My mother graduated high school in 1940; all the guys were pretty sure what their immediate futures would hold. One classmate was a very fine musician–so he enlisted in the Navy & was sent to their music school.
He was assigned to the band on the USS Arizona. There’s a middle school named after him.
This was initially true. It was a source of pride for the Marines that they were an all volunteer force. That changed with Executive Order 9279 on Dec. 5, 1942. After that, if you were of draft age, you couldn’t volunteer for a specific branch of the military, and all branches pulled from the same pool of draftees and volunteers.
Even though officially the Marines were supposed to just get random recruits like everyone else, everyone knew that the Marines only wanted people who wanted to be Marines, so the local draft boards often went out of their way to send them men who wanted to volunteer for the Marines. There were still some men who got drafted into the Marines just from the luck of the draw, though.
And cooks, and intelligence analysts and MP’s and accountants etc etc. Isn’t there something like 8 support jobs for every one infantry man (in theatre anyway) ?
If you were of draft age (18 to 37), you couldn’t volunteer. If you were outside the draft age range but were still eligible for military service, you could still volunteer.
The Marines were supposed to pull from the same draftee pool as all of the other branches of the military. However, everyone knew that the Marines only wanted people who wanted to be Marines, so the local draft boards often went out of their way to only send them men who wanted to be Marines.
I was poking around on google and found this (warning, pdf). It’s basically about 120 pages of statistics related to ratios of combat to support and all other sorts of info.
The Other End of the Spear: The Tooth-to-Tail Ratio (T3R) in Modern Military Operations
http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/mcgrath_op23.pdf
On page 65, it has a chart that lists the ratio of combat troops to the entire army, which has the following info:
WWI 28%
WWII 19%
Korea 7.5%
Vietnam 7.2%
Cold War 1974 6.5%
Kuwait 1991 17%
Iraq 2005 11%
In theater, the ratio of combat troops tends to be higher (as you’d expect). For example, there’s a pie chart on page 42 that shows Kuwait 1991 with 30% combat, 42% logistics/life support, and 28% HQ/Admin.
Surely - der Meeresgrund 
The Navy did NOT reach its recruitment goals and had to resort to drafting in the mid 60’s
Pretty much, unless you were a Seal, assigned to the Swiftboat force, or were a Seabee (probably in that order). Actually, being on a Swift was probably the most dangerous of the three. As a Seabee, I was on the ground, but assigned to a Marine rear echelon supply base. Even so, we had four or five guys that were WIA in a rocket attack. Not all Seabees were in the rear, of course. A lot of them worked at forward bases, building helo pads and other facilities.
Thanks, Corry El, I had thought it was much higher.
Somehow I managed to leave out Navy pilots as an at-risk group.
Was McCain senior to everyone in the POW prison, or just the Navy fliers?
No idea. He was kept in isolation for at least two years, and was moved around to other camps during his capture. He was a Lieutenant Commander (O-4 or Major in other services) when captured, but there were a lot of men of that rank who were imprisoned.
The key to McCain’s treatment (and of his valor) was that his father was Commander-in-Chief, Pacific. A mind-boggling ransom.
Didn’t he refuse release because the other prisoners wouldn’t also be released?
Thank you both.
Yes, and it resulted in even more brutal torture. There is an extensive Wiki article about his capture and imprisonment. For Trump to say that his actions weren’t heroic is reprehensible, as he suffered grievous injuries that were aggravated by the torture. While he was finally broken, he recovered his courage and refused to break a second time.
Just wanted to drop a note.
Thank you all for serving whether by choice or strong suggestion 
In my opinion, Trump is an ass.
Now there’s a controversial opinion. I doubt you’ll find many on this forum who will agree with you.
As I said, in my opinion. 
Moderator Note
Political jabs are not permitted in General Questions. No warning issued, but don’t do this again.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator