Who would be drafted in the Vietnam War?
On Dec. 1, 1969, the United States held its first draft lottery, which gave young men a random number corresponding to their birthdays. Men with lower numbers were called first and told to report to induction centers where they could be ordered into active duty and possibly sent to the Vietnam War.
If Congress and the president authorize a draft: The Selective Service System will start calling registered men ages 18-25 for duty. The men will be called in a sequence determined by random lottery number and year of birth.
According to the selective service, if a draft were held today, those who are 20 years old -- or turning 20 during the year in which the numbers are drawn -- would be the first to go.
All males between the ages of 21 and 35 are ordered to register for the draft and the first national lottery is held. As World War II progresses, the draft age is lowered to 18 and men are called to service not by lottery number but by age, with the oldest going first.
The large cohort of Baby Boomers allowed for a steep increase in the number of exemptions and deferments, especially for college and graduate students. More than half of the 27 million men eligible for the draft during the Vietnam War were deferred, exempted or disqualified.
The Vice-President of the United States, the Judges of the various Courts of the Untied States, the heads of the various executive departments of the Government, and the Governors of the several States. 2. The only son liable to military duty of a widow dependent upon his labor for support.
There were 366 blue plastic capsules containing birth dates placed in a large glass container and drawn by hand to assign order-of-call numbers to all men within the 18-26 age range specified in Selective Service law.
It required all men between the ages of 18 to 64 to register with the Selective Service. To register, men typically completed a D.S.S. Form 1 Military Draft Registration Card from the Director of Selective Service.
On December 1, 1969, the Selective Service System of the United States conducted two lotteries to determine the order of call to military service in the Vietnam War in the year 1970, for men born from January 1, 1944 to December 31, 1950.
Asthma, mental health issues and ADHD top the list of maladies that keep the recruiters at bay, says Mission: Readiness. Even those who currently serve can have health-related issues that keep them from deploying, such as dental problems and recurring injuries.
What age can you not be drafted after?
For example, if a draft were held in 2020, those men born in 2000 would be considered first. Men turning 21 in the year of the draft would be second priority, men turning 22 would be third, and so on until a man turns 26, at which time he is over the age of liability.
If required to register with Selective Service, failure to register is a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or 5 years imprisonment. Also, a person who knowingly counsels, aids, or abets another to fail to comply with the registration requirement is subject to the same penalties.
At what age can you no longer be drafted? Once you're 26, you're exempt from being drafted ... kind of. "There's historical precedent for extending that age," Winkie says before noting that in August 1918, during World War I, the age limit was amended to 45.
Each year since 9/11, several people over 50 have reenlisted or signed up for the first time in their lives. This past year, nine people over 50 enlisted, according to a Defense Department spokeswoman.
The maximum age to join the Army as an enlisted Soldier is 35, while Officers must accept their commission before age 31. However, the Army can lift some restrictions based on the need for certain roles to be filled. It's possible to receive an age waiver if you retire with 20 years of military service by age 55.
- Be a Conscientious Objector. ...
- 2. Make up a health condition. ...
- Have children who need you. ...
- Be a homosexual. ...
- Run away to Canada. ...
- Go to college. ...
- Have a high lottery number. ...
- Hold an "essential" civilian job.
In all, half a million Americans dodged their Vietnam War service. They were fugitives until 1977 when President Jimmy Carter ordered a general amnesty.
He could continue to go to school and be deferred from service until he was too old to be drafted. Under the current draft law, a college student can have his induction postponed only until the end of the current semester.
The ideal height requirement for men in the military is between 60-80 inches / 152-203 cm. Anyone above or below this requirement is likely to get rejected.
Obtaining conscientious objector status by professing insincere religious or ethical beliefs. Obtaining a student deferment, if the student wishes to attend or remain in school largely to avoid the draft. Claiming a medical or psychological problem, if the purported problem is feigned, overstated, or self-inflicted.
Can diabetics be drafted?
Those individuals who attempt to enlist will be subject to the diabetes ban if diagnosed with diabetes requiring any form of medication, or who do not take medication but have an A1C above 7%, because they will not meet the standards of retention.
