Remember the Military Draft ??

I can remember in 1972? the draft was going to end soon. In 1978 I gave it a go.

It is my opinion that todays kids would do well with 12 months of service. Maybe then they would get a better understanding of how to mind their P's and Q's.

 

I agree,but with THIS draft,let's make sure EVERYONE has to serve;remember in decades past,(I do) the rich kids,-or their parents-found ways to avoid it?

 

No draft. so I joined the USMC got paid to see the world.Well as much as i could see from S.E.ASIA

 

Most people could avoid the draft by going on to college, at least for a few years. After college they were fair game. Some of the politically connected and wealthy could exert their influence to keep their kids out of the war. Just look at Al Gore and John Kerry. Both brag about their Vietnam service, but I don't think that either of them served on the front lines. Al Gore's dad was a U.S. Senator and I think John Kerry came from a privileged background. There were some of the affluent who did have children who served in harms way, but they seemed to be few and far between.

 

You're quite wrong about both of them Al Gore served as a combat photographer, and John Kerry commanded a rivertine gunboat on the Mekong. As with Afghanistan and Iraq, there were no "front lines" in Viet Nam.

If you want to talk about "the privileged" avoiding service in combat, let's talk about George. His "connections" got him into a Texas ANG unit in '68 I believe - the same unit that kept the Dallas Cowboys from going to war. By 1965 there wasn't a guard unit in the country that didn't have a 4-year waiting list - and that isn't BS. I knew a number of folks who were in the guard well before we started our combat involvement in Viet Nam who told me there was no chance of ANYONE getting into a guard unit by 1968. George certainly was subjected to the dangers of service - the F102s he flew were old, and had a propensity for in-flight malfunctions that could get you killed. But by 1966 - well before George got into the ANG, the Air Force had withdrawn that type of aircraft (a pure inteceptor) from SEA because there was no danger that the NVAF was going to try to bomb South Viet Nam.

 

I would have to do some research with both of them. I made those general statements about what I remembered. I don't think that Al Gore ever got out of Saigon. And as I recall, John Kerry got his purple heart from having a splinter in his finger? There were some questions about Kerry's service and if he was actually wounded. As far as Bush's service is concerned, he served in the National Guard as a pilot. I have no doubt that all three did better than the average Joe during that time. There is no way to know for sure with any of them.

 

You are for the most part correct...there was a waiting list....as we called it then, and still do today...a dream list....for the National Guard...both Army and Air! But that waiting list was mostly comprised of "non-flight" positions. The majority of qualified pilots....now keep in mind pilots are checked out to specific aircraft...filled the openings for combat replacement yet maintained home base domicile within the ANG of their assignment base....another point to consider is that, by Congressional mandate, the ranks of the Guard must also be maintained at a minimum level in all aspects, grunts to pilots and every position in between.

As to qualified aircraft, the USAF has a set order of training for their pilots;

http://www.baseops.net/militarypilot/

While qualified/instructed in specific aircraft for combat, the training begins with prop and prop-jet type, and the time required is an extensive and intense proposal. During the Viet Nam "Action"...USAF flew F-100, in 3 configurations, and F-4 in 4 configurations. bush was not qualified for wither of these aircraft...he maintained his seat in F-102 and only upgraded his qualifications to F-4 at the last 1.5 years of his duty. which was past the time the chances of deployment from Guard to Active was an issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United...Chronology_of_the_USAF_involvement_in_Vietnam

 

I remember the F4. That was quite an airplane.