MODERN FIGHTING

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 56, 4 September 1944, Page 3

MODERN FIGHTING

BUSINESS OF YOUTH

WAR NOW DIFFERENT

WASHINGTON, July 31. United States army authorities are quick to point out the many ways in ■which older soldiers are doing a superb ;|ob in every theatre of war. The army, #n fact, Has made a practice of deliberately .mingling' older men with ithe younger in ground combat units— ito add stability to the fire and spirit ■of youth. The principal and growing emphasis, however, is on youth. Satistics provide the answers. Army technical and medical authorities say that at higher ages fitness for combat 'becomes the exception rather than the 'rule. As a result, 'the quickest and most productive source of infantry re-placements-is the nation's pool of young men. The : difference-shows up first at the. local draft boards in .the towns and villages throughout the country- In | November, 1943, only about one out of every sixty selectees at ages below 20 was rejected as unfit for military ■duty on account "of manifestly disqualifying defects. In- the group 25 to 29, the proportion was three times as great —one in twenty. In men 35 and over, the ratio was one in ten. Then, after the preliminary medical ■examinations at the draft boards, the remaining selectees went to army induction centres, where they underwent a much more searching examination. At ages under 20' only about one out of every four-was rejected for medical reasons; at 25-29 one out of three, at 35 and over nearly half. Once a man is made available to' the army his record in training determines -whether he can stay with the combat units. The minimum training period is four months. ADVANTAGE WITH THE YOUNG. According to the office of the Sur-geon-General of the U.S. Army, two ihen who score the same in a routine physical examination may possess different degrees of stamina—and the advantage lies with the younger men. Further, older men are more frequently discharged from the army, are hospitalised more often and longer, and are more likely, as in civilian life, to be among the small percentage dying of disease. The Surgeon-General's office points out-that physical fitness is even more important for combat work in 1944 than in 1918. The reasons are these:— 1. This is a war of movement Trench ■warfare produced its' peculiar strains. ib.ut did not call for the same sort of endurance as the campaigns of 1944. when men must be trained to devour ■ground by forced march, dig in, repel attack, and then be ready for the day's fighting. .2.- This is a war of great speeds. Tanks of 1918 lumbered at three miles an hour; those of 1944 crash through at 45. In 1918, 100 miles an hour was a good rate fdr a plane; today 400 in level. flight is possible. 3. This is a war of larger projectiles and higher explosives. The U.S. army's 155 mm "Long Tom" artillery piece and the 105 mm howitzer—not to mention the U.S. army's 240 mm howitzer and 200 mm rifie-r-have pushed the famous 75's into the background. ■ Medical officers are quick to observe ■that the' percentage of failures in pilot training,' for example, does not indicate whether younger pilots have certain combat qualities that older ones lack. ..Tests do not proceed that far. •If a 'candidate cannot fulfil trne rigorous physical standards, he simply does not qualify. Eyesight, which tends to deteriorate with age, must be superior to judge distance and direction in three-dimen-sional space and .at high speeds. Hear-' ing has-to be good, to carry on com- . munications and detect changes in engine noises.