My uncle was another draftee who served his entire time in Germany. He’s always careful to describe himself as a “Vietnam-era veteran” rather than as a “Vietnam veteran”.
There was a general draft and they sent you where they needed you. In practice, almost everyone went to the Army, a relative small number to the Marines and none, to my knowledge, to the other services. Enough enlistees chose the AF and Navy so that they made their numbers without a draft.
Yeah, I would think you might be at the mercy of the government, if drafted. The stories I heard were of guys joining the Navy and being pulled out of line to serve in the Corps. I don’t buy it, as you sign a contract when you enlist, and I think a person might have legal recourse, even though the Marines fall under the Navy. All speculation, of course.
A friend of mine was drafted, spent his two years behind a desk at Ford Ord. 1969.
My dad and his best friend enlisted in 1968 to avoid the draft. Best friend went to Germany, dad was sent to the jungle.
My Brother enlisted, he wanted motor pool, the army wanted him to go to missles. He refused. When he finished basic training he was told there was no room in motor pool, but he could still get into missle school. At that time he had 3 choises get out because the Army was not completing his contract, go to missle school or pick another MOS. But sitting at home was his draft notice, it came two days after he left for basic training. So if he got out he would be back in and would have to go where the Army wanted him. He did some checking first and picked the engineering corps. And he did make in country.
If you were drafted you went where the Army or Marines wanted you. As few people enlisted to join a combat unit this was where there many openings.
I believe most enlistments were a combination totaling 6 years. The draftee was 2 active 4 reserves. If 17 years old you could get a 3/3. And the standard enlistment was 4/2.
for officers normally was 6 years after recieving their commissions. And could be extended with additional training. As example if I remember right for most Naval officers that went to Neuc school it was 6 years after completing school.
There were exceptions. After graduating from the Maritime Academy ours was only 3 years in the inactive reserve if we shipped or 3 years in the Navy or Coast Guard.
I was drafted (Marines) in 1969. What determined your deployment future seemed to be based more on the MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) than how you entered the service. As to how/why certain individuals were assigned to specific MOS’s, there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason. Some of the assignments defied logic.
And w/regard to the draft itself, one is actually drafted into the “Armed Forces.” For obvious reasons, the Army took the overwhelming majority with the Marines next in line. Of the 113 processed on 5/13 in Chicagoof, the Marines chose 2. The Navy and Air Force filled their quotas with volunteers (especially those trying to avoid the Army.
Ironically, I now live withing eyeshot/earshot of where I went to boot camp.
Three of the four founding members beg to differ. 
There seems to be some disagreements in this thread as to how long service times were. I can only speak about what I know and the lengths at the time I served (ca. 1966-68). It’s entirely possible that requirements and practices have changed considerably since, and were different before.
For those who don’t know the subtleties, military service can be considered[ul][li]Active duty[]Active reserve[]Inactive Reserve[/ul][/li]
US Males subject to the draft may have to serve 6 years of some kind of duty, but that does not have to be all active. It can be 2 years active, 2 years active reserve, and 2 years inactive reserve. In my case, 3 year enlistment (active duty) plus 3 years inactive reserve. fulfilled the qualifications. I’m sure there are/were other legal combinations, and the various services had additional rules and minimum periods.
Active duty is normal military service. Active reserve is when you participate in frequent military exercises (like weekends) and/or some multi-week camps for retraining or refresher courses.
Inactive reserves is pretty much nothing except you could be called at any time to report to active duty, presumably for a national emergency (a concept which apparently includes some tinhorn dictator fallling off the pot in the Arabian dessert, but I digress.)
That’s the theory. As a practical matter, those who were drafted in the Vietnam War were given 2 years of active duty, and that was it. Their status may have been Reserve Something after discharge, but it was unlikely that they would ever serve again without volunteering.
And just to complicate the computation, during the Vietnam Era, soldiers were regularly discharged early after returning to the states from Vietnam, even if they had some active duty time remaining. While I was in Vietnam, they were discharging all those who returned stateside with 5 months duty or less remaining. This was changed to 7 months while I was there, and I voluntarily extended my Vietnam tour for 42 days so I would fall into the “7-month early discharge” category by one day. It worked.
So even though I enlisted for 3 years, I only served 2 years, 5 months on active duty.
