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Analysis: volunteer army pan II
No danger in Hatfield army bill
uu.iui a Iiyie. me ionowing article is the second
of a two part series on the Volunteer \rinv hill
S anWsis
appearedin T-horsday's Emerald, and outlined an
swers to two objections to the bill. Today’s conclu
sion offers answers to two
objections.
more potential
OBJECTION No. 3: “A volunteer army might be
dangerous in that it would tie the President’s hands
Realistically, how could we expect to meet emer
gencies?”
My answer: it's dangerous not to tie the President’s
hands. The need for greater Congressional influence
in foreign policy decisions has already been stressed,
so it is unnecessary to report those arguments. But
rather, we see that this objection really wants to
know if the military security of the United States
would be endangered. I rather doubt it.
In the post-Vietnam period of 1970-1975, the De
partment of Defense estimates that we need 2.6 or
2.7 million men in uniform. Professor Oi says, “The
one time when a volunteer system was tried, in 1948
1949, the number of volunteers was sufficient to sus
tain a force of 1.5 million men—an outcome which is
cited as failure of the system. However, the popula
tion base from which these men were recruited was
only half the size of that which will be available in
1970-1975.” (“Op. Cit.”) In any given year now, the
number of men turning 18 is two million compared
to 1.2 million in 1948. So it appears feasible just from
the numbers alone.
Nevertheless, Senator Hatfield’s bill provides for
substantial pay increases in line with the $4 billion
annual raise advocated by Professor Oi. This repre
sents a 68 per cent raise for army enlistments, from
S2500 to S4200 per year. It is meant to insure that the
armed services are attractive enough to join (as well
as to provide fairer compensation for labor).
Question: "But wouldn't troop strengths tend to
fluctuate at least initially and wouldn't this put us in
a vulnerable military position?”
My answer: Undoubtedly troop strengths would
fluctuate initially. A steady state volunteer a r m y
would take a few years to achieve, but this would not
endanger us. There are 1.3 million men in Reserve and
National Guard units. The President could reactivate
them at will to meet short-term demands for personnel.
But he would have to consult the Congress on ques
tions of the draft and protracted states of war. (Lest
anyone still thinks this restricts the President too
much, you would do well to recall that he still retains
the power to destroy every man, woman and child on
Earth in 30 minutes.)
Rely on reserves
Incidentally, the status of reserves has been con
troversial in many quarters. By and large they have
been spared from duty in Vietnam. Washington State
Congressman Floyd Hicks sought to amend the draft
bill in 1967 so as to limit the number of draftees and
rely more heavily on the reserves: “Mr. Chairman,
this amendment means just exactly what it says, that
we would use some of our reserve forces so that the
country will know the condition we are actually in,
instead of pulling young kids in and putting in four
months and sending them to Vietnam where a goodly
number of them are being killed within a very -few
months, and then we have to respond to letters, ‘Why
is it that my hoy was drafted in May and killed in
October and the Reserve people are still walking
around town?’ We spend a lot of time in our Com
mittee on Armed Services on the reserves. This Con
gress appropriates a lot of money for them. We do
not use them. We should use them.” (Congressional
Record, 25 May 1967.)
The amendment was defeated.
We can afford it
OBJECTION No. 4: “Well, a volunteer army would
be too expensive. We can't afford it.”
My answer: The $3.7 billion pay raise provided by
the Hatfield bill could be increased substantially and
we still could afford it. The Pentagon wastes at least
that much every year. The estimated Federal budget
for the coming year is S198 billion. 1 find it difficult
to believe we cannot afford it.
More over, a volunteer army will yield numerous
savings. A volunteer serves longer and has a higher
probability of re-enlisting. There is less turnover.
Training costs go down. There are fewer Veterans,
and hence, fewer Veterans benefits to be paid, etc.,
etc., ad infinitum.
In conclusion. I would urge the speedy enactment
of Senator Hatfield’s bill or one like it. it is folly to
defend freedom abroad and deny it at home. In the
interest of passing the best possible legislation, I in
vite comments on this article.
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Emerald Editor
.
f Continued from page 10)
would be “unfathomable'’ for
her to understand — if she
hasn’t looked into herself and
America. Any ethnocentric per
son slave to the nation’s White
psychology can easily say they
are “creating problems.”
Perhaps the knifing incident
she mentioned was, (contrary
with what I heard some people
think), an incident fought
on racial lines. I refer to Calvin
C. Hernton’s book "Sex &
Racism in America.” Hernton
describes the Whites’ paranoia
about Negro sexuality and of
the effect this has on the Negro.
He mentioned how this and
many other inner workings of
the subconscious White mind
has caused many an interracial
dance floor to become an arena
of clashing egos and counter
egos between the races.
Joseph Carson
Senior, Geography
Guerilla warfare
Emerald Editor:
This letter is a reply to Mr.
David S. Cohen’s letter of Feb.
11.
Dear Mister Cohen: If the
“Glorious Communist Socialist
Chinese People’s” Republic did
not export guerilla warfare
plans and weapons to South
Vietnam, the B52’s and its
crews would have rapped every
inch of her country side by
now. And the whole of South
Vietnam would have become
another R. and R. resort for
GIs besides Bangkok, Tokyo,
the Philippines and Hawaii.
Furthermore, if Mao did not
write his “little Red recipe
booklet,” your country’s famous
“China Open Door Policy”
would have worked out beau
tifully. And not only the Dow,
but the Pentagon would have
“incorporated” China long time
ago. Just too bad isn't it? Eat
ing your heart out?
By the way, your retired
“Secretary of State” Mister
Dean Rusk did not call the Lit
tle Red Book the modern “Mein
Kampf.” It is the article writ
ten by China’s Defense Minister
Lin Piao titled “Long Live The
Victory of The People’s War!”
that bit him. But it so happens
that all of Lin Piao’s references
to justifiable violence dealt
with autonomous and self-re
liant revolutionary movements
within nations. (It would have
included the bloody revolution
by Gen. G. Washington too.)
Not a single sentence can be
construed as threatening Chi
nese military action aimed at
the “liberation” of the people
of another country. I guess in
this country one can call any
book Mein Kampf" if one wants
to serve his purpose.
Peter Tak-Cheung Hon
A former foreign student
Class of '68, Math.
Free scholars
Emerald Editor:
Raymond Peat’s comments on
■the experimental “free scholar”
program recently approved for
the Honors College are wrong
as to almost all their facts. The
Oxford system requires examin
ations at the end of each year
of residence: the Oregon pro
gram relieves students of po
tentially all examinations. Ox
ford uses outside examiners to
provide a check on the sub
stance of the approved pro
grams: the Oregon program
does not require any such
checks. Oxford students are re
quired to consult at least week
ly with at least one “tutor”;
the Oregon requirement is far
laxer.
The American examination
system is unrelated to German
practice. In Germany, as in
most continental countries,
examinations are given at the
end of a course when the stu
dent declares himself ready
(with rather broad discretion
in the student but not unlimit
ed discretion).
Alfred P. Rubin
Former “Supervisor”
at Cambridge
Love
Emerald Editor:
Re: Mr. “Fully Equipped”
Milner (EmEd 2/17).
Thank you Mr. Milner, for
reminding us once more (we
keep forgetting) that Love is
indeed the first and foremost
of the four-letter words.
Michael Northup
Jr., Psychology
Shut it down
Emerald Editor:
Being of timid and moderate
disposition, it is with great re
luctance that I must rally the
University to a condition of
General Strike. Though to some
this clarion call may sound ex
treme, I can assure them this
has come about only as the re
sult of the most serious circum
stances — circumstances which
affect the lives of every student
here at the University.
The issue, of gravest magni
tude and severity, has to do
with the room temperature of
my office. Usually kept at a
moderate 68 degrees, the past
two days it has shown the most
contemptable variation — once
being frightfully warm and
another being distastefully
chilly. Having been refused as
sistance by the physical plant
personnel, I went directly to
President Johnson. His secre
tary tried to cover up for his
closed-minded policy toward
student grievances by saying he
was in a meeting.
Showing admirable initiative
I burst through the door, dis
rupting a financial aid meeting,
designed to generate additional
funds for student loans. De
manding an audience with
Johnson produced immediate
results. Intimidate and fearful,
he suggested I come back in an
hour when he was free. Ac
cepting this for what it was, a
brutal de-humanization of my
basic integrity, 1 declined the
offer while depositing the con
tents of a bottle of ink on his
beige floor-carpet.
