Their Number Is Up

The Army broke another tie with tra dition last week, sending the traditional G.I. serial number into retirement along with the pack mule and the Sam Browne belt. From now on, new soldiers will find their civilian Social Security numbers on their dogtags instead. The switch is to accommodate the Pentagon's new centralized and computerized payroll system. The Army says that the new procedure will be easier for servicemen, who will now have only one set of numerals to remember instead of two.

That argument is rather specious, since the number of soldiers who carry their Social Security numbers in their heads roughly equals the number volunteering for night guard duty.

Millions of soldiers have been ordered to remember their serial designation since 1918. The first officer to get one, General John J. Pershing, had no trouble with his; it was 01. The drab, nine-digit Social Security number will lack the flavor of the Army serial number with its prefixes of US denoting draftee, RA for volunteer and O for officer. By 1972, the Air Force, Navy and Marines will have switched over, too. Efficiency must be served; but it just won't be the same in the war movies when John Wayne refuses to give the enemy any more than his name, rank and Social Security number.

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