Bob McKellar wrote:

B2431 wrote:

From: Dweezil Dwarftosser

snip

Horse****.
If you were classified 1-A (physically fit and mentally competent)
you would be drafted, period, at age 19 or upon completion of your
four-year college deferment. (Ask me how I know. There was no
draft lottery back then.) With a 1-A classification, most employers
would not hire you - because you would definitely be gone in less
than six months (and they'd be required by law to rehire you if
you returned).


There never was a 100% draft of 1-As. Just because you were 19 and 1-A didn't
guarantee you would be drafted. I don't know what the percentages were, but I'd
venture to say it was less than 50%. For every man I personally knew at the
time that was drafted there were a few that weren't.

Dan, U. S. Air Force, retired

The rate varied by locality and time period. When I faced the draft in 1968 it was
essentially 100% for me.

The local newspapers reported the "current draft age"
every month; it was a very good indicator of the likely
amount of time you had left. Through 1967, it was 19
years and 10 or 11 months in my area. All of a sudden,
the draft levy increased dramatically after Tet, and
the age dropped accordingly. I was 19 years and 7 mos.
old when I received the notice - and had to report within
ten days of it.

My location: New York City, the Bronx. The draft was 100%
of eligibles, oldest first. It had dropped from 25 in the
early 60s (when it wasn't 100%) to 19 years and 6 months
by March, 1968. All of the older eligibles had been exhausted.