How come college guys cant be drafted into the military?

Secular Libertarian: How come college guys cant be drafted into the military?
Back in the 60s when we were in the vietnam war, when we drafted many men into the military, there were alot of hippy guys protesting the war. They avoided the draft by going to college.

I can see the cons of drafting college guys in the army, because they’re trying to study then they’re forced to fight.

But if it’s a emergency I think even college guys should be able to be drafted.

Answers and Views:

Answer by WRG
It was called a deferment.

Answer by Duckdown
If anything I’d draft MORE college guys into the Armed Services. God, wouldn’t you rather have smart people making decisions in tough situations instead of criminals and 6th grade drop-outs?

Answer by Matt
Uhhhh i think you have your facts wrong. The entire reason why the Vietnam War was so unpopular with the youth is because it kept pulling out college kids and forcing them to go fight. The only way to dodge the draft would be to go to Canada.

Answer by wraeth
That was the case during the Vietnam War. Since then, college draft deferment has been removed from the draft code. If they reinstate it, under the current regulations, all males between the age of 18 and 26 would be eligible for the draft, regardless of status, education, or number of males in their family.

Answer by SabreJack
@Matt

you could also dodge the draft by VOLUNTARILY joining the armed forces. I have met hundreds of “draft dodgers” who became Marines, Airmen, Sailors…etc.

If you were drafted, you were put in a job where they needed the most people, at the time it was infantry and other combat-related MOS’s. You could avoid the draft, and being told what job you WILL work by volunteering and getting a different job.

Answer by Armed with Inkstick
If it’s an emergency, most people won’t have the option to go to college. During World War II, the only way you were going to college as an American male was that you were either going into an officer training program like V-12, ROTC, etc, or you were a 4-F who was not qualified for military service.

College Deferments exists because it’s valuable for our society to have smarter, more educated people. In a limited engagement where the whole of our nation was not needed, it’s a wiser decision to have people going off to college.

I’ve also been told that it originally stems from the death of Henry G. J. Moseley, but good luck proving that.

Answer by Moebius
Actually college guys could be drafted back then.

There was a thing called a “deferment” that allowed the student to finish his studies. As I recall it had to be renewed each year. One doesn’t “avoid” the draft, one just postpones it.

I got my BA in Math in three years on deferments. Then I enlisted in the Navy and stayed in for 25 years.

I don’t look at it as “being forced to fight.” For 20 years I was able to live just about anywhere I wanted, go to just about any school I wanted, take pretty much whatever classes I wanted. I was allowed to own a car and go pretty much anywhere I wanted. I got a chance to work at a job of my choice. I got to listen to whatever radio or TV station I wanted.

People have said, “Freedom isn’t free,” but not many seem to know the price. It’s spelled out in the last few words of our “Declaration of Independence,” “… we pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” The bill will never be paid in full, and each generation that uses (or abuses) those freedoms is responsible for making it’s own installment payment.

I look on the draft as the government handing you the bill for the benefits you’ve already received. Since some don’t seem to feel obligated to pay, the draft lowers somewhat the number who get out without paying their fair share.

I believe that if there were a dire emergency, deferments would be nullified… and EVERYBODY would go.

It upsets me that a draft is necessary. It would seem that every responsible citizen would consider it his duty to pay his own way.

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.” (Thomas Paine)

Unfortunately too few see their responsibility and duty and “shrink from the service of their country.” That’s why the “all volunteer” concept isn’t working. A great many of those who “volunteer” do so because they are too weak (requiring physical waivers), too stupid (requiring educational waivers), or too unreliable (requiring waivers for criminal records), to get jobs on the outside. And in spite of those waivers, 70% aren’t qualified. Many more are merely mercenaries who are only in it for the benefits… rather than an intent to pay for what they’ve already received, they expect to get more for as little as possible.

“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.”

Those who maintain that, if there’s an emergency, the draft can be reactivated and everything will be ok, are deluded. It takes from four to six months (Basic Training and training for his specialty) to take a kid off the street and train him to be a soldier. An “emergency” doesn’t mean a few months down the road… it means “NOW!!!”

Answer by Gerald Cline
College students could be drafted, but if they maintained a certain level of study and grade average could also request a deferment until they ended their studies. Many students prolonged their college time to keep getting the deferment so they wouldn’t have to serve. But that was no big deal to them, college in the 60s was one big party fueled by drugs, rock ‘n roll, and free love (sex), all paid for my mommy and daddy.

In fact most troops who served in Vietnam had completed high school, and a large number of them had at least on year of college under their belts. Most of the troop who served in Vietnam were volunteers, not draftees. So the myth that only the poor and uneducated served in Vietnam was just that, and antiwar myth propagated to demonize the troops who served in Vietnam.