Changes

The World War II draft expired in March 1947, but conscription was revived in 1948 and for more than two decades of intermittent peace and limited war became an established American institution.  

The World War II draft expired in March 1947, but conscription was revived in 1948 and for more than two decades of intermittent peace and limited war became an established American institution.  

For its manpower needs, because of low pay scales the military relied on a combination of volunteers for the Navy, Marines and Air Force, and the draft plus volunteers for the Army. Every year from 1950 to 1970 the Selective Service system drafted from 100,000 to 300,000 18-year old men for 24 months of active duty in the Army. The peaks came during the [[Korean War]] (525,000 drafted in 1951) and the [[Vietnam War]] (382,000 drafted in 1966). In all Selective Service drafted about 25% of all young men for two-year tours; an even larger number volunteered for three years in the Navy or Air Force, where conditions were better. After active duty, the servicemen were required to join reserve units. Many were not drafted because they did not meet high physical standards, or were fathers or college students. The chances of getting drafted varied dramatically from year to year and place to place in unpredictable fashion. The system not only provided soldiers at low cost, it gave the nation millions of veterans with highly useful technical and organizational skills, along with financial benefits for mortgages, health care and college education.  

For its manpower needs, because of low pay scales the military relied on a combination of volunteers for the Navy, Marines and Air Force, and the draft plus volunteers for the Army. Every year from 1950 to 1970 the Selective Service system drafted from 100,000 to 300,000 18-year-old men for 24 months of active duty in the Army. The peaks came during the [[Korean War]] (525,000 drafted in 1951) and the [[Vietnam War]] (382,000 drafted in 1966). In all Selective Service drafted about 25% of all young men for two-year tours; an even larger number volunteered for three years in the Navy or Air Force, where conditions were better. After active duty, the servicemen were required to join reserve units. Many were not drafted because they did not meet high physical standards, or were fathers or college students. The chances of getting drafted varied dramatically from year to year and place to place in unpredictable fashion. The system not only provided soldiers at low cost, it gave the nation millions of veterans with highly useful technical and organizational skills, along with financial benefits for mortgages, health care and college education.  

The Universal Military Training and Service Act of 1951 theoretically placed a military obligation on all men between the ages of eighteen and a half and twenty-six for a total of eight years of combined active and reserve military duty. The act was extended and variously amended at four-year intervals—in 1955, 1959, 1963, and 1967—and provided options of various types of reserve service for the basic two years of active duty required of those conscripted. In actual practice only enough draftees were called each year to fill military ranks (primarily the Army, with pvccasional use for the Marine Corps) to their allotted strengths when not enough men volunteered, and thus, many physically fit youths escaped service altogether.  

The Universal Military Training and Service Act of 1951 theoretically placed a military obligation on all men between the ages of eighteen and a half and twenty-six for a total of eight years of combined active and reserve military duty. The act was extended and variously amended at four-year intervals—in 1955, 1959, 1963, and 1967—and provided options of various types of reserve service for the basic two years of active duty required of those conscripted. In actual practice only enough draftees were called each year to fill military ranks (primarily the Army, with pvccasional use for the Marine Corps) to their allotted strengths when not enough men volunteered, and thus, many physically fit youths escaped service altogether.