# What conditions get you labeled as 4-F in the military **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-conditions-get-you-labeled-as-4-f-in-the-military/712524 "2015-02-13T00:14:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-conditions-get-you-labeled-as-4-f-in-the-military/712524/61 "2026-01-05T17:46:47Z")
> [@Rixroxk](#): > > My pop was 4F for not having any hair. He had a very high fever as a child and had no hair. When I worked in a big industrial plant, there was a fellow who had no hair - anywhere. None. (We had communal showers for the messy work). I always wondered what caused that. MY nephew was born too late for the draft (‘68) but wanted to be a military pilot like his uncle. Apparently he was rejected for his eyesight - I assume in those days, no war, the waitlist was such that they could be really picky. He went the private pilot route and has been flying large airliners for decades now so obviously it not a serious impediment. I was wondering why nobody mentioned bone spurs, until I looked at the date of the original thread. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-conditions-get-you-labeled-as-4-f-in-the-military/712524/62 "2026-01-05T20:59:58Z")
Early in World War I, the Brits rejected so many men for being short, and so many of them complained because they wanted to join, that they formed [bantam battalions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantam_(military)) of short men. Mind you, the minimum non-bantam height was 5’3’“ at that point, reduced as the war wore on to 5’ even. ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-conditions-get-you-labeled-as-4-f-in-the-military/712524/63 "2026-01-05T21:15:10Z")
In 1971 I had a heart murmur, but they took me anyway. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-conditions-get-you-labeled-as-4-f-in-the-military/712524/64 "2026-01-07T18:29:36Z")
When I voluntarily joined the military back in ‘80s, I had two entrance physicals: one before starting Navy ROTC (and college), and another right before graduation and getting commissioned as an officer. Both times I was worried they might reject me for my extremely flat feet (which I’ve had my whole life—no collapsed arches or anything like that). But fortunately I walked around the examination center like all of the other inductees in a white T-shirt, skivvies, and black socks. Nobody ever asked me to take my socks off, and I didn’t volunteer to do so, or mention my feet. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-conditions-get-you-labeled-as-4-f-in-the-military/712524/65 "2026-01-14T23:30:55Z")
When I went to enlist in the Army in '72 they rejected me – said my right eye was 2/400. Nine years later I tried the Navy (long story); their doctor said it was only 20/300, and that was deemed acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-conditions-get-you-labeled-as-4-f-in-the-military/712524/66 "2026-01-16T03:18:38Z")
Alopecia universalis (and the less drastic forms of it as well) are usually autoimmune in origin. When I heard of McNamara’s Morons, I knew immediately that this was where the character of Zero in the “Beetle Bailey” comic strip got its start. Also, in the book “Unbroken”, the author noted that Louis Zamperini observed that as the war progressed, the Japanese soldiers he encountered became less and less intelligent and competent, which indicates that we probably weren’t the only country that did something like this. And then there was Ted Nugent, who allegedly crapped his pants to get out of the draft. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-conditions-get-you-labeled-as-4-f-in-the-military/712524/67 "2026-01-16T03:50:35Z")
Art Spiegelman recounts in _Maus_ how his father avoided the draft during World War I by gradually eating smaller and smaller meals during the weeks leading up to his conscription date until he was down to nothing but a gallon of coffee a day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-conditions-get-you-labeled-as-4-f-in-the-military/712524.md?page=3)