Alexander Hamilton Vocational High School - Technician Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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UNIVERSAL MILITARY TRAINING FOR I am in favor ot one year's compulsory military training. Upon the conclusion of this war, and for some time to come, the US will he living in an uneasy and uncertain world, full of tension and revo- lution. It will he a period in which this country must consider seriously an efficient form of defense. Twice we have seen our national security endangered. Twice we have literally spared no expense in our headlong haste to prepare to meet the threat of powerful aggression. Twice we have had the good fortune to have had time to prepare ourselves to stern the tide of aggression. And twice our allies. who were attacked first, laled and hore the brunt of the initial assault. No thinking American can tail today to visualize what might have happened to this nation's security it geography and weapons had per- mitted the initial. attaclc to he made against the United States in 1914 or l939. We must now face the realization that weapons available now and in the future will malce geography no barrier to an attaclc on the United States..-an attaclc which will deprive us oi the preparatory period which our allies have given us in the two world wars. Therefore, I am in favor ot the bill that has heen set hetore Congress. This proposed plan tor Universal Military Training will not only assure the strength necessary to permit the country to carry out its responsihilities for the maintenance of international peace and security, hut will also, hy giving our citizens more thorough awareness to military prohlems, enable them to thinlc more intelligently about what our international responsibilities should he and how they can he discharged. Among the arguments against military training is the tear that it would introduce militarism. Few people realize that compulsory military training was proposed hy George Vvashington as the foundation ot a non-militaristic, non-aggressive and peace-conserving system which he desired for this country. Vve have on the side of military training not only the civilian popu- lation hut also the service men. ln a recent poll conducted hy Dr. Gallup, 79 percent ot the people were in favor ot one year,s military training, 17 percent were against it, and 4 percent were undecided. And in a poll ll

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UNIVERSAL MILITARY TRAINING AGAINST I see no reason for military conscription. After all, wars in the future will not he fought by infantry men, or men with anti-aircraft guns, or men in tanks. They will be fought by trained men who push buttons. Atomic bombs or bombs containing deadly germs, will he launched from hidden sites by rockets thousands of miles from the target and he guided Ioy radar. If some of our new discoveries are deveI0ped even our pilots will not soar into Uthe great blue yonder, but will direct their ships with both feet planted solidly on the ground! Then what kind of army do we need for the wars of the future? Vvhat kind of training shall we give in one year? I do not think that the advocates of compulsory military training know the answer . . . or if they do, it really has been a military secret, There is no proof that a large standing army will he needed in the face of new scientific discoveries. As long as our science leads the world we need a small corps, or better yet, a large corps of trained scientists. The indiscriminate drafting of everyone for a year of some kind of train- ing will not serve the purposes claimed for it. If our science falls behind, then we shall he lost. Let us resolve to spend that money and effort in training all our citizens so that we may find those talents we need, and thus enrich our scientific knowledge. Qur methods of warfare will change so rapidly that a trainee called hack tive years later will have to retrained. Not only will he he un- acquainted with the new machines and methods, but he will again have grown soft, and used to civilian life. In Vvorld Vvar Il when our newer tanks started rolling off the assembly line, the army had to take many of its veteran tank drivers out of active duty and teach them to drive all over again. Those who favor compulsory military training speak as if we had lost the war! From Pearl Harbor to D Day, we raised the Ioest equipped and best-trained army in the world. There is no proof that it would have been done better if there had been a year of military training in force. Modern war requires men highly trained in the methods of pro- duction and in the knowledge of modern science and not a mass of men, half-baked gun-toters. BERNARD SCHLESINGER 10

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conducted lay Colonel Arthur V. McDermott, Selective Service Chief' for New' York City, 25,-4Ul soldiers were questioned. Of these 22,026 were in favor of one year's military training, 3,198 were against and 177 were undecided. ln conclusion it can he said that the case for universal military train- ing rests on the following arguments: fl, The UNFS adoption and use of a military force to enforce its rules and judgments. Q21 America,s role of leadership and responsibility in international affairs demands an adequate military force. Q31 This system has the support of the American people. HIXROLD KELBAN 8-5 Q ADVICE TO FUTURE GRADUATES I WANT THIS PIN AND I LIKE THESE THINGS Said a hopeful senior who was sure of things He tool: his time and was often late, After all, he was going to graduate. He never paid attention: his homeworlc wasn't clone, Smoking was his pleasure and cutting was his fun. Vvhen caught lay a teacher, he did not make a sound, Pinlc slips did not matter, for he was outward hound. Believe me future graduates, these antics did not win, For now there lies an oalc leaf cluster beneath his senior pin. HERNIAN WOLFSON 12