[AT] OT Draft Exemption Exam

[James Peck]

The tested man recently passed. I heard a reddish haired woman sing "The Flower of Scotland" at the service. A navy funeral team presented a flag to the widow. 

I can't ask him again but I had asked him before. It was a pencil and paper exam. He was not an engineering student.  He had a family story about crossing the Ohio from Virginia south of mine.  I would ask more questions about that if I had the opportunity.

He had joined the Navy to be a medical corpsman and was unwarrantedly harassed for effeminacy due to his MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) choice. He left almost twice the number of grandchildren than I have and more great-grandchildren were visibly on the way.

I registered for the draft in the middle sixties. Student deferments were not automatically given, major did count. that sparked a wave of student protests and the system gave in. The "give: probably set the stage for protests to come. 

They introduced the draft lottery system which abolished occupational exemptions for engineering graduates in late 1969. Clearly one of the military's sought after groups.

The tested man had been vocationally involved with moving US made engine component machining equipment to the Togliatti plant in the Soviet Union.

Mark Johnson Columbia, MO AT List Member (markjohnson100 at centurylink.net); Never heard of a draft exemption exam - if it was a matter of college grades earning a deferment, my dad would have had it - graduated "with distinction" from Purdue (GPA >= 5.5/6.0 at the time). I suspect he was targeted because they were looking for engineering grads - which is supported by that offer of a commission right out of engineers' advanced basic training.

The old man was lots smarter than I ever hope to be...I miss him.

James AT List Member (jamesgpeck at hotmail.com);  I knew a man who had been enrolled in a college in the early fifties when the Korean conflict ramped up the draft. His score on the Draft Exemption Exam was not high enough to earn a deferment.

 Mark Johnson Columbia, MO AT List Member (markjohnson100 at centurylink.net); <snip> He spent the majority of his hitch in the DC area, teaching Gas and Diesel engine mechanics at Ft. Belvoir.