The day after the
Nagasaki bomb on 9 August 1945, General
George C. Marshall told
Dwight D. Eisenhower to prepare to modify the scoring system as soon as Japan surrendered. When Eisenhower asked for a month, Marshall told him that public opinion at home to end the
Selective Service System was such that a month's delay before large numbers of soldiers returned home would be very difficult. On 15 August Eisenhower was ordered to make the changes immediately, ship 1,716,000 men by the end of January 1946, and expect to not have any men with scores above 45 in the European Theater of Operations after 1 April 1946. By September 1945, the War Department redesignated all units in Europe as either redeployment forces (those with the highest score being sent back to the United States), liquidation forces (troops with middle scores of 60–79 points) who were required to close down former frontline facilities such as munition dumps or field hospitals, or occupation forces (personnel with either the lowest scores or who were volunteers). Nevertheless, the ASR began to create problems for the US Army in post-war Germany as high-scoring personnel plus the attrition caused by sickness, compassionate leave and accidents meant continual loss of many experienced officers and NCOs. Other issues arose with the changing of discharge point thresholds which is outlined below. Overload of transportation back to the United States resulted in protests in Manila, France, and London. By December 1, 1945, a new policy was started, which was based on a combination of ASR score and length of service. The points required were as follows: • Officers (excluding Medical Department & WAC) = 70 and four years of military service • Women's Army Corps officers = 37 points • Medical Department officers = 55 points • All enlisted men = 50 and four years of military service • All enlisted women = 32 points All enlisted fathers with three or more dependent children under 18 years of age were immediately eligible for discharge irrespective of their time in military service. ==See also==