Troubles

ARMY & NAVY

Not since last January had the Army signed up the 30,000 recruits it needs each month. Last week, cleaning out its separation pipeline and with enlistments dribbling in at the rate of only 12,000 a month, the Army bumped down to its authorized peacetime strength of 1,070,000--six weeks ahead of schedule.

At present enlistment rates, the Army will be even worse off by fall. By July 1, it will have lost the last of its draftees. From July to September a rush of departing short-term volunteers will boost discharge totals to 40,000 a month. To offset the trend, the Army can only hope for a big influx of high-school graduates (who are less enthusiastic about volunteering since the end of the draft) and a new recruiting bill now before Congress. The bill would permit enlistments of between two and six years, with a $50 annual bonus for indefinite "career" re-enlistments.

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