are a serious matter for the welfare of 

 the Nation be the condition peace 

 or war, is agreed. What are the feasi 

 ble remedies? 



Proposals to change the policy of 

 draft boards to the end that students 

 of science and technology shall not 

 be drafted are too late. The damage 

 has been done: these students already 

 are in the Armv and Navy, cut off 

 from integrated scientific and techno- 

 logical training. Proposals for their 

 early discharge from the Army and 

 Navy are not feasible. The Armv 

 has made its plans for the discharge 

 of personnel as soon as feasible in 

 accordance with a rating scale con 

 ceded to be fair and reasonable from 

 the standpoint of the individual GI — 

 however it may disregard the risk to 

 the Nation's scientific strength. Plans 

 for the discovery and development of 

 scientific talent in American youth 

 who are in the Army and Navy must, 

 to be practicable and reasonable, take 

 account of the existing situation and 

 of plans for demobilization already 

 adopted. 



Our proposals, in the situation as 

 we find it, are these: 



2. Plans for Integrated Scientific 

 Training for Soldiers and 

 Sailors 



There should be prepared now lists 

 of promising students of science and 

 technology — students who before and 

 after their entry into the armed serv- 

 ices have shown high ability in these 

 fields. Arrangements should be made 

 now with the Army and the Navy 

 whereby, now that it is militarily fea- 

 sible, these talented students should 

 be ordered to duty in the United 

 States for fully independent, inte- 

 grated scientific study of a grade 

 available to civilians in peace times. 

 This should be adopted as the con- 



sidered policy of the armed services 

 and no desire of a commanding offi- 

 cer to retain a potential scientist for 

 his usefulness on the spot should be 

 allowed to interfere with the opera- 

 tion of the policy. 



It is recommended that this plan 

 be carried out, not in terms of a 

 stated number of young scientists, 

 but rather that, now, centers of 

 science and technology in the United 

 States should be combed for infor- 

 mation concerning those students 

 who, prior to the war, had given 

 evidence of high talent for science 

 and technology; and that, as soon as 

 militarily possible, these students by 

 name, should be ordered to duty as 

 students. Probably no more than 

 100,000 of the 10,000,000 men in 

 the Army and Navy would be in- 

 volved and now, following VE-day, 

 that number could not be militarily 

 significant. Likewise, we recommend 

 that the armed services comb their 

 records for men who, during the war, 

 have given evidence of high talent for 

 science and technology, and that they 

 also be included in this plan. 



It is recommended that the plan be 

 not restricted to students at any par- 

 ticular level of studies, but rather that 

 science students who have shown 

 their abilities at all levels of studies, 

 from college freshman to postdoctoral 

 students, be included. It is also spe- 

 cifically recommended that former 

 teachers of science in the armed 

 forces be included in this plan. 



The machinery for the discovery 

 of the students under this plan, we 

 venture to suggest, could best be set 

 up within the Research Board for 

 National Security. 



Under this proposed plan, be it 

 noted, there would be no disruption 

 of plans already made for the dis- 

 charge of soldiers from the Army; 



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