quirement for possible participation of civilian physicians in conducting such examinations. Sincerely yours, WM. E. BERGIN, Senator LONG. Our next witness is Mr. Carey H. Brown, chairman of the Engineering Manpower Commission. I understand that Mr. Brown cannot appear, and that Mr. Shepard will appear in his place. STATEMENT OF NORMAN A. SHEPARD, CHEMICAL DIRECTOR, THE AMERICAN CYANAMID CORP., REPRESENTING ENGINEERING MANPOWER COMMISSION OF ENGINEERS JOINT COUNCIL Mr. SHEPARD. I am Norman A. Shephard, chemical director of the American Cyanamid Corp., and a member of the executive committee of the Engineering Manpower Commission of Engineers Joint Council. I am also chairman of the Committee on Materials of the Research and Development Board of the Department of Defense. I am here today to represent the Engineering Manpower Commission of the Engineers Joint Council, in place of Carey H. Brown, who wishes me to express his regrets that an unforeseen circumstance prevents his appearance in person. I request that Mr. Brown's statement be entered in full into the record. Senator LONG. That will be done at this point. STATEMENT OF CAREY H. BROWN, CHAIRMAN, ENGINEERING MANPOWER COMMISSION OF ENGINEERS JOINT COUNCIL Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is Carey H. Brown, chairman of the Engineering Manpower Commission of Engineers Joint Council, for which I am appearing. I am also manager of engineering and manufacturing services, Kodak Park Works, Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N. Y. After graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point in the class of 1910, and from the Engineer School of the United States Army in 1912, I served in the Corps of Engineers in Panama, Mexico, France, and the United States, until 1930, reaching the rank of colonel. During World War II, I was engaged in the construction and later in the operation of the Holston Ordnance Works of the Tennessee Eastman Corp. Engineers Joint Council is a nonprofit organization. It is composed of the following professional societies: American Society of Civil Engineers, American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and American Institute of Chemical Engineers. In addition to the above, the American Society for Engineering Education is represented on the Engineering Manpower Commission. The Engineering Manpower Commission is appearing here today in the interests of the proper allocation and utilization of engineers to insure their maximum contribution to the Nation's defense and to the national health, safety, and interest. This statement represents long and thorough consideration of the Armed Forces Reserve Act (H. R. 5426) by the Engineering Manpower Commission. Our recommendations are the result of some 6 months of active study of this bill as related to our general studies of the most effective utilization of engineers in the national health, safety, and interest. UNIVERSAL OBLIGATION TO MAKE NATION SECURE In all-out war there will be no zone of the interior. The general populace will be subjected to many, if not all, of the hazards to which members of the Armed Forces are subjected. The principle that there is a patriotic obligation upon every man and woman for appropriate service of which each is capable in maintaining the security of the United States is thus emphasized. MAXIMUM MANPOWER UTILIZATION We cannot match our possible enemies in numbers. Any successful program of defense must therefore take into account that the survival of the United States as a free democracy will depend on superior and prior scientific and engineering skills to offset the superiority in numbers which free nations lack. In addition to an over-all deficit in numbers, we are faced with a critical shortage of engineers and scientists. It is therefore fundamental that each person be utilized at his highest capability. In view of the wide range of talent and training necessary to adequately staff our civilian economy, military operations, and production, the wisest system of selection is necessary. Maintaining a sound economy and the required development and production of weapons are both essential if the man at the front is to be effective. These are part of an inseparable whole in maintaining the security of our Nation. The situation is aggravated by the great confusion that exists generally as to the distinction between a professional engineer and a technician. For example, the needs of the operating units of the Armed Forces are primarily for technicians and operators and not for professional engineers. Yet in many cases billet designations may state or include the name "engineer." Technicians can be trained in a matter of months; the professional engineer or scientist is the product of at least 4 years of full-time study coupled with more years of development and experience. Using engineers or scientists as technicians is a waste of critically short skills vitally needed to design, develop, and produce weapons and other equipment for the military and for essential civilian needs. CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF TRAINED MINDS Another cardinal element in the maximum utilization of manpower is the continued development of our engineers and scientists of the future. Provision must be made for the training of new engineers and scientists to furnish the necessary technical skills for replacements and technological expansion. The Engineering Manpower Commission believes that Public Law 51 and H. R. 5426 do not adequately provide for best utilization of reservists. Therefore, it is important that the following principles be established now and incorporated in the Armed Forces Reserve Act (H. R. 5426). RECALL OF ENGINEERING AND SCIENTIFIC STUDENTS (a) During the Reserve liability period, after active training and service in the Armed Forces or after training in the National Security Training Corps, the recall to active duty of the required number of professional and scientific students should be held in abeyance until completion of their professional study or until they cease to satisfactorily pursue such study. Speaking only for the engineering profession, there is a current requirement for 60,000 freshmen each year in all branches of engineering to meet the need for engineers in the Armed Forces