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Keyser Soze

On 3/25/18 8:00 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 3/24/2018 10:01 PM, wrote:
On 24 Mar 2018 21:26:43 GMT, Keyser Soze wrote:

wrote:
On Sat, 24 Mar 2018 13:29:53 -0400, Keyser Soze
wrote:

On 3/24/18 1:21 PM, wrote:

BTW the army did draft people in your position, if they had critical
skills. My buddy was drafted within months after graduating because
they wanted computer guys ... and he was married with a kid.
Evidently they had all of the liberal arts people they needed.

Right, because what use would the military have for someone with
language skills in Russian and German, and knowledge of group dynamics
(sociology), and skills to teach English to nincompoops. I'm happy the
military had no use for me.

Evidently not. If they really thought you had something they needed
they would have drafted you. They certainly had no need for a liberal
arts style of group dynamics and the only thing they wanted to say in
Russian is "You better stay in Russia or we will **** you up".

Oh...you think draft boards thought beyond filling a quota. Thatâ€™s a
laugh.
A member of a KC draft board who worked at the paper told me all they
were
looking for were young men who could pass the preinduction physical with
reasonable health. Once they met their quota, they stopped looking.
Period.
Perhaps the standards were a hair higher for enlisted. Perhaps.

If you had a skill they wanted, they came after you. He was never
going to be cannon fodder ... unless the russians came through the
Fulda Gap. They trained him up on army computer systems and sent him
to Germany, pretty much straight out of boot camp.

My recollection of those days differ from what you and Harry are saying.

Maybe it's because I was eligible in 1968 which was the peak of the
draft period in the Vietnam war.

I don't think the draft boards paid any attention or had any information
as to what your "skills" or education level were until *after* you
received your induction notice.Â* *That* is when you took tests and they
considered your background or school status.

I know of several people who were in college at the time yet still
received a notice to report for the induction exam.Â* All they did was
reply to the draft board that they were currently attending school and
they were given a deferment although at one point if your grade point
average was below a certain level they could still grab you.

My recollection is the same as yours...as I stated...draft boards had
quotas to fill, and they had no knowledge of skillsets of the men from
which they were making their choices. As for enlistees, the guys I
remember who said they were going to sign up typically had the lowest
GPAs and were not planning to attend college. They joined the military
to learn skills that might translate into decent jobs. And attending a
public college or university was really inexpensive in those days. We
have two in New Haven back then...New Haven College and Southern
Connecticut State...where a full academic load could be purchased for
few hundred dollars a semester, and classes were offered during the day
and at night.