when the military draft in late 60's early70's was on,how did they determine who went? if you were 18 did you

Question

when you hit 18 did you have to go or just sign up.how did they "the gov" determine who whent

Answer 1

It was done by lottery. 365 numbered balls in a drum, each corresponding to a date. Each ball drawn in order. If that was your birthday, you received a letter to report to an induction center for a physical. There were hardship, education and critical skills exemptions.

Answer 2

It went by a person's birthdate. All days went into a lottery and were then drawn randomly. The first date drawn was number one on the draft, followed by the next drawn, and so forth. There was never a year in which all 365 dates were drafted. If a person didn't get drafted in the year he turned 19, he never got drafted because the lottery started over each year with new dates drawn each year. The last month the draft was used was in January 1973, the year I volunteered to join the Army. Since then, the military has been an all-volunteer force.

Answer 3

Three step process.

First there were local draft boards, and all the draft age males had to registere with the local draft board. These boards were made up of volunteers and they were responsible for rating the young men in their district. The men would take a physical and get a rating from 1A (elgible to go) to 4F (physically unacceptable for military service).

Second step was you could apply to the local draft board for an exception to your rating.. Tom Trancedo the right wing anti-immigrant Congressman that wants to nuke Mecca and is now running for President... he got a 1A rating and then got a psychiatrist to write a letter saying he was mentally unfit for military service... so he got out of being drafted by being declared to crazy!

If you were not given an exemption you were subject to the draft lottery. (step 3) You were given a number for your birthday...January 1st was #1 (I don't know what they did for guys born on Leap Year). They had a televised lottery where they drew all the numbers out. The first number drawn was the first one to go, etc. The military then decided how many men they needed, and that determined how many guys had to report. Only the first few numbers were called up.

One of the problems was that local draft boards were put into difficult situations... they were more likely to give deferments and exemptions to the sons of people they knew, and this wasn't really fair. Also the rule used to be that if you were in college you were exempt, this mean that if your dad had money you could stay in school and get a Phd in underwater basket weaving... in fact a lot of guys became ministers just so they could stay in school and avoid the draft. If your Dad didn't have money, you got sent to Vietnam. This was seen as unfair as well, so now the selective service people have a eliminated most of the exemptions.

Answer 4

You had to register for the draft. I went to the U.S. Post Office.

In the latter part of the draft years (up through 1973), they had a lottery system to determine who would be called first. This consisted of 2 big roller bins (like for bingo). In one would be the numbers corresponding with the days of the year. In the other would be numbers from 1 to 365. If, for example, they picked July 29 from the first, and a 7 from the second, then July 29th would be seventh in order of the draft.

When you received a letter from the government to report for examination, they would do a physical and a battery of other tests to determine your eligibility. 1A meant that you were primo and sure to go. 4F meant you washed out completely.

Answer 5

It's called Conscription. A a general term for non-military involuntary labour demanded by some established authority.

Not everyone who is conscripted is willing to go to war. In the United States, especially during the Vietnam Era, many young people used their family's political connections to ensure that they were placed well away from any potential harm. Those with political influence often joined the military and served in what was termed a Champagne unit.

Many would avoid military service altogether through college deferments, by becoming fathers, or serving in various exempt jobs (teaching was one possibility). Others used educational exemptions, became conscientious objectors or pretended to be conscientious objectors, although they might then be drafted for non-combat work, such as serving as a combat medic. It was also possible they could be asked to do similar civilian work, such as being a hospital orderly.

**Today, American men 18-25 are required to register with the government, but there has not been a callup since the Vietnam Era.

Answer 6

You had to register when you become 18. Just as you have to do now. Back then they provided numbers and called up the numbers just like the lottery. Weird but true. Google up the draft it is good reading.

Answer 7

Hon, You had to sign up and then you had to go and take the physical and other tests to see if you were fit to join.... They have requirements, Size, weight, tallness, sanity, or lack of, health, hearing, feet health (marching) and such. You didn`t want someone watching your back who couldn`t hear what was coming behind them. If your feet are bad you can`t tramp thru the jungles. You had to be able to read and such. You couldn`t be in trouble with the law.

My husband says (in the 70`s) it had some kind of lottery system. You were assigned a number at sign up. If your number was selected then you went and did the tests and such.

Peace & God bless from Texas. <><

Answer 8

I had to register at the post office then they had a lottery where the birthdates were drawn. It was previously decided that the first so many numbers drawn were drafted. my date came out 255 out of 366.

Answer 9

When you are 18 you have to register at the post office by law. You still have to do that today in case you haven't. The draft board was supposed to randomly pick people over 18, but is it a coincidence that if you were rich enough you didn't have to go?
Here's an interesting thought.. is today's system really better when it selects disproportionately poor people, poorly educated people, minorities, etc.?
It used to be a pain for rich people to buy their way out of the draft. Now they don't even have to do that.

Answer 10

Your Social Security Number, and a Lottery. You had a certain number when it was drawn between two different numbers. and so forth. My dad got out of the draft by the skin of his rear due to his number was a a few higher then the drawing.