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training obligation would apply only to those who entered the Armed Forces after the date of enactment of the Reserve Forces Act of 1955. Instead of the payment of a monetary bonus to prior servicemen who enlisted in the Reserves during the next 2 years, a provision contained in the Senate amendment, a substitute was made which was in "the nature of a time bonus."

The conference report was agreed to by the Senate on July 26, 1955.62 The statement of the managers on the part of the House explains the issues that were taken up by the conference committee and how each was decided:

The managers on the part of the House at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendment of the Senate to the bill (H. R. 7000) to provide for strengthening of the Reserve Forces, and for other purposes, submit the following statement in explanation of the effect of the action agreed upon by the conferees and recommended in the accompanying conference report:

Under the Senate amendment the obligation to train in the Ready Reserve would be imposed upon each person enlisted, appointed, or inducted into the Armed Forces commencing with those entering the service 30 days after the date of enactment of the proposed legislation. Thus individuals now on active duty or any individual who entered on active duty after June 19, 1951, while retaining his Ready Reserve obligation, would not be obligated to train under the provisions of the proposed legislation.

The House bill applied the obligation to train in the Ready Reserve upon all persons appointed, enlisted, or inducted into the Armed Forces after July 27, 1953. Persons who had served on active duty prior to that date would be relieved of their Ready Reserve obligation.

The conferees agreed to the Senate version, but eliminated the 30-day period following the enactment of the proposed legislation.

Thus, under the conference report, young men who enter the Armed Forces after the date of enactment of the proposed legislation will be required to serve on active duty for the period for which they are obligated, and in the Ready Reserve for a period of time which, when added to their period of active duty, totals 5 years.

Thus, an inductee who serves 2 years on active duty will be required to participate in training in the Ready Reserve for a period of 3 years. During this 3-year period, he will be required to participate in 48 drill periods and not to exceed 17 days' active duty for training annually. If he cannot participate in this type of training, or equivalent training, he can apply for 30 days of active duty each year and thus fulfill his training obligation. If he refuses or fails to satisfactorily participate in the above type of training, he can be involuntarily ordered to active duty for 45 days to satisfy his Ready Reserve obligation for the year in which he fails to satisfactorily participate.

Under the Senate amendment the total military obligation remained at 8 years. That is, the period of active duty plus the period of service in the Ready and Standby Reserve remained at 8 years.

Under the House bill the total obligation for all persons serving in the Armed Forces after June 19, 1951, was reduced to 6 years, except for the 6 months' trainees and ROTC graduates who hereafter only perform active-duty training for 6 months. Under the House bill these individuals would continue to have an 8-year obligation.

The conferees agreed to provisions in the conference report which reduce the total obligation to 6 years for all individuals appointed, enlisted, or inducted into the Armed Forces after the date of enactment of the proposed legislation. However, individuals now serving on active duty, or who previously served on active duty, who, under the conference report, will have no obligation to train, will continue to have a total 8-year military obligation.

The only exceptions to the 6-year provision, with regard to the total military obligation, will be those individuals who enter into the 6 month's training program and agree to serve 71⁄2 years in the Ready Reserve and who train annually therein. In addition, ROTC and OCS graduates who only perform 6 months of active-duty training will likewise have an 8-year total obligation.

62 Daily Congressional Record, July 26, 1955, p. 9888. (The debate is covered in pp. 9885–9888.)

In addition, both the House bill and the Senate amendment contained a provision whereby persons may enlist in the Ready Reserve of the Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, or Coast Guard Reserve, prior to reaching the age of 18 years and 6 months.

These persons will be deferred from training and serice so long as they continue to serve satisfactorily as a member of an organized unit of the Ready Reserve. Each person will be deferred until he has attained the 28th anniversary of the date of his birth.

This will authorize enlistments in the Reserve components of the military services in the same manner in which persons may now be enlisted in the National Guard.

If any such enlistee performs a period of active duty for training of not less. than 3 months nor more than 6 months and thereafter continues to satisfactorily participate in the Ready Reserve, he will not be liable for induction after he has completed 8 years of combined active duty for training and Ready Reserve training.

