# What branches of the service could someone get drafted into? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 2012, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365 "2012-12-28T08:41:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/1 "2012-12-28T08:41:07Z")
Back when there was a draft in America, what branches of the service could a guy get drafted into? I know the Army was one. How about the Navy? Air Force, post-WWII? I heard once that nobody could get drafted into the Marines; was that accurate? Did anyone get drafted into the Coast Guard? What about other countries? ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/2 "2012-12-28T09:05:26Z")
Before joining the AF in the 60’s, I had to go through an Army physical as part of the pre-draft process and some of the inductees were there as a final step before being bused off to Army boot camp. I remember that while we were being handed box lunches, a crusty sergeant walked into the room, read two names from a piece of paper while asking the two to raise their hands. He then said those two individuals were being inducted into the Marines instead of the Army in order to satisfy some sort of quota. They were in tears and I’ll never forget it but can only imagine what was going through their minds. Perhaps they were thinking about trying to survive the physical and psychological challenges and indignities of Marine boot camp only to face a future of likely death in the jungles of Vietnam while fighting a war only politicians cared about. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/3 "2012-12-28T14:48:41Z")
Apparently the UK drafted people into the [Navy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressment) at one time. Did the US ever have naval impressment, or was it Army only? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/4 "2012-12-28T14:56:59Z")
I was always under the impression that the draft during the Vietnam period was only for the Army. My dad joined the Navy because he figured that would be a safer bet than waiting to be drafted; he ended up on the rivers of Vietnam. Whoops! I don’t think that Marines were ever drafted, but I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/5 "2012-12-28T15:15:41Z")
The Navy and Air Force needed no draftees, as they had plenty of volunteers who figured it was a better bet than the infantry. Also, the attrition rate for the Army was higher: more meat for the grinder. So yes, the draft was for the Army only, although stories do persist about people being snatched for the Crotch after swearing in. I never met anybody to whom that happened, and would have to see a reputable cite to believe it actually happened. No offense intended to **Dereknocue67**. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/6 "2012-12-28T15:28:18Z")
A quick look on various sites comes up with the same number of Marine draftees. A little over 42,000. I haven’t found a direct government cite yet. > **[FACT VS FICTION.....THE VIETNAM VETERAN](https://www.vvof.org/factsvnv.htm)** > > Facts about the Vietnam Veteran. Who served in Vietnam. people in service in the Vietnam War ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/7 "2012-12-28T15:31:24Z")
For the other countries file: South Korean draftees are assigned as the Military Manpower Administration decides. One possibility is police (riot police), another is civil servant, and yet another is working for a firm designated as essential for national defense. Another one for the same file is the People’s Republic of China. While the law mandates everyone is subject to conscription, they have not had to use it; the People’s Liberation Army is fully staffed by volunteers. Oddly, the Navy and Air Force are considered part of the Army. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/8 "2012-12-28T15:38:52Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > A quick look on various sites comes up with the same number of Marine draftees. A little over 42,000. I haven’t found a direct government cite yet. > > [FACT VS FICTION.....THE VIETNAM VETERAN](http://www.vvof.org/factsvnv.htm) Looks like you’re right: > [@](#): > > Traditionally, the Marine Corps took great pride in the fact that every Marine had voluntarily enlisted. Well before the Vietnam War, senior Marine officers recognized that the Marine Corps indirectly benefit-ted from the draft by recruiting draft-motivated volunteers. "^ The rapid expansion of the Marine Corps in late 1965 and early 1966 forced the Marine Corps to turn to Selective Service to find enough recruits to fill the ranks. The Marine Corps made four draft calls between November 1965 and March 1966, accepting 19,636 draftees in fiscal year 1966. As soon as possible, however, the Marine Corps returned to its traditional reliance on voluntary enlistments. The Marine Corps did not make another draft call until April 1968, after the Tet offensive, followed by a second call in May. The next call came in December 1968, inaugurating a steady reliance on the draft until February 1970, well after Marine forces had begun withdrawing from Vietnam.\*\* [http://ehistory.osu.edu/vietnam/books/1968/0580.cfm](http://ehistory.osu.edu/vietnam/books/1968/0580.cfm) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/9 "2012-12-28T15:42:12Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Apparently the UK drafted people into the [Navy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressment) at one time. > > Did the US ever have naval impressment, or was it Army only? Press-ganging is a bit more than simple conscription, which is what “the draft” implies. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/10 "2012-12-28T16:10:59Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > What about other countries? Just to note that many countries still have a mandatory military service. So, those people would be drafted in whatever service they had served into (including for some of them positions requiring a significant technical knowledge, rather elite forces, or NCO or even lieutenant rank). There might also be afterward recalls on a random, semi-regular or regular basis for reserve duty (not necessarily on a voluntary basis), to keep them operational (able to drive a tank, operate a communication system,etc..) for a longer time. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/11 "2012-12-28T17:32:03Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > So, those people would be drafted in whatever service they had served into (including for some of them positions requiring a significant technical knowledge, **rather elite forces** , or NCO or even lieutenant rank). I must be misreading you, but even though I know you’re French I cannot imagine _any_ armed forces filling elite ranks with draftees. Is this ‘elite’ as in Special Forces or ‘elite’ in some sense I’m unfamiliar with? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/12 "2012-12-28T20:26:03Z")
For most of WWII, Germans could be conscripted into the other branches but the Waffen SS relied on volunteers. Some people would volunteer to do their military service in the SS because it was felt they got priority on the best equipment. In the final years of the war, the SS did begin drafted people into its service. In post-war denazification programs, these draftees were able to apply for an exemption from being regarded as a former SS member. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/13 "2012-12-28T23:17:03Z")
I seem to recall in Leon Uris’ _Battle Cry_, a plot point is that one character was not a volunteer, but was drafted into the Marines (during WWII). No idea if this novel reflects historical reality in this respect or not. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/14 "2012-12-29T02:12:20Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] Back when there was a draft in America, what branches of the service could a guy get drafted into? I know the Army was one. How about the Navy? Air Force, post-WWII? I heard once that nobody could get drafted into the Marines; was that accurate?.. [/QUOTE] A guy could certainly find himself drafted into the Marines if the local draft board was having trouble meeting it’s quota. Or if you were caught trying to fake your physical or dodge the draft. Or pissed off the Marine rep. > [@Monty](#): > > …Another one for the same file is the People’s Republic of China. While the law mandates everyone is subject to conscription, they have not had to use it; the People’s Liberation Army is fully staffed by volunteers. Oddly, the Navy and Air Force are considered part of the Army. It’s a translation thing. People’s Liberation Army would be better translated along the lines of “People’s Liberation Military (or Defence Force)”. The actual army part is called the People’s Liberation Army Ground Forces. The PLA also uses the same ranks for all service branches. It’s not really all that different from the setup in Israel. > [@Derleth](#): > > I must be misreading you, but even though I know you’re French I cannot imagine _any_ armed forces filling elite ranks with draftees. Is this ‘elite’ as in Special Forces or ‘elite’ in some sense I’m unfamiliar with? The US has drafted men into the Army Medical Corps in the past (all military doctors are officers, Captain or higher). During WWII there were plans to draft female nurses (military nurses are also officers), but they were dropped after Japan surrendered. During Vietnam men with certain degrees were given the option of serving as officers (for a somewhat longer term) as opposed to enlisted. [QUOTE=Sicks Ate] …My dad joined the Navy because he figured that would be a safer bet than waiting to be drafted; he ended up on the rivers of Vietnam. Whoops!.. [/QUOTE] My father did the same thing. The closest he got to Vietnam was an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea. Also enlisting in the Navy didn’t stop the Army from trying to draft him and his wife kept getting threatening letters from the local draft board while he was on his way to Japan. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/15 "2012-12-29T05:19:46Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Apparently the UK drafted people into the [Navy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressment) at one time. > > Did the US ever have naval impressment, or was it Army only? As it happens, I was just reading a book on John Paul Jones. The Continental Navy and its successor, the U.S. Navy, never had press gangs, which were a hated British practice and seen as repugnant to the American concept of liberty. Remember that it was the Royal Navy’s practice of pressing on the high seas that was one of the causes of the War of 1812. > [@alphaboi867](#): > > …It’s a translation thing. People’s Liberation Army would be better translated along the lines of “People’s Liberation Military (or Defence Force)”. The actual army part is called the People’s Liberation Army Ground Forces. The PLA also uses the same ranks for all service branches. It’s not really all that different from the setup in Israel… Even more oddly, there’s no such thing as a “Chinese Navy.” Instead, there’s a “People’s Liberation Army Navy” (the last word is sometimes parenthesized): [People's Liberation Army Navy - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Liberation_Army_Navy) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/16 "2012-12-29T20:21:52Z")
Another odd fact about the People’s Liberation Army: it doesn’t work for the Chinese government. Technically, the People’s Republic of China doesn’t have any armed forces. The People’s Liberation Army is the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/17 "2012-12-29T20:54:03Z")
My grandfather told me the story about after he was drafted in WWII. All of the draftees were given some sort of aptitude test, and from the results of that test, my grandfather was given a result that said he was best suited for the Navy. On induction day, a man comes in and starts randomly pointing at the new draftees: “You two Army. You two Navy. You five, Army. You, Navy.” etc. He pointed at my grandfather and said, “You, Army!” My grandfather presented the man with the results of his test. The man looked at it, ripped up the paper work, threw it on the floor and said, “You, Army!” and proceeded to dress down the rest of the draftees. My grandfather served in the army. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/18 "2012-12-29T23:29:42Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Even more oddly, there’s no such thing as a “Chinese Navy.” Instead, there’s a “People’s Liberation Army Navy” (the last word is sometimes parenthesized): [People's Liberation Army Navy - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Liberation_Army_Navy) Check out post #7. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/19 "2012-12-30T09:10:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Another odd fact about the People’s Liberation Army: it doesn’t work for the Chinese government. Technically, the People’s Republic of China doesn’t have any armed forces. The People’s Liberation Army is the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party. That seems extremely odd, and kind of unlikely. Do you have a cite for it? As a _practical_ matter, of course, the PRC is effectively a one-party state (though [officially there are multiple parties](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Front_%28People%27s_Republic_of_China%29)), and of course the Chinese Communist Party runs the country, most especially including the armed forces. But as a matter of the official legal organization of the country, Wikisource has [an English-language translation of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China](http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China) which states the following: > [@](#): > > Section 4. The Central Military Commission > > Article 93. The Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China directs the armed forces of the country. The Central Military Commission is composed of the following: The Chairman; The Vice-Chairmen; and Members. The Chairman of the Central Military Commission has overall responsibility for the commission. The term of office of the Central Military Commission is the same as that of the National People’s Congress. > > Article 94. The Chairman of the Central Military Commission is responsible to the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee. And > [@](#): > > Article 57. The National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China is the highest organ of state power. Note that there are two (officially) separate bodies termed the “[Central Military Commission](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Military_Commission_%28China%29)”: the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China and the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China. Since the two CMCs have identical memberships, the distinction between the “State CMC” and the “Party CMC” is kind of academic. Nonetheless, it appears to me that, formally speaking, the armed forces of the PRC belong to the state, the same as armed forces do most places. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365/20 "2012-12-30T10:07:32Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I must be misreading you, but even though I know you’re French I cannot imagine _any_ armed forces filling elite ranks with draftees. Is this ‘elite’ as in Special Forces or ‘elite’ in some sense I’m unfamiliar with? Bear in mind that draftees can also be volunteers. That’s the way it is in Israel - everyone is drafted, but most of the combat arms roles are taken by draftees who specifically asked to be there. For more elite units, there are series of voluntary tests you have to pass to be accepted, with tests often starting when the potential draftee is still in high school. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-branches-of-the-service-could-someone-get-drafted-into/645365.md?page=2)