and in the civilian economy. As a suitable method of accomplishing the above, we suggest : "Amend section 208 (a) of Armed Forces Reserve Act (H. R. 5426) by inserting at the end (after line 3, page 14), the following: Provided, however, That any person who is satisfactorily pursuing a full-time engineering or scientific course of instruction at a college, university, or similar institution of learning shall have his recall to active duty delayed (a) until the time of his graduation therefrom; or (b) until he ceases satisfactorily to pursue such course of instruction, whichever is earlier: Provided further, That the total period of liability for training and service of a person so delayed shall be extended by the period of such delay'." CIVILIAN CONTROL OF RESERVIST RECALL (b) Since section 4 (d) of the Universal Military Training and Service Act, as amended in Public Law 51, provides for a total period of liability of 8 years active training and service in the Armed Forces and in a Reserve component, it is evident that all, or practically all, of the able bodied young men below age 26 will eventually be in a Reserve component of the Armed Forces to complete their term of liability. The proper allocation of critical skills to the Armed Forces and the necessary civilian economy will thus require a very careful process of selection. In addition to selecting those to be recalled for military service, the agency governing recalls must also select those for service in the essential civilian economy, including defense development and production. The Ready Reserve will actually encompass all those reservists liable to immediate recall. Logically, the active organized units of the Ready Reserve, the National Guard and Air National Guard should contain those Ready reservists who are not only liable to but also available for immediate recall. Under such conditions, the recall of reservists in such active organized units of the Ready Reserve and the activation of the National Guard and Air National Guard should remain under the general control of the Department of Defense as at present. They will be needed for the immediate military mobilization effort in the event of war. Many of the other members of the Ready Reserve will have acquired skills and experience that may make them unavailable for military service without curtailing the total defense effort. It is these persons and those in the Standby Reserve and Retired Reserve who must be subject to a careful selection process in order that the needs of defense industry and the essential civilian economy will not be seriously hampered through their recall to active duty. Since this selection will be for service in the essential economy as well as for military service, reservists other than those in the National Guard, Air National Guard, or active organized units of the Ready Reserve should be called to active duty by a civilian agency such as selective service. Selective service is familiar with the needs and problems at the local level. It has a long background of experience in making selections based upon military requirements and at the same time preserving essential civilian development and production facilities. With this background selective service can readily be adapted to carrying out the selections advocated above, thus providing the most effective utilization of professional and scientific personnel now in short supply. Those reservists volunteering for active duty, of course, would be automatically approved for military service by selective service. As a suitable method of accomplishing this, we suggest the following amendment: "Amend section 234 of Armed Services Reserve Act (H. R. 5426) by adding a paragraph at the end (after line 17, p. 34) as follows: (h) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, whenever it becomes necessary to order reservists, except those in active organized units of the Ready Reserve or National Guard or Air National Guard to extended active duty, such individuals shall be recalled by the Selective Service System under uniform regulations to be prescribed by the President; and all provisions of the Universal Military Training and Service Act, as amended, concerning classification shall be applicable to the recall or delay in recall of such individuals by the Selective Service System"." CIVILIAN CONTROL OF INVOLUNTARY TRANSFERS TO ORGANIZED UNITS (c) Section 4 (d) of the Universal Military Training and Service Act, as amended by Public Law 51, provides for the involuntary transfer of personnel to organized units of the Reserve components by the secretaries of the various armed services. Conceivably, this authority could be used by those secretaries to nullify the effects of the selective recall of reservists advocated above. We therefore suggest that such involuntary transfers of personnel to organized units of the Reserve components be also subject to screening by the same civilian agency designated to make the selections of reservists for recall to active duty. As a suitable method of accomplishing this, we suggest the following amendment: "Amend sections 208 and 209 of Armed Services Reserve Act (H. R. 5426) by adding a paragraph at the end of section 209 (after line 23, p. 17) as follows: '(f) Notwithstanding any provision of section 208 or of this section, whenever any person is transferred involuntarily by reason of enlistment, enrollment, appointment in, or assignment to active organized units of the Ready Reserve by the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, or the Air Force (or the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to the United States Coast Guard) in accordance with the authority granted in the Universal Military Training and Service Act, as amended, such persons shall be selected for transfer by the Selective Service System under uniform regulations to be prescribed by the President'." I would like to thank the chairman and the members of the committee for the opportunity to appear in connection with these hearings. (NOTE.