Thus, if the President determines that the Ready Reserve strength of the Armed Forces is not maintained at the level he deems necessary, he can authorize individuals to enlist in such Reserve components prior to attaining the age of 181⁄2 in a manner similar to existing law with respect to the National Guard.

These individuals remain liable for induction up to age 28 if they fail to satisfactorily participate in the Ready Reserve in which they enlisted. However, under the conference report, enlistees in the Armed Forces under this provision can reduce their liability for induction from age 28 to a total 8-year obligation by active duty for training of not less than 3 nor more than 6 months. Such enlistees will, while serving on such active-duty training receive the same pay and benefits as are applicable to individuals who enlist under the age of 181⁄2 in the 6 months' training program provided for in other provisions of the conference report.

Both the House bill and the Senate amendment provided for a not to exceed 6 months' training program. Individuals may agree to participate in active duty training and thereafter to serve in the Ready Reserve for 71⁄2 years and to train therein. Enlistment in such a program is voluntary, but thereafter the Reserve training is mandatory.

The Senate amendment did not establish a statutory limit of the quota to be trained in this program annually. The House bill provided an annual quota of not to exceed 250,000. The House bill also provided that the training would be for not more than 6 months. The Senate amendment provided that the training would be for not less than 3 nor more than 6 months. The conferees agreed to this portion of the Senate amendment.

The House bill contained a July 1, 1959, termination date for the authorization. for the 6 months' training program. The Senate amendment contained similar language, but extended the date 1 month to August 1, 1959. The conferees agreed to this portion of the Senate amendment.

Persons enlisting in the 6 months' program prior to reaching the age of 181⁄2 years while pursuing a course of instruction in high school shall be deferred from the 6 months' training until such person ceases to pursue his high-school course satisfactorily, graduates, or attains the age of 20 years, whichever first occurs.

Thus, under the conference report, not to exceed 250,000 young men may be accepted for training in the Armed Forces provided they agree to perform activeduty training for not less than 3 nor more than 6 months as may be determined by the Secretary of Defense and thereafter, until he has completed a total period of 8 years of combined Active and Reserve service, such individual will be obligated to perform training in the Ready Reserve consisting of 48 drill periods and not more than 17 days of active-duty training each year; or, in lieu thereof, 30 days of active-duty training each year.

If a 6-month trainee, or an individual who enlists in the Reserve prior to. attaining age 181⁄2 and agrees to remain liable for induction up to age 28, fails to participate satisfactorily, he may be ordered to active duty for 45 days or he may be selected for training and service and inducted into the Armed Forces prior to the induction of other persons liable therefore.

The Senate amendment required no participation in training for any person entering the armed services prior to 30 days after the effective date of the act. However, in order to induce such persons to participate in training upon their release from active duty, the amendment contained provisions whereby any person who had served on active duty for not less than 18 months could be assigned or enlisted in an organized combat unit of the Ready Reserve of the Army or

Marine Corps for a period of 3 years and be entitled to receive a bonus in an amount equal to that basic pay to which such person would be entitled for 2 months' service on active duty in the grade in which he was assigned or enlisted. Furthermore, persons who on the effective date of the act were serving in an active unit of the Ready Reserve which had been designated an organized combat unit could have been discharged for the purpose of reenlisting in such unit and thus become eligible for the payment of the bonus.

The House bill contained no such provisions and the Senate conferees receded on these provisions of the Senate amendment and in lieu thereof the conferees adopted other provisions to induce persons to voluntarily participate in training. The first provision would authorize the Secretaries of the military services, with the approval of the Secretary of Defense, until July 1, 1957, to promulgate regulations whereby persons who have already been inducted or enlisted and who complete a minimum of 12 months in the Armed Forces, to be released from active duty and transferred to units of the Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, or Coast Guard Reserve, if such individual agrees to participate in training in the Ready Reserve for a period which, when added to the period of his active duty, totals 4 years. The maximum number of individuals who can be released from active duty under this provision may not exceed 150,000 persons annually.

