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Show FEW BUCKS NOW IN U. S. ARMY Number of Trained Doughboys Has Been Reduced, Bringing Total to Not More Than 20,000. Doughboys just plain buck privates A infantry are becoming almost as scarce in the regular army as shavetails shave-tails were some time ago. Pvery time there is a reduction in the size of the army, the number of buck privates is very perceptibly cut down. At the present time, it is said that there are not more than 20,000 plain, unspecial-lzed unspecial-lzed "bucks" in the ranks of the United States army. There are only 47.S37 men in all branches of the foot regiments while there were more than 53,000 enlisted men in the infantry when the war started in April, 1917. Impending additional reductions in the size of the army will show a further drop in the number of privates, pri-vates, officers say, and leave the Infantry In-fantry only a framework of highly trained specialists with just a few humble bayonet-wielding bucks here and there to give a sketchy suggestion of a wartime force. This framework of specialists will be maintained, the War department declares, so that in an emergency the army may be able to quickly expand, filling In the vacant ranks with raw recruits who, with a few weeks' training, train-ing, will make .our fighting forces a highly trained machine. |