{"id":56508,"date":"2021-02-01T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/02\/01\/a-nation-of-draft-dodgers\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:55:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:55:25","slug":"a-nation-of-draft-dodgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/02\/01\/a-nation-of-draft-dodgers\/","title":{"rendered":"A nation of draft dodgers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a recent Military Times article titled \u201cDodging and deferring: Trump wasn\u2019t the only POTUS to avoid the draft,\u201d<\/a> former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence J. Korb pointed out that former commanders in chief attending the inauguration of Joe Biden avoided military service through draft deferments available to them as a result of their socio-economic status. He draws attention to one aspect of the historic, systemic: unfairness of the way America has manned its military going back to 1861 and continuing through the fundamentally unfair all-volunteer force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1861, when the Union could not secure a sufficient number of volunteers to fight the Civil War, the government instituted conscription and included a provision for substitution and commutation. This provision allowed a draftee to pay $300 to another man to serve in his place. Most Americans today are unaware of this provision and appalled by its undemocratic, unpatriotic nature. Although conscription practices were generally viewed as fair during WWI and WWII, the Vietnam-era draft policies were broadly viewed as unfair as deferments and exemptions were available to the wealthy and well connected, leaving the fighting to patriots and the less privileged. Vietnam, like the Civil War, became a \u201crich man\u2019s war and a poor man\u2019s fight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t