The second provision adopted by the conferees to induce persons to voluntarily participate in Reserve training, provides that, until July 1, 1957, the Secretaries of the military services, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Defense, may accept enlistments in the Ready Reserve for a period of 1 year from individuals who are released from active duty after the date of enactment of the conference report. Such persons who enlist will be required to train during that 1-year period, but, thereafter, at his own request, he will be relieved of further obligation to serve in the Ready Reserve.

The total number of enlistments under this provision may not exceed 200,000 annually.

Both the House bill and the Senate amendment contained provisions whereby the National Security Training Commission would advise the President and the Secretary of Defense and report annually to the Congress with respect to the welfare of persons performing initial periods of active duty for training, but would have no authority with respect to the military training of such persons.

The Senate amendment contained an additional provision whereby, within 60 days after the date of enactment of the act, the National Security Training Commission would submit to the Secretary of Defense a program containing recommendations for the personal safety, health, welfare, and morals of the "not less than 3 or more than 6 months' trainees" while performing active duty for training, including regulations concerning the dispensing of alcoholic beverages on training establishments in conformity with the laws of the several States

The House bill contained no such provision, and the House conferees receded and agreed to this provision of the Senate amendment.

The House bill provided that when persons had completed their Ready Reserve obligation, they would automatically be transferred to theStandby Reserve. The Senate amendment provided that persons would be transferred to the Standby Reserve at their own request, as is now the case in existing law.

The House conferees recognized that some persons in the Ready Reserve would want to voluntarily remain in the Ready Reserve after having completed their obligated period of service and thus agreed to that portion of the Senate amendment that it would be necessary for a person to request transfer to the Standby Reserve.

The Senate amendment provided for the transfer of persons from the Standby Reserve to the Ready Reserve whenever the reason for their transfer to the Standby Reserve no longer existed. The House bill contained no similar provision. This portion of the Senate amendment is intended to provide authority to reassign individuals who were engaged in critical skills and who no longer engaged in such skills while still under a Reserve obligation, to be placed back in the Ready Reserve to complete their obligation. The House managers agreed to this portion of the Senate amendment. This portion of the amendment, plus the authority to screen individuals into the Standby Reserve, will provide a program which will assist in the solution of the vital question of the proper utilization of persons with critical skills engaged in defense-supporting activities and those so engaged in research.

In determining which persons enter this program, the President will have available to him the advice and assistance of the Selective Service System and, in determining which persons should be transferred from the Standby to the

Ready Reserve under the Senate amendment, the Secretary of Defense will have available to him the advice and assistance of the Selective Service System. There were no changes in substance made between the House bill and the Senate amendment with respect to ministerial students and the authority of the President to order a limited number of ready reservists to active duty in time of national emergency.

Both the House bill and the Senate amendment contained a provision fixing the ceiling on the size of the Ready Reserve at 2,900,000 persons.

The conferees agreed that this figure until July 1, 1957, should only represent persons who are participating in training in the Ready Reserve and others who do not train while having a Ready Reserve obligation will not be counted against the total.

Other changes between the House bill and the Senate amendment are technical or clarifying in nature and do not affect the substance of the conference report.63

XV. PRESIDENT EISENHOWER'S STATEMENT ON THE RESERVE FORCES ACT OF 1955

Upon signing the Reserve Forces Act of 1955 on August 9, 1955, President Eisenhower made the following statement:

I have today approved the Reserve Forces Act of 1955. Although the bill falls short of the program which I sent to the Congress by special message on January 13, 1955, and which the Department of Defense urged the Congress to adopt, nevertheless the bill does contain provisions that will definitely strengthen the Reserve structure.

1. It provides a statutory means of assuring that our Federal Reserves will be composed of prior-trained men on a planned basis.

2. It will permit an increase in the Ready Reserve manpower ceiling from 1,500,000 to 2,900,000.

3. It clearly establishes the obligation to participate in Reserve training and provides for effective and reasonable enforcement measures to achieve this participation.

4. It authorizes the President to order up one million ready reservists in an emergency proclaimed by him.

I am, however, concerned by the failure of the bill to afford the same guaranties of prior training for the National Guard as it has done for the Reserves. The bill is also deficient in failing to grant authority to induct into the Reserve if sufficient numbers to meet military requirements are not obtained voluntarily.

The securing of sufficient numbers in the Reserve on a voluntary basis undoubtedly will be hampered by the unwarranted disparity under the bill between the $78 per month offered to members of the National Guard who volunteered to undergo initial active duty for training, and the $50 per month provided for members of the Reserve who undergo identical, initial training.64

In my special message of January 13 and in recommendations of the Department of Defense, it was urged that provisions be included to insure a hard core of prior-service personnel to the National Guard. Not only did the Congress fail to include such provisions, but it also excluded the National Guard from the provisions for interim incentives to secure participation of prior service personnel in the various Reserve training programs.

I have serious doubt that in the absence of further statutory authority, the National Guard can fully attain its planned size, and the standards of military proficiency and readiness, that are essential in our mobilization planning. I am, therefore, instructing the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to conduct a continuing review of National Guard programs and standards to determine whether they meet the imperative requirements of our first line defenses. The bill reduces the present 8-year military obligation to 6 years. The effect of this will not manifest itself to any degree in the immediate future. Such reduction, is however, a matter that merits careful study to determine whether, at some future period, it will be necessary to request restoration of the 8-year obligation.

Taking under consideration all factors and the essential need to build strong reserves, I am instructing the Secretary of Defense to take immediate and effective action to utilize the means that the bill provides to augment and strengthen the

Conference report, p. 10-14.

This disparity in pay was corrected by the passage of Public Law 490, 84th Cong., approved April 23, 1956. This law equalizes the pay received by members of the Reserves performing initial active duty for training so that all trainees in the 6 months' training program receive a minimum of $78 per month,

Reserve Forces throughout the country and to prepare for presentation for the next session of the Congress amendment necessary to correct the deficiencies in this legislation.65

XVI. SOME CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS

The objective of the Reserve Forces Act of 1955 is to amend basic legislation in order to strengthen our Reserves. Forward steps have been taken in certain areas which required legislation for authority and guidance. The Ready Reserve has been emphasized as a force which must be militarily prepared to defend the country and not just as a status for the individual reservist who might be called to active duty. The size of the Ready Reserve has been increased from 1.5 to 2.9 million men and this has been related to new concepts of membership and training. The provision whereby the military departments may continuously screen men from the Ready into the Standby Reserve means the elimination of the difficulty we experienced during the Korean war when some parts of the Ready Reserve consisted merely of a roster of names. The screening process, which no longer depends upon the initiative of the individual reservist, is designed to insure protection of the Nation by men who are militarily prepared as well as by civilians who are engaged in industries requiring critical defense skills.

The concept of training for the Reserves alone has been extended, and the choices of military service for those who have an obligation have been increased. The problem of training young men through the 6-month program to be followed by 7%1⁄2 years in the Reserves will result in some trained reservists who have not seen active duty in any past war. The small quota for this program is to prevent interference with regular enlistments, particularly the 4-year enlistment programs of the Air Force and Navy. One result that may be anticipated from the small size of the quota, however, is the length of time it will take to build a reserve of nonveterans.

On the other hand, the technological nature of a future nuclear war underlines the need of the Reserve Forces for prior servicemen who are capable of handling new weapons. This need in terms of the defense of the Nation is weighed in the balance with the need of the individual, and the new law seeks an equitable combination of these values by providing that men inducted with a total 8-year military obligation prior to the passage of the Reserve Forces Act of 1955 are not liable for compulsory Reserve training; whereas those inducted after August 9, 1955, with only a 6-year obligation of active duty and reserve service, must train in a Ready Reserve component following their discharge from active duty. Incentives have been provided for both groups-methods whereby a bonus in time may be given to certain of the 8-year men, and the Reserve service obligation may be reduced for prior-service men who participate satisfactorily in training programs.

The Reserve Forces Act of 1955 is explicit with regard to the fact that a man discharged from active duty is required to participate in Reserve training, and implements this obligation with a penalty which is deemed to be administratively practicable. There was some difference of opinion as to whether or not the obligation for Reserve

68 New York Times, August 10, 1955, p. 10L.

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