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For these reasons, the Negro is drafted in numbers out of proportion to his place in the population. Recent Army statistics showed that 16.3% of those drafted over a recent twelve-month period were nonwhite, as against only 11.9% of the total population; the Negro percentage of the fighting force in Viet Nam is about the same. Still, the Negro, often economically and socially deprived at home, frequently finds the modern Army a haven; his re-enlistment rate is 49.3% compared with 18.5% for whites. "That uniform gives prestige and status to a guy who's been 100 years on the back burner," says Jack Moskowitz, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for civil rights and industrial relations.
There are several ways to postpone or avoid being drafted, though some of them involve other types of military service. The most pleasant way for married men is simply to sire a little deferment. A man may also join the Reserve or National Guard, but he must serve on active duty for four to six months, attend meetings for the rest of his six-year obligation, and be ready for active duty if his unit is called up during an emergency; besides, many National Guard and most Reserve units already have full quotas. Then there is the Peace Corps, but that only delays the inevitable, since a man is immediately subject to the draft once he returns home. The new draft pressure has produced heavier-than-usual applications for R.O.T.C. and officer training, which usually require a longer time in service but at least give a man officer status.
The Crisis to Come
In the utilization of the nation's manpower for best advantage, it is almost inevitable that the best educated should get the breaks. The son of the middle or upper class is more apt to be in college or able to pay his way to graduate school. Once graduated, he is more likely to land a job that is "essential"; some 10.7% of college grads acquire occupational deferments—more than 25 times the rate of the next highest category, those with "some college." Before the buildup in Viet Nam, almost any student in any respectable institution automatically got his 2-S deferment, and draft boards were generally willing to extend the deferment for the increasing number who decided to go on to graduate school. Under the new rules, the draft boards will now decide whether each student is more important to the national welfare as a student or as a soldier. Most administrators expect a crisis to come this summer, when many "to-the-end-of-the-term" deferments will run out and be closely reviewed by draft boards. "I foresee losing quite a few students by September," says Byron H. Atkinson, dean of students at U.C.L.A. Says Tennessee State Director Arnold Malone: "We're going to have to put the screws on the students. We will either make good students or good soldiers out of them."