 FORT BRAGG,
NC --- Army Pvt William J. Brown Jr., whose parents live in Brazoria
[Texas], took part in a massive parachute assault on Vieques Island,
near Puerto Rico, April 9 as part of a joint service airborne and amphibious
exercise.
Brown was one of more than 1,700 paratroopers from the 82d Airborne
Division at Fort Bragg, NC, who were airdropped under simulated combat
conditions.
The airdrop provided a climax to Quick Kick VII, a two-week exercise
that involved 10,000 troops representing the Army Navy, Air Force and
Marines.
The 17-year-ol soldier, a light weapons specialist with Company B,
1st Battalion of the division's 508th Infantry, entered the Army in
September 1963, received basic training at Fort Polk, La., and was last
stationed at Fort Benning, Ga.
[The Brazosport Facts, Freeport, Texas, Monday,
April 19, 1965, Page 5]
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Pentagon Begins Plans "For All-Volunteer
Army By JIM ADAMS
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Though uncertain that
President Nixon's goal of an all-volunteer Army can be achieved, the
Pentagon has spelled out plans for a major start this year.
Specifics include a $2 billion GI pay and incentive raise, less KP
duty, more privacy in the barracks, educational opportunities and
enlistment at higher rank for men with special skills.
The first-year program for face-lifting GI life in an effort to attract enough volunteers to do away with the draft was outlined to the House draft subcommittee in closed session last August but not released until Sunday.
Chairman F. Edward Hebert, D-La., called the idea "a bill of goods," saying only the pressure of the draft can draw enough volunteers plus draftees to meet the military's manpower requirements.
Even so, Hebert's subcommittee recommended President Nixon's pay raise proposals be considered at the same time Congress renews the draft law beyond its expiration date June 30.
But it added that Congress should establish future manpower levels at the same time it extends the draft law.
Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird announced last month a goal of achieving an all-volunteer force of 2.5 million men and women by mid-1973 and said it can be met if Congress approves increased pay and benefits.
But Asst. Secretary Roger T. Kelley told the House subcommittee last Aug. 4 no timetable can be set because of the uncertainties of drawing enough
volunteers and said a standby draft should be kept for emergencies.
Nevertheless, Kelley spelled out major first-year plans for starting the volunteer drive, but said specific recommendations were not ready at the time he testified. The $2 billion incentive package, he said, would include a 20 per cent pay raise effective Jan. 1 for enlisted men with less than two years service, pay raises for junior officers in July and increased housing and-subsistence allowances for all personnel.
He said the decision to end KP for 2,600 Army men at service schools and
1,915 Marines by contracting the work to civilian firms for $25 million already had been made although the decision could be changed.
Ending KP was opposed by several House members including Rep. Alexander Pirnie, R-N.Y., who said next
the Army would turn to private policemen to stand guard duty. He urged that the $25 million be used for something else.
Kelley also called for use of more civilians and uniformed women to
take over some of GIs' present duties. Educational benefits would
-include opportunities for servicemen to earn junior college degrees
as well as more ROTC scholarships to bolster the officer corps.
The plans also call for more and better family housing and, more
barracks privacy for single men, he said, as well as enlisting skilled men at higher pay and rank instead of starting all enlistees as buck privates.
[The Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksville, TN, 11 Jan 1971, Mon, Page 5] |
