Just curious mtlucas0311, were you around for the last draft to see how it worked?
I was. If you you wanted out or deferred, and were lucky enough, you went to college.(or left the country altogether if you could afford to do that) If you didnt have the ways or means, you had two choices (maybe more, depending on your number), you either enlisted, which was the smarter choice, because you had some control, or you were drafted. I know a number of people who did both.
I grew up in the military, with a bunch of 30+ year, gung ho lifers (I know what the 0311 MOS is, I grew up with a group of people who acquired the 0321 later, as it wast an MOS when they started or were in) and know very well what goes on and how your treated, and what to expect from the government and the military, especially when things go into peacetime and they are done with you.
My father was a Marine recruiter between tours in the 60''s and 70's. (he spent three in the RVN) They were taking anyone and everyone back then and lying through their teeth to get them in. You didnt need a HS diploma, and they would also take you with a record. The bulk of the "enlistees" were lower middle class down.
The pressure on the recruiters was so heavy, they had to "help" a lot of people with the entrance "test". My father could not understand why they couldnt pass it, as it was an easy test. I took it at the kitchen table in the 6th grade, along with my aunt, who was two years older than me and in the 7th grade. We both passed it. I missed one question, she missed two. It was an easy test. Do you suppose if they were still working with those standards now, we would have a good, working armed forces today?
I was 1A(#34) in high school and was all set to sign up at graduation, and was told in no uncertain terms by my father, and a couple of "Uncles", not to and to wait. (I couldnt if I wanted to at that point anyway, as I was 17 at the time and needed a parents signature, which I wasnt going to get.) After three and four tours in the RVN and seeing what went on and was going on, and as much as he would have liked to see me go into the Corps, I was told not to do it. I listened, and at this point, I dont now regret it and see why they said no. War is hell, but being stuck in a peactime USMC makes hell look good.