I was theoretically in the active reserves after, until the 6 year total period was up, but I never was called any more for any kind of duty. Good thing, too, as I probably would have whisked my ass to Canada.
The older men went to Viet Nam too. My dad had 17 years in the military and was a Tech Sergeant. He was sent in 66 as part of the first major buildup. Thankfully he was an instrument tech on the flight line. Safer than infantry but the flight line did get shelled while he was there.
At least he made rank. He came back as a Master Sergeant.
The oldest US soldier to be KIA in Vietnam was a 69 years old Army Lieutenant Colonel (according to the Vietnam Wall database).
Strangely enough, there is also a 64 years old Army soldier whose rank is reported as Army - Spec. 4 - E4.
Totally wrong. The database also includes soldiers who died decades later of wounds they received while serving in Vietnam.
There’s a thing in the US called (warning: PDF) Military Service Obiligation, aka MSO. Today, of course, it only applies to volunteers as we do not have an active conscription. Prior to sometime in the 1980s, the MSO was for six years. In the 1980s, the law changed and the MSO became and remains eight years. The time credited for fulfilling the MSO is active duty, drilling reserve component, and non-drilling reserve component time.
There was a lot of paperwork to be filled out after being drafted, and for some reason there was a form that asked where, if you had your druthers, you would like to serve. I bitched about Viet Nam all through high school, but for some reason I put down Viet Nam. They sent me to Alaska. Go figure.
Reminds me of the premise in Catch-22.
I was drafted in 1967. Fortunately I had a brother-in-law whose cousin was a graduate of the Defense Language Institute, which I had never heard of and he suggested I try to get in. At that time draftees served two years but if they completed their 13 month tour in Viet Nam before the 2 years was up they usually got out early. Volunteers were usually 3 years, but Air Force and Navy were 4 years. It was possible to volunteer for the Marines for 2 years. I joined the Army instead of being drafted, but in order to be considered for the language school I had to sign up for four years active duty. I was never guaranteed any school, nor was I guaranteed a particular job after graduation from the school. However I was told that if I received a 31 out of 60 on the language aptitude test that it was highly probable I would get the school. My recruiter (illegally I think) allowed me to take the test before signing up. The test was multiple choice. I got 39. In basic I took it again and got 59. I got the school and graduated in Russian and was sent to Germany. Before I left the school the Army was taking 2 year draftees for the Vietnamese language school who scored 19 out of 60 on the test. I am certain I would have gone to Viet Nam in some capacity had I not volunteered and applied to the language school. Even some of the language school graduate volunteers got assigned to Viet Nam within 6 months of their graduation. I luckily served 3 years in Germany. I know of noone who got drafted and did not go to Viet Nam. OCS was an option for college graduates but officers were extended two years after graduating OCS and getting their commission and were highly likely to be sent to Viet Nam after obtaining an MOS. Noone ever asked me if I played a musical instrument. As far as I know everything depended on the needs of the military when you entered. If you entered during a big buildup your test scores were not going to be of much help. At other times the tests may actually have been used to determine your MOS. When I went in computer science was just becoming popular and the Army had a “computer” school. In 4 years of service I never met or heard of anyone who ever went to that school.
By the way Bush may have had the MOS of a fighter pilot but he seemed to have difficulty making his scheduled reserve meetings, transferred from one National Guard outfit to another for the flimsiest of reasons and ultimately had his flying privileges revoked. Aside from the fact that he was trained as a pilot in spite of having little aptitude according to test scores, I think if you ask him he will agree that being a clerk in Saigon at that time was more dangerous.
It was a 12 month tour, at least in 67 & 68, unless you voluntarily extended.
“OCS was an option for college graduates but officers were extended two years after graduating OCS and getting their commission and were highly likely to be sent to Viet Nam after obtaining an MOS.”
Obviously, there was no “SOP” when it came to who went where when within each branch, let alone an “SOP” than applied to all branches. I was 20 when drafted and with only a couple years of college. However, shortly after arriving in San Diego for boot camp I was asked if I would be interested in OCS. I declined, but to be candid, I did so only because of the increased time commitment. I didn’t really grasp all the ramifications, be they positive or negative. Today, and without a college education, I doubt OCS is an option in any branch.