Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
Supported by
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers.
About the Archive
This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.
Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (AP) The Selective Service announced today that about 15,900 young men holding lottery numbers 95 and below would be drafted during the OctoberDecember period. They may be the last American men conscripted into the armed forces.
Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird hopes to stop all inductions by the end of this year, six months ahead of the goal set by President Nixon for changing to an all‐volunteer military force.
None of those being drafted are being sent to Vietnam unless they volunteer to serve there.
Fixing the final 1972 lottery ceiling at 95 “assures almost three‐fourths of the men who faced induction during 1972 that they will not be called this year,” the Selective Service said.
Last year's draft reached lottery No. 125.
The 15,900 men due to be inducted during the last quarter will bring this year's draft total to about 50,000. This will be the lowest in 10 years and about 330,000 fewer than were conscripted in 1966 when the United States was preparing for a big land war in Vietnam.
Most of the men affected by today's announcement will be inducted in October and November, the draft agency said. This is in line with long‐standing practice of avoiding inductions near the Christmas‐New Year holiday season.
30 Days’ Notice
All potential draftees will be notified at least 30 days ahead of their induction, it was announced. Included are men classified 1A or 1A0 who are in what the agency calls the “first priority selection group.”
Men available for military service of any kind are classified 1A, while conscientious objectors willing to serve in noncombatant military assignments such as medical corpsmen are classified 1AO.
Draft‐eligible conscientious objectors with numbers 95 and below who shun all military duty will be tapped for alternate civilian public service jobs at the same time that others are drafted into the Army. Such men are classified as 10.
A Selective Service spokesman said all those with numbers 95 and below who do not have exemptions or deferments are expected to get draft notices before mid‐November.
Men with numbers 95 and below who lose deferments or exemptions later in the year would be eligible for callups during the first three months of 1973 if there are any calls.
Legal authority to induct men into the Armed Services is due to expire next June 30. The Nixon Administration has said that it would not ask for its extension.
The basic Selective Service law will remain on the books, but the President would have to ask Congress for permission to start drafting again in an emergency, Mr. Laird has said.
The Nixon Administration has been scaling down the’ draft since it took office in 1969.
Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
