Does the US Army still have combat defferent for sole surviving family?

Question

I am not sure I am calling it the right thing.

They will not send an only child or only son into a hazardous duty area.

What about the rest of our armed forces?

Answer 1

The surviving son or brother provision is applicable only in peacetime. It does not apply in time of war or national emergency declared by the Congress.

The original law, passed in 1948, exempted the sole surviving son of a family where one or more sons or daughters died as a result of military service. No restriction existed at that time to limit the exemption to peacetime. The provision was intended to protect families which had lost a member in World War II.

In 1964, recognizing that sons of World War II veterans were reaching draft age, Congress changed the law to include the sole surviving son of a family where the father, or one or more sons or daughters, died as a result of military service. At this time the peacetime-only restriction was also added to the law.

A further change was made in 1971, expanding the exemption to any son, not necessarily the sole surviving son, of a family where the father, brother or sister died as a result of military service. This provision was recently expanded to include mothers.

It is important to keep in mind that the provisions are directly related to service-connected deaths. The mere fact that a man is the only child or only son does not qualify him for exemption - he must be the survivor of one who died as a result of military service

Answer 2

Not any more. This is one of the things that went out with the draft and the emergence of an all volunteer military.
There was a feature on TV just last week. A family had two sons. Both were killed in Iraq. Both joined the Army because they "felt it was the right thing to do."

Answer 3

YO Darth, It's a volunteer Force. Has been since the Draft ended in early 1973.

It's 2007 not 1943!

SSG US Army 73-82

Answer 4

No they do not.

There are no restrictions at all now.

But the selective service law, in case of a draft, does allow the children of a service member killed in combat, to ask not to be drafted.

But there is nothing in the selective service law regarding your siblings being killed in action.

As a practial point, if a family had several siblings killed in action, the military would generally not deploy any surviving siblings to a combat area.

And there is nothing in the selective service law, regarding the drafting or deployment of " Only Child " citizens.

Answer 5

yes, and no. Only if a parent or sibling was killed in combat can the surviving son request deferment/assignment out of a combat area.

since this is an all volunteer military, only children are otherwise NOT exempt from being sent wherever needed.

Answer 6

It is called sole surviving son. They government won't force the sole surviving son into combat, but they can volunteer.

Answer 7

I'm not sure about that, but I think that's one of the reasons I was able to bypass Viet Nam.
I Cr 13;8a