Regular commissioned officers 1,678 Retired officers on active duty 44 Reserve commissioned officers 452 Regular warrant officers 257 Reserve warrant officers 31 Regular enlisted men 65,666 Reserve enlisted men 6,704 Female reservists 269 ------ Total 75,101 The maximum enlisted strength of the regular Marine Corps, not including reserves, during the period between the outbreak of war and the date the armistice became operative was 63,714 on November 9, 1918. Chapter III. RECRUITING—APPLICANTS, REJECTIONS, ENLISTMENTS—ENLISTMENTS BY STATES. The recruiting service of the corps was enlarged greatly during the war and it was so well organized and its method of procedure was so efficient that it was able to stand the enormous increase of the corps. The real test of any organization comes when a very great increase is suddenly made and the recruiting service of the Marine Corps passed that test in a commendable manner. On August 8, 1918, by Executive order, volunteer enlistments in the Marine Corps and enrollments in the reserve were stopped, and from that time until October 1, 1918, no men were enlisted in the corps with the exception of those whose cases were pending when the Executive order above mentioned was issued and some whose enlistments expired and were reenlisted. On September 16, 1918, the Secretary of War approved the terms of a tentative plan proposed in an informal conference by representatives of the Navy Department, the Marine Corps, the General Staff, and the Provost Marshal General’s Office. This plan in part provided that the Marine Corps was accorded the privilege of individual inductions to the amount of 5,000 men, for the months of October, November, and December, 1918, and January, 1919, and 1,500 thereafter. As the plan above mentioned operated the men were supplied from the selective draft, but the choice was given the Marine Corps of accepting or rejecting men according to the way they measured up to the Marine Corps standards. The inductees also had a choice in the matter, so they were really “voluntary inductees.” This plan was very favorable and permitted the Marine Corps to maintain its high standard of enlisted personnel. Owing to the cessation of hostilities there were but few inductions and none of the inductees ever reached France prior to the armistice becoming effective. Regular voluntary inductions into the Marine Corps (through Provost Marshal General) commenced October 1, 1918, and the last man was voluntarily inducted on December 13, 1918. Inductions occurred as follows: