The last time the United States instituted the draft was during the Vietnam War. Can someone explain how this worked?

The last time the United States instituted the draft was during the Vietnam War. Can someone explain how this worked? I think it had something to do with your birth date.

Then what dates were picked randomly? How many were chosen all who fell into these certain dates? Please shed some light on this subject.

Asked by Yankeeman 40 months ago Similar questions: time United States instituted draft Vietnam War explain worked Politics & Law > Military.

Similar questions: time United States instituted draft Vietnam War explain worked.

Oh wow! I was part of it.. Actually, the draft never ended after WW2.. But I believe in 1968 they changed the way eligibles were picked..Technically all able bodied males were eligible between the ages of 18 and 35.. There were "deferments" available, but technically nobody was exempt except women and children.. In order to be more fair, the draft was set up in a lottery system.. If I remember correctly, some college student picked cards out of a glass punchbowl.. The cards each had a birthday.. Number 1- 365 were assigned an order.. Once they had this list, eligible draftees were chosen each year from # 1, till they reached the number they needed... Rarely was anybody drafted with a number higher then 100..Unless they came from a town so small that there were only a few eligibles... Mine was Number 64.... I had a "deferment".. That is, till I graduated college.. Graduated on the 5th of June 1970, and drafted on the 11th.. They wasted no time.. The real hoot was the physical and mental requirements.. If you were breathing, and had an intellectual ability slightly above moron, you were blue ribbon eligible..In fact, I had a real midget in my basic training company.. Slipped through the cracks.. BUT, with the draft, we had a perfect cross-section of America.. Everybody from farm boys to financiers, even movie stars...You really learned what America was all about.. Sources: I remember...

It started out one way - ended up another by the end of the war Either way - it was something we all hated, because we knew we were on Uncle Sam's radar. At the age of 18, every red-blooded, living, breathing American male had to present themselves to the offices of the Selective Service System a/k/a their local draft board for registration. Shortly thereafter, you received a Draft Card which had your Draft Status on it....and I hope I can remember all of them....at least the pertinent ones since there were some that were kind of obscure for ministerial students, people who were married with young children and the like.

I-A meant you weren't doing anything all that important and if your Draft Board needed warm bodies to fill their quota you would would be among the first to get a letter in the mail from no less than "The President of the United States" that started out "Greetings...." You would then be instructed that on such-and-such a date, you would present yourself to the Armed Forces Induction Station where you would be poked and prodded, given psychological exams, IQ tests etc. Etc. - usually dressed only in your underwear - to prove that you were, indeed suitable and fit to go to the jungles of Southeast Asia and kill Charlie a/k/a The Viet Cong and the regular Army of North Viet Nam. If you were lucky, at this point, they might find something wrong with you.

If they found anything wrong with you, physically or mentally, you would be reclassified either I-Y which meant you had some sort of problem. In my case, it was chronic stomach spasms which got me the blessed I-Y and kept me home. If you were I-Y, you would only be drafted in the event of a worldwide cataclysmic event such as World War III.

Otherwise, you were pretty safe and could lead a normal life. Or, you might be lucky enough to get a IV-F which meant you were physically or mentally screwed up - badly. Such things as blindness, deafness, missing limbs, being a paraplegic, would get you a IV-F.

You could also get a IV-F for being under psychiatric care. A person classified IV-F never had to worry - they were safe no matter what. When I went for the first of 3 pre-induction physicals - yes, I was drafted 3 times before they decided they never wanted me - there was a blind guy, and a guy in a wheelchair who had both been selected for pre-induction physicals.

There was one other major category of deferment and that was the II-S which meant you were a college student with good grades and as long you maintained an average of 2.0 (later changed to 2.5 when they began to run out of manpower), you were safe. This was how I managed to get drafted 3 times before getting my coveted I-Y - too much partying, too much sex, drugs and rock and roll, and grades that were just a little bit higher than the guys at Delta Tau Chi in "Animal House," but not much! One other way of avoiding the draft - like George W.

Bush - was to be in the National Guard or Air Guard, but by 1966-67, the Guard units were full and only the privileged with connections - like Bush - were able to get into the Guard. There was a special classification for that as well, but I couldn't begin to tell you what it was.So, that was the way it was until the late 1960's - early 1970's when they went to a lottery system. The lottery system was very simple - and yes, there were ways out of it - for a brief period of time.

The way the lottery system worked was that every day of the year was written down on a piece of paper, ping pong ball, something and dumped into a large fishbowl. Then, they would start with Number 1 and pull a date. People who celebrated their birthday on that date could anticipate receiving one of those "Greetings" letters from the President very soon.

The only way out was if you were in the middle of a school year - they at least had the decency to let you finish the semester - then it was off to be trained in the ways of becoming a killing machine, unless of course, you had taken off to Canada and sanctuary in the interim. However, if you had some college, by 1970, that was an automatic trip to Officer Candidate School where you would come out as a Second Lieutenant, skilled in the ways of warfare and ready to lead your own platoon into the jungles of Viet Nam. Before the lottery, you had to tell them you had been in college and after your basic training, they would ship you off to OCS.

If you didn't tell them, you were just another grunt. And, of course, the lottery went all the way to 365 - as a rule, anyone above 200 could figure they were pretty safe. As I recall, my number the first time they did it was something like 263, so even if I hadn't had my coveted I-Y, I would have been pretty safe.

As to Canada, I knew a number of people who made that trip, and to the best of my knowledge, they are still there to this day. Young people today don't realize how lucky they are not having the spectre of "The Draft" looming over them. One of the things which the lottery system did do was it equalized the draft to a certain extent, since prior to that, more minorities were drafted since they generally could not afford to go to college and would wind up in a non-essential job.

That's why a larger percentage of Blacks were in Viet Nam than there were Caucasions - they couldn't afford to hide out in college or as George Bush did. What was sad about it was, the Black soldiers were over there fighting and dying and when they came back home, were still treated like crap and didn't enjoy nearly as many freedoms as the white guys did. So, the lottery tended to make everyone equal, even though some people were still more equal than others.

After Viet Nam, the military become all-volunteer, and the rest as they say is history. Sources: Lived through it - wouldn't care to live through it again OldppieHatesNewAV's Recommendations National Lampoon's Animal House (Widescreen Double Secret Probation Edition) Amazon List Price: $12.98 Used from: $5.55 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 328 reviews) The draft and you;: A handbook on the Selective Service System Used from: $5.93 If you've never seen the movie - a great scene where Dean Wormer tells Belushi etal. Their draft boards are being notified of the fact they've been kicked out of school.

And a little reading material on it as well..

The draft had been in effect since 1948. The days of the year were printed on slips of paper & pulled from the hat. The first day drawn placed those born on that day in the group to go first & so on until you reached the end of the year or the quota was met.

You were essentially eligible for one year. However, you were not really sure until age 32, but that would have been a real serious national emergency. It was more of a lottery type of system.1-A = eligible for military service 2-A = eligible but had a job related to national security, they would not be drafted as long as they held that job.2-S = College deferment, elegible but would not be drafted as long as you were a student.

There was a high school deferrment. There was a classification for veterans.4-F = not eligible, either mentally or physically unfit for the military. There were other classifications, but I never knew them.

# 107 in my case..

2 Due to confusion and uncertainty, I knew those with numbers over 300 that enlisted...Were'nt they surprized...

Due to confusion and uncertainty, I knew those with numbers over 300 that enlisted...Were'nt they surprized...

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