201.5 Local Board, Functions of.-(a) The Local Board is the local operating agency responsible for carrying out the functions of the Veterans' Assistance Program as provided by the Director of Selective Service and the State Director of Selective Service. All of the facilities of the Local Board shall be available for this purpose.

(b) In executing this responsibility, Selective Service Regulations provide that the Local Board is charged with the responsi bility of organizing and administering the Veterans' Assistance Program within the Local Board area. The Selective Service Regulations further provide that the Local Board may call upon the Government Appeal Agent, the Local Board examining physician, and the Local Board examining dentist, to aid in the administration of the Veterans' Assistance Program.

(c) The Local Board shall be responsible for carrying out efficiently and effectively within the Local Board the following three-fold program:

(1) To assist veterans in obtaining reinstatement in their former positions or positions of like seniority, status, and pay, or in obtaining new employment;

(2) To advise and inform all veterans who desire such information, of full details on veterans' rights, benefits, and privileges, including employment, hospitalization, out-patient medical care, educational benefits, government insurance, unemployment benefits, government loans and government guaranteed loans, assistance in establishment of small businesses, etc.;

(3) To contribute the endeavors of the Local Board personnel in activities which have as their purpose the stimulation of community responsibility for providing sufficient job opportunities to accomplish full employment for veterans.

201.6 Local Board Group, Functions of.-Where a Local Board Group exists, it is permissable, within the discretion of the State Director, to designate one or more Local Board clerks as Veterans' Information Clerks, charged specifically with the duty of interviewing and assisting veterans under the Veterans' Assistance Program. Where any sizeable volume of veterans' assistance is anticipated, separate space is recommended in order that a reasonable degree of privacy may be available for conducting interviews with veterans who may prefer to discuss personal matters and to make inquiry concerning personal affairs.

PART II

CHAPTER 2

THE VETERAN RETURNS TO CIVILIAN LIFE

202.1 Discharge Procedure.

202.2 Reporting to Local Boards.

202.3 Women Veterans.

202.4 Assistance for Women Veterans.

202.5 Records of Women Veterans.

202.6 Disabled Veterans, Reemployment of.

PART II

CHAPTER 2

THE VETERAN RETURNS TO CIVILIAN LIFE

202.1 Discharge Procedure.-(a) Service personnel usually are discharged from Army Separation and Navy Redistribution Centers located at appropriate points throughout the country. With the exception of persons released directly from posts, stations, or hospitals, each person being discharged is sent to the Center nearest to his home.

(b) Upon arrival at a separation center, the separatee is processed through nine major steps in the separation procedure, requiring from 48 to 72 hours. After the initial check-in and assignment to barracks, a general orientation talk on veterans' rights, benefits, and privileges is given. A complete medical examination follows, after which group-counseling talks and individual interviews are given to insure the fullest possible understanding of the significance of the shift from military to civilian life and of the rights, benefits, and privileges of a veteran. After signing all final papers, a showdown inspection of each separatee and his equipment is held. Final pay, including an installment of the mustering-out pay, and transportation home are then arranged. The concluding step is an expression of appreciation by the commanding officer or his representative of the veteran's service in the armed forces.

(c) Brevity in the separation center schedule is considered essential, yet an attempt is made to give considerate and personal individualized attention to all dischargees. Activities are so designed that every officer and enlisted man or woman leaves the service with high respect for his branch of service, with a feeling that his service has been appreciated by the Nation and that the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard, as the case may be, is sincerely interested in his future welfare.

(d) Some variation in procedures may occur with each branch of the service, but usually separatees receive the following upon release from a separation center:

(1) All pay due.

(2) First installment of mustering-out pay.

(3) Travel pay to point of entry into service.

(4) Copy of separation form (Army 53, Navy 553, Marine Corps 78-PD, Coast Guard 553).