The Draft and WWII
On September 16, 1940, the United States instituted the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, which required all men between the ages of 21 and 45 to register for the draft.
Russian Federation
As of 2021, all male citizens aged 18–27 are subject to conscription for 1 year of active duty military service in armed forces, but the precise number of conscripts for each of the recruitment campaigns, which are usually held twice annually, is prescribed by particular Presidential Decree.
Is he exempt from registration and the draft? No. the “only son”, “the last son to carry the family name,” and ” sole surviving son” must register with Selective Service. These sons can be drafted. However, they may be entitled to peacetime deferment if there is a military death in the immediate family.
The Draft in Context
Although only 25 percent of the military force in the combat zones were draftees, the system of conscription caused many young American men to volunteer for the armed forces in order to have more of a choice of which division in the military they would serve.
College undergraduate and graduate students were automatically awarded draft status 2-S–deferment for postsecondary education–and could not be forced to serve. For those opposed to the war, it was a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Fair or not, as events played out, only men with birthdays numbered one through 195 were ultimately called to duty. Men with the remaining 171 birthdays were home free. America ended the military draft in 1973, and has relied on voluntary enlistment ever since.
Poor vision typically will not limit your ability to serve in the U.S. Military, so long as your vision problem can be suitably corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses or vision correction surgery.
On paper, it's a crime to "knowingly fail or neglect or refuse" to register for the draft. The penalty is up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Last year, Selective Service referred 112,051 names and addresses of suspected violators to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.
While ADHD alone does not disqualify a person from military service, the Department of Defense (DOD) places significant enlistment restrictions on individuals with an ADHD diagnosis and/or prior treatment with medication. Has documentation of adverse academic, occupational, or work performance.
Is the draft coming back?
There is no draft at present.
In the event of a national emergency which required a draft, the following sections provide information on the Sequence of Events, the different Classifications which have been used in the past, Postponements, Deferments, and Exemptions, and the peacetime Medical Draft.
States that have enacted and implemented legislation tying registration with Selective Service to state benefits but not to driver's licenses: Alaska, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and North Dakota.
Can An Individual With A Felony Get Drafted? To get admitted and serve in the military, one has to meet specific standards. Those include mental, physical, and administrative measures put in place by the army. Having a felony on your name does not mean that you will not receive a call.
Before the lottery was implemented in the latter part of the Vietnam conflict, there was no system in place to determine order of call besides the fact that men between the ages of 18 and 26 were vulnerable to being drafted. Local boards called men classified 1-A, 18-1/2 through 25 years old, oldest first.
Veterans, generally exempt from service in peacetime draft. Immigrants and dual nationals in some cases may be exempt from U.S. military service depending upon their place of residence and country of citizenship.
College undergraduate and graduate students were automatically awarded draft status 2-S–deferment for postsecondary education–and could not be forced to serve. For those opposed to the war, it was a get-out-of-jail-free card.
The first men drafted would be those turning age 20 during the calendar year of the lottery.
College and graduate students who, almost by definition, were neither poor nor people of color, were given draft exemptions. However, poor and disadvantaged men not in college were drafted at higher rates and were consequently injured and killed at higher rates.
This drawing determined the order of induction for men born between January 1, 1944 and December 31, 1950. A large glass container held 366 blue plastic balls containing every possible birth date that affected men between 18 and 26 years old.
At what age can you no longer be drafted? Once you're 26, you're exempt from being drafted ... kind of. "There's historical precedent for extending that age," Winkie says before noting that in August 1918, during World War I, the age limit was amended to 45.
Can you deny the draft?
If you want to resist the draft and your parent support you, they can help by sending back, unopened, any mail for you from Selective Service. You can help yourself by doing the same thing. It's a crime to lie to Selective Service or the FBI, but you have the right to remain silent.
You are exempt from Selective Service registration if you can prove you were continuously institutionalized or confined from 30 days before you turned 18 through age 25. If you were released for any period longer than 30 days during this window, you were required to register with the Selective Service System.
Jalen Duren is the youngest player in the NBA, per NBC Sports, at 18. He was drafted No. 13 overall in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets.
