The News And Views

Army Announces Plans For Release Of National Guard

WASHINGTON (AP) The Army said today it plans to call no more National Guardsmen or reservists to active duty except for a few small units and individual officers.

An Army spokesman said, however, changes on the international scene could throw its plans into the ash can.

Since the start of the Korean War the Army has called about 350,000 guardsmen and reservists to active duty. Most of them will be released by the end of the year.

The plan to call no more of them does not mean the Army is cutting its total of men on active duty. The gaps made by the release of reserves are being filled by draftees and volunteers.

The authorized Army strength set by Congress is 837,000. Whether this figure has ever been reached is secret.

In calling reserves, the Army has taken organized units with a total of about 40,000 men, plus more than 175,000 individual inactive and volunteer reservists.

All inactive and volunteer reserve enlisted men who wanted to be released have gone off active duty. Many inactive and volunteer reserve officers, however, still are on active duty. They are being released either after 17 or 24 months of active duty, depending on whether they are World War II vets. Releases so far of enlisted men and officers from these reserve categories have totaled more than 100,000.

The Army has called about 135,000 National Guardsmen to active duty. They were in eight National Guard infantry divisions, two regimental combat teams and about 1,500 other smaller units.

Until last Friday, all the guardsmen and organized reservists were scheduled to serve 24 months on active duty. Then the Army announced enlisted men called with their National Guard and organized reserve units would be released from one to five months earlier than scheduled.

Most officers in these units will have to serve their required 24 months.