Word: draft
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...extrapolating the current 30 numbers a month to the whole year, many people, including the local boards, have arrived at the mistaken conclusion that no number will escape the draft this year. They argue that thirty times twelve is three hundred sixty, and that just might as well be everyone. The major flaw in this argument is the assumption that the pool of eligible men is stagnant. Rather, it changes from month to month. The pool is composed of 1-A's who have exhausted their appeals and have passed their physicals. There are many men who have been reclassified...
...Pentagon maintained that about 45 per cent of those in the 1-A pool would be drafted, assuming enlistment and draft calls remained constant. They said they would probably not get past the first two-thirds; some from the gray area, the second third, might not be drafted. Yet the heads of Selective Service boards in Massachusetts, Illinois, New York City and numerous other places insisted just one week after the drawing (and many continue to assert) that in order to meet quotas they would have to take everyone in the lottery pool. What is going on? Why this vast...
...DRAFT BOARDS have difficulty accustoming themselves to the idea that someone might get out simply because his number is not reached. They probably enjoyed the old system whereby they could channel you into a "socially useful job" by dangling a 2-A in front of your nose. Or, they could keep you on the hook, giving you a deferment for a while until they needed you. Last year, Local Board No. 3 in Great Neck (it has since moved to Manhasset, New York, because of a fire) drafted only those 221/2 and older under the old system of eldest first...
...result of the lottery, the draft boards are losing some of their arbitrary power. During the first week or two after the drawing. men with numbers in the three hundreds talked about dropping out of school or quitting their deferrable jobs. The draft board's sphere of influence had been radically reduced as some men faced absolute freedom. All of a sudden it was possible that thousands of young men would no longer be under their yoke, responsive to their whims, chained to their relativistic sense of justice and fairness. My board hates me, and you, all of us. They...
...they get enough men. They do not fear that the supply will dry up. Indeed, one of the biggest problems the Army faces is devising institutionalized means to climinate men. They create artificial categories to get rid of the overflow. On the other hand, those who man the draft boards wince at the thought that some will escape their arbitrary tentacles. Immediately, reports flowed from state and local selective service that all would be drafted to meet the quotas. These dictates quickly quieted those who thought they had newfound freedom. Many who had talked about leaving school and jobs reconsidered...