![]() ![]() The department administered all aspects involving registration, selection and examinations and answered questions concerning deferment or exemption from call-up. The role of the DLNS in operating the scheme was to handle all matters dealing with call-up of national servicemen from the time of registration to the time service commenced in the Regular Army Supplement. ![]() ![]() He explained that the Government's decision had been made 'in the light of the successful introduction of the national service scheme and bearing in mind all the various commitments, at home and abroad, which our forces might be required to undertake'. In August 1965 Menzies announced that from 1966 the annual intake would be maintained at 8400 (two intakes of 4200), resulting in an Army strength of 40 000. This would create the desired Army strength of 37 500 full-time soldiers. When the scheme was introduced the Government planned to raise 4200 servicemen during the second half of 1965, then 6900 annually thereafter. National servicemen on full-time duty were liable for what was called 'special overseas service', which included combat duties in Vietnam. If balloted in, these men were called up to perform two years' continuous full-time service in the Regular Army Supplement, followed by three years' part-time service in the Regular Army Reserve. ![]() The scheme was based on a birthday ballot of twenty-year-old men who had registered their names with the Department of Labour and National Service (DLNS). The National Service scheme was introduced by the Menzies Government in November 1964 and operated until December 1972, when the newly elected Whitlam Labor Government suspended it. Appendix from Peter Edwards, A nation at war : Australian politics, society and diplomacy during the Vietnam War 1965–1975: the official history of Australia's involvement in Southeast Asian conflicts 1948-1975, volume VI, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, 1997 ![]()
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