Army secretary denies general's plea for draft

Army Secretary John O. Marsh Jr. turned down a recommendation from his chief of staff to reinstitute the draft in 1984 to meet the Army's manpower needs, Pentagon sources said.The recommendation by Gen. E. C. Meyer was contained in a five-year budget program that Mr. Marsh ordered rewritten so that the draft proposal would be omitted.

General Meyer proposed that the draft be reinstituted in fiscal 1985, which begins Oct. 1, 1984, to ensure the Army would meet its goal of expanding the force by 100,000 men in the next five years, the sources said.