-Page and line numbers refer to committee print No. 4 of the bill.) Mr. SHEPARD. Since my presentation is much condensed, as you requested, I shall proceed, inasmuch as it will take a very short period of time. The Engineers Council is a nonprofit organization, composed of the five major American professional engineering societies, civil, mining and metallurgical, mechanical, electrical, and chemical, totaling about 130,000 members. The American Society for Engineering Education is also represented on the Engineering Manpower Commission. We are here today in the interests of the proper allocation and utilization of engineers to insure their maximum contribution to the Nation's defense and to the national health, safety, and interest. Our recommendations are the result of some 6 months of active study of the Armed Forces Reserve Act as related to our general studies of the most effective utilization of engineers in the national health, safety, and interest. Any successful program of defense must take into account that the survival of the United States as a free democracy will depend on superior scientific and engineering skills to offset the superiority in numbers which the free nations lack. In addition to an over-all deficit in numbers we are faced with a critical shortage of engineers and scientists. It is, therefore, fundamental that each person be utilized at his highest capability. In view of the wide range of talent and training necessary to adequately staff our civilian economy, military operations and production, the wisest system of selection is necessary. The situation is aggravated by the great confusion that exists generally as to the distinction between a professional engineer and a technician. For example, the needs of the operating units of the Armed Forces are primarily for technicians and operators and not for professional engineers. Technicians can be trained in a matter of months; the professional engineer or scientists is the product of at least 4 years of full-time study coupled with more years of development and experience. Using engineers or scientists as technicians is a waste of critically short skills vitally needed to design, develop, and produce weapons and other equipment for the military and for essential civilian needs. Another cardinal element in the maximum utilization of manpower is the continued development of our engineers and sicentists of the future. Provision must be made for the training of new engineers and scientists to furnish the necessary technical skills for replacements and technological expansion. The Engineering Manpower Commission believes that Public Law 51 and H. R. 5426 do not adequately provide for best utilization of reservists. Therefore, it is important that the following principles be established now and incorporated in the Armed Forces Reserve Act. Principle I. Recall of engineering and scientific students. During the Reserve liability period, after active training and service in the Armed Forces or after training in the National Security Training Corps, the recall to active duty of the required number of professional and scientific students should be held in abeyance until completion of their professional study or until they cease to satisfactorily pursue such study. Principle II. Civilian control of reservist recall. The Universal Military Training and Service Act, as amended, provides for a total period of liability of 8 years' active training and service in the Armed Forces and in a Reserve component. It is evident that all, or practically all, of the able-bodied young men below age 26 will eventually be in a Reserve component of the Armed Forces to complete their term of liability. The proper allocation of critical skills to the Armed Forces and the necessary civilian economy will thus require a very careful process of selection. In addition to selecting those to be recalled for military service, the agency governing recalls must also select those for service in the essential civilian economy, including defense development and production. The Ready Reserve will actually encompass all those reservists liable to immediate recall. Logically, the active organized units of the Ready Reserve should contain those ready reservists who are not only liable to but also available for immediate recall. Under such circumistances, the recall of reservists in such active organized units of the Ready Reserve and the activation of the National Guard and Air National Guard should remain under the general control of the Department of Defense, as at present. They will be needed for the immediate military mobilization effort in the event of war. Many of the other members of the Ready Reserve will have acquired skills and experience that may make them unavailable for military service without curtailing the total defense effort. It is these persons and those in the Standby Reserve and Retired Reserve who must be subject to a careful selection process in order that the needs of defense industry and the essential civilian economy will not be seriously hampered through their recall to active duty. Since this selection will be for service in the essential economy as well as for military service, reservists other than those in the National Guard, Air National Guard, or active organized units of the Ready Reserve should be called to active duty by a civilian agency such as Selective Service. Selective Service is familiar with the needs and problems at the local level. It has a long background of experience in making selections based upon military requirements and at the same time preserving essential civilian development and production facilities. With this background Selective Service can readily be adapted to carrying out the selections advocated above, thus providing the most effective utilization of professional and scientific personnel now in short supply. The third and last, principle III: Civilian control of involuntary transfers to organized units. The Universal Military Training and Service Act, as amended, provides for the involuntary transfer of personnel to organized units of the Reserve components by the Secretaries of the various armed services. Conceivably this authority could be used by those Secretaries to nullify the effects of the selective recall of reservists advocated above. We therefore suggest that such involuntary transfers of personnel to organized units of the Reserve components be also subject to screening of the same civilian agency designated to make the selections of reservists for recall to active duty. |