direct authority and responsibility for carrying out its policies through State veterans' employment representatives in the several States or through persons engaged in activities authorized by section 8 (g) of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, as amended. The Chairman is further authorized to delegate such authority to an executive secretary to be appointed by him, who thereupon acts as chief of the Veterans' Employment Service of the United States Employment Service.

(c) The policies and programs of the Veterans' Employment Service are carried out in each of the full-time local offices of the United States Employment Service. In addition, remote areas are served by means of a part-time, itinerant service based in these local offices. Veterans are registered in local employment offices on special cards and a special service is provided for them through State and local veterans' employment representatives. In the larger United States Employment Service offices special units for veterans have been established.

(d) The State veterans' employment representatives supervise the registration and placement of veterans through local USES offices; assist in securing and maintaining current information as to the various types of available employment for veterans in public works and private industry or business; promote the interest of employers in employing veterans; maintain regular contacts with employers and veterans' organizations with a view to keeping employers advised of veterans available for employment and veterans advised of opportunities for employment, and assist in every possible way in improving working conditions and advancing the employment of veterans.

(e) Local veterans' employment representatives perform locally duties similar to those performed by the State veterans' employment representative. Personnel in local USES offices are being trained in new methods for rendering a specialized service to veterans. Job-counseling divisions are set up to assist veterans to achieve the best possible vocational adjustment to civilian life. The veteran is provided with information concerning job oppor

tunities in his own locality and in other sections of the country. He gets the kind of information he needs about training courses and training facilities in line with his occupational choice. Full practical use is made of the services of other agencies, so that the veteran ultimately is placed in employment in line with his abilities and his preferences. A "follow-up" is made after he has been placed in a job or referred to training.

(f) Special techniques and practical tools have been developed to aid the United States Employment Service in making effective placements of veterans. "Special aids for placing Army and Navy personnel in civilian jobs" enable local office placement personnel to relate the knowledge and experience acquired in the armed forces to civilian job requirements. Military classifications are presented in terms of the duties performed and the knowledge, skill, and ability required. Civilian occupations most closely related to the service classifications are shown, and the training, if any, necessary to make the transition is indicated.

The dis

(g) The United States Employment Service is prepared to render a special service to disabled veterans. Methods assuring selective placement of the disabled have been developed and are in use in all local offices. They are based upon analysis of industrial jobs in terms of their specific physical requirements. abled veteran is not regarded as qualified for a limited number of jobs. The whole range of civilian occupations is considered in determining which is the best job for him. He is qualified wherever, the United States Employment Service finds that he has the necessary skills, education, experience and physical capacity for the work to be done.

(h) In addition to the placement aids which have been developed, the United States Employment Service utilizes special labor market information reports to assist veterans who desire to work in areas other than those in which they reside, or who have skills which cannot be utilized locally. This information describes occupations in major industries, employment trends, postwar outlooks, wage rates, housing and transportation facilities, extent of union organization, and other pertinent information. These and other tools enable the United States Employment Service to render a complete placement and informational service to veterans.

103.5 Veterans' Administration.-(a) The Veterans' Administration was established on July 21, 1930, as the result of an act of Congress, approved July 3, 1930, which authorized the President by Executive order to consolidate into one Federal establishment any hospitals, bureaus, agencies, or offices especially created for or concerned in the administration of laws relating to the relief and other benefits provided by law for former members of the military and naval establishments of the United States, including the Bureau of Pensions, the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, and the United States Veterans' Bureau.