That evening 1 attended a
specially convened meeting of
MDS (Moderately Deranged
Students), where my grievances
finally received what they de
served—a call to action. At first
we thought an open letter of
apology from President John
son would be sufficient, but
upon serious deliberation it was
concluded that the only mod
erate reaction was General
Strike! !
Some of you may say that
such a minor problem does not
warrant the shutting down of
the University. Some may
naively assume that the rights
of a few can be violated with
out retaliation. Or some may
reason that a discomfort to a
few does not justify the dis
comfort of many. But indeed,
these shallow reactions only
demonstrate the nature of your
bourgeois, conditioned mental
ity. If you recall, the historic
seige of Leningrad was the con
sequence of the grievance and
disrest of but a few men! Like
wise if you recall the sacking
of Rome was the consequence
of an ultimatum from but one
dissatisfied soul. So, to say that
great things cannot come from
small numbers is but a mental
trick foisted upon the slumber
ing masses.
Look into your hearts! Search
your souls! ! Throw inhibiting
rationale and logic to the
wind!! The cause is here!!
Shut it down!! Shut it all
down! ! And keep it shut down
until someone properly adjusts
the room temperature in my
office.
John Mitchell,
Human Development,
Grad.
* * *
On music review
Emerald Editor;
It is entirely gratifying to us
in Eugene and university music
community that the Emerald is
giving more attention to the lo
cal musical scene. Honest criti
cism can only be of benefit to
all concerned. One hopes, though
that future reviews may avoid
the pontifical generalizations
that marred Mr. Mike Roman
ov’s review of the Eugene or
chestral situation, which appear
ed on Feb. 3.
I would submit that as a
"newcomer” Mr. Romanov is
poorly advised to criticize the
policy and operations of the
Eugene Symphony on the
strength of one concert which
he did not attend. His wild
statements about “trivial pro
grams" and “unenthusiastic re
sponse” are hardly borne out
by the orchestra’s performances
over the past few years, and
such sweeping, uninformed pro
nouncements do not lead a read
er to trust Mr. Romanov's judg
ments.
The same may be said for his
implication that, there is a need
to “bring back life into the
local musical scene.” This is,
of course, his own opinion, and
one wonders whether a "new
comer” has observed the local
scene enough to know whether
such a resurrection is in fact
necessary.
Such an evaluation must cer
tanly rest on more than the two
concerts, one attended, one not,
on which the opinion seems to
be based. Eugene offers a wide
variety of musical events other
than orchestral performances.
The assertion that the Uni
versity Orchestra’s brass section
can match that of the San Fran
cisco Symphony is just plain
silly. I agree that our brasses are
very fine, but they are not pro
fessionals and if Mr. Romanov
can not hear the difference be
tween students and profession
als (even when the latter have
a bad day), one questions his
ability to listen carefully and
critically to anything.
Since I did not hear the Uni
versity Orchestra’s concert, I
would prefer not to comment
on Mr. Romanov’s evaluation of
r
the performance. It is worth
noting, however, that the or
chestra is a regular class in the
school of music and that it is
directed primarily towards the
education of the players. This
influences the choice of reper
tory; for instance, a difficult
composition may be very much
worth studying and performing
even if the performance is not
perfect in every respect.
Again, best wishes to the
Emerald in future music cover
age. If Mr. Romanov engages
in more of it, let us hope that
he establishes some credentials
as a perceptive listener, which
his specious generalizations con
spicuously fail to do.
Peter liergquist
Associate Professor,
Music and 1st Bassoon,
Eugene Symphony
Opposes IS vote
Emerald Editor:
Should 12 and 14-year-olds,
just because they are old enough
to procreate, be allowed to start
raising families? Do 18 year olds
have the knowledge, judgment,
productivity of goods and serv
ices and tax paying ability to
justify giving them the fran
chise to vote? I think not. .
Geo. Trumbo
Kellogg Ut., Box 22
Oakland, Or. 7!>462
Is he real?
Emerald Editor:
Re: Don Wilt’s Weird Side
show. Excuse me, but do you
exist?
Rex E. II. Armstrong
Freshman, Pol. Sci.
1
Now I know how Jackie Robinson must have felt.