Army & Navy – New Margins

For the time being the U.S. Army had its manpower problem under control. Last week it had a cushion of 150,000 beyond its planned strength (7,700,000).

But this extra margin of manpower would bring no cobwebs to U.S. draft boards. Last week the Navy asked Selective Service for 194,000 more men by year’s end than it had originally asked (new total: 3,200,000). Reason for the Navy’s new draft: the speedup in